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De La Rosa scores 27 points as Columbia tops Fairfield 85-72Abortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet. It's now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door for states to implement bans. The policies and their impact have been in flux ever since the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Here's a look at data on where things stand: Overturning Roe and enforcing abortion bans has changed how woman obtain abortions in the U.S. But one thing it hasn't done is put a dent in the number of abortions being obtained. There have been slightly more monthly abortions across the country recently than there were in the months leading up to the June 2022 ruling, even as the number in states with bans dropped to near zero. “Abortion bans don’t actually prevent abortions from happening,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a public health social scientist at the University of California San Francisco. But, she said, they do change care. For women in some states, there are major obstacles to getting abortions — and advocates say that low-income, minority and immigrant women are least likely to be able to get them when they want. For those living in states with bans, the ways to access abortion are through travel or abortion pills. As the bans swept in, abortion pills became a bigger part of the equation. They were involved in about half the abortions before Dobbs. More recently, it’s been closer to two-thirds of them, according to research by the Guttmacher Institute. The uptick of that kind of abortion, usually involving a combination of two drugs, was underway before the ruling. But now, it's become more common for pill prescriptions to be made by telehealth. By the summer of 2024, about 1 in 10 abortions was via pills prescribed via telehealth to patients in states where abortion is banned. As a result, the pills are now at the center of battles over abortion access. This month, Texas sued a New York doctor for prescribing pills to a Texas woman via telemedicine. There's also an effort by Idaho, Kansas and Missouri to roll back their federal approvals and treat them as “controlled dangerous substances,” and a push for the federal government to start enforcing a 19th-century federal law to ban mailing them. Clinics have closed or halted abortions in states with bans. But a network of efforts to get women seeking abortions to places where they're legal has strengthened and travel for abortion is now common. The Guttmacher Institute found that more than twice as many Texas residents obtained abortion in 2023 in New Mexico as New Mexico residents did. And as many Texans received them in Kansas as Kansans. Abortion funds, which benefitted from “rage giving” in 2022, have helped pay the costs for many abortion-seekers. But some funds have had to cap how much they can give . Since the downfall of Roe, the actions of lawmakers and courts have kept shifting where abortion is legal and under what conditions. Here's where it stands now: Florida, the nation’s third most-populous state, began enforcing a ban on abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy on May 1. That immediately changed the state from one that was a refuge for other Southerners seeking abortion to an exporter of people looking for them. There were about 30% fewer abortions there in May compared with the average for the first three months of the year. And in June, there were 35% fewer. While the ban is not unique, the impact is especially large. The average driving time from Florida to a facility in North Carolina where abortion is available for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is more than nine hours, according to data maintained by Caitlin Myers, a Middlebury College economics professor. The bans have meant clinics closed or stopped offering abortions in some states. But some states where abortion remains legal until viability – generally considered to be sometime past 21 weeks of pregnancy , though there’s no fixed time for it – have seen clinics open and expand . Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico are among the states with new clinics. There were 799 publicly identifiable abortion providers in the U.S. in May 2022, the month before the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. And by this November, it was 792, according to a tally by Myers, who is collecting data on abortion providers. But Myers says some hospitals that always provided some abortions have begun advertising it. So they’re now in the count of clinics – even though they might provide few of them. How hospitals handle pregnancy complications , especially those that threaten the lives of the women, has emerged as a major issue since Roe was overturned. President Joe Biden's administration says hospitals must offer abortions when they're needed to prevent organ loss, hemorrhage or deadly infections, even in states with bans. Texas is challenging the administration’s policy and the U.S. Supreme Court this year declined to take it up after the Biden administration sued Idaho. More than 100 pregnant women seeking help in emergency rooms and were turned away or left unstable since 2022, The Associated Press found in an analysis of federal hospital investigative records. Among the complaints were a woman who miscarried in the lobby restroom of Texas emergency room after staff refused to see her and a woman who gave birth in a car after a North Carolina hospital couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died. “It is increasingly less safe to be pregnant and seeking emergency care in an emergency department,” Dara Kass, an