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ITV I'm A Celebrity fans in hysterics as Coleen Rooney exposes Wayne's blunder at Beckham party
HALIFAX - Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston named an expanded 21-member cabinet Thursday during a ceremony in downtown Halifax that excluded reporters in a departure from a long-standing tradition of open coverage. In an address that was livestreamed, Houston said his newly re-elected government would continue to deal with issues that matter to Nova Scotians, including health care, housing and affordability. “This term will also be very focused on growing our economy and continuing to lower taxes,” the premier said. “We have to grow our economy to be better able to support the services that Nova Scotians have a right to expect.” Before the election, in which the Tories won 43 of the legislature’s 55 seats, Houston led a 17-member cabinet. The government allowed only one television outlet to have a pool camera at the ceremony held at the Halifax Convention Centre, citing “limited capacity” inside the building that occupies a full city block. Journalists who tried to enter Thursday were turned away by building security. Houston was asked by reporters as he arrived why the media were not being given access to the new cabinet members. “It’s all live streamed ... It’s a really exciting day, you guys have lots of access, and you guys know that,” he said. Reporters were allowed to attend the swearing-in ceremony held at the same venue after the Tories were first elected in 2021, although it was during the COVID-19 pandemic and they were placed in a separate room to monitor the event before interviewing ministers. In the new cabinet, Houston will be joined by veterans John Lohr, who becomes finance minister, Becky Druhan, who moves from education to justice, and Michelle Thompson, who continues as minister of health. There are five new members, including political newcomer Leah Martin as minister of Communications Nova Scotia and L’ nu affairs and Fred Tilley, a former Liberal who crossed the floor just before the Nov. 26 election and becomes minister of public works. The other new ministers are Dave Ritcey in the tourism portfolio, Nolan Young, who is minister of labour, and Scott Armstrong as minister of opportunities and social development — formerly the Department of Community Services. In another departmental change, veteran minister Colton LeBlanc will head the new Department of Growth and Development, which was formerly known as economic development and will now also oversee housing. Composed of 14 men and seven women, the cabinet will see Barbara Adams return as minister of seniors and long-term care and serve as deputy premier. Tim Halman retains the environment portfolio and Tory Rushton stays on in natural resources, while Kim Masland moves from public works to the Department of Emergency Management. The former community services minister, Brendan Maguire, takes over education and also assumes the duties of advanced education from Brian Wong, who was dropped from cabinet along with Susan Corkum-Greek, the former minister of economic development. Alex Marland, a political scientist at Acadia University, said the government could have found room for reporters had it wanted to. “This isn’t a new government, so there are some experienced hands who at a minimum could have been made available,” Marland said. He added that in general, there are governments that feel the need to control their message, and that also tend to be cautious with newer ministers who lack media training. “If this is a pattern and it persists, that’s going to be a problem for the Houston government,” he said. “But if this is a one off and by January things are a little different because people have gone through media training, then a lot of it will be forgotten.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024. — With files from Lyndsay ArmstrongKennedy Center honors Coppola, the Grateful Dead, Raitt and Sandoval
