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777 jilievo ASPI Stock News: Shareholder Rights Law Firm Robbins LLP Urges ASP Isotopes Inc. Stockholders ...Article content Windsor police are asking for help in identifying a man spotted peering into a home on the city’s west end on Christmas Day. Police were called to the 400 block of Rankin Avenue shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 25, for a report of a prowler in progress. Officers learned that the suspect had been seen peering into the window of a residence where the complainant was changing. Police said the suspect fled the area after being confronted by the complainant’s father. The suspect was last seen in the 600 block of Rankin Avenue, according to authorities. Police said the suspect is described as a white male, between 20-30 years old, about six feet tall with a shaved head and a brown moustache. He was wearing a black T-shirt, blue skinny jeans and black running shoes with white soles at the time of the incident. is available on the Windsor Police Service’s social media accounts. The suspect is wanted for ‘harassment by watching’ and mischief interfering with lawful enjoyment.ZTE, DITO partner for TDD-MIMO technology

World leaders and American politicians have joined together in paying tribute to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter following his death at the age of 100. Remembered for brokering peace between Israel and Egypt, Carter also received the Nobel Peace Prize for his extensive humanitarian work. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden described Carter as an extraordinary leader and humanitarian who millions considered a dear friend. President-Elect Donald Trump noted the challenges Carter faced during his presidency and expressed gratitude for his efforts to improve American lives. Among those offering condolences were former Presidents and international leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who emphasized Carter's steadfast advocacy for the vulnerable and tireless fight for peace. From his civil rights work to his dedication to Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy Carter's legacy is one of profound service and commitment to a better future. (With inputs from agencies.)After Trump's Project 2025 denials, he is tapping its authors and influencers for key rolesArticle content Windsor police are asking for help in identifying a man spotted peering into a home on the city’s west end on Christmas Day. Police were called to the 400 block of Rankin Avenue shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 25, for a report of a prowler in progress. Officers learned that the suspect had been seen peering into the window of a residence where the complainant was changing. Police said the suspect fled the area after being confronted by the complainant’s father. The suspect was last seen in the 600 block of Rankin Avenue, according to authorities. Police said the suspect is described as a white male, between 20-30 years old, about six feet tall with a shaved head and a brown moustache. He was wearing a black T-shirt, blue skinny jeans and black running shoes with white soles at the time of the incident. is available on the Windsor Police Service’s social media accounts. The suspect is wanted for ‘harassment by watching’ and mischief interfering with lawful enjoyment.

Just a few years ago, Bitcoin ( BTC 1.21% ) reaching $100,000 seemed like a long shot -- but it happened. And now, the next potential target investors have their eyes on is $200,000. While I did predict Bitcoin would reach $100,000 in 2024, the reality is that no one knows exactly what will happen. We like to think markets are rational, but they aren't -- they're irrational. And adding to the complexity of prediction, this is crypto, so anything can happen. But that's not what you came here for. Admittedly, making price predictions for Bitcoin is inherently speculative, but hey, it's fun. To keep things grounded while examining the possibilities for Bitcoin in 2025, I'm going to analyze three key data points. The cyclical nature of Bitcoin Bitcoin has followed a remarkably consistent four-year cycle during the past 16 years, and so far, 2025 seems to be aligning with historical patterns. These cycles typically begin with a bear market (think 2022), where long-term believers accumulate Bitcoin at discounted prices. Next comes a year of modest recovery as momentum builds (2023). Then, the halving comes and reduces Bitcoin's issuance rate, sparking greater scarcity and catalyzing major gains (2024). Finally, the post-halving year (which would be 2025) sees widespread attention return to Bitcoin, with new investors piling in, often driving parabolic price increases. In 2024, Bitcoin has done exactly what it has in previous cycles -- recovered from its lows and rallied after the halving. This consistency suggests that 2025 may be no different. While assumptions based on historical patterns can be risky, they provide a solid base case until contrary evidence emerges. Evaluating post-halving performance Since it appears that Bitcoin is following its cyclical pattern, we can take a look at how Bitcoin fares in years after it undergoes a halving. As it turns out, post-halving years have historically been Bitcoin's strongest. On average, Bitcoin's price has jumped more than 400% during these years. If history repeats, a 400% gain from Bitcoin's price of about $100,000 would put it at roughly $500,000 by the end of 2025. I'll be the first to say this might be a bit