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NASA's stuck astronauts hit 6 months in space. Just 2 more to goA government shutdown would disrupt everything from law enforcement to national parks and suspend pay for millions of federal workers. Photo: Reuters The House voted 366-34 to approve the bill on Friday, a day after rejecting Trump's debt ceiling demand. The Democratic-controlled Senate will also need to pass the bill to advance it to President Joe Biden, who the White House said would sign it into law to ensure the United States government will be funded beyond midnight, when current funding expires. The legislation would extend government funding until March 14, provide $US100 billion ($NZ176 billon) for disaster-hit states and $US10 billion for farmers. However, it would not raise the debt ceiling - a difficult task that Trump has pushed Congress to do before he takes office on January 20. A government shutdown would disrupt everything from law enforcement to national parks and suspend pay cheques for millions of federal workers. A travel industry trade group warned that a shutdown could cost airlines, hotels and other companies $US1 billion per week and lead to widespread disruptions during the busy Christmas season. Authorities warned that travellers could face long lines at airports. The package resembled a bipartisan plan that was abandoned earlier this week after an online fusillade from Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who said it contained too many unrelated provisions. Most of those elements were struck from the bill - including a provision limiting investments in China that Democrats said would conflict with Musk's interests there. "He clearly does not want to answer questions about how much he plans to expand his businesses in China and how many American technologies he plans to sell," Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro said on the House floor. Musk, the world's richest person, has been tasked by Trump to head a budget-cutting task force but holds no official position in Washington. The bill also left out Trump's demand to the nation's debt ceiling, which was resoundingly rejected by the House - including 38 Republicans - on Thursday. The federal government spent roughly $US6.2 trillion last year and has more than $US36 trillion in debt, and Congress will need to act to authorize further borrowing by the middle of next year. Representative Steve Scalise, the No 2 House Republican, said lawmakers had been in touch with Trump but did not say whether he supported the new plan. Sources said the White House has alerted government agencies to prepare for an imminent shutdown. The federal government last shut down for 35 days during Trump's first White House term over a dispute about border security. Previous fights over the debt ceiling have spooked financial markets, as a US government default would send credit shocks around the world. The limit has been suspended under an agreement that technically expires on January 1, though lawmakers likely would not have had to tackle the issue before the spring.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and those in his corner continue to muse about annexing Canada, though Canadian officials have largely sidestepped those comments. In a post on the social media platform X, Eric Trump shared a doctored photo of his father purchasing Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal on Amazon, with the phrase “We are so back!!!” Since winning the presidential election in November, Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state.” On Trump’s Truth Social platform, he’s also repeatedly referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the “governor” of Canada. Trump has also threatened 25 per cent tariffs against Canada, which has prompted discussions at both the federal and provincial levels on the best way to deal with the incoming Trump government. Carleton University professor Aaron Ettinger said federal officials have rightly been dismissing the social-media posts and maintained a “focus like a laser beam” on the real and “existential threat” of tariffs. “This strikes me as being profoundly unserious,” said Ettinger, who has studied Canada-U.S. relations during the first Trump presidency. “These are taunts; these are churlish provocations that are not mature, and do not reflect just how serious the coming trade war is,” he said. Ettinger said Trump is likely continually posting about Canada because it plays well to his supporters, without being seen as a real threat of annexation. “We know his moves. He makes fun of, he belittles, he mocks, because he can,” he said. But he said that a vacuum of leadership in Ottawa from embattled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is spurring “the freelancing of some of the provincial leaders” in response to Trump’s comments. For example, Ontario Premier Doug Ford weighed in on Trump’s postings on Dec. 18, telling media that “we’ll never be the 51st state. We’re Canada; we’re proud to be Canadians. We’ll always fight for that.” Ettinger said civil society is similarly better to focus on convincing Americans to not impose damaging tariffs on Canada, instead of amping up anti-Trump rhetoric. “Canadians should worry first about what Canada’s actual national interests are,” he said. “We’re not going to out-trash talk Donald Trump, so don’t even bother trying and focus instead on the core stuff that really matters.” In response to Trump’s threats, the Trudeau Liberal government has unveiled a $1.3 billion spending package over six years to address Trump’s threats, which concern border security and the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman has repeatedly characterized Trump’s comments as gentle ribbing between two close countries. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said on Dec. 13 that she has quipped to Republican senators that they could join Canada as the eleventh province. Greenland’s head of government, Múte Bourup Egede, suggested that Trump’s latest calls to purchase the territory from Denmark would be as meaningless as those made in his first term. “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale,” he said in a statement. “We must not lose our years-long fight for freedom.” Panama President José Raúl Mulino has also rebuffed Trump’s musing about taking over the Panama Canal. “Every square metre of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to,” he said in a video, to which Trump fired back on his social media site, “We’ll see about that!”Premier League leaders Liverpool ruthlessly exploited another slip by their title rivals to move seven points clear with a match in hand after a 3-1 win over Leicester. Chelsea’s surprise defeat at home to Fulham earlier in the day had been an unexpected gift for Arne Slot’s side and they drove home their advantage by outclassing the struggling Foxes. Having overcome the early setback of conceding to Jordan Ayew, with even the travelling fans expressing their surprise they were winning away after taking just five points on the road this season, the home team had too much quality. That was personified by the excellent Cody Gakpo, whose eighth goal in his last 14 appearances produced the equaliser in first-half added time with the Netherlands international unlucky to have a second ruled out for offside by VAR. Further goals from Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah, with his 19th of the season, stretched Liverpool’s unbeaten run to 22 matches. For Leicester, who had slipped into the bottom three after Wolves’ win over Manchester United, it is now one win from the last 10 in the league and Ruud van Nistelrooy has plenty of work to do, although he was not helped here by the absence of leading scorer Jamie Vardy through injury. It looked liked Liverpool meant business from the off with Salah’s volley from Gakpo’s far-post cross just being kept out by Jakub Stolarczyk, making his league debut after former Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward was omitted from the squad having struggled in the defeat to Wolves. But if the hosts thought that had set the tone they were badly mistaken after being opened up with such simplicity in only the sixth minute. Stephy Mavididi broke down the left and his low cross picked out Ayew, who turned Andy Robertson far too easily, with his shot deflecting off Virgil van Dijk to take it just out of Alisson Becker’s reach. With a surprise lead to cling to Leicester knew they had to quell the storm heading their way and they began by trying to take as much time out of the game as they could, much to Anfield’s frustration. It took a further 18 minutes for Liverpool to threaten with Gakpo cutting in from the left to fire over, a precursor for what was to follow just before half-time. That was the prompt for the attacks to rain down on the Foxes goal, with Salah’s shot looping up off Victor Kristiansen and landing on the roof of the net and Robertson heading against a post. Gakpo’s inclination to come in off the left was proving a problem for the visitors, doing their utmost to resist the pressure, but when Salah curled a shot onto the crossbar on the stroke of half-time it appeared they had survived. However, Gakpo once again drifted in off the flank to collect an Alexis Mac Allister pass before curling what is fast becoming his trademark effort over Stolarczyk and inside the far post. Early the second half Darwin Nunez fired over Ryan Gravenberch’s cross before Jones side-footed home Mac Allister’s cross after an intricate passing move inside the penalty area involving Nunez, Salah and the Argentina international. Leicester’s ambition remained limited but Patson Daka should have done better from a two-on-one counter attack with Mavididi but completely missed his kick with the goal looming. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/IqmAsKylLR — Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 26, 2024 Nunez forced a save out of the goalkeeper before Gakpo blasted home what he thought was his second only for VAR to rule Nunez was offside in the build-up. But Liverpool’s third was eventually delivered by the left foot of Salah, who curled the ball outside Kristiansen, inside Jannick Vestergaard and past Stolarczyk inside the far post.
