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JACKSONVILLE — Having lost three of four, the Houston Texans could use a break. They might get it before their actual bye week. Houston (7-5) plays at Jacksonville (2-9) on Sunday, the last of 13 consecutive games for the AFC South leader. Given how well the Texans have played against the Jaguars in recent years, this could be the ideal matchup to get coach DeMeco Ryans’ team pointed in the right direction to start December. “It hasn’t been easy,” Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We haven’t had any time to kind of like breathe. But that’s the NFL; that’s our job. We’ve really got to come back with another week of just hard work, a lot of just grinding because we’re right around the corner from our bye and I think that’ll be a good thing for all of this team.” The Texans have won 11 of the past 13 meetings and 17 of 21 in the series — including five in a row in Jacksonville — since getting swept in 2013. It’s an eye-popping stretch of one-sidedness between longtime division rivals. No one would be surprised to see the streak extended Sunday. The Jaguars have lost four in a row, with the last three being the worst three-game stretch of football in franchise history . Quarterback Trevor Lawrence (sprained non-throwing shoulder), however, is expected back after missing the last two games, and coach Doug Pederson said other changes could be afoot following the team’s bye. But he declined to say whether tweaks included personnel and/or assistant coaching duties. “We’re going to implement some things and really kind of get back to some things that I think were successful, have been successful for us,” Pederson said, “whether it’s rhythm, tempo, whatever, to try to get things going.” Jacksonville likely needs to win out to keep alive its slim hopes of making the playoffs. The Jags have four division games remaining, plus the New York Jets (3-8) and Las Vegas (2-9). “I feel the best I’ve felt in the past few weeks, so I’m excited about it,” Lawrence said. Joe Mixon had a season-low 22 yards on 14 carries last week after running for 109 yards and three touchdowns the week before. Ryans attributed the issues to poor blocking. “We’ve just got to finish our blocks, especially when we’re on the second level,” Ryans said. Mixon ranks third in the NFL, averaging 87.3 yards rushing and now faces a defense that ranks 26th in the league against the run. Many expected Jaguars owner Shad Khan to fire Pederson — and maybe general manager Trent Baalke — following the team’s 52-6 loss at Detroit two weeks ago. Khan kept them in place, probably because Jacksonville has not been eliminated from playoff contention. Nonetheless, the Jaguars have lost 14 of 17 and are guaranteed a losing record for the 11th time in Khan’s 13 seasons. Every previous coach in Jaguars history — Tom Coughlin, Jack Del Rio, Mike Mularkey, Gus Bradley, Doug Marrone and Urban Meyer — have seen their tenures end following a loss to an AFC South opponent. Del Rio, Bradley and Meyer were fired late in the year; Coughlin, Mularkey and Marrone were let go after losing seasons. The Texans tied a franchise record with eight sacks against Tennessee. Danielle Hunter had a season-high three and Will Anderson Jr. added two in his return after missing two games with an ankle injury. “Our rushing duo really raises havoc,” Ryans said. “I think it is really hard on opposing quarterbacks, and we see that in how teams try to protect against us with the chips and trying to slow our guys down.” Houston ranks second in the NFL with 42 sacks. Hunter is second in the league with 101⁄2 sacks, and Anderson is fifth with 9.5 Up next ... Texans at Jaguars When: 1, Sunday, EverBank Stadium TV: NoneA new mother of a baby boy who just had to buy a different car said she is thankful for the help she'll be getting from the Here. For Good. program this year. Samantha, of Selinsgrove, lives with her boyfriend and his two daughters. She is going to college to become a social worker and just recently had a new child at age 42. When a scammer sold her a car that turned out to be a lemon, she couldn't recoup the funds and had to scramble and use funds she had saved to get another car to be able to make it to classes. "I'm extremely grateful for the program," Samantha said. "It's really helpful this time of year." Samantha said she and the other members of her household — she has two grown children who have moved out — aspire to move from their apartment to a bigger house once she completes her schooling. She and her boyfriend are on disability. Here. For Good. will provide food for the family and gifts for the children this holiday. Samantha said light up toys will be perfect for her baby boy and her girls will be looking for art supplies, books, hair products and makeup products. The Here. For Good. Campaign is a continuation of the Needy Family Fund which has raised more than $3.4 million since 1987 during the holiday season to help the Valley’s families. This year’s goal is $175,000. The campaign is administered by Salvation Army citadels in Milton and Sunbury and sponsored by The Daily Item, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp. and Mifflinburg Bank & Trust. Donors can make checks payable to Here. For Good. Campaign and mail or drop them off at any location of program cosponsor Mifflinburg Bank & Trust. Donors also can mail a check to 250 E. Chestnut St., Mifflinburg, PA 17844, or donate online at www.hereforgoodcampaign.org .