tough for Bitcoin to reach. The crypto's price movements are less susceptible to giant gains as its market has grown. In other words, it takes more money to move Bitcoin 5% with its market cap of $2 trillion today, compared to when it was just $500 billion a few years ago. As a result of this dynamic, Bitcoin has a tendency to produce diminishing returns with each cycle that passes. The first cycle was the most explosive, and every cycle since has lost a little steam. There's no exact pattern to determine how much less each cycle will return, but a conservative estimate might be half the returns of the previous cycle. At this reduced rate, when measuring from its cycle bottom in November 2022, Bitcoin could reach $210,000. The game changer: Spot Bitcoin ETFs Admittedly, a $210,000 price tag sounds almost absurd. However, there's one significant development that could help it reach this lofty milestone -- spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) . These financial instruments got the green light for approval in January 2024 and let investors add Bitcoin exposure to pension funds, hedge funds, and 401(k)s via the stock market in an accessible and familiar way. This might not sound like a big deal, but the demand for these ETFs has been astonishing, especially when considering they aren't even a year old. In early 2024, spot Bitcoin ETFs were purchasing Bitcoin at rates over 10 times the daily issuance rate. This appetite for Bitcoin was a primary driver behind the crypto reaching a new all-time high before the halving, something it had never done before . Consider this: BlackRock 's iShares Bitcoin Trust became the fastest ETF in history to surpass $50 billion in assets under management (AUM), far outpacing the previous record holder. Combined, the 11 Bitcoin ETFs now collectively hold more Bitcoin than any individual entity, cementing their influence on the market. These ETFs represent a new X factor that could fundamentally alter Bitcoin's traditional cyclical dynamics. Their near-constant demand could provide a floor price for Bitcoin while amplifying upside potential during bull markets. What's the takeaway? Bitcoin's history provides compelling evidence that 2025 could be another banner year. Its cyclical nature suggests significant price appreciation in post-halving years, with a baseline estimate of about $100,000 and potential highs well above that if historical patterns hold true. Spot Bitcoin ETFs add a new layer of optimism, potentially supercharging demand. Unlike previous cycles, this influx of institutional money could make 2025 an outlier, where returns don't diminish as expected. As previously mentioned, predicting Bitcoin's price is always speculative. Yet with historical patterns aligning and institutional demand rising, the case for Bitcoin reaching $200,000 might be stronger than ever. But, like always, only time will tell.WASHINGTON (AP) — As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become Project 2025 as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * WASHINGTON (AP) — As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become Project 2025 as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? WASHINGTON (AP) — As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become Project 2025 as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. As the blueprint for a hard-right turn in America became a liability during the 2024 campaign, Trump pulled an about-face. He denied knowing anything about the “ridiculous and abysmal” plans written in part by his first-term aides and allies. Now, after being elected the 47th president on Nov. 5, Trump is stocking his second administration with key players in the detailed effort he temporarily shunned. Most notably, Trump has tapped Russell Vought for an encore as director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, his former immigration chief, as “border czar;” and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy. Those moves have accelerated criticisms from Democrats who warn that Trump’s election hands government reins to movement conservatives who spent years envisioning how to concentrate power in the West Wing and impose a starkly rightward shift across the U.S. government and society. Trump and his aides maintain that he won a mandate to overhaul Washington. But they maintain the specifics are his alone. “President Trump never had anything to do with Project 2025,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “All of President Trumps’ Cabinet nominees and appointments are whole-heartedly committed to President Trump’s agenda, not the agenda of outside groups.” Here is a look at what some of Trump’s choices portend for his second presidency. As budget chief, Vought envisions a sweeping, powerful perch The Office of Management and Budget director, a role Vought held under Trump previously and requires Senate confirmation, prepares a president’s proposed budget and is generally responsible for implementing the administration’s agenda across agencies. The job is influential but Vought made clear as author of a Project 2025 chapter on presidential authority that he wants the post to wield more direct power. “The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President’s mind,” Vought wrote. The OMB, he wrote, “is a President’s air-traffic control system” and should be “involved in all aspects of the White House policy process,” becoming “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” Trump did not go into such details when naming Vought but implicitly