“Cassoulet, that best of bean feasts, is everyday fare for a peasant but ambrosia for a gastronome.” ~ Julia Child When winter heads our way, bringing chilly temperatures and close, dark nights, my thoughts turn to Cassoulet, the iconic comfort food from southwestern France. It has it all – juicy beans, duck leg confit, sausages and sometimes pork or lamb, slowly simmered in well-seasoned broth, then baked in a wide-mouthed, glazed terra-cotta dish called a cassole . Like any truly traditional dish, there are multiple versions, all claiming to be the “authentic one.” Cassoulet originated in southwestern France. Toulouse claims it — and so does Castelnaudary and Carcassonne — and the recipes vary. Toulouse adherents eschew adding cubed pork. Castelnaudary purists add a bit of lamb, while Carcassonne’s adds partridge. In most restaurants, cassoulets are served in an individual cassole , bubbling with hot juices,and with a bit of duck leg peeking through the top. But at Hostellerie Etienne , a vast indoor- outdoor restaurant on the edge of a forest near Castelnaudary, the cassoulets come to the table in family-size cassoles , big enough to serve two, four, six or even 10 people, so you can share the dish with your dining companions. I don’t know if Etienne’s even has a single-serving bowl size. I didn’t see one, when I was there as the guest of a bean trader from Castelnaudary. According to him, Etiennne’s has the best cassoulet anywhere, and they use the Lauragais lingot beans known as the Castelnaudary bean. Copious doesn’t begin to describe the cassoulet scene there, with stacks of cassoles lined up in Etienne’s kitchen, next to caldrons of simmering beans, ready to be filled and popped into the vast ovens. Here in the Bay Area, we have our own go-to restaurants for cassoulets. Some, like the Left Bank Brasseries in San Jose, Menlo Park, Oakland and Larkspur, and Reve Bistro in Lafayette, only serve it during the winter months as a special. (Reve will be serving cassoulet Dec. 10-14, for example, and Jan. 7-11; reserve it when you reserve your table.) Others, such as Bistro Jeanty in Yountville and Le Central in San Francisco, always have it on the menu. Both Reve Bistro and Bistro Jeanty use cassoles made by potter Kathy Kernes at her Crockett Pottery in Crockett, and they are every bit as beautiful and as practical as those you’ll find in southwestern France. Kernes’ makes cassoles in six sizes ($38-$210), ranging from individual to “extra large plus,” which is very large indeed. (Browse the possibilities at www.crockettpottery.com.) Reve Bistro offers take-out cassoulets if you pre-order the week the dish is on the menu. Pick it up — in a takeout container, not a cassole! — then heat it at home. Just note that chef-owner Paul Magu-Lecugy only makes a limited number of portions. “It’s time consuming,” he says, noting for him, it is a two-day process. Le Central’s cassoulet is one of the more elaborate around, with lamb, pork shoulder and boudin blanc, as well as the all-important duck leg confit and slightly garlicky Toulouse sausage. Left Bank uses chef-owner Roland Passot’s recipe (see below) and keeps it simple, limiting the meats to duck leg confit and Toulouse sausages. (Don’t panic. If you’re making this at home, some specialty markets sell duck confit.) The beans are key to cassoulet. Once cooked, they should not be mushy, but hold their shape after the long cooking. In France, tradition calls for either Tarbais beans, a plump, white bean, or lingot beans — a strain of cannellini beans — in making cassoulet. As Passot suggests in his recipe below, you can substitute cannellini beans or Great Northern beans. Rancho Gordo produces a variety called cassoulet , a West Coast-grown bean from the Tarbais strain. Cassoulet isn’t difficult to make. It just requires time and patience. You can make it a couple of days ahead, refrigerate it and then slowly reheat it. That way, there’s nothing to do on the day of but sip a glass of wine while the beans and meats slowly heat to bubbling. Add a green salad and some crusty bread, and you’ll have the perfect winter meal. Or put your coat on and head to one of our local restaurants, where the cooking is done for you. All you need is a reservation. Serves 6 to 8 Beans: 4 cups dried lingot beans (white kidney, cannellini or Great Northern, will all work) 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped 1 small onion, diced (about 3⁄4 cup) 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 pound slab bacon or extra thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch cubes 2 sprigs of thyme 1 bay leaf Cassoulet: 1⁄4 cup duck fat (lard will do in a pinch) 2 pounds pork butt cut in 2-inch cubes 1 cup onions, diced small 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1⁄4 cup tomato paste 1 small can diced tomatoes 11⁄2-2 cups reserved bean water 6 Toulouse sausages 1 small garlic sausage 4 confit duck legs, purchased or homemade (see note below) 1 cup panko bread crumbs 1 teaspoon garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil Note: If you are making your own duck confit, start the night before by rubbing the duck legs with a “green salt” mixture — kosher salt, parsley, a couple of bay leaves and thyme ground together. The next day, rinse the duck legs well, pat dry and place in an oven-safe cooking vessel with enough duck fat to cover