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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned home Saturday after his meeting with Donald Trump without assurances the president-elect will back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner. Trump called the talks “productive” but signaled no retreat from a pledge that Canada says unfairly lumps it in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States. After the leaders’ hastily arranged dinner Friday night at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trudeau spoke of “an excellent conversation” but offered no details. Trump said in a Truth Social post later Saturday that they discussed “many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address.” For issues in need of such cooperation, Trump cited fentanyl and the “Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration," fair trade deals "that do not jeopardize American Workers” and the U.S. trade deficit with its ally to the north. Trump asserted that the prime minister had made “a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation” of American families from fentanyl from China reaching the United States through its neighbors. The U.S., he said, “will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic.” The Republican president-elect has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders when he takes office in January. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Canadian officials say they are ready to make new investments in border security. Trudeau called Trump after the Republican's social media posts about the tariffs last Monday and they agreed to meet, according to a official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss detail of the private talks. The official said other countries are calling Canadian officials to hear how about how the meeting was arranged and to ask for advice. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, after speaking with Trump on the telephone, said Thursday she was confident a tariff war with Washington would be averted. At the dinner that was said to last three hours, Trump said he and Trudeau also discussed energy, trade and the Arctic. A second official cited defense, Ukraine, NATO, China, the Mideast, pipelines and the Group of Seven meeting in Canada next year as other issues that arose. Trump, during his first term as president, once called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest,” but it was the prime minister who was the first G7 leader to visit Trump since the Nov. 5 election. "Tariffs are a crucial issue for Canada and a bold move was in order. Perhaps it was a risk, but a risk worth taking,” Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. Trudeau had said before leaving from Friday that Trump was elected because he promised to bring down the cost of groceries but now was talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products, including potatoes from Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. “It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said. “Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business,” he added. The threatened tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his first term. Trudeau noted they were able to successfully renegotiate the deal, which he calls a “win win” for both countries. When Trump imposed higher tariffs as president, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the U.S. in a response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US $2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security. Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S. ___ Gillies reported from Toronto.

Entrepreneurs starting up businesses or looking toward expansions attended the Northwestern Ontario (NWO) Innovation Centre’s Meet the Funders event to learn about attainable funding sources. Funders have been vital to the survival of local businesses, both large and small. Jeff Coull, executive director of the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, says it can be intimidating for organizations looking for funding. “When you start searching to find who does what, what do I need or what are the specific eligibility requirements, it can be quite complicated,” Coull said. “Our goal is to introduce people to the different funding organizations and connect them to have a one-on-one conversation.” The Meet the Funders event, which took place at the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre last month, provided a three-minute profile from each funder and an opportunity to speak with them privately. Each of the funding representatives described their organization and how they provide funding for businesses. Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre offers several funding programs, including the Next-Level program that provides a grant of up to $5,000 reimbursed at a 50-per cent cost share. Eligible activities must focus on scaling or accelerating the organization and eligible expenses include equipment and software, trade show and travel costs, and late-stage product development. Youth Effect is a summer youth subsidy program for any employer with an innovative new project over 15 weeks. The Executive in Residence program helps to find a senior external resource to support a specific initiative temporarily. The Co-Starter program provides $18,000 over an intense 12-week accelerator course for new businesses with an opportunity at the end to pitch for a $250,000 investment. The centre is the local representative for the Sustainable New Agri-Food Products and Productivity (SNAPP) program for Northern Ontario agriculture and food producers and businesses. The program provides up to $10,000 at a 50-per cent cost-share towards the purchase of equipment and materials that result in creating new food products, enhancing productivity or resource use, and reducing ecological impact. Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) supports community enhancement, infrastructure, and community events through funding and internship programs. The main criteria for organizations to apply is for them to bring jobs to Northern Ontario. Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) FedNor is one of seven regional development agencies established by the Government of Canada to service various regions across the country. Their Northern Ontario Development Program is primarily focused on the private or public sectors and the Regional Economic Growth and Innovation program has funding for both not-for-profits and for the private sector. Thunder Bay Ventures Thunder Bay Ventures offers financial assistance programs for new business starts, maintenance and expansion. The micro-loan program lends up to $25,000, term loans lend a maximum of $150,000 and the Northwestern Ontario investment pool lends larger loan amounts of up to $600,000. Initiatives include the student Enter the Den competitions, the Thunder Bay Area business competence index and a virtual tourism map. Paro Centre for Women’s Enterprise Paro Centre for Women’s Enterprise features peer circles comprised of four to seven women that provide opportunities for peer support and access to peer lending via grants and loans. Paro is also the provider for the Woman’s Entrepreneur Loan Fund with up to $50,000 for startup or expansion. A third grant fund is specific to women entrepreneurs already established in business and looking to expand and scale up into new regions. Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) Entrepreneur Centre Within the CEDC, the Entrepreneur Centre offers programs such as the Starter Company Plus program with a $5,000 grant available for businesses looking to either start up, expand or purchase an existing business or become full-time businesses. The Summer Company Program provides support mentorship and $3,000 in funding for anybody looking to launch a business during the summer. The Miinikaanan-Bakakidoon program is an Indigenous business branch of the Starter Company Plus program with a $5,000 grant for businesses looking to either start, expand or purchase. Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) BDC is a crown corporation that provides funding through financing opportunities. BDC offers loans and advisory services for businesses at a cost or a very good rate of return. Northern Ontario Angels Mary Long-Irwin with Northern Ontario Angels said they are a non-profit group that supports businesses by finding or helping to source an angel investor for your business. They work with you to help launch or grow your business or build your networks. Ontario Centre for Innovation (OCI) The Ontario Centre for Innovation helps to connect Ontario innovators with researchers, industry partners and funding for the next generation of made-in-Ontario academic intellectual property and solutions. eCampus Ontario eCampus Ontario offers funding programs to support the evolution of online and technology-enabled teaching at Ontario colleges and universities. The Ontario Collaborative Innovation Platform is a new matchmaking program that connects Ontario companies with expert researchers at Ontario’s post-secondary institutions to help businesses innovate and get to market more quickly and confidently. It creates opportunities for institutions to bring their vast research capabilities to bear on real-world challenges. Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund (NADF) NADF services an area from Timmins to the Manitoba border to finance and support individual or community First Nation-owned businesses through loans and grants. Individuals can tap into $100,000 in grants and the First Nation communities have the opportunity to tap into $250,000 in grants. These grants help to jumpstart startups, help out with expansions or purchase different companies. NADF’s Web program provides loans or grants of up to $20,000 to help women in business build up credit. The E-commerce grant of up to $8,000 is for small businesses that want a jumpstart in website design or to upgrade technology in their business and is a nonrepayable grant that doesn’t require equity. Emergency loans for businesses in the north and winter road access to help with inventory are also available. Futurepreneur Futurepreneur has four main financing mentorship and resource programs. They are the only national non-profit organization specializing in business support, financing and mentorship to young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 39. Confederation College Although Confederation College is not a direct funder, they have access to funding to support economic, social or environmental projects that provide benefits to small and medium enterprises.IN 30 YEARS John Rynne has seen a revolution in crisis responses to humanitarian catastrophes. In a career spanning three decades the Louth man has spent much of that time in Africa responding to crises in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia and elsewhere. He is now the regional director managing the African-based teams of Irish aid agency Goal. We accompanied Rynne recently on a tour of a number of sites in South Sudan. What we found was an aid effort stretched to the point of full capacity as refugees cross the porous border from war torn Sudan. We sat down with him in the chaos of capital Juba to speak about his career, how new methods of responding to crises saves more lives and how, in the past, some NGOs desperate to help have caused more harm than good to the people they are trying to assist. It is not just aid work Rynne has done – he has also worked in child protection in places such as Dublin’s Darndale, Oliver Bond Flats and Ballymun communities as well as Tower Hamlets in London. But the intensity of that work led him towards the role that he performs now as one of Ireland’s most experienced humanitarians. “Frankly, I didn’t want to spend the next 30 or 40 years of my life dealing with child abuse and child neglect,” he said of his decision to move towards Aid Agency work. “I also felt that if I had an opportunity to do something like aid work it would be something that I thought I would enjoy, and would be a real opportunity for me to learn, and also a bit like doing the social work, and not to sound trite, but to give back as well.” This led him to first become an unpaid volunteer and spend two years working in Ethiopia in the 1990s. He describes that experience as being a “brilliant university”. He came back and worked in social work again but would ultimately become an employee based in Ethiopia, where he worked in a mix of urban and rural programmes. His mettle was tested most however on the Somali border at the height of that country’s civil war. “The people would have been the same position then, but our ability now to support and help is dramatically different, much more effective,” he added. Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda he travelled to that African country where he worked with those left behind after the horrific blood letting. There was also work in Zaire and Tanzania as country director and then for 13 years he lived in Ethiopia as the country director managing day to day services. “Ethiopia, it’s a fascinating country to work in, and it’s a huge learning opportunity,” he added. There were projects in urban areas and a return to his social work style of working with street children. He also worked on rural projects which are based around long term development – lifting up communities. Rynne has also seen other changes – the food technology advances that now mean that high energy pastes for children and biscuits for adults are saving lives. “I would have worked in the 90s, very close to the border with Somalia, where we had all the traditional feeding centres, and literally, six to ten children a day died in those feeding centres. “The approach now is much more sophisticated, even though it doesn’t look it, but that’s part of the genius of it,” he added. He said the advances in feeding technology used to solve malnutrition are part of a broader effort by humanitarians to learn from past crises. Another advance is the giving of cash to people, particularly women, so that they can buy food and clothes or whatever they need once they cross the border. “I really would draw a distinction between the scale of the problem, which easily is comparable to Ethiopia in the 80s and 90s but the sophistication of the scale of the response mutes and mitigates, to a significant degree, the worst aspects, not all aspects, but the worst aspects as regards the number of people dying.” Rynne said that while the humanitarian response has changed so has the environment they respond in. He said the effects of climate change are now “vivid” and having a huge impact. He said the most obvious impact of it is in the lives of pastoral or nomadic herders in Ethiopia – Rynne said their livelihoods are centred around the animals foraging and getting water but successive droughts have meant their way of life has collapsed. More broadly he also said that there is clear evidence now that tensions that exist in general among groupings, tribes and clans in many areas across Africa are spilling over because of those effects of climate change. He believes that Africa is at a critical juncture where the borders drawn by former colonial countries a century ago are now being redrawn by the people living there. It has resulted in tensions across the continent – notably in Ethiopia, Sudan and across the Sahel and west Africa. He believes this disturbance in nationhood combined with climate affects will drive greater instability. “I do think more and more we’re seeing that the the maps drawn in colonial times are starting to erode and, and ethnic divisions are coming to the fore, and it’s very difficult to put that back in the box once it’s got out of the box,” he said. Those tensions will make life harder for humanitarians to operate but Rynne has said that they have already adapted. In times past the response was simply to deal with the emergency in front of them but now a more holistic approach, using connections with governments and communities is beginning to reap rewards. “Unfortunately, I think over the past number of years there’s been increasing awareness and acceptance that sometimes, even though you want to do the right thing, you can inadvertently cause damage to to the normal infrastructure and of society,” he said. Rynne uses the example of