Gus Malzahn is leaving his post as UCF's head coach to reunite with Florida State coach Mike Norvell as the Seminoles' offensive coordinator, ESPN reported on Saturday. Norvell, who served as a graduate assistant under Malzahn at Tulsa in 2007-08, relinquished his role as FSU's primary playcaller amid a staff shakeup this season. Florida State, 1-7 in the Athletic Coast Conference this season, entered Saturday's season finale against Florida at 2-9 and ranked No. 131 in the nation in total offense. UCF also endured a tough 2024 season, going 4-8 after losing eight of its last nine games. During Malzahn's four-year tenure, the Knights went 28-24, including 5-13 in the Big 12 Conference the last two seasons. Malzahn, 59, is 105-62 in 13 seasons as a college head coach, highlighted by a 68-35 mark in eight seasons at Auburn -- which included a BCS title game appearance in 2013. He served as offensive coordinator and playcaller when the Tigers won the national title in 2010. Malzahn will be tasked with revitalizing a Florida State offense that helped produce a 13-1 campaign in 2023, when the Seminoles were denied a spot in the College Football Playoff. Over the last three seasons at UCF, his rushing attack has been in the Top 10 in the nation. In his 19 seasons as a college head coach or offensive coordinator, Malzahn's teams have averaged 447.7 yards per game, and three of his teams eclipsed 7,000 yards in a season. --Field Level MediaTokyo Metropolitan University researchers employed long-term skin conductance measurements to distinguish between emotions . Volunteers were given videos representing frightening scenarios, family bonding, and humour while their skin conductance was measured. The team's investigation revealed that traces might be used to create accurate estimations about which emotions were being experienced. Advances like this assist in reducing an overreliance on facial data, bringing emotionally sensitive technologies closer to home. Can skin conductance predict emotions? A new frontier is being pioneered in consumer electronics: one day, digital devices might be able to offer services depending on your emotional state. While this sounds amazing, this depends on whether devices can correctly tell what people are feeling . The most common methods depend on facial expressions: while these have had some success, such data may not always be available. This has led to researchers looking for different biological signals which could be interpreted to access emotional states, like brain wave measurements or cardiograms. A team of scientists led by Professor Shogo Okamoto from Tokyo Metropolitan University have been using skin conductance as a doorway to human emotions. When people feel different things, the electrical properties of their skin change drastically due to perspiration, with signals showing up within one to three seconds of the original stimulus. Previous research has already shown that measurements of peak conductance, for example, can be correlated with certain emotions. In their most recent work, the team focused on the dynamics of the response i.e. how quickly the conductance trace following some stimulus reaches a peak, and how it decays back to normal. Emotion reading devices In their experiment, volunteers were asked to wear probes on the skin and watch videos which were either scary scenes from horror movies, emotional scenes of family bonding, or funny acts performed by comedians. Importantly, each of the scenes had well-defined points at which a certain emotional stimulus was sought. Analyzing the traces, the team found many interesting and significant trends. For example, they found that the response to fear lasted the longest. This may be a biologically evolved trait, since there are benefits to perceptions of danger lasting longer. Comparing responses to humor and emotional scenes of family bonding, they found responses to family bonding seemed to increase more slowly. The emotions that were evoked were most likely a mixture of sadness and happiness, so it may be that they interfere with each other, leading to a slower change. Importantly, the team's statistical analysis revealed that the different numbers extracted from the dynamics of the trace could be used to discriminate the emotional state of an individual. Though they can't yet tell the emotions apart perfectly, the data could, for example, be used to make statistically significant predictions of whether a subject was experiencing fear or feeling the warmth of a family bond. Combined with other signals, the team believe we are one step closer to devices knowing how we are feeling, with scope for a better understanding of human emotions.
Friend Breakups Are Common. Why Don’t We Talk About Them More?