endorsed aggressive action. Vought, the president-elect said, “knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State” — Trump’s catch-all for federal bureaucracy — and would help “restore fiscal sanity.” In June, speaking on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Vought relished the potential tension: “We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.” Vought could help Musk and Trump remake government’s role and scope The strategy of further concentrating federal authority in the presidency permeates Project 2025’s and Trump’s campaign proposals. Vought’s vision is especially striking when paired with Trump’s proposals to dramatically expand the president’s control over federal workers and government purse strings — ideas intertwined with the president-elect tapping mega-billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency.” Trump in his first term sought to remake the federal civil service by reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers — who have job protection through changes in administration — as political appointees, making them easier to fire and replace with loyalists. Currently, only about 4,000 of the federal government’s roughly 2 million workers are political appointees. President Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s changes. Trump can now reinstate them. Meanwhile, Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s sweeping “efficiency” mandates from Trump could turn on an old, defunct constitutional theory that the president — not Congress — is the real gatekeeper of federal spending. In his “Agenda 47,” Trump endorsed so-called “impoundment,” which holds that when lawmakers pass appropriations bills, they simply set a spending ceiling, but not a floor. The president, the theory holds, can simply decide not to spend money on anything he deems unnecessary. Vought did not venture into impoundment in his Project 2025 chapter. But, he wrote, “The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.” Trump’s choice immediately sparked backlash. “Russ Vought is a far-right ideologue who has tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral authority he does not possess to override the spending decisions of Congress (and) who has and will again fight to give Trump the ability to summarily fire tens of thousands of civil servants,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and outgoing Senate Appropriations chairwoman. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, leading Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Vought wants to “dismantle the expert federal workforce” to the detriment of Americans who depend on everything from veterans’ health care to Social Security benefits. “Pain itself is the agenda,” they said. Homan and Miller reflect Trump’s and Project 2025’s immigration overl ap Trump’s protests about Project 2025 always glossed over overlaps in the two agendas. Both want to reimpose Trump-era immigration limits. Project 2025 includes a litany of detailed proposals for various U.S. immigration statutes, executive branch rules and agreements with other countries — reducing the number of refugees, work visa recipients and asylum seekers, for example. Miller is one of Trump’s longest-serving advisers and architect of his immigration ideas, including his promise of the largest deportation force in U.S. history. As deputy policy chief, which is not subject to Senate confirmation, Miller would remain in Trump’s West Wing inner circle. “America is for Americans and Americans only,” Miller said at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Oct. 27. “America First Legal,” Miller’s organization founded as an ideological counter to the American Civil Liberties Union, was listed as an advisory group to Project 2025 until Miller asked that the name be removed because of negative attention. Homan, a Project 2025 named contributor, was an acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during Trump’s first presidency, playing a key role in what became known as Trump’s “family separation policy.” Previewing Trump 2.0 earlier this year, Homan said: “No one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.” Project 2025 contributors slated for CIA and Federal Communications chiefs John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, was previously one of Trump’s directors of national intelligence. He is a Project 2025 contributor. The document’s chapter on U.S. intelligence was written by Dustin Carmack, Ratcliffe’s chief of staff in the first Trump administration. Reflecting Ratcliffe’s and Trump’s approach, Carmack declared the intelligence establishment too cautious. Ratcliffe, like the chapter attributed to Carmack, is hawkish toward China. Throughout the Project 2025 document, Beijing is framed as a U.S. adversary that cannot be trusted. Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, wrote Project 2025’s FCC chapter and is now Trump’s pick to chair the panel. Carr wrote that the FCC chairman “is empowered with significant authority that is not shared” with other FCC members. He called for the FCC to address “threats to individual liberty posed by corporations that are abusing dominant positions in the market,” specifically “Big Tech and its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square.” He called for more stringent transparency rules for social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and “empower consumers to choose their own content filters and fact checkers, if any.” Carr and Ratcliffe would require Senate confirmation for their posts. ___ Advertisement AdvertisementSources close to Donald Trump Jr. and fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle confirm they have split days after his President-elect father nominated Guilfoyle to serve as ambassador to Greece and on the heels Jr. getting cozy with a Florida socialite. The Trumps remain “enamored” with the 55-year-old former Fox News host, the ex-wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and businessman Eric Villency, an insider told People. “It’s a friendly split,” the source said of the exes’ ”very long engagement.” The pair got engaged in 2020 but didn’t make the news public until early 2022. Though the source praised the former prosecutor as “very intelligent, very smart, very loyal,” they said Guilfoyle is “very direct, very matter of fact” and, as a result, “not easy to deal with.” The insider added that Guilfoyle remains on good terms with her would-be father-in-law, as she knew the President-elect before she knew his son. “Even before she and Don were together, she was close with the family,” said the insider. “She knew Donald before she knew Don Jr., and that connection is strong. So nothing has changed.” Don Jr., 46, has recently been seen holding hands with Bettina Anderson, who the source says “would impress” Trump senior. “Don Jr. has always wanted to look good in his father’s eyes,” said the insider. “Someone like Bettina, who is and has been a model, and is in Waspy circles of Palm Beach is something that would impress him.” People reported earlier this week that the pair’s been seeing one another for “about six months,” while Don Jr. “was still very much with Kim.” The source who shared that said the dad of five “introduced [Anderson] around as his girlfriend” during that time. Pelosi has remained a major political force in the Democratic Party even after handing the Democratic baton in the House to Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who recently won a second two-year term as minority leader. She was credited with bulldozing President Biden into dropping his reelection bid after a dismal performance in a debate with President-elect Trump. The two Democratic allies admit they haven’t spoken since, a sign of continuing friction. — New York Daily NewsAleAnna, Inc. Announces Completion of Business Combination between Swiftmerge Acquisition Corp. and AleAnna Energy, LLC

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points and No. 6 Notre Dame defeated JuJu Watkins and third-ranked Southern California 74-61 on Saturday in a marquee matchup on the West Coast. Watkins and the Trojans (4-1) fell behind early and were down 21 points in the fourth quarter. She had 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. Hidalgo came out shooting well, hitting 5 of 8 from the floor in the first quarter and had 16 points at the break. She added six rebounds and eight assists. Hidalgo's backcourt mate, Olivia Miles, added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Fighting Irish (5-0). Even though Hidalgo outshone her, Watkins’ imprint was all over the game. A documentary about her life aired on NBC leading into the nationally televised game. A buzz arose when Snoop Dogg walked in shortly before tipoff wearing a jacket in USC colors with Watkins' name and number on the front and back. Her sister, Mali, sang the national anthem. Notre Dame: The Irish struck quickly, racing to a 20-10 lead in the opening quarter. Even after cooling off a bit, they never trailed and stayed poised when the Trojans got within three in the second and third quarters. USC: The Trojans were without starting guard Kennedy Smith, whose defense on Hidalgo would have proven valuable. It was announced shortly before tipoff that she had a surgical procedure and will return at some point this season. The Trojans got within three points three times but the Irish remained poised and never gave up the lead. Notre Dame's defense forced the Trojans into 21 turnovers, which led to 22 points for the Irish. Watkins, Kaleigh Heckel and Talia von Oelhoffen had five each. USC was just 1 of 13 from 3-point range Notre Dame plays TCU on Nov. 29 in the Cayman Islands Classic. USC plays Seton Hall in the Women's Acrisure Holiday Invitational on Nov. 27 in Palm Desert, California. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Flydubai, a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based budget airline, has suspended flights from Dubai to two Russian cities—Sochi and Mineralnye Vody—starting December 28 to January 5, 2025, because of security concerns. The announcement comes after Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 crashed near Aktau, killing 38 people and injuring 29 others on Wednesday, December 25, en route to Grozny, the Chechnya region’s capital. In a statement on Friday, December 27, the Association of Russian Tour Operators said that the suspension will affects over 2,000 passengers, 90 percent of whom are clients of tour operators, the Anadolu Agency (AA) reported. The tour operators are actively working to rectify the disruption, it added. In addition, Kazakh airline ‘Qazaq Air’ has temporarily suspended flights between Astana and Yekaterinburg for a month. due to security concerns. Following the suspension of flights from Baku to Grozy and Makhachkala on Wednesday, Azerbaijan Airlines said on Friday that it would also discontinue service to eight further Russian destinations. Azerbaijan Airlines is halting services to Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, and Vladikavkaz.