emergency medicine doctor and former U.S. Health and Human Services official told the AP earlier this year. Since Roe was overturned, there have been 18 reproductive rights-related statewide ballot questions. Abortion rights advocates have prevailed on 14 of them and lost on four. In the 2024 election , they amended the constitutions in five states to add the right to abortion. Such measures failed in three states: In Florida, where it required 60% support; in Nebraska, which had competing abortion ballot measures; and in South Dakota, where most national abortion rights groups did support the measure. AP VoteCast data found that more than three-fifths of voters in 2024 supported abortion being legal in all or most cases – a slight uptick from 2020. The support came even as voters supported Republicans to control the White House and both houses of Congress. Associated Press writers Linley Sanders, Amanda Seitz and Laura Ungar contributed to this article.Vice President Kamala Harris, after her presidential bid ended in defeat, has headed for a brief vacation in Hawaii. Harris arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday evening with her husband Doug Emhoff for a nearly weeklong stay, according to reports. Assembly Election Results Live Updates Maharashtra Election Results Jharkhand Election Results Bypoll Election Results Details of the Trip and FAA Restrictions The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed temporary flight restrictions for "VIP Movement" starting from 7:15 p.m. Tuesday through to noon on Monday, covering Kona and Waimea regions. These restrictions are typically put in place to ensure the security of high-profile individuals. Kamala Harris Role and Senate Involvement Despite her trip, Harris has remained on standby to fulfill her constitutional duties as President of the Senate. She retains the power to cast a tie-breaking vote, which could prove crucial, especially for judicial confirmations. Reports from NBC News revealed that Harris delayed her trip to be available if her vote was needed to confirm judges in a final attempt to challenge President-elect Donald Trump. Also Read : US stock market forecast: Will S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq continue positive trend? Hawaii’s Voting Results and Kamala Harris' Win In the November 5 General Election, Harris won Hawaii's four electoral votes. She secured 60.6% of the total vote in the state, compared to 37.5% for Donald Trump. 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FAQs: Why is Kamala Harris going on vacation? Kamala Harris is taking a brief vacation to Hawaii after losing her bid for president. She arrived with her husband Doug Emhoff for a nearly weeklong stay to relax and recharge. Did Kamala Harris win Hawaii in the election? Yes, Kamala Harris won Hawaii's four electoral votes in the November 5 General Election, receiving 60.6% of the vote compared to 37.5% for Donald Trump. Assembly Election Results Live Updates Maharashtra Poll Results Highlights 2024 Jharkhand Poll Results Highlights 2024 (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )

Even with access to blockbuster obesity drugs, some people don't lose weightTrump taps a Fox News personality, a surgeon and a former Congressman to lead public health agenciesAlways find yourself pulled into Green Street’s cosy vintage shop on your way to Mainsburys? Emma Jameson-Dake speaks to Goldrush’s manager Dave to learn about all things vintage After the horrors of Week 5, there’s nothing like a bit of retail therapy. When the sun’s already setting on your post-supo trek to Mainsburys, Goldrush Vintage’s glowing storefront display is more tempting than ever (and more of a threat to my dwindling bank balance!). I spoke to Goldrush’s manager, Dave, about what goes on behind the scenes. “When I started, if you wore vintage or second-hand clothes, you were a little bit alternative. Now it doesn’t seem to be like that anymore” “We opened here last December, so we’re nearly a year old now. And, yeah, it’s going good.” Dave tells me he’s been in the vintage business for over 25 years now, which he jokes is “too long”. Starting on London’s Portobello Road, he moved to Camden Town before finally settling in Cambridge, where business is thriving. “When I started, if you wore vintage or second-hand clothes, you were a little bit alternative. You were a little bit out there. You know? Now it doesn’t seem to be like that anymore”. When I ask what kind of vintage pieces he sells most often, Dave doesn’t hesitate in telling me, “it’s probably anything Carhartt”. The rail of jackets beside us is a treasure-trove of suede, leather, and wool, perfect for the winter weather. As I mention the seasonal wardrobe shift, Dave tells me “knitwear does really well in this shop which is quite surprising because other places I’ve been to, not so much, but Cambridge folk like proper knitwear [...] that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with students or young people”. It seems that the majority of customers are students, though Dave tells me this is actually only by a small margin. “We get a lot of regular people that just... like the whole vintage selling thing. It’s just like, oh, it’s a Ralph Lauren shirt. It’s 15 quid. Why wouldn’t I?” — the joys of a good bargain are evidently universal, we laugh. Goldrush certainly knows a thing or two about the joys of thrift finds; you need only see the staff wardrobes to recognise this. “My absolute favourite piece is a genuine 1977 Sex Pistols T-Shirt [...] rare as hen’s teeth”, which Dave scored for just “a fiver”. He reveals the shop is similarly a hit with school pupils and “exchange