how aid agencies can come in to assist a large displaced population. He said within that society there may be small vendors such as someone selling buckets and blankets to those displaced people. He said the effect of a blunt intervention of aid agencies handing out goods to refugees has the impact of destroying the local economy that allows people to have agency and independence – in other words it is the inadvertent consequence of unthinking aid operations that makes the situation worse. “What we’re really trying to do is understand how we could be clever, and how we can have multiple benefits and multiple impacts and really make money and resources go as far as possible,” he added. One key response Rynne said is the provision of cash directly to displaced people to help support those locals who have businesses in areas where camps crop up. He said that doesn’t remove the need to directly feed and shelter people in “phase one” of a response to starvation but it does help when events calm down after the initial shock. “We definitely don’t profess to have all the answers, but we would work very closely with local communities to understand how their livelihoods work, how the market systems work, and what the vulnerability points are,” he said. Goal is achieving this by keeping it local with aid workers and a massive network of people from the area working closely with local governments. Rynne said they have projects supporting farmers, creating fishing communities and other initiatives that are designed to empower the local communities to build a resilience for the next crisis. Goal is using systems to map the needs of individual communities and “vulnerability points”. Goal’s main source of funding is from the Irish Government’s Irish Aid, as well as US Aid, the European Union and various UN agencies as well as private donors. While the fighting is raging in Sudan, Goal has been able to keep working because of connections its workforce has established with loca entities and officials. One example saw was how one of the workers in Renk, a local man Deng Wek Deng acts as the liaison between Goal and the local South Sudanese regime. It builds resilience Rynne said but it is a difficult task given the crises gripping South Sudan and Sudan. Rynne said that there is a lot to be proud of with the work of Goal in the region and they are making a difference but he said he is “conflicted between optimism and pessimism”. “What we’ve seen in the last couple of days is the best of people, yeah, the people who responded, who were there in the front line, who were working seven days a week, working on really remote areas, and you can’t help but admire people like that. “I think the way Goal works is we have to focus on the optimism side, and we have to work to ensure that people’s lives are better, but we also have to acknowledge the extreme cruelty and the fact that the world does seem to be a more insecure place, that there’s more civil war, there’s more more unrest – that’s not the reality,” he added.Environmental Protection Agency officials approved a project on Monday that involves constructing roadways in Florida with a radioactive material called phosphogypsum. The initiative proposed by Mosaic, the largest producer of phosphates in the United States, was determined to be “complete per the requirements of EPA’s National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants under the Clean Air Act,” according to a posted in the federal register. Current regulations require phosphogypsum to be stored in engineered piles known as stacks, per a report from technology news outlet . But the concluded that “the potential radiological risks from conducting the pilot project meet the regulatory requirement that the project is at least as protective of public health as maintaining the phosphogypsum in a stack.” Mosaic only submitted a proposal for a “small-scale pilot project,” according to the entry in the federal register. The company therefore plans to build four sections of test road at its facility in Polk County, Florida, but will have to seek permission to expand the initiative. “The EPA’s approval applies only to the proposed pilot project and not any broader use,” the agency continued. “Any other use would require a separate application, risk assessment, and approval.” One from the EPA explains that phosphogypsum comes from the waste left behind when phosphate rock is processed to make fertilizer. That process involves removing the phosphorus by dissolving the rock in an acidic solution. “Most of the naturally-occurring uranium found in phosphate rock ends up in the acid and the other radionuclides, including radium, mostly end up in the waste,” the webpage says. Beyond uranium and radium, phosphogypsum contains thorium and emits radon, a gas, as the substance decays. The majority of comments submitted to the EPA with respect to the Mosaic project were negative, expressing skepticism toward using the in public roads. Ragan Whitlock, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, likewise said in a statement provided to that the decision to allow the project was “mind-boggling.” “That dramatically increases the potential for harm to our road crews and water quality,” Whitlock said. “The EPA has bowed to political pressure from the phosphate industry and paved the way for this dangerous waste to be used in roads all over the country,” the attorney contended. We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. .