Specialty Board Certification Error Causes Headaches for Doctors MedPage Today story. Some doctors had a sleepless night when the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology's (ABPN) online certification program locked them out earlier than the expected deadline -- leading some to believe they would lose their board certification. Physicians were working on their quizzes to maintain board certification late on the evening of Saturday, Dec. 14, when the online tool shut down -- ahead of the expected deadline of 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, Dec. 15. "I almost had a heart attack thinking that I would no longer be board certified," one physician told MedPage Today. "I was laying in bed at 4 a.m. with chest pain. I thought I was either going to have a heart attack or a panic attack." By the morning of Dec. 15, some physicians had taken to social media channels, posting that... ABC News

Few presidents have come as far as fast in national politics as Jimmy Carter . In 1974, he was nearing the end of his single term as governor of Georgia when he told the world he wanted to be president. Two years later, he was the president-elect. Although his name recognition nationally was only 2% at the time of his announcement, Carter believed he could meet enough people personally to make a strong showing in the early presidential caucuses and primaries. He embarked on a 37-state tour, making more than 200 speeches before any of the other major candidates had announced. When voting began in Iowa and New Hampshire in the winter of 1976, Carter emerged the winner in both states. He rode that momentum all the way to the presidential nomination and held on to win a close contest in the general election. His career as a highly active former president lasted four full decades and ended only with his death Sunday in his hometown of Plains, Ga. He was 100 and had lived longer than any other U.S. president, battling cancer in both his brain and liver in his 90s. A life that bridged political eras James Earl Carter Jr. was the 39th U.S. president, elected as a Democrat displacing the incumbent Republican, Gerald Ford, in 1976. Carter would serve a single tumultuous term in the White House, beset by inflation, energy shortages, intraparty challenges and foreign crises. But he managed to win the nomination for a second term. He lost his bid for reelection to Republican Ronald Reagan in a landslide in 1980. Thereafter, he worked with Habitat for Humanity and traveled the globe as an indefatigable advocate for peace and human rights. He was given the U.N. Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1998 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Carter was the first president from the Deep South elected since the Civil War. He entered politics at a time when Democrats still dominated in his home state and region. He had begun his career as a naval officer in the submarine corps, but in 1953 he left the service to take over the family peanut business when his father died. He later served four years in Georgia's state legislature before making his first bid for governor in 1966. In that contest, he finished behind another Democrat, Lester Maddox, a populist figure known for brandishing a pickax handle to confront civil rights protesters outside his Atlanta restaurant. Carter shared much of the traditional white Southern cultural identity. But he was also noted for his support for integration and the Civil Rights Movement led by fellow Georgian Martin Luther King Jr. Four years after losing to Maddox, Carter was elected his successor and declared in his inaugural speech that "the time for racial discrimination is over." Time magazine would feature him on its cover four months later, making him a symbol of the "New South." And as his term as governor ended, he was all in on a presidential bid. But he did not burst onto the national stage so much as he crept up onto it, appearing before small groups in farming communities and elsewhere far from the big media centers. A meteoric rise to the White House Beyond his earnest image and rhetoric, Carter also had a savvy game plan based on the new presidential nominating rules that the Democratic Party had adopted in the early 1970s. Carter's team, led by campaign manager Hamilton Jordan, mastered this new road map, with Carter climbing from a strong showing in the still-new Iowa caucuses to a clean win in New Hampshire's primary. So though in January 1976 he was the first choice of only 4% of Democrats nationally, he won the first two events and leveraged that attention to capture the imagination of voters in other regions. Carter shut out segregationist champion George Wallace in the Southern primaries and also dominated in the industrial states of the North and Midwest. Democrats held 48 primaries or caucuses around the United States that year, and Carter won 30, with no other candidate winning more than five. Wherever he went, he was able to connect with rural voters and evangelicals wherever they were to be found — doing well in big cities but also in the sparsely populated parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. While Carter's juggernaut lost momentum in the summer and fall, with Republican President Gerald Ford nearly closing the polling gap by Election Day, the Georgian held on to win 50% of the popular vote in November. By winning in his home state and everywhere else in the South (save only Virginia) while holding on to enough of the key population centers in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions, Carter was able to cobble together nearly 300 Electoral College votes without winning California, Illinois or Michigan. Troubles in office The surprisingly modest margin of Carter's victory over Ford augured more difficulties ahead. And as well as the Carter persona may have suited the national mood in 1976, it did not fit well in the Washington he found in 1977. All presidential candidates who "run against Washington" find it necessary to adjust their tactics if and when they are elected. But the former peanut farmer and his campaign staff known as the "Georgia mafia" never seemed to lose faith in the leverage they thought they had as outsiders. Almost immediately upon taking office, Carter encountered difficulties with various power centers in Congress. He and his tight circle of aides brought along from Georgia and the campaign were not attuned to congressional customs or prerogatives, and a variety of their agenda priorities ran afoul of their own party's preferences. A case in point was a "hit list" of Western water projects that the Carterites regarded as needless pork barrel spending. For a raft of Democratic senators and representatives facing reelection in thirsty states and districts, the list came as a declaration of war. Although Congress fought Carter