students” from France and Germany, smiling when he says that it’s nice to see “youngsters” appreciating all things vintage. It’s clear that Dave and his team value customers greatly and are always looking for the best finds for shoppers. When I ask where Goldrush sources their incredible variety of stock, the answer surprises me: it’s mostly from the States. Dave explains how 75% of stock comes from across the Atlantic, and then “we get some of the sportswear from mainland Europe, Holland mainly... track tops, track pants. There’s European workwear as well, which is completely different to the sort of American Carhartt”. Dave looks to trends for his pricing, buying in bulk and seeking out the hidden gems: “in that mix of work jackets, about a hundred work jackets, 10 are going to be Carhartt... the rest sell very well as well, but not for anywhere near as much. So you kind of have to, you know, get that little bit extra the way you can.” “So what they’re selling in Sweden now, this time next year, we’ll be selling it here.” Though it seems to me that Dave is an expert in his field by now, when I ask if he’s able to predict next season’s trends based on consumer habits, he’s bashful in admitting “I don’t necessarily spend my time looking at styles or fashion or that sort of thing” on social media, so can’t divulge much! Joking about screen time, Dave moves on to tell me that social media is far from the all-powerful style oracle: “one of my biggest suppliers has got a few shops around the place, and he’s got one in Sweden. And, he’s done it twice as long as I have. So I take a little bit of advice from him, and he always says Sweden is ahead of the curve. So what they’re selling in Sweden now, this time next year, we’ll be selling it here.” Despite the insider intel, Dave admits “it’s really difficult. I’ve done it or I’ve tried it before where you think you know what’s coming and you jump on it and you’re too early and it just doesn’t work”, citing the Carhartt jackets he’s been selling since the nineties, which only saw a boom post-lockdown. “It’s things like this, just actual vintage. You know, somebody wore that to school in 1979” Dave tells me that jackets are by far his favourite thing to sell, bringing me over to a rail bursting with history: “if the shop could be filled with this, happy days. I would love it”. The pull of these items seems unquestionable, “the thing is that it’s things like this, just actual vintage. You know, somebody wore that to school in 1979. So, I was 2”, Dave remarks, yet surprisingly reveals “this doesn’t sell. Sold one of these today, but that’s the only one I think sold this week”. We look at German fishermen’s jackets, army apparel from Korea, Vietnam, and the Second World War. The rails are heavy with history, which Dave explains makes them all the more special: “the pattern’s called Cowichan” he says, as we look at a beautiful horseshoe print cardigan which owes its pattern to “traditional Native American” culture. READ MORE Formalwear finds and the art of the thrift flip Dave is tireless in his research of clothes’ history, though divulges that nowadays, technology is offering a helping hand: “thanks to Google Lens, you don’t have to buy all the books anymore. You just snapshot it, and it tells you what it is. So that was quite interesting”. Technology holds a surprising place in the future of something so nestled in the past, and Dave is privy to the future of online shopping (spoiler alert: Vinted has new competition). Whatnot, Dave tells me, is “an American thing, and they’ve not long launched over here, and it’s livestream selling. You can start at whatever price you want, but it’s more like an auction. Fifteen seconds. And then if somebody bids, it goes up ten seconds. [...] I’ve not done one yet, but we’re going to go live with that very soon.” On the topic of the store’s future, I wryly ask Dave about the newly sprung-up competition in Cambridge. He’s humble and laughs in response, “I’m fairly new myself so I can’t get too possessive!” Speaking of large-scale chains, and the “big boys”, he admits “they’ve got a big budget, which I don’t necessarily. But no, since they opened it, to be honest, it’s been as good as ever”. There’s something about the appeal of a smaller business which we both agree on. Sustainability, for instance, is always at the forefront of Goldrush’s mind. Dave tells me that “we get very little waste in the sense of damaged product”, which accounts for around 5% of stock. Modern clothes also find their way into vintage stock bundles, which don’t sell as well. Dave puts brands like Zara, H&M and ASOS on marked-down sale rails (“it’s too good to throw away”) and reveals a further secret in the shop’s ethical sustainability: “we do donate quite a bit as well. We’ve worked with charities in Gambia”. My final question to him is about any extra secrets of the vintage store he’s willing to share: “I would say that one of the things we do that — I’m not saying the others don’t — but a lot of vintage stores don’t launder everything. [...] If it can be laundered, it’s laundered. If it can’t, such as leather or suede, it’s hand cleaned.” He’s keen to make sure the “loft style” smell of vintage shops is replaced with cleanliness in Goldrush, and certifies every item is top quality. Dave’s parting words to me are emphatic of the energy he puts into selling vintage: “if you were looking for a tracksuit top today, you went through all of them and you thought, you know, ‘there’s not one I quite like. I’ll go and check again next week or the week after.’ I want them all to be different”. There’s something for everyone to be found on the rails at Goldrush Vintage.