‘Mera paani utarta dekh, mere kinare par ghar mat basaa lena. Main samandar hoon, laut kar wapas aaunga’ (Don’t settle on my banks, thinking my water has receded. I am an ocean. I will return) In 2019, after failing to form the government in Maharashtra after a split with Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis quoted this couplet on the floor of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The BJP was the single largest party then. After failed attempts to form a government, the BJP sat in Opposition for two and a half years. Uddhav Thackeray had joined hands with Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, accusing Mr. Fadnavis and Amit Shah of backstabbing him and of going back on their word. The acrimony between Mr. Fadnavis and Uddhav continues till date in Maharashtra politics. In 2022, after a split in the Shiv Sena under the leadership of Eknath Shinde, which Uddhav blamed on Mr. Fadnavis, the BJP returned to power in Maharashtra. Some time later, the NCP split as well, with the Ajit Pawar-led faction joining the BJP-Sena combine. It was a peculiar situation where different factions of the Shiv Sena and the NCP, locked in a bitter battle over their claims to be the true party, were part of the government and the opposition at the same time. The opposition factions of both parties blamed Mr. Fadnavis and the central leadership of the BJP for their “divisive politics” and accused Mr. Fadnavis of devising the split. Today, as his couplet goes viral on the Internet due to the landslide victory of the Mahayuti alliance in which the BJP has performed impressively well with a strike rate of almost 90%, the focus is back on Mr. Fadnavis, or ‘Deva bhau’ as the BJP campaign had branded him in September, ostensibly to negate the references to caste politics, where the Maratha-dominated political landscape had chosen to pick on his Brahmin identity. Throughout the campaign during this election, his rivals contemptuously referred to Mr. Fadnavis as Annaji Pant, a controversial figure in Maratha history, who is considered a ‘traitor’ by many for conspiring against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s son Chhatrapati Sambhaji, trying to get him killed. Today, Mr. Fadnavis is being seen as the sculptor of the BJP’s victory in Maharashtra. But during the Lok Sabha election earlier this year, the party had won only nine of the 28 seats it contested in the State. “I take complete responsibility for the performance of the party in Maharashtra. I request the central leadership to please free me of the responsibility of the Deputy Chief Minister. I want to dedicate myself for strengthening the party organisation,” Mr. Fadnavis said then in a press conference in Mumbai, creating a flutter at the national level. Five months later, in the Assembly election, the BJP contested 148 seats and won 132 of them. Early career In his political career which started at a very young age, he has earned several distinctions. Coming from a humble background in Nagpur, Mr. Fadnavis belonged to a family which had firm affiliation with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Jan Sangh. His father Gangadhar Fadnavis was a member of the Legislative Council, and was affiliated with the Jan Sangh. Mr. Fadnavis joined the RSS at a very young age. He started his political journey in his student days by joining the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right wing students’ association linked with the RSS. He became the youngest Mayor of Nagpur city at the age of 27 years. He is the second youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the second youngest Mayor in the history of the country, and one of the only two Chief Ministers to complete a full term of five years in the State. His supporters claim that his leadership transformed Nagpur, the karmabhoomi of both Mr. Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The Opposition, on the other side, has claimed that Mr. Fadnavis failed to develop Nagpur, and that the crime rate has increased in the city. Resurgence His current resurgence is being seen as a testimony to his grit, perseverance, resilience, strategic thinking and adaptability. His supporters say he has taken the responsibility of the party’s performance, burnt many bridges in the party’s interest, put a lot at stake for strengthening the party organisation, and devised strategies to weaken the opposition. His detractors say Mr. Fadnavis has not let any other leadership centres emerge, and that he has shown a vindictive nature. In 2019, after his claim that he will return to power (‘Mi punha yein’ poem was trolled on the social media for years thereafter), there were speculations on whether his importance within the party had diminished. After the split in the Shiv Sena in 2022, when Eknath Shinde joined hands with the BJP, many of Mr. Fadnavis’s supporters expected that his name would be announced as the Chief Minister. Instead, Mr. Fadnavis himself made the announcement that Mr. Shinde would be the Chief Minister and that though he wanted to stay out of power, he would take up the position of the Deputy Chief Minister due to the party’s directions. It was considered a step-down. “What has he not done for the party? He was the mastermind. The Sena leaders trusted him when they took this step,” a BJP leader told this correspondent at the time of the government formation in 2022, indicating that Mr. Fadnavis was ‘not rewarded despite his master stroke’. As a politician, he is extremely guarded and careful about the perception created about him. Several of his political opponents refer to him as simultaneously meritorious and insecure, someone who doesn’t take very kindly to competition. Unlike many senior politicians in Maharashtra’s political ecosystem, he isn’t known as someone who openly discusses his thoughts and plans. He is also someone who is seen to have climbed the ladder quite fast. In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had thanked Nagpur for “giving the gift of Devendra Fadnavis”. In 2024, after the State Assembly victory, Mr. Modi referred to him as ‘param-mitra’ (eternal friend). Proximity to RSS Hailing from Nagpur, Mr. Fadnavis has always shared proximity with the RSS. As a karyakarta, a swayamsevak, he was involved in several campaigns of the RSS. “On all the parameters of ‘swayamsevakatva’, he completely fulfils them. From Kashmir to Ayodhya, he has participated in many campaigns. He has shown the same austerity. He is a composite and ideal politician, who has established himself on merit,” someone close to the Sangh said. “But when a political party grows, it has several considerations beyond individual aspirations. It has a plan for 25 years ahead. So one should not look at it as a preference for or against a leader. But a vision for the party. That is how larger decisions are taken. It may not have a bearing on an individual leader,” said another leader. Published - December 01, 2024 01:04 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 / Maharashtra / Bharatiya Janata Party / alliances and coalition / The Hindu Explains / The Hindu Profiles