Lisa Simpson once said during an episode of “The Simpsons:” What could be more exciting than the savage ballet that is pro football? On Monday night, the entire Simpsons universe gets to experience it in a way not many could have imagined. The prime-time matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also take place at Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as part of “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast. The altcast will be streamed on ESPN+, Disney+, and NFL+ (on mobile devices). ESPN and ABC have the main broadcast, while ESPN2 will carry the final “ManningCast” of the regular season. The replay will be available on Disney+ for 30 days. Globally, more than 145 countries will have access to either live or on replay. “We’re such huge football fans, and the Simpsons audience and the football audience, I feel, are like the same audience of just American families and football. And the Simpsons are so much a part of the DNA of the American family and culture that for us to, like, mush them together in this crazy video game, it’s so fun,” said Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons.” While the game is the focal point, the alternate broadcast, in some ways, will resemble a three-hour episode of “The Simpsons.” It starts with Homer eating too many hot dogs and having a dream while watching football. Homer joins the Cowboys in the dream while Bart teams up with the Bengals. Lisa and Marge will be sideline reporters. “That’s the beginning of the story, and the story continues through the entire game until Homer wakes up from his dream at the end of the game. It is like a complete story, and the NFL game will happen in between. It’s just going to be an amazing presentation with tons of surprises,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN’s VP of edit and animation. This is the second year ESPN has done an alternate broadcast for an NFL game. It used the characters from “Toy Story” for last year’s Sunday morning game from London between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars. “The Simpsons” has featured many sports-themed episodes during its 35 seasons. Even though “Homer at the Bat” remains the consensus favorite sports episode for many Simpsons fans, there have been football ones such as “Bart Star” and “Lisa The Greek.” There also was a Super Bowl-themed one after Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl 33 between Denver and Atlanta in 1999. Even though “The Simpsons” remains a staple on Fox’s prime-time schedule, it is part of the Disney family after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. All 35 seasons are on Disney+. The show’s creators have worked with ESPN and the NFL to make sure the look and sound is definitely Simpsonsesque. The theme song is a mash-up of “The Simpsons” opening and “Monday Night Football’s” iconic “Heavy Action.” There have also been pre-recorded skits and bits to use during the broadcast featuring Simpson’s legendary voices Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith. The telecast will be entirely animated, with the players’ movements in sync with what is happening in real-time on the field. That is done through player-tracking data enabled by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats system and Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. While Next Gen Stats tracks where players are on the field with a tracking chip in the shoulder pads, there is skeletal data tracking and limb tracking data — which uses 29 points per player — to get closer to the player’s movements. The other data tracking will allow Beyond Sports and Disney to add special characters to the game. For example, there might be a play where Lisa catches the ball and goes 30 yards instead of Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins. “Lisa is much smaller than the rest of the players. So, in real life, the ball would go over her head, but now, with data processing, we can take the ball and make it go exactly into her hands. So for the viewer, it still looks believable, and it all makes sense,” said Beyond Sports co-founder Nicolaas Westerhof. The other major challenge is making “The Simpsons” two-dimensional cartoon characters into 3-D simulations. Szykowny and his team worked to make that a reality over the past couple of months. “That’s a big leap of faith for them to say, hey, we trust you to make our characters 3-D and work with it. Our ESPN creative studio team has done a wonderful job,” Szykowny said. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart and the Bengals; while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe join up with with Homer and the Cowboys. The broadcast will also feature ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. ESPN’s Drew Carter, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will call the game from Bristol, Connecticut, and also be animated. They will wear Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Springfield using VR technology. For Kimes, being part of the broadcast and being an animated Simpsons character is a dream come true. She is a massive fan of the show and has a framed photo of Lisa Simpson — who she said is a personal hero and icon — as part of her backdrop when she makes appearances on ESPN NFL shows from her home in Los Angeles. “I didn’t have any input, and I didn’t see anything beforehand, so I wasn’t sure if it would look like me, but it kind of does, which is very funny,” said Kimes, who drew Simpsons characters when she was a kid. “To see the actual staff turn me into one was a dream.” Even though the Bengals (4-8) and Cowboys (5-7) have struggled this season, Selman thinks both teams have personalities that appeal to “The Simpsons” universe. “We were just so lucky also that the Cowboys are sort of like a Homer Simpson-type team, American team, and Mike McCarthy might be a Homer-type guy, one might imagine,” he said. ”And then you have Joe Burrow on the other side who is a cool young, spiky-haired, blonde bad boy -- he’s like Bart. And that fits our character archetypes so perfectly. “If Homer is mad at Bart and has a hot dog dream while watching ’Monday Night Football’, and then it’s basically McCarthy versus Burrow, Homer versus Bart, and that’s the simple father versus son strangling — Homer strangling Bart dynamic that has been part of the show for 35 years. I don’t know if that would have worked as well if it was like Titans versus Jacksonville. We would have found something. We would have made it work.