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Monument Health learned on Monday that as many as 26,000 of its patients may have been affected when a financial services vendor was hacked earlier this year. The comany, Change Healthcare (CHC), was the target of a ransomware attack in February 2024, which compromised the protected health information of at least 100 million people. This is the largest known breach of protected health information at a HIPAA-regulated entity. CHC is a healthcare technology company that connects patients, providers and payers in the U.S. healthcare system. The company informed Monument Health on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, that some of its patients were impacted. CHC is sending notices via mail to patients whose information was affected. If you are among the patients affected, you will be contacted by CHC. The company advises affected patients to monitor their credit reports and account information and to check for unfamiliar activity. If suspicious activity is observed, affected individuals should promptly contact the institution at which the account is maintained. CHC is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to anyone - regardless if they were directly impacted by the breach. If you have questions, you may call the CHC dedicated assistance line at: 1-866-262-5342. For more information please read the notice by CHC here: https://www.changehealthcare.com/hipaa-substitute-notice.html .BOYS BASKETBALL: Jakob Harken’s 18 points help Perkiomen Valley hold off North Penn

Concord , N.H – AARP New Hampshire hosted nearly 100 volunteers at a celebratory lunch at the Derryfield Country Club in Manchester. The most prestigious volunteer award, the Andrus Award for Community Service, was presented to Iris Altilio, a respected AARP NH volunteer from Pembroke, NH. The AARP New Hampshire Andrus Award for Community Service honors Granite Staters age 50-plus who make a powerful difference in their communities. Nominations are evaluated by AARP New Hampshire based on how the volunteer’s work has improved the community, supported AARP’s vision and mission, and inspired other volunteers. The award is named after AARP founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, an educator and champion of aging. Moving to New Hampshire from New York in 2014, not knowing anyone except her husband, Altilio had to find ways to stay active. She attended an AARP Life Reimagined class and then a volunteer recruitment event. From there, Altilio joined the AARP Greater Concord Community Planning Team and connected to the learning, socializing and fun aspects of the volunteer role. Since joining AARP as a volunteer, Altilio has worn many hats such as a greeter for AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, a presenter for AARP Driver Safety and recently part of a national team working to improve response to AARP volunteer inquiries. She is also involved in legislative efforts through the AARP NH Capital City Task Force. When asked why she volunteers, Altilio said “Personally, it fills a void. It’s a way for me to be with people, to use skills, learn new skills, challenge myself, have a purpose, and make a difference.” Of note is Altilio’s role as Coordinator for the AARP NH Speakers Bureau. She uses her organizational skills and attention to detail every day, organizing more than 90 presentations throughout the state in 2023, supporting nearly 40 volunteer speakers, and presenting. Altilio gives a lot to the Speakers Bureau but says it has given her much more confidence, patience and satisfaction knowing she is sharing ways for people to improve their lives. Giving fraud presentations, hearing stories and of course receiving scam calls, emails and texts, Altilio saw the need for fraud awareness and training and realized she has a passion for fraud fighting. She’s an AARP Fraud Fighter and is developing innovative ways to fight fraud in 2025 and beyond. Additionally, Altilio volunteered with the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness for more than six years before becoming an employee. She volunteers with OLLI@UNH (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) and helped to form the Friends of the Pembroke Town Library. “We seem to become less important, and invisible as we age,” said Altilio. “This award shows we’re not invisible, we are making a difference.” AARP NH also honored these volunteers at the award celebration: Advocacy Volunteer of the Year: Dan Wise (Concord, NH) Driver Safety Volunteer of the Year: Lee DeBell (Peterborough, NH) Tax-Aide Volunteer of the Year: Paul Zimmerman (East Kingston, NH) Speakers Bureau Volunteer of the Year: Jill Martin (Dover, NH) To learn more about AARP New Hampshire’s volunteer opportunities, advocacy efforts, Speakers Bureau presentations, and community activities, please visit aarp.org/nh .