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North Carolina Republican lawmakers voted to override a gubernatorial veto of a bill that strips the state's incoming Democratic officials of key powers. The GOP-led state House of Representatives on Wednesday voted along party lines to override outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of legislation that is ostensibly geared towards hurricane relief, but also weakens the authority of statewide offices Democrats won in last month's election, including governor and attorney general. The Republican-controlled state Senate voted to override Cooper's veto last week, meaning the bill will now go into effect, though legal challenges are expected. Democrats have slammed it as a power grab as the GOP is on track to lose its legislative supermajority following the 2024 elections. The measure notably shifts the authority to appoint members to North Carolina's election board from the governor's office, which will be held by Democrat Josh Stein next year, to the auditor's office, which will be held by Republican Dave Boliek after he defeated incumbent Democrat Jessica Holmes. Republicans in North Carolina's legislature have sought for years to gain control of the board, which oversees elections in the battleground state, but have had their efforts thwarted by the courts. Democrats currently hold a 3-2 advantage on the board. Three state House Republicans from western North Carolina who voted against the bill originally supported the veto override on Wednesday, giving the party the three-fifths support in the chamber necessary to overrule Cooper. One of those Republicans, state Rep. Mark Pless, said in an interview before Wednesday's vote that he was disappointed the bill didn’t contain enough funding to help his constituents rebuild their communities after Hurricane Helene. "I want my people taken care of in the mountains," he told NBC News ahead of the vote. Of the bill, he said, "I just don't think it does what we were told it would do." The 131-page bill moves $227 million into a hurricane relief fund while advancing a spate of other Republican priorities, including shortening the amount of time for voters to fix ballot errors and requiring counties to count ballots more rapidly. The legislation will also prohibit the state attorney general from taking legal positions contrary to those of the Legislature. That will prevent incoming Democratic Attorney General Jeff from refusing to defend laws the Legislature has passed, as Stein did with the state’s abortion law last year while holding the position. The measure was written behind closed doors, introduced as a committee substitute that barred edits in committee, and passed through both Republican-controlled legislative chambers over just two days in November. "The bill, to be clear, is a power grab, not disaster relief," Stein said at a Democratic Governors Association meeting last weekend in California. "It’s petty and wrong headed." In a statement, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison called the move "wrong, disgusting, and emblematic of the Republican Party — desperate attempts to consolidate power at all costs instead of trying to better North Carolinians’ lives."

“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them,” Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. She said the attacks “ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting'”, adding: “In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire transition team are grateful for their swift action.” Swatting entails generating an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretences. The FBI said in a statement that it is “aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners”. It added: “We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.” Among those targeted was Elise Stefanik, Mr Trump’s choice to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations. Her office said that she, her husband, and their three-year-old son were driving home from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence in Saratoga County. “New York state, county law enforcement, and US Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism,” her office said in a statement. “We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7.” In Florida, meanwhile, the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office said in an advisory posted on Facebook that it “received notification of a bomb threat referencing former congressman Matt Gaetz’s supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville area around 9am this morning”. While a family member resides at the address, they said “former congressman Gaetz is not a resident”, adding: “The mailbox however was cleared and no devices were located. The immediate area was also searched with negative results.” Mr Gaetz was Mr Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general, but he withdrew from consideration amid allegations that he paid women for sex and slept with underage women. Mr Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended with no federal charges against him. The threats follow a political campaign marked by unusual violence. In July, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing the then-candidate in the ear with a bullet and killing one of his supporters. The US Secret Service later thwarted a subsequent assassination attempt at Mr Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when an agent spotted the barrel of a gun poking through a fence while Mr Trump was playing golf.

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