the legs. Roast in a 225-degree oven for 21⁄2 to 3 hrs. The night before, place the beans in a deep pot and add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Let beans soak overnight. The next day, rinse the beans well. Add the rinsed beans, carrots, onions, garlic, bacon, thyme and bay leaf to cold water and cook, over low heat, until the beans are tender. Strain the beans, saving the water, and set aside the beans. In a large braising pan, melt the duck fat over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, brown the pork butt pieces without stirring. When beginning to brown, start stirring, making sure you scrape the bottom if it starts to caramelize. The pork doesn’t need much color, but it does need to cook in the duck fat for a while. Add lots of salt and pepper. This is not a shy dish. When the pork is nice and brown on all sides, add the 1 cup onions and garlic, and sauté until the onions are soft and cooked through. Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes and reserved liquid from the beans. Stir, using a rubber spatula to clean the side of the pot. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Bring the heat under the braising pan up to high. Once at a rolling boil, turn down to low heat and add all the sausages. When they are cooked through, remove and set aside. Slice the garlic sausage in half and cut into 1-inch pieces. Return the whole and sliced sausages back to the pot along with the cooked beans. Continue to cook on low heat until the pork is cooked through. Taste for seasoning; add more salt and pepper if needed. Transfer the beans and pork to a heavy, wide mouth, earthenware, clay or cast iron baking dish that can hold 5 to 6 quarts. Bake at 250 degrees for about 11⁄2 hours, checking at least every 30 minutes. It may require a bit more time. If the dish is starting to look too dry, add a small amount of reserved bean broth or chicken stock. Add warmed duck legs to the cassoulet and make a breadcrumb topping by combining the panko, garlic, parsley, thyme and extra virgin olive oil. Return the dish to the oven and continue baking until the crumbs brown on the top. — Courtesy Roland Passot, Propriétaire, Chef Culinary Officer, Vine Hospitality
The military's tradition of tracking Santa Claus on his gravity-defying sweep across the globe will carry on this Christmas Eve, even if the U.S. government shuts down, officials said Friday. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online. “We fully expect for Santa to take flight on Dec. 24 and NORAD will track him," the U.S.-Canadian agency said in a statement. On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens for potential threats, such as last year's Chinese spy balloon. But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs, Colorado, are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?” The endeavor is supported by local and corporate sponsors, who also help shield the tradition from Washington dysfunction. Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer, told The Associated Press that there are "screams and giggles and laughter” when families call in, usually on speakerphone. Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, "Do you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early." NORAD's annual tracking of Santa has endured since the Cold War, predating ugly sweater parties and Mariah Carey classics. Here's how it began and why the phones keep ringing. The origin story is Hollywood-esque It started with a child's accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number. A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list. “He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999. Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” Shoup said he learned from the boy's mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said. In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80-foot (18-by-24-meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole. The tradition was born. “Note to the kiddies,” began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. “Santa Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.” In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from "those who do not believe in Christmas.” Is the origin story humbug? Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup's story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy's call. In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo cited an International News Service story from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child's call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number. "When a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should — considering the season: ‘There may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he’s not the one I worry about coming from that direction,'" Shoup said in the brief piece. In 2015, The Atlantic magazine doubted the flood of calls to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations. Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955. A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, “You leave it right there,” and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike. “Why, it made the military look good — like we’re not all a bunch of snobs who don’t care about Santa Claus,” he said. Shoup died in 2009. His children told the StoryCorps podcast in 2014 that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls. “And later in life he got letters from all over the world,” said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. "People saying ‘Thank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.’” A rare addition to Santa's story NORAD's tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010. Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa's story and views it through a technological lens. In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada — known as the northern warning system — are the first to detect Santa. He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night. “That's when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,” Cunningham said. “A probably little-known fact is that Rudolph’s nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.” NORAD has an app and website, www.noradsanta.org, that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, mountain standard time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Two reporters were killed and several were wounded Tuesday in a gang attack in Haiti on the reopening of Port-au-Prince’s biggest public hospital , the country's online media association said. A police officer was also killed in the attack. Street gangs forced the closure of the General Hospital early this year and authorities had pledged to reopen the facility in Haiti's capital on Christmas Eve. But as journalists gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members opened fire. It was the latest violence in Haiti, crippled by an unprecedented crisis that has seen coordinated gang attacks on prisons, police stations and the main international airport. Robest Dimanche, a spokesman for the Online Media Collective, identified the killed journalists as Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. Dimanche said an unspecified number of reporters were also been in the attack, which he blamed on the Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs. The Haitian Association of Journalists confirmed two reporters and a police officer were killed, and seven reporters were wounded in what it called “a macabre scene comparable to terrorism, pure and simple.” Haiti’s interim president, Leslie Voltaire, said in an address to the nation that journalists and police were among the victims of the attack. He did not specify the casualty numbers or provide a breakdown. “I send my sympathies to the people who were victims, the national police and the journalists,” Voltaire said. Later, the government put out a statement saying it is “responding firmly to the attack." "This heinous act, which targets an institution dedicated to health and life, constitutes an unacceptable attack on the very foundations of our society," it said. Related: Earlier, a video posted online by the reporters trapped inside the hospital shows what appeared to be two lifeless bodies of men on stretchers, their clothes bloodied. One of the men had a lanyard with a press credential around his neck. Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two police officers were wounded. Police and officials did not immediately respond to calls for information on the attack. Another video posted online, which also could not be immediately verified, showed reporters inside the building and at least three lying on the floor, apparently wounded. Street gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Port-au-Prince and have also targeted the main international airport and Haiti’s two largest prisons. Johnson “Izo” André, considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and part of the Viv Ansanm group of gangs, which that has taken control of much of Port-au-Prince , posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack. The video said the gang coalition had not authorized the hospital’s reopening. Haiti has seen journalists targeted before. In 2023, two local journalists were killed in the space of a couple of weeks — radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April that year, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead later that month. In July, former Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, more widely known as the General Hospital, after authorities regained control of it from gangs. The hospital had been left ravaged and strewn with debris. Walls and nearby buildings were riddled with bullet holes, signaling fights between police and gangs. The hospital is across the street from the national palace, the scene of several battles in recent months. Gang attacks have pushed Haiti’s health system to the brink of collapse with looting, setting fires, and destroying medical institutions and pharmacies in the capital. The violence has created a surge in patients and a shortage of resources to treat them. Haiti’s health care system faces additional challenges during the rainy season, which is likely to increase the risk of water-borne diseases. Poor conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have heightened the risk of diseases like cholera, with over 84,000 suspected cases in the country, according to UNICEF. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america Copyright 2024 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
IMAX Readying New Film Cameras For New Chris Nolan Movie “The Odyssey”
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