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Instagram's Adam Mosseri took to the app today to tease the upcoming launch of a generative AI editing feature that will enable users to "change nearly any aspect of your videos." Expected to roll out next year, the tool will be powered by Meta's Movie Gen AI model , which was unveiled in early October. Meta's Movie Gen AI model can generate HD videos (1080p resolution) from a text prompt, which -- the company claims -- is more "realistic" than videos generated by rival technology such as OpenAI's Sora text-to-video model. By bringing the Movie Gen technology to Instagram, the company aims to equip creators with more tools for "realizing" their ideas more easily. Also: I'm a long-time YouTube video producer - these 3 AI tools help me do it better and faster According to Mosseri , the new editing feature will enable creators to change nearly any aspect of users' videos with a simple text prompt. Moreover, the announcement video previews "early research AI models" that showcase examples of outfit and background transformations. One especially impressive snippet showed Mosseri transformed into a puppet, which speaks to the expansive capabilities of Movie Gen. Similarly, Gen AI models such as Open AI's Sora , Adobe's Firefly , and Google's Veo -- all released in 2024 -- emphasize a shift away from AI image generation and toward AI video generation, especially text-to-video tools. However, just like AI image generation, video generation raises concerns about harmful use cases such as digital blackface , AI-generated deepfakes , and disinformation . Also: This new Google AI tool lets you easily generate images from other photos - no prompt required Many creative professionals -- artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, and photographers -- have voiced frustrations with the impact of AI generators on their respective fields due to AI companies scraping the web to train their models. Because of such concerns, YouTube announced earlier this week that it will allow creators to opt into third-party AI training and recently partnered with the Creative Artists Agency to develop tools that give creators and artists more "control over how AI-generated content features their likeness, including their face, on YouTube at scale." Although Movie Gen has not rolled out, Instagram would be the first Meta-owned platform to use a text-to-video model. Google's new AI tool could be your new favorite learning aid - and it's free The best open-source AI models: All your free-to-use options explained I changed 5 ChatGPT settings and instantly became more productive - here's how The best AI search engines of 2024: Google, Perplexity, and moreDeep Dive Into Varonis Systems Stock: Analyst Perspectives (8 Ratings)Australian-Founded Technology Company AZZO Secures Strategic Investment From Angeleno Group To Accelerate Growth Worldwide

Nigerian Presidents Since Independence Were Accidental, Except Tinubu, Says Kukah

By JILL COLVIN and STEPHEN GROVES WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump’s picks. Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, and Vice President-elect JD Vance, left, walk out of a meeting with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, departs the chamber at the Capitol in Washington, March 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, center speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, right, speaks with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, before testifying at a hearing, March 9, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a classified briefing on China, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a vote on Capitol Hill, Sept. 12, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance R-Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It’s a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time “with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump’s “border czar.” In another sign of Vance’s influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump’s first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships,” he said. “But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he’s not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.Drive into 2025, slowly, oh-so-carefullyNo. 25 Illinois rebounds in big way, blasts UMES 87-40The government will host a Vikasit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue between January 11 and 12 at the Bharat Mandapam in Delhi in 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, as he focussed on youth and Indian history in the episode 116th episode. This Dialogue is being organised to celebrate Youth Day, which is marked on Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary on January 12. “Crores of youth from all over India will participate in it. Two thousand such youth selected from villages, blocks, districts, states will gather at Bharat Mandapam for the 'Vikasit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue'. You might remember that from the ramparts of the Red Fort, I have urged such youths to join politics, none of whose family members or even the entire family have had a political background. To connect 1 lakh such youths, new youths, to politics, many special campaigns will be run in the country. 