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflPresident-elect Donald Trump was welcomed back to the world stage on Saturday, sitting down with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron with a dramatic backdrop: the reopening of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. With Trump set to return to the White House in January, the three leaders met at the Elysee Palace in Paris with diplomacy on the war in Ukraine in flux. Officials close to Macron and Zelenskyy said the meeting was positive, without providing details. “The world is going a little crazy right now and we’ll be talking about that,” Trump told reporters as he arrived for an initial two-way meeting with Macron. Macron had sought to engineer the talks to initiate a discussion on how to end the war in Ukraine, an official in his office said. Later, the French president hosted guests, including heads of state and global business leaders, at the cathedral that was painstakingly restored after a catastrophic 2019 fire. For Macron, the day’s events offered a brief fillip as he seeks a new prime minister after his government collapsed this week in a show of force by far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Almost three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy and his allies are anxiously watching Trump for signs of how he plans approach the conflict. U.S. weapons and financial aid have been a vital crutch for Kyiv, but Trump had promised he would engineer a swift end to the war on the campaign trail. That’s fueled concerns in Kyiv and other European capitals that the next U.S. administration might roll back support for Ukraine to pressure Zelenskyy to compromise. On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have been on the back foot for most of the year and Russian gains have been accelerating in recent weeks. The incoming U.S. president faces a daunting range of geopolitical challenges, including war in the Middle East and long-running tensions with China. Shortly before arriving at the presidential palace, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform about the conflict in Syria, where rebels opposed to President Bashar Assad have made rapid advances. A withdrawal of its troops that are helping support Assad might be “the best thing that can happen” to Russia, he said. The U.S., he added, “should have nothing to do with it. This is not our fight.” The visit to Paris is Trump’s first trip abroad to meet with world leaders since he won back the White House in November and is a coup for Macron, who’s seen his political program decimated by the domestic opposition who forced out his prime minister with a no-confidence vote on Wednesday. Macron worked hard to engage Trump through his first term, despite Trump’s occasional barbs, inviting the U.S. leader to the Bastille Day ceremony in 2017 and taking him to dinner at the Eiffel Tower. Trump called Macron weak after the “Yellow Vest” protests broke out in 2018 and attacked him for cozying up to China. On Saturday, Macron deployed all his experience of dealing with Trump, welcoming him with a red-carpet ceremony at the Elysee and making him effectively the guest of honor at the cathedral. Trump was seated in the front row next to Macron and the two men were seen chatting during the service. Regardless of Macron’s domestic struggles, the meeting was testament to the unique soft power of France and the president’s ability to wield it. As Trump and Zelenskiy were speaking, an exclusive list of guests were arriving at the cathedral, which has been rebuilt at a cost of 700 million euros ($740 million). Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest man, was among the early arrivals. Kering SA Chief Executive Officer Francois-Henri Pinault came with his wife, the actor Salma Hayek. Both men were major donors to the reconstruction effort. Billionaire John Elkann, who chairs automaker Stellantis SA, was also in attendance as was FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni chuckled as she posed for the cameras with Macron and his wife Brigitte. Zelenskyy embraced Macron as he arrived and appeared to say “thank you” to the French leader. The Ukrainian was given an ovation by the guests as he entered the nave. Trump was among the last of the grandees to be greeted by Macron outside the cathedral, though Elon Musk, a close ally of the president-elect, arrived shortly afterward, scurrying across the square in the rain. First lady Jill Biden followed soon before the ceremony started. After the ceremony at the cathedral, a select group of guests will attend a dinner back at Macron’s presidential palace. ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents' stunning march across Syria accelerated Saturday with news that they had reached the gates of the capital and that government forces had abandoned the central city of Homs. The government was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The loss of Homs is a potentially crippling blow for Assad. It stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base. The pro-government Sham FM news outlet reported that government forces took positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies have withdrawn from the city, adding that rebels have entered parts of it. The insurgency announced later Saturday that it had taken over Homs. The city's capture is a major victory for the rebels, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama , as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said rebel control of Homs would be a game-changer. The rebels' moves around Damascus, reported by the monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. For the first time in the country’s long-running civil war, the government now has control of only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad's government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. The rapid rebel gains, coupled with the lack of support from Assad's erstwhile allies, posed the most serious threat to his rule since the start of the war. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad's chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.” In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria's border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution. Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine . Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad's forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015, and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria. In a statement issued late Saturday, the participants affirmed their support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis “that would lead to the end of military activity and protect civilians.” They also agreed on the importance of strengthening international efforts to increase aid to the Syrian people. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were marching toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama , the country’s fourth largest city. Opposition activists said Saturday that a day earlier, insurgents entered Palmyra, which is home to invaluable archaeological sites had been in government hands since being taken from the Islamic State group in 2017. To the south, Syrian troops left much of the province of Quneitra including the main Baath City, activists said. Syrian Observatory said government troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces. The Syrian army said in a statement that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists." The army said it was setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south. The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011. The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to the hostilities. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels. Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process. Karam reported from London. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; Josef Federman and Victoria Eastwood in Doha, Qatar; and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.Director Jim Sheridan in count centre as in contention Gerry Hutch yet to arrive
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NORMAL — Senior quarterback Logan Malachuk never expected this for Nazareth. When the Burr Ridge resident joined the football team as a freshman , he had no idea what was in store for him or the Roadrunners. But when his career finished up Saturday afternoon, he had three state championships under his belt and unofficially threw for more yardage than any other quarterback in Illinois history. “My freshman year, we were down at halftime in Week 4, and I think we were down 20-0,” Malachuk said. “Coach (Tim) Racki put me in, we came back and won, and I didn’t look back.” Not then. And not now. Malachuk threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns Saturday to lead the Roadrunners to a 29-27 victory over Joliet Catholic in the Class 5A state championship game at Hancock Stadium. According to Nazareth’s statistics, Malachuk finished with 11,184 career yards, an Illinois High School Association record. It broke the previous mark of 10,884 by Greenville’s Tyler Hutchinson . Trenton Walker caught four passes for 122 yards and two TDs for Nazareth (12-2), while James Penley and Stanford-bound Gabe Kaminski each caught TD passes. Penley also recovered an onside kick in the closing minute of the nail-biter to clinch the Roadrunners’ sixth state title. Nazareth’s Logan Malachuk, right, and Garrett Reese hug after wining the Class 5A state championship game against Joliet Catholic at Hancock Stadium in Normal on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (Vincent D. Johnson / Pioneer Press) Malachuk was actually unaware he was climbing the ladder to the top off the state’s passing list. “I had an idea that I had a lot of yards,” Malachuk said, nodding. “I had no idea what the record was. That’s something insane that I didn’t even think was possible. “I was lucky enough to play four years for a great team under a great offense. They put me in a great situation, and that’s all that you can ask for.” Larry Stringham led Joliet Catholic (10-4) by running for 147 yards, while Nate Magrini added 125. Junior quarterback Lucas Simulick threw for 105 yards and two TDs. But the Roadrunners continued their mastery of the Hilltoppers, after beating Joliet Catholic 38-20 in the 2023 state championship game and then 16-13 during this year’s regular season The key throughout those years? Kaminski, a senior linebacker who also played four years and makes occasional appearances on offense, pointed toward Malachuk. Nazareth’s Trenton Walker (8) tries to escape from Joliet Catholic’s Anthony Brown in the Class 5A state championship game at Hancock Stadium in Normal on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (Vincent D. Johnson / Pioneer Press) “Oh, man, his leadership is off the charts,” Kaminski said. “Whenever the offense doesn’t score or the defense gives up a touchdown, he’s always there keeping us up. “And as a player, ever since he started as a freshman, he’s been phenomenal. I love him, and I wouldn’t want anyone else as my quarterback.” Colleges are beginning to agree. The 5-foot-11, 186-pound Malachuk has offers from South Dakota, Central Missouri, Northern State and St. Thomas. Together, Malachuk and Kaminski led teams to historic firsts over the years. In 2022, they were instrumental when Nazareth became the first team in IHSA history to win a state title with four losses. The Roadrunners topped that in 2023 by being the first team to enter the playoffs with a 4-5 record and still win the state championship. Nazareth’s Logan Malachuk (1) throws the ball against Joliet Catholic during the Class 5A state championship game at Hancock Stadium in Normal on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (Vincent D. Johnson / Pioneer Press) This season, they helped Nazareth earn the first three-peat in program history. “These are two guys that have been on varsity since their freshman year and went to the state quarterfinals, which is amazing in itself,” Racki said. “And then the next two years, you go to the state championship game and you win. “You would think, especially with teenagers, there would be some sense of either empowerment or this was easy or it’s about me. They are the most humble and grounded group. They help the younger guys that have come up to varsity and teach them the right way.” And Racki, for one, enjoyed watching Malachuk’s development over his standout career. “He’s very fun to watch,” Racki said. “Not only does he have an arm, but he’s got legs, too. He’s extremely smart, and he’s not just a running-threat quarterback. He keeps his eyes downfield. “But if something opens up, he’s gonna be able to pick up some yards for us.” Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Pioneer Press.What happens when 'The Simpsons' join 'Monday Night Football'? Find out during Bengals-Cowboys