to a draw on the projects, many of these Western seats would be lost to Republican challengers in 1978 and 1980. Carter did have signal successes in brokering a historic peace deal between Israel and Egypt and in securing Senate ratification of his treaties ceding the Panama Canal to Panama. He also managed to achieve significant reforms in regulations — especially those affecting energy production and transportation — that would eventually lower consumer prices. Carter had taken office amid historically high inflation and energy prices that had persisted since the Arab oil embargo of 1973. Carter appointed a new chair of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, whose tight money policies eventually tamed inflation but also triggered a recession and the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression. Along the way, there was more grief on the oil front as Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979 caused not only a price spike but long lines at the pump — worse than in 1973. Carter and the Democrats paid a price, suffering more than the usual losses for the president's party in the 1978 midterm elections, which greatly reduced Democratic margins in both the House and the Senate. Yet the Iranian crisis had even worse consequences. The revolution saw the overthrow of the Shah, a longtime ally of the U.S., and the installation of a stern theocratic regime led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a fierce critic of the United States. When Carter agreed to grant the Shah a visa to receive cancer treatments in the U.S., young followers of the ayatollah overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran . Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage for 444 days. Carter's efforts to free them were unavailing. An airborne raid intended to free them ended in catastrophe in the Iranian desert, leaving eight U.S. service members dead after a collision of aircraft on the ground. Afghanistan becomes an issue Yet another blow was dealt to Carter's standing when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to prop up its client regime there. Opposing that aggression was popular, but Carter's decision to retaliate by having the U.S. boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow was less so. Carter was able to use the hostage crisis to his advantage in suppressing the challenge to his nomination mounted by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Carter refused to debate Kennedy and made the primaries a kind of referendum on the Iranian situation. Enough Democrats rallied to his side that Kennedy's bid, a favorite cause of liberal activists and organized labor, fell far short. Still, it contributed to the weakness of Carter's standing in the general election. And what had worked against a challenger from the Democratic left did not work when Carter faced one from the Republican right. Ronald Reagan was a former two-term governor of California who had sought the nomination twice before, and he did not begin 1980 as the consensus choice of his party. But he wove a complex set of issues into a fabric with broad appeal. He proposed sweeping tax cuts as a tonic for the economy, more spending on defense, a more aggressive foreign policy and, just as important, a return to the traditional values of "faith, freedom, family, work and neighborhood." He also opposed abortion and busing for racial integration and favored school prayer — the three hottest buttons in social policy at the time. After a come-from-behind win in New Hampshire and a sweep of the Southern primaries, Reagan never looked back. His triumph at the Republican National Convention in Detroit set the tone for his campaign. The election looked close at Labor Day and even into October. But the single debate the two camps agreed to , held on Oct. 28, 1980, the week before the election, was a clear win for the challenger. Carter failed in his attempts to paint Reagan as an extremist. The Republican managed to be reassuring and upbeat even as he kept up his attacks on Carter's handling of the economy and on the rest of Carter's record. The polls broke sharply in the final days, and in November, Reagan captured nearly all the Southern states that Carter had carried four years earlier and won the 1980 presidential election with 489 Electoral College votes. Carter conceded before the polls had even closed on the West Coast. Reassessment in retrospect Historians have generally not rated Carter's presidency highly, and he left office with his Gallup poll approval rating in the low 30s. But there has been a steady upward trajectory in assessments of his presidency in recent years, and his Gallup approval rating has climbed back above 50% and has remained there among the public at large. This reflects the work of several Carter biographers and former aides and the natural comparison with the presidents who have followed him. In 2018, Stuart E. Eizenstat, Carter's chief domestic policy adviser, published President Carter: The White House Years , which historians have praised both as a primary source and as an assessment of Carter's term. In it, Eizenstat wrote that Carter "was not a great president, but he was a good and productive one. He delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office. He was a man of almost unyielding principle. Yet his greatest virtue was at once his most serious fault for a president in an American democracy of divided powers." As far back as 2000, historian Douglas Brinkley wrote that in the first 20 years after Carter lost the presidency, he had become "renowned the world over as the epitome of the caring, compassionate, best sort of American statesman ... an exemplar of behavior for all national leaders in retirement." A new life out of office But the greatest factor in Carter's rising reputation was his own performance in his post-presidential career. He worked with Habitat for Humanity to rehabilitate homes for low-income families. He taught at Emory University and established his own nonprofit, the Carter Center . And over the ensuing decades, he published more than two dozen books and became an international advocate for peace, democratic reforms and humanitarian causes. As former president, Carter did not shy from controversy, particularly when it came to the Middle East, the region that gave him his greatest foreign policy achievement and also his most damaging setback as president. He opposed the Gulf War in 1991 and the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and he angered many when he likened Israel's treatment of Palestinians to apartheid in South Africa. He also riled many Americans by suggesting that opposition to President Barack Obama was rooted in racism. More recently, he earned new admirers and detractors alike with his public disapproval of then-President Donald Trump.

