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Donald Trump to be welcomed by new debt limit? Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen drops new bombshell

Perth Labor MP Sam Lim blames ‘scary’ misinformation for fake Whatsapp post over Anthony AlbaneseFOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Drake Maye’s arrival in New England coincided with a wholesale reset for the Patriots franchise following the departure of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Mac Jones this past offseason. In his eight starts since assuming the reins from veteran Jacoby Brissett, the rookie quarterback has provided encouraging examples of what the Patriots’ revamped front office saw in selecting him third overall in the draft last April. While the Patriots enter their bye week with a 3-10 record and just 2-6 with Maye as the starter, both the coaching staff and his teammates feel they have a quarterback they can build around going forward. “I’m just trying to take it one day at a time, one game at a time,” Maye said this week. “I’m trying to learn from negative experiences or negative plays, learn from turnovers, learn from sacks that I take and see if I can get the ball out and do something better. That’s probably the biggest thing. "Hopefully, the work that we’re putting in and the product that we’re putting out can lead to some positive plays and some positive wins down the road.” Maye is coming off his best statistical performance of the season, completing a season best 80% of his passes (24 of 30) for a season-high 238 yards and a touchdown in New England’s 25-24 loss to Indianapolis. He also had a 41-yard run, showing off a running ability that has him averaging 9.1 yards per carry – best among quarterbacks who have played at least nine games. Maye did have one interception off a tipped ball, but showed his best command of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s scheme to date, spreading the ball around to six different players and consistently getting the Patriots into the red zone. The rub is that the Patriots were just 2 of 6 once they got there, including four trips inside the 10-yard line that yielded only one TD. Lackluster play in the red zone has been a hindrance for a unit that ranks 30th in the NFL in scoring touchdowns inside the 20. Maye said it will be one of his main focal points over the final four games. “It’s tough to go out like that,” Maye said. “You can’t win games going four drives in the red zone that end in field goals. We’ve got to focus in on that. I think that’s been an emphasis of improvement for this offense. We know you have to score touchdowns to win in this league.” Though coach Jerod Mayo agrees there is room for improvement for Maye, he also pointed out that the pieces around him need to do a better job supporting him as well. He pointed specifically to the offensive line, singling out rookie left guard Layden Robinson and rookie tackle Caedan Wallace, as well as fellow lineman and 2022 first-round pick Cole Strange, who is working his way back from a knee injury. “You need a guy like Layden Robinson to show what he can do. We need a guy like Cole Strange before the end of the season to see what he can do,” Mayo said. “You can use Caedan in that same bucket. We need to see what the receivers can do and what they’re going to look like going forward, and that’s the hard part for me. You want to win right now, but at the same time, I think it would be a disservice to go to the end of the season and not know exactly what we have.” That’s not lost on Robinson, who wants to play better for his quarterback who he said has grown exponentially as a leader since earning the starting job. “He always has that confidence about him and you know how he takes control of the huddle,” Robinson said. “He gets in there, and he’s like, ‘All right, let’s go to work,’ basically. We rally behind him.” Results aside, Van Pelt said there are no regrets about initially waiting to elevate Maye to the starting job. “Absolutely not. I think we had the plan going into place, and I think that it’s showing now that that was a good decision for us,” Van Pelt said. “Would he be as developed had he started the first game? Maybe. Could’ve gone the other way as well. I stated in the spring, this is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. "This is about a career, franchise quarterback, and we’re trying to develop him in the right way. And I feel like we did it that way.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

What to know about Scott Turner, Trump's pick for housing secretaryAn Idaho teenager has been arrested after the body of an infant was found last month at a hospital in a box meant for people to anonymously give up a newborn. According to the Blackfoot Police Department, an 18-year-old from Twin Falls, about 130 miles southeast of Boise, had been arrested there and booked into the Bingham County Jail. She was arrested on a felony arrest warrant for failing to report a death to law enforcement officials and the coroner, police said. Police in Blackfoot responded to a report Oct. 13 of a dead baby left at Grove Creek Medical Center. Safe Haven Baby Boxes founder Monica Kelsey has said hospital staff responded immediately to an alarm indicating a baby was in the box and realized that the infant had died before being placed inside. Idaho law only allows for the surrender of an infant who is unharmed. "The Safe Haven Baby Box is intended to safely and anonymously allow custodial parents to surrender a newborn under 30 days old without legal repercussions, provided the child is unharmed," police said in the social media post. "Unfortunately, the placement of a harmed or deceased infant is not protected under this system or Idaho law." The baby had been wrapped in a blanket, and the placenta was still attached, Kelsey said previously. Police declined to release additional information. More charges are possible. This report includes information from The Associated Press.Published 4:15 pm Saturday, December 28, 2024 By Data Skrive Josh Oliver was a full participant in his most recent practice, and looks on track to play in the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 17 game against the Green Bay Packers (at 4:25 PM ET on Sunday). Seeking Oliver’s stats? Here’s everything you need to know. In the passing game, Oliver has been targeted 25 times, with season stats of 242 yards on 20 receptions (12.1 per catch) and three TDs. Don’t miss a touchdown this NFL season. Catch every score with NFL RedZone on Fubo. What is Fubo? Fubo is a streaming service that gives you access to your favorite live sports and shows on demand. Sign up today and watch seven hours of commercial-free football from every NFL game every Sunday. BetMGM is one of the most trusted Sportsbooks in the nation. Start with as little as $1 and place your bets today . Catch NFL action all season long on Fubo. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .

Charleston Southern’s disappointing football season ended on Saturday as the Bucs lost at Florida State, 41-7. CSU finishes the season with a 1-11 record, losing their final 10 games after a win over Furman in week two of the regular season. The Bucs hung tough early, trailing only 3-0 with five minutes left in the first half. The Seminoles, however, scored two touchdowns in the final 4:05 of the second quarter to take a 17-0 lead at the break. Charleston Southern wraps up season at Florida State “Really proud of the way our guys competed. The moment was not too big for them,” CSU coach Gabe Giardina said. “I thought we showed the right kind of character and I was impressed with how we competed. “It’s been a season of near misses, losing five games by five points or less, but this team has been a joy to coach because of how they came to work every day.” CSU’s lone touchdown came with 57 seconds left in the game when Kaleb Jackson and tight end Landon Sauers combined on a seven-yard pass. CSU loses in overtime to Eastern Illinois; fall to 1-10 Jackson finished the game with 221 passing yards, completing 22-of-32 passes. Chris Rhone had 60 yards on three receptions. The Bucs totaled 275 yards in offense for the game as the Seminoles limited CSU to only 57 yards rushing. Davion Williams led CSU’s defensive effort with eight tackles, a sack, and two tackles for loss. No-surrender Buccaneers face final 2 games on road “We gave up some big plays in the second half but I thought we competed at a high level defensively in the first half,” Giardina said. “Our guys fought their butts off, just like they have all season.”WASHINGTON (AP) — It's DOGE time at the U.S. Capitol. Billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy arrived Thursday on Capitol Hill meeting with legislators behind closed doors about President-elect Donald Trump's plans to “dismantle” the federal government. Trump tapped the two business titans to head his Department of Government Efficiency , tasked with firing federal workers , cutting government programs and slashing federal regulations — all part of what he calls his "Save America" agenda for a second term in the White House. “We're going to see a lot of change around here in Washington,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson , as Musk, with a small child on his shoulders, breezed by and into the private meeting. Washington has seen this before, with ambitious efforts to reduce the size and scope of the federal government that historically have run into resistance when the public is confronted with cuts to trusted programs that millions of Americans depend on for jobs, health care, military security and everyday needs. But this time Trump is staffing his administration with battle-tested architects of sweeping proposals, some outlined in Project 2025 , to severely reduce and reshape the government. Musk and Ramaswamy said they plan to work alongside the White House's Office of Management and Budget, headed by Trump's nominee Russ Vought, a mastermind of past cuts . “DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal . “We are prepared for the onslaught.” The duo, invited for what Johnson called a “brainstorming” session as they begin this “journey” together, face a first test in private with House and Senate lawmakers — some eager to hear what they have in mind. “I am fired up to go out and do something,” said Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., who joined with Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, in launching what they are calling the DOGE caucus in the House, with more than 50 Republicans and two Democratic members. Bean said the DOGE caucus will unveil an email tip line where people can report wasteful spending. He also envisions a scoreboard of sorts that people can view on a website showing “how many positions we’ve cut, agencies we’ve cut, what the actual number is.” In the Senate, Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have launched a similar caucus. “I think that’ll be a great start to the whole process,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who will chair a House Oversight subcommittee in the new year as part of “building the bridge between Congress and DOGE.” While neither Musk nor Ramaswamy have much public service experience, they bring track records in private business — Musk's operations have vast government contracts — and enthusiasm for Trump's agenda, having campaigned alongside him in the final stretch of the election. The world's richest man, Musk poured millions into a get-out-the-vote effort to help the former president return to the White House. He is known politically for having transformed the popular social media site formerly known as Twitter into X, a platform embraced by Trump's MAGA enthusiasts. Despite its name, the Department of Government Efficiency is neither a department nor part of the government, which frees Musk and Ramaswamy from having to go through the typical ethics and background checks required for federal employment. They said they will not be paid for their work. One good-government group has said that DOGE, as a presidential advisory panel, should be expected to adhere to traditional practices of transparency, equal representation and public input — as happened with similar advisory entities from the Reagan to the Obama administrations. The Federal Advisory Committee Act “is designed expressly for situations like this," wrote Lisa Gilbert and Robert Weissman, the co-chairs of Public Citizen in a letter to the Trump transition team. "If the government is going to turn to unelected and politically unaccountable persons to make recommendations as grand as $2 trillion in budget cuts, it must ensure those recommendations come from a balanced and transparent process not rigged to benefit insiders.” The nation's $6 trillion federal budget routinely runs a deficit, which this year ran $1.8 trillion, a historic high, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It has not been balanced since the Clinton administration more than two decades ago. Republicans generally blame what they see as exorbitant spending for the deficit, while Democrats point to tax cuts enacted under Republican presidents Trump and George W. Bush as the major driver. Receipts last year as a percentage of gross domestic product came in just below the average for the past 50 years, while outlays were equal to 23.4% of GDP, compared to the 50-year average of 21.1% Some of the biggest increases in spending last year occurred with politically popular programs that lawmakers will be reticent to touch. For example, spending on Social Security benefits went up 8%, Medicare outlays increased 9%, spending on defense went up 7% and spending on veterans health care rose 14%, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he would like to see Musk testify before the House Armed Services Committee on the “bloated defense budget.” “I’d like to see Elon recommend some cuts. Let’s have him testify,” Khanna said. He said he’s open to hearing proposals on non-defense spending, but was skeptical. “If they find waste, maybe, but in terms of big numbers, I mean, no one is going to allow for cutting education funding for special needs kids and for low-income schools, or for cutting Social Security and Medicare,” Khanna said. “If they want to do that, they’re going to hand us a landslide in 2026.”Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield calls off plan to cap anesthesia coverage in at least one state