Amang Zathang knows what it is like to fight for herself. Born in Myanmar and raised in India, her family faced political, cultural and religious strife before finally seeking refuge in Canada in 2008. But amidst the financial crisis, finding suitable housing was near impossible. Even when Zathang had her own family, the living situation was less than ideal. With her husband and two children, the four squeezed into a single bedroom apartment in the west end of Kemptville, Ont. “My husband is a full-time employee and he’s the only breadwinner. I decided to stay home with my two boys because daycare is so expensive, we don’t have that kind of budget,” she told CityNews. “I’m not in a position to work. I’m a full-time student and a stay-at-home mom.” With their income, Zathang said there was no way the family could save for a conventional downpayment on a house. That is the reality for many Canadians as the nation faces a growing affordability and housing crisis. The third annual Affordable Housing Survey released by Habitat for Humanity Canada found that 84 per cent of Canadians say that buying a home feels like a luxury and nearly 90 per cent of renters say the goal of homeownership is one that has become out of reach. As a greater portion of Canadians incomes are put towards housing, there is increasing worry that other basic needs will be sacrificed. Fifty-nine per cent of survey respondents said they worry they will not have enough money for food, living essentials, clothing and education, with the majority of income being directed to rent or mortgage payments. Two-thirds of Gen Z and almost half of Millennials reported having considered delating starting a family because they cannot afford a suitable home. Nearly one-third said they would consider relocating to another country if that meant finding affordable housing. “Canadians are sending a clear message: the housing crisis is no longer just about housing,” Pedro Barata, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Canada, said in a press release. “This is particularly evident for young Canadians, who are rethinking or delaying major life decisions to achieve homeownership, signaling a deep and lasting impact on future generations and society as a whole.” Nov. 22 is National Housing Day and Habitat for Humanity – Canada’s only national affordable homeownership organization – is celebrating the families it has been able to help to house. One of those families the Zathangs. Zathang and her husband found out about Habitat for Humanity through her mom’s work and the couple applied in 2022 after living in their one-bedroom apartment for over six years. A lot of documents were required but Zathang said she just gave them everything they asked for and over all she said about the process: “It was very easy, very simple”. After two years, the family finally settled in their new home in August. When asked what her main priority for her new home was, Zathang said she just wanted a safe place for her sons to grow up. She said the building the family previously lived in was a site for drug and alcohol abuse, summing it up as an “unhealthy environment” for her children. “People were leaving their syringes in the elevator and my four-year-old son is asking me ‘mom, what is this? Are we in a hospital?’,” she said. “And that’s when I realized this is not the thing a four-year-old should be seeing or asking questions about” Now that the family is in a safe neighbourhood, she said her sons enjoy playing outside, running, and hiking. Second to safety, the new home is a source of pride for the family, even the young boys. After living in a one-bedroom apartment with their parents, the boys now have their own bedroom. “They’re very proud of it. Whenever people come to visit us the number one thing they say is ‘can I show you my bedroom?’,” Zathang said. “When I see that it makes me cry. It makes my heart warm that they have something to call their own.” Now settled, Zathang wants to help others facing similar situations. She said her key message is to never give up hope. “I never dreamt of being a homeowner. I thought I’d be a renter my whole life, especially in this economy,” she said. “Whoever wants to hear my story I will keep on sharing my story, so people can end up where I am today.”
Ex-butler of King Charles reveals the Royal Family's Christmas gift-giving habitsA goal three minutes from time for Ademola Lookman has lifted Atalanta to the top of Serie A. Lookman scored in the dying stages to beat AC Milan 2-1 on Friday, a victory that secured Atalanta's ninth win in a row. It was a fitting gift to coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who was awarded the coach-of-the-month award earlier in the day for guiding his team to a perfect record in November. Charles De Ketelaere put the home side ahead with a towering header after 11 minutes, only for Milan to level 11 minutes later when Theo Hernández released Rafael Leão on the right wing and his inviting cross was converted by Álvaro Morata. Milan, who lost Christian Pulišić to a knock before half-time, looked set to end Atalanta's impressive run but Lookman nipped in at the back post to nod home a corner in the dying moments. Atalanta have 34 points, two more than Napoli, who have a game in hand against Lazio on Sunday. Milan are in seventh place. At the San Siro, Serie A champions Inter defeated Parma 3-1 to extend the Milan club's unbeaten run to 13 games. Federico Dimarco put the hosts ahead five minutes before half-time when he worked a neat one-two with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and fired a low shot past Zion Suzuki. Nicolò Barella made it two eight minutes into the second half when he finished a fast counterattack with aplomb. Marcos Thuram's 10th goal of the season made it 3-0 in the 66th. A Matteo Darmian own goal brought some late consolation for Parma.
Weatherford Stock Hits 52-Week Low at $76.91 Amid Market ChallengesCalhoun County E911 Becomes First to Launch Ryzyliant's Solution with INdigital NGCS Support