'Vikasit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue' is also one such effort. Experts from the country and abroad will grace this. Many national and international personalities would also be there. I will also be present in it for as much time as possible. The youth will get an opportunity to present their ideas directly before us,” he said. Modi also said that more than two million young people are associated with the national cadet corps (NCC) today, up from about 1.4 million in 2014. Earlier, he said without specifying the year, the number of girls was around 25% and now it is “almost 40%”. He said that efforts were being made to get youth living in border areas to join the NVC. Modi talked about how more than 8 million pensioners had got their Digital Life Certificates, of which 200,000 people are above the age of 80 years. “By enabling the Digital Life Certificate, things have become very simple; the elderly do not have to go to the bank,” he said. To be sure, to generate the DLC, the elderly must have a biometric-enabled Aadhaar and a registered mobile number. To actually generate it on their own, they must have a phone capable of reading their fingerprints, or they have to go to their nearest Citizen Service Centre to use their biometric device, where they may have to pay for using their services, according to the procedure given on the Jeevan Pramaan website. Modi said that the youth have also been spreading awareness about digital arrest, an issue he talked about at length in last month’s episode. Modi talked about two libraries, one standalone library in Chennai and a chain of libraries in Hyderabad, that have been set up by an individual and an NGO. Indians in Guyana Modi talked about his recent visit to Guyana and Indians were originally taken there to work the fields but now, people of Indian origin, including its president Dr Irfan Ali, are leading in every field. He asked listeners to send stories of Indian immigrants who have made their mark in other countries on MyGov or on NaMo app. To be sure, while MyGov is a government enterprise, NaMo app is run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) . Modi said that with the support from the Indian Embassy in Oman and National Archives of India, a team of people has started preserving the history of Indian families in Oman, most of whom came from Kutch in Gujarat. “Thousands of documents have been collected under this campaign so far. These include diaries, account books, ledgers, letters and telegrams. Some of these documents even date back to the year 1838. ... The ‘Oral History Project’ is also an important basis of this mission. In this mission, senior people from there have shared their experiences.,” he said. Oral history project He mentioned the similar Oral History Project being done to record oral testimonies from survivors of partition as well. This project is run by the Partition Museum of Amritsar. Modi said that “a directory has been created to preserve the history of villages” and evidence related to India’s “ancient maritime capability”. For the latter, a museum is being built in Lothal. He also said that the Upanishads had been, for the first time, translated into the Slovak language. Modi said that under the “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign, people had planted more than a billion trees across the country in five months. In the other hand, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in February 2023, had permitted the Uttar Pradesh government to fell over 112,000 trees in protected forest area under the Kanwar Marg Project. In Indore, more than 1.2 million trees were planted in 24 hours. “On account of this campaign, the barren area of Revati Hills of Indore will now turn into a green zone,” he said. In Jaisalmer, a team of women planted more than 25,000 trees in an hour. He also talked about Chennai’s Kudugal Trust that has been working with school students to increase the sparrow population in the area.

A body language commentator has suggested that one particular campmate on I'm A Celebrity could end up "susceptible" to quitting the ITV show in the coming days. Dean McCullough , 32, has faced more bushtucker trails than any other celebrity so far on the new series, having taken on four trials in the last week. The BBC Radio 1 presenter however hasn't managed to win many stars for the camp. One trial, which aired on Wednesday night, saw Dean joined by fellow campmate and podcast host GK Barry, 25. The pair failed to win any stars for camp, though Dean has since won stars in subsequent trails in the jungle. Following Dean's trial with GK, behaviour and body language commentator Nicole Greenfield-Smith teased to Mecca Games that he could end up quitting I'm A Celebrity. Nicole said: "I thought [Wednesday's] trial was interesting and if Dean flunks many more trials, it could leave him susceptible to walking." The commentator added: "Firstly, Dean and GK Barry in a bushtucker trial proved to be a disastrous combo - even though they went in with the best intentions. We all have 'mirror neurons' which enable us to connect and empathise with others. This means we are highly sensitive to the mood, tone of voice and body language of those around us. "So, if we hear someone screaming and panicking it intensifies our own fear, which is exactly what happened with the hapless duo and why they left the trial with zero stars." Nicole continued: "The challenge moving forward is that hunger, the rain, and tiredness will serve to escalate the emotional responses of the campmates and reduce their tolerance significantly. If Dean continues to be selected for trials and lets his fear dominate, it's likely that some of the other campmates will lose patience with him for not delivering the goods. "Our brains are wired for social connection and cooperation. Disappointing others can trigger feelings of rejection, shame, or guilt, which may well tip Dean over the edge." Viewers teased earlier this week that I'm A Celebrity host Ant McPartlin , 49, was himself frustrated by Dean in a subsequent trial, which he quit after winning four stars. Ant later admitted that his "annoyance came across onscreen" . Elsewhere in the analysis from body language commentator Nicole earlier this week was the suggestion that campmate Alan Halsall 's patience seems to be "on the wane" in camp. Nicole wrote about the Coronation Street cast member: "Alan's patience already seems to be on the wane with several side glances, sighs and subtle gestures