According to the new draft deal, developed nations should pay US$300 billion a year by 2035 to help poorer countries deal with climate change. BAKU - Countries agreed on Nov 24 to an annual finance target of US$300 billion (S$404 billion) to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of climate change, with rich countries leading the payments, according to a hard fought deal clinched at the COP29 conference in Baku. The new goal is intended to replace developed countries’ previous commitment to provide US$100 billion per year in climate finance for poorer nations by 2020. That goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025. Developed nations should pay US$300 billion a year by 2035 to help poorer countries deal with climate change, after an earlier target of US$250 billion was rejected. Reuters previously reported that the European Union, the United States and others wealthy countries would support the US$300 billion annual global finance target in an effort to end a deadlock at the two-week summit. The COP29 climate conference in the Azerbaijan capital Baku had been due to finish on Nov 22, but ran into overtime as negotiators from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach consensus on the climate funding plan for the next decade. At one point delegates from poor and small island nations walked out of talks in frustration over what they called a lack of inclusion, and amid concerns fossil fuel producing countries were seeking to water down aspects of the deal. The summit cut to the heart of the debate over the financial responsibility of industrialized countries, whose historical use of fossil fuels has caused the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions, to compensate others for the damage wrought by climate change. It also laid bare the divisions between wealthy governments constrained by tight domestic budgets and developing nations reeling from the costs of worsening storms, floods and droughts. Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad told Reuters he was optimistic for an eventual agreement in Baku. “When it comes to money it’s always controversial but we are expecting a deal tonight,” he said. The new goal is intended to replace developed countries’ previous commitment to provide US$100 billion per year in climate finance for poorer nations by 2020. That goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025. A previous US$250 billion proposal drawn up by Azerbaijan’s COP29 presidency was rejected as too low by poorer countries, which have warned a weak deal would hinder their ability to set more ambitious greenhouse gas emissions cutting targets. Countries also agreed on Nov 23 on rules for a global market to buy and sell carbon credits that proponents say could mobilise billions more dollars into new projects to help fight global warming, from reforestation to deployment of clean energy technologies. What counts as developed nation? Negotiators have been working to address other questions on the finance target, including who is asked to contribute and how much of the funding is provided as grants, rather than loans. The roster of countries required to contribute - about two dozen industrialised countries, including the US, European nations and Canada - dates back to a list decided during UN climate talks in 1992. European governments have demanded others join them in paying in, including China, the world’s second-biggest economy, and oil-rich Gulf states. Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory in November has also cast a cloud over the Baku talks. Trump, who takes office in January, has promised to again remove the US from international climate cooperation, so negotiators from other wealthy nations expect that under his administration the world’s largest economy will not pay into the climate finance goal. A broader goal of raising US$1.3 trillion in climate finance annually by 2035 - which would include funding from all public and private sources and which economists say matches the sum needed - was included in the draft deal. REUTERS Find out more about climate change and how it could affect you on the ST microsite here. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel now

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Related Articles National Politics | Elon Musk’s preschool is the next step in his anti-woke education dreams National Politics | Trump’s picks for top health jobs not just team of rivals but ‘team of opponents’ National Politics | Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus National Politics | Biden vetoes once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal judgeships, citing ‘hurried’ House action National Politics | A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims. Biden said converting their punishments to life imprisonment was consistent with the moratorium imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. “Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” he wrote on his social media site. “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!” Presidents historically have no involvement in dictating or recommending the punishments that federal prosecutors seek for defendants in criminal cases, though Trump has long sought more direct control over the Justice Department’s operations. The president-elect wrote that he would direct the department to pursue the death penalty “as soon as I am inaugurated,” but was vague on what specific actions he may take and said they would be in cases of “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.” He highlighted the cases of two men who were on federal death row for slaying a woman and a girl, had admitted to killing more and had their sentences commuted by Biden. On the campaign trail, Trump often called for expanding the federal death penalty — including for those who kill police officers, those convicted of drug and human trafficking, and migrants who kill U.S. citizens. “Trump has been fairly consistent in wanting to sort of say that he thinks the death penalty is an important tool and he wants to use it,” said Douglas Berman, an expert on sentencing at Ohio State University’s law school. “But whether practically any of that can happen, either under existing law or other laws, is a heavy lift.” Berman said Trump’s