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In this article TM F Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Canadian and American flags fly near the base of the Ambassador Bridge connecting Canada to the U.S. in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Cole Burston | Bloomberg | Getty Images DETROIT — There's growing concern that President-elect Donald Trump 's plan to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian imports would be an existential threat to the country's recovering automotive industry. Potential tariffs on vehicles and automotive parts are particularly alarming for the province of Ontario, the epicenter of Canada's auto industry. Five automakers — Ford Motor , General Motors , Stellantis , Toyota Motor and Honda Motor — produced 1.54 million light-duty vehicles last year in the province, largely for U.S. consumers. "It'd be terrible. It'd not only devastate Canadian jobs, it'd devastate American jobs," Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CNBC during a phone interview. A tariff is a tax on imports, or foreign goods, brought into the U.S. They are paid for by companies, which some fear would simply pass any additional costs on to consumers. Ford, who said he has not spoken with Trump directly, argued that any tariffs would be harmful to both sides of the border. He said raw materials and parts routinely pass across the border multiple times before being used in the final assembly of a vehicle. Tariffs, he warned, would increase prices, which could then slow production and eliminate jobs. "We have a trade agreement right now. Things have been working," Ford said. "I've said it publicly: I'd love to do a bilateral trade deal with the U.S. And Mexico wants a trade deal, we'll do a bilateral trade deal with Mexico. But Mexico, if they want a seat at the table, they have to follow the rules." Ontario premier Doug Ford answers questions from reporters as he hosts the Fall meeting of Canada's premiers in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada December 16, 2024. Carlos Osorio | Reuters Trump has said he will impose additional 10% tariff on goods from China and a 25% levy for Canada and Mexico , though he has offered few details, such as if there would be exceptions. He has said plans to invoke "national security" concerns to pass such hikes, rather than seeking congressional approval, saying illegal immigration and the illicit drug trade are causing concerns on the border, justifying the tariffs. Putting tariffs on components could add $600 to $2,500 per vehicle on parts from Mexico, Canada and China, according to estimates in a Wells Fargo analyst note. Prices on vehicles assembled in Mexico and Canada — which account for about 23% of vehicles sold in the U.S. —could rise $1,750 to $10,000. Such tariffs and increased costs would add to problems for embattled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as he fends off calls for his resignation . Ontario: Canada's auto capitol Ontario recently launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in the U.S. to promote its role as a key trading partner and "ally to the North." Ontario, as a province, is the third-largest trading partner for the U.S., including the top foreign trade partner for 17 states, according to Ford, the premier. He points out that trade between Ontario — as well as broader Canada with the U.S. — is much more evenly split than it is with Mexico, especially when removing the oil Canada sends to the U.S. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the Liberal party caucus meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada December 16, 2024. Blair Gable | Reuters Canadian exports of auto parts came in at $23.5 billion in 2023, while exports of light vehicles totaled $53.5 billion. Imports totaled $47.5 billion and $70.4 billion, respectively, according to Canada-based DesRosiers Automotive Consultants . Of those, the U.S. accounts for 95.3% of Canada's total auto exports and 57.7% of its overall auto imports . "Anything that kind of disrupts that balance is going to affect both sides of the border," said Flavio Volpe, head of the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association. "The best tariff level for Canadian and American auto parts suppliers is zero." Volpe argues a double-digit tariff would be "existential," with ripple effects into the U.S. automotive industry. As an example, he pointed to 2022, when Canadian truck drivers blocked the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, in Canada — the busiest border bridge between the countries — disrupting manufacturing for several automakers in the U.S. Toyota is the top-producing automaker in Canada, at roughly 526,000 units in 2023, followed by Honda at nearly 378,500 vehicles. GM, once the largest producer in Canada at more than 1 million vehicles, is now one of the smallest manufacturers of light-duty vehicles in the region. Industry on the mend The Canadian automotive industry is on an upswing following a decades-long decline that escalated during the coronavirus pandemic. Light-duty vehicle production in Canada hit 1.54 million vehicles last year, up from a recent low of 1.1 million in 2021, but still a 47% decline from the country's peak of 2.9 million in 2000, according to industry data provided by the Global Automakers of Canada trade association. "The industry, like the American industry, has been challenged recovering from the pandemic. We're still not there from a sales and production point of view, but we have been recovering," said David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada , which represents the interest of 16 non-U.S. based automakers. The uptick comes despite two large assembly plants in Ontario, owned by Ford and Stellantis, existing in limbo, as the factories don't currently have vehicles to produce. Thousands of workers have been laid off as a result of the lack of production. Much of the uncertainty was caused by the automotive industry's transition to all-electric vehicles, as adoption of EVs has not occurred as quickly as expected. Trump also has vowed to remove subsidies for purchasing EVs, which have assisted in spurring sales while federal benefits still exists. "There is profound concern about the Canadian automobile industry as much because it's not clear what direction to go," said Charlotte Yates, president of the Automotive Policy Research Centre and professor emeritus at McMaster University. "There's a series of public policy changes as well as political attitudinal changes, and, of course, the threat of tariffs really rattling the industry in Canada." Ford, Ontario's premier, said the U.S. and Canada should be working together, as they have been for decades. "We should be focusing on China and Mexico, not on its closest ally in the entire world," Ford said. "Let's build a fortress, an American–Canadian fortress against the rest of the world. We can't be stopped if we if we stick together."
Hardly for the first time in these waning days of 2024, cryptocurrency-related stocks were having quite a good day on the market Thursday -- although there were certain glaring exceptions. Lingering optimism about a crypto-friendly presidential administration preparing for work helped bolster their prices. It also didn't hurt that news broke of a top regulator considered hostile to the sector stepping down from his post. Two quite different crypto-dependent securities both closed the day up nicely, mining business Mara Holdings ( MARA 6.85% ) with a nearly 7% gain and exchange-traded fund iShares Ethereum Trust ETF ( ETHA 9.19% ) with a 9% rise. Going in quite the opposite direction was the recently high-flying Bitcoin ( BTC 4.25% ) investment vehicle MicroStrategy ( MSTR -16.16% ) , but there was a specific reason for its retreat. The Bitcoin boom Stocks that aren't MicroStrategy continued to ride the sustained and powerful demand for Bitcoin, by far the leading and most influential crypto. During the day, Bitcoin notched yet another all-time high -- is this even surprising anymore? -- by trading slightly over $99,000 at one point. That magic $100,000 level is well within sight, and we shouldn't be surprised to see the coin hit that level soon, perhaps very soon. Ethereum is a different animal, to be sure, as a coin with significantly more utility than Bitcoin. Still, it's been a perennial runner-up and as such generally marches in step with Bitcoin, too. In late-afternoon trading, Ethereum was coasting 8% higher, hence the more or less similar rise of iShares Ethereum Trust ETF. Getting down to specific company developments, Mara Holdings announced -- no doubt joyfully -- that an already-upsize convertible senior notes issue had been successfully floated. The company is reaping net proceeds of $980 million from the $1 billion private placement. That amount includes the full $150 million option offered to, and exercised by, the notes' initial investors. This demonstrates that demand was powerful for the well-timed issue. As an added bonus, the notes have an interest rate of 0%, which is quite advantageous for Mara Holdings. Interestingly, MicroStrategy is also issuing a pack of convertible senior notes. The difference is, that after the company's stock flew as much as 14% higher early Thursday, it was the topic of a short-seller's critical research note. That short-seller, Citron Research, described the formerly rallying crypto-stock's price as "overheated" in an official Twitter post. " Now, with Bitcoin investing easier than ever ... MicroStrategy's volume has completely detached from Bitcoin fundamentals," Citron added. Investors were clearly taking this negative sentiment to heart. Bye-bye, Gary Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Securities and Exchange chair Gary Gensler has announced that he will be stepping down from his position when Donald Trump takes office on Inauguration Day (Jan. 20). At times, Gensler was quite the determined opponent of cryptos, at one point saying it was "unlikely" they would be deployed as extensively as traditional fiat currencies. Many in the cryptoverse certainly won't miss him at the helm of the federal regulator.Inter beats Como and closes gap at the top of Serie A while Bove back on Fiorentina sidelineMiami Dolphins playoff scenarios: How to get to the postseason
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The average rent in Toronto is $3,091 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to Rentals.com, and the wait for social housing is 10 years after getting on the waiting list. Chris Young/The Canadian Press Women’s advocates say provincial and federal governments need to step up efforts to create housing for people escaping gender-based violence because too many women are forced to remain in unsafe situations after being abused. A study released last week by Women’s Shelters Canada says the country’s housing crisis is preventing many people from finding affordable and safe housing after leaving their abuser. Of the 381 shelters and transition houses that responded, 94 per cent of emergency shelters and 83 per cent of transition homes said victims were staying longer than they had in the past while searching for housing. The report also said when people do leave the facilities, about half return to their abusers because they have no other options. More than two-thirds of the women end up in housing situations considered precarious, which meant they were living with friends or families or trading work for rent. A full 36 per cent experience homelessness at some point. Anna Morgan, manager of programs and services at Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter in Etobicoke, Ont., says her organization has seen enormous demand for services