that suggest disapproval in [Wednesday's] episode." Follow Mirro r C elebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .By MARC LEVY HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania conceded his reelection bid to Republican David McCormick on Thursday, as a statewide recount showed no signs of closing the gap and his campaign suffered repeated blows in court in its effort to get potentially favorable ballots counted. Casey’s concession comes more than two weeks after Election Day, as a grindingly slow ballot-counting process became a spectacle of hours-long election board meetings, social media outrage, lawsuits and accusations that some county officials were openly flouting the law. Republicans had been claiming that Democrats were trying to steal McCormick’s seat by counting “illegal votes.” Casey’s campaign had accused of Republicans of trying to block enough votes to prevent him from pulling ahead and winning. In a statement, Casey said he had just called McCormick to congratulate him. “As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last,” Casey said. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on Nov. 7, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead. As of Thursday, McCormick led by about 16,000 votes out of almost 7 million ballots counted. That was well within the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. But no election official expected a recount to change more than a couple hundred votes or so, and Pennsylvania’s highest court dealt him a blow when it refused entreaties to allow counties to count mail-in ballots that lacked a correct handwritten date on the return envelope. Republicans will have a 53-47 majority next year in the U.S. Senate. Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter

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MUMBAI: Japanese retailer Uniqlo is increasing sourcing from India for global markets and is expanding production in the country, said Kenji Inoue, COO and CFO at Uniqlo India . "For our India stores, we are sourcing about 15.5% of our requirements locally but the share is higher for exports and the strategy is to keep sourcing more," Inoue told TOI in an interview here on Thursday. Uniqlo sources items like T-shirts and its heattech clothing from India for its global stores. Growing income levels in India, which is enabling people to premiumise make the company a "good fit" for the market where it has grown at a CAGR of 59% in the last five years, Inoue said. "India is seen as a market with the highest (growth) potential. It's important that we make a good branding presence here. If we exclude Covid-hit years, we have been in India for three years and there is a lot of headroom for growth," Inoue said. During its first leg of India expansion, Uniqlo has largely been focused on the Northern part of the country, with Delhi-NCR being home to its largest number of stores. The firm, which counts millennials in their early 30s as its key consumer cohort, is now also building its footprint in metros like Mumbai. "We are not rushing to get into new cities. The focus is more on product mix and quality," said Inoue. Uniqlo India's revenue from operations increased by 31% year-on-year to Rs 814.8 crore in FY24. Profits also widened to Rs 85 crore during the year, data sourced from market intelligence platform Tofler showed. The company competes with players like Zara and H&M in India, where several young and trendy D2C brands are also fighting for a share of the consumer wallet. Ready to Master Stock Valuation? ET's Workshop is just around the corner!

-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email For most American homebuyers , 2024 was a tough year. The U.S. is on track to record 4 million home sales in 2024 — the lowest volume in nearly 30 years . But among the country’s wealthiest homebuyers , the market is booming. Luxury home sales — including properties listed for $1 million or more — were up 5.2% in the first half of 2024. That’s compared to overall home sales volume dropping 12.9% over that same period, according to data from The Agency , a global luxury real estate brokerage. Mind-boggling records were broken in 2024 in the luxury home sales market. In Colorado, an Aspen megamansion was the state’s most expensive home sale ever. In New York City, a penthouse unit in the tallest residential building in the world found a deep-pocketed buyer. And a Malibu mansion in California sold for a whopping $210 million, breaking a record once held by Beyoncé and Jay-Z as the priciest home sale in the state’s history. Related Politics, discos, private islands: Billionaires spent big in 2024 Economic challenges keeping the average homebuyer out of the market — including higher mortgage rates , fewer available homes and flattening wage growth — aren’t deterring those with more resources at their disposal. In August, ultra luxury home sales — properties listed at $100 million or more — were on pace to break a yearly sales record set in 2021, per Bloomberg . Here are some of the priciest deals that closed in the U.S. this year. May they inspire a fair amount of envy, but not too much. Because a home is what you make it, and who says you need an in-house sauna when your apartment comes with in-unit laundry? Kendrick Lamar's $40M mansion Before dropping his sixth studio album this year, Kendrick Lamar dropped a cool $40 million on a 16,000-square-foot compound in Brentwood, one of Los Angeles’ most exclusive neighborhoods, according to Mansion Global , a trade magazine covering luxury real estate. A property listing from 2019 describes the Brentwood mansion as an eight-bedroom main house with a gym, wine cellar, pool and separate guest house. Room for a home recording studio, perhaps? We need your help to stay independent Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism Ellen's high-end swap A couple hours down the coast, Ellen