statement at this point seems to be just a response to Biden’s commutation. “I’m inclined to think it’s still in sort of more the rhetoric phase. Just, ‘don’t worry. The new sheriff is coming. I like the death penalty,’” he said. Most Americans have historically supported the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to decades of annual polling by Gallup, but support has declined over the past few decades. About half of Americans were in favor in an October poll, while roughly 7 in 10 Americans backed capital punishment for murderers in 2007. Before Biden’s commutation, there were 40 federal death row inmates compared with more than 2,000 who have been sentenced to death by states. “The reality is all of these crimes are typically handled by the states,” Berman said. A question is whether the Trump administration would try to take over some state murder cases, such as those related to drug trafficking or smuggling. He could also attempt to take cases from states that have abolished the death penalty. Berman said Trump’s statement, along with some recent actions by states, may present an effort to get the Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that considers the death penalty disproportionate punishment for rape. “That would literally take decades to unfold. It’s not something that is going to happen overnight,” Berman said. Before one of Trump’s rallies on Aug. 20, his prepared remarks released to the media said he would announce he would ask for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers. But Trump never delivered the line. One of the men Trump highlighted on Tuesday was ex-Marine Jorge Avila Torrez, who was sentenced to death for killing a sailor in Virginia and later pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old girl in a suburban Chicago park several years before. The other man, Thomas Steven Sanders, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana, days after shooting the girl’s mother in a wildlife park in Arizona. Court records show he admitted to both killings. Some families of victims expressed anger with Biden’s decision, but the president had faced pressure from advocacy groups urging him to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The ACLU and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were some of the groups that applauded the decision. Biden left three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018 , the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Michelle L. Price and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

Bauchi Governor Signs N467 Billion 2025 Budget Into Law After Legislative ReviewBengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s home was broken into Monday night while he played against the Cowboys, the latest in a series of thefts committed during games. Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce had their homes broken into the day before a game and then the day of a game in October. Bears players said they plan on being cautious when the team plays on “Monday Night Football.” “It was happening before, but now it’s happening to big names and it’s a big matter,” receiver DJ Moore said Friday. “So, I’m taking it serious. ...You definitely have to worry about it.” Tight end Cole Kmet, the team’s NFLPA representative, said that the Bears security staff offers services to their players, be it actual guards or technology, when they’re on the road. The union also offers discounts for home security systems, he said. “Things are very accessible nowadays in terms of being able to look things up, where people live ...” Kmet said. “[It’s] definitely something that as a player you’ve gotta be aware of, because I would say at this point everyone kinda knows your schedule. They know when the house is occupied and when it’s not. It’s unfortunate, but it’s part of the deal.” Moore warned that he has a premium security system. “My house is wired like the Bat-cave,” he said. “You ain’t getting in. If you touch the house, the alarm goes off.” Hoke on Tyrique One day after cornerback Tyrique Stevenson said he didn’t want his Fail Mary gaffe to define him, cornerbacks coach Jon Hoke said he had a lot to deal with in the aftermath of the Commanders’ game-winning touchdown. “Let’s be honest: It’s a tough one, especially in this city where football matters,” Hoke said. “He gets introduced the next game and he gets booed and all that. It’s tough.” Hoke acknowledged the effect of the gaffe— “We had some tough games after that,” he said — but said sensed that Stevenson’s teammates remained supportive. “Players are truly forgiving of teammates, they really are,” he said. “That’s what make it unique about sport, is they do protect each other.” Swift still out Running back D’Andre Swift missed his second consecutive practice because of a groin injury but offensive coordinator Chris Beatty expects him to practice Saturday. “It’s one of those things where we are just trying to be prudent with it and also be able to be prepared for however the game presents itself,” he said. “I think he will be able to do what he does, but we are also prepared whatever way that may go.” Other Bears players who missed practice were guard Ryan Bates (concussion), defensive tackle Gervon Dexter (knee), running back Roschon Johnson (concussion) and tight end Marcedes Lewis (veteran rest). Cornerback Josh Blackwell (shoulder) was upgraded to limited. Safety Elijah Hicks (ankle) was limited, too. Notes • Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower called former Bears kicker Robbie Gould, who was named the head coach at St. Viator this week, “as detailed as a person I have ever been around.” Kmet, who went to St. Viator, said he was excited by the development. “It’ll be cool to see,” he said. “I’ll be rooting Robbie on heavily here.” • Kmet declared U.S. Bank Stadium his favorite, saying it “feels like you’re in a ‘Game of Thrones’ set.” Reminded that Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren helped build it, Kmet said he’d like one of his own. “That one’s pretty beautiful,” he said. “So yeah, hopefully something like that.” • The Vikings had one player not practice Friday: cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who has a hamstring problem.

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