DeGeneres and mining tycoon Robert Friedland — more specifically, a shell company linked to Friedland — engaged in a high-end home swap in Santa Barbara. In August, Friedland’s company spent $96 million on Degeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi’s former digs: a 10-acre property with an 8,000-square-foot house and guest cottage, per Mansion Global . In exchange, DeGeneres and de Rossi paid Friedland $32 million to buy back the home they sold him earlier this year, also in Santa Barbara, Mansion Global reports. Kind of like a secondhand clothing swap, but presumably with more chandeliers. California dreamin' A few hours north, Laurene Powell Jobs — the philanthropist and widow of Steve Jobs — bought a mansion in San Francisco at 2840 Broadway for $70 million , representing the priciest home sale to have ever closed in the city. Powell Jobs’ new block boasts at least a couple tech titan neighbors; Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, owns the property next door, and Johnathan Ive, the prolific Apple designer who worked on the iMac and iPhone, also has a property on the block, The Wall Street Journal reports . A Malibu mansion that sold for a whopping $210 million in June is the most expensive home to ever sell in California But those deals pale in comparison to the Malibu mansion that sold for a whopping $210 million in June — the most expensive home to ever sell in California. James Jannard, who founded the sunglasses brand Oakley, sold the property, which Architectural Digest describes as a sprawling, 15,000-square-foot mansion with eight bedrooms and fourteen bathrooms. The buyer wasn’t disclosed, and Jannard’s sale broke a statewide record set by Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who spent $200 million on their Malibu compound in 2023. Central Park Tower sunset over Central Park (Courtesy of Evan Joseph/M18 PR) $115M for the nosebleed section In New York City, an undisclosed buyer shelled out $115 million for the two-story penthouse in Central Park Tower, the tallest residential building in the world. The duplex spans roughly 12,560 square feet and includes seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a library, conservatory, home theater, an in-unit elevator and two massive terraces. (The jury’s still out as to whether the home includes a stock supply of Dramamine — apparently, the tower is so tall that “a high-pitch whistling noise” can be heard near the windows overlooking Central Park, The Daily Mail wrote in 2022.) Aman New York Hotel Exterior, Crown Building (Courtesy of Aman) It wasn’t the city’s priciest deal of the year. That moniker goes to yet another penthouse in the Aman New York Hotel that sold for $135 million . Remarkably, the buyer was none other than the penthouse’s developer, the Russian billionaire and CEO of Aman Resorts Vladislav Doronin, The Wall Street Journal reported in July. (Doronin didn’t respond to a request for comment from the Journal.) 4736 North Bay Road (Courtesy of Luxhunters / Choeff Levy Fischman Architecture + Design) A "Posh" $80M mansion Down in south Florida, David and Victoria Beckham bought a Miami Beach mansion that includes nine bedrooms, nine bathrooms (and an additional four half-bathrooms!) for $80 million in October, Page Six reported . It’s a fitting addition to the couple’s ultra-luxe real estate portfolio, which includes a condo in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, a London townhouse and the five-bedroom penthouse in Miami’s One Thousand Museum tower, according to Mansion Global . Bezos' $90M bunker Also in Florida, billionaire Jeff Bezos snagged a $90 million mansion in Indian Creek, a 300-acre man-made island in Miami-Dade County known as “Billionaire Bunker” that counts the likes of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady and Carl Icahn as residents. Bezos reportedly plans to live in his new $90 million home while he demolishes his other two Bezos has other property in Indian Creek — specifically, two other mansions for a combined $147 million — and he reportedly plans to live in the $90 million home while he demolishes the other two, Bloomberg reported , citing a person close to the deal. And about an hour and a half north of Miami, Australian investment magnate Michael Dorrell shelled out $150 million for a two-acre private island in Palm Beach and the megamansion atop it, according to The Wall Street Journal . The property, Tarpon Island, is accessible by bridge and includes an 11-bedroom mansion spanning nearly 29,000 square feet. 419 Willoughby Way in Aspen (Courtesy of Staslove & Warwick) Shelling out for snow In the mountains of Aspen, Colorado, two billionaire buyers paid $108 million for the sprawling compound at 419 Willoughby Way, setting a record for the most expensive home sale ever in the state of Colorado. Casino tycoon Steve Wynn and billionaire stock trading executive Thomas Peterffy bought the property, which spans 22,405 square feet and boasts 11 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms. It sits on 4.5 acres in Red Mountain, one of Aspen’s wealthiest neighborhoods that includes Bezos and Michael Dell. Read more about personal finance House hunting? This app shows how your future neighbors voted Moving to NYC cost us $10k in fees. Those fees are now banned Homeownership: tougher for millennials? By Cara Michelle Smith Cara Michelle Smith is a writer, reporter and performer living in Brooklyn. She’s spent more than a decade in financial journalism; her award-winning reporting can be found in NerdWallet, Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, the Houston Business Journal, CoStar News and other outlets. MORE FROM Cara Michelle Smith Related Topics ------------------------------------------ Best Of 2024 Home Sales Real Estate Related Articles Advertisement:NATO and Ukraine to hold emergency talks after Russian attack with hypersonic missile