as rents in the Greater Toronto Area soar. Her shelter is meant to provide short-term accommodation for women escaping violence, but it has become more like a transition house as people struggle to find a new place to live. “We’re over capacity,” Morgan said in a phone interview this week. “The shelter system is becoming basically transitional housing for people, and they (the shelters) are really not set up to be housing.” She said the shelter had to turn away 312 people in the fiscal year that ended March 31, and it is on track to turn away a high number again this year. The shelter helps women and gender-diverse people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Many people come from the GTA and neighbouring communities, but Morgan says sometimes people arrive from out of province or even as refugees. The vast majority of people coming to the shelter are “deeply poor,” she says, either on social assistance or working minimum wage jobs. The average rent in Toronto is $3,091 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to Rentals.com, and the wait for social housing is 10 years after getting on the wait-list. Morgan said the report’s findings ring true. In her experience, it’s common for people leaving the shelter system to either couch-surf or get back together with their abusers or into “other precarious, exploitative situations.” “They’re getting stuck in that cycle of experiencing gender-based violence and housing instability and precarity,” she said. As well, private landlords sometimes discriminate against people looking to rent based on their race, gender or sexual orientation. Morgan says many landlords also don’t want to rent to people with children, adding further barriers. Outside of Canada’s major urban hubs, smaller communities are also seeing high rates of gender-based violence and increased demand for help. In Moose Jaw, Sask., Jenn Angus of the Moose Jaw Transition House says the lack of affordable housing has driven up the length of stays for clients in her shelter every year for the last five years. “It’s disheartening,” Angus said in a phone interview this week, adding that it is becoming more common for people to stay between 50 and 70 days, when in previously people could find housing within three weeks. Women with children experience the longest stays, Angus added. Angus added she’s noticed a growing trend of people seeking affordable shelter leaving Moose Jaw – a city of about 40,000 people with what she called a good slate of social services – for rural areas, where there are fewer support services. Saskatchewan had the highest rate of police-reported domestic violence among the provinces in 2023 according to Statistics Canada. Jessica Montgomery of the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation in Morinville, Alta., said finding affordable housing can be difficult for women leaving their abusers because they often leave with little more than “the clothes on their back” and a suitcase. “A lot of survivors coming to us have also experienced economic abuse,” she said, explaining their abusers either had control over their finances or didn’t allow them to work. “It makes them harder to leave because they don’t have the resources to establish a new life.” Montgomery and Angus said the cost of setting up a new home – hooking up utilities, stocking the pantry, finding furniture – is an obstacle for victims trying to make a fresh start. They both said there’s an urgent need for governments at the federal and provincial levels to add funding to housing projects specifically for survivors of gender-based violence and to cut down on wait times for people applying for social assistance programs. In Nova Scotia, the commission of inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting – which began with the gunman brutally assaulting his spouse – called for “epidemic-level funding” to deal with domestic violence. And in September, the province’s legislature adopted a bill naming domestic violence an epidemic. Caira Mohamed of YWCA Halifax says there isn’t necessarily a dollar figure that represents epidemic-level funding. Instead, it involves a consistent level of assistance from the provincial and federal governments for shelters, transition houses and non-profits looking to end gender-based violence. “More programs which are targeted towards survivors of gender-based and intimate-partner violence will start to address some of these gaps (in services) we’re seeing and hopefully meet that threshold of epidemic-level funding,” she said.CULLOWHEE, N.C. (AP) — Brit Harris' 16 points helped South Carolina Upstate defeat Western Carolina 74-68 on Saturday night. Harris shot 6 of 9 from the field and 3 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Spartans (4-8). Carmelo Adkins added 14 points while going 5 of 8 (2 for 4 from 3-point range) while they also had five rebounds. Karmani Gregory shot 4 for 13 (0 for 3 from 3-point range) and 3 of 5 from the free-throw line to finish with 11 points. The Catamounts (3-5) were led in scoring by Bernard Pelote, who finished with 14 points. Cord Stansberry added 14 points and three steals for Western Carolina. CJ Hyland finished with nine points and four assists. Both teams next play Saturday. South Carolina Upstate visits South Carolina and Western Carolinaplays UNC Asheville on the road. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The 2024 presidential election may be remembered as the moment Americans abandoned the issues that defined the post-Cold War era and formed new political coalitions based on class, some experts say. President-elect Donald Trump solidified his hold on the working class in his second electoral victory, even as voters with higher incomes and education levels moved to the left. Whether those shifts will be permanent depends largely on how both parties respond to the emerging politics of class, according to analysts. Some believe Democrats can recapture their historic working-class base by listening to the voters who have been drifting away from their party for a decade and crafting a new liberal vision based more on class than on race, gender, or social issues. Republicans, on the other hand, might keep this new party configuration together if they deliver on the promises that won the majority while forming a governing philosophy based on Trump’s America First agenda without alienating traditional Republicans of the Reagan-Bush era. Here’s what happened in 2024 and what it means for both parties. The composition of the major political parties has been shifting since 2012, but that shift reached a tipping point in 2024. The movement was seen most clearly in working-class voters, who supported Trump in even greater numbers than in 2016 and 2020. Analysts commonly use education and income levels as indicators of class identity. By both measures, working-class voters across racial lines shifted right. College graduates favored Republican candidates in every election from 1988 through 2004. That began to change in 2008 when President Barack Obama earned 50 percent of the college vote . The shift accelerated in 2016 when Democrats gained 55 percent of the vote among college graduates and held a majority for the next two elections. In 2024, 53 percent of voters with a Bachelor’s degree voted for Harris, as did 59 percent of those holding an advanced degree, exit polls showed. Over the same period, voters who never attended college, a traditional mainstay of the Democratic coalition, increasingly voted Republican. In 2016, 46 percent of voters having a high school education or less voted Republican, which was consistent with the two previous election cycles. By 2024, the number of Republican voters who never attended college had risen to 63 percent, the polls revealed. A similar migration occurred in terms of income. In 2012, 60 percent of voters with household incomes less than $50,000 voted Democrat. By 2024, that number had dropped below half. At the same time, a majority of voters from households earning more than $100,000 per year favored the Democratic candidate for the first time since the data was tracked in 1988 . The Republican share from this group in 2024 was 46 percent, the lowest ever. Minorities’ support for Democratic candidates has been strong since the 1970s, reaching a high point in 2008 with the election of Obama. Since then, however, the dropoff has been significant, especially among black and Hispanic men. Support for Democrats by black voters fell from a high of 95 percent in 2008 to 85 percent in 2024. The drop was greatest among black men, 77 percent of whom voted for the Democratic candidate in 2024, the same percentage as in 1972. Black women, the most reliable Democratic voters, voted 91 percent for Vice President Kamala Harris, 5 percent lower than for Obama in 2008. Hispanic support for the Democrats hovered around 65 percent for over 40 years. In 2024, the level dropped by 13 percentage points. The decline was more pronounced among Hispanic men. Just 43 percent of them voted Democratic this year, a lower percentage than that of white women. Asian voters supported the Democratic candidate by 73 percent in 2012. That number dropped steadily over the next three cycles, reaching 54 percent in 2024. Muslim voters, 74 percent of whom had supported Democrats in 2016 and 69 percent in 2020, all but abandoned the party in 2024, according to exit polling conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. That was due largely to the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Only 20 percent of Muslim voters chose Harris. In Michigan, home to the nation’s highest concentration of Muslim Americans, the number was 14 percent. Shifts in the electorate by class and race in 2024 were significant enough to create movement, if not a landslide, in regional voting patterns. The Blue Wall of industrial states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, had been solidly Democratic in presidential elections from 1992 until 2016, when Trump won all three. Though President Joe Biden rebuilt that wall in 2020, Trump again carried those states again in 2024. Trump also eroded Democratic support in traditional party strongholds like New York, New Jersey, and California . While Harris carried all three by a comfortable margin, she gained a smaller share of the vote than either Biden in 2020 or Hillary Clinton in 2016. In Wayne County, Michigan, home to Detroit, Harris drew about 38,000 fewer votes than Biden did in 2020. In Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Harris received about 36,000 fewer votes than Biden had. In Queens County, New York, the deficit was nearly 165,000, and in Los Angeles County, California, it was 621,000. “Harris, in Democratic strongholds in Michigan and Pennsylvania, simply underperformed Biden’s vote totals,” Ken Kollman, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, told The Epoch Times. Though Harris still won those counties by a large margin, the erosion of support in traditionally strong democratic areas fueled Trump’s victory, according to Kollman. According to William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, the upshot of these shifts is that class has again become a powerful force in electoral politics. “We are witnessing the emergence of a new politics of class,” Galston said in a Nov. 12 panel hosted by the Brookings Institution. “Class, defined as educational attainment, dominates the scene in the United States and throughout the industrialized world.” This new reality undercuts assumptions that have informed both parties for decades, and experts say both will need to make adjustments before the next election. Self-reflective statements by Democrats in the wake of the election have centered on the need to listen to voters. “ The country wanted change, and the vice president’s campaign decided they would not offer that ,” longtime Democratic strategist James Carville said in a PBS interview on Nov. 13. Doris Kearns Goodwin, the historian and Democratic commentator, focused on the need to reengage the people who have given the party its strength for generations. “The most important thing that the Democrats have to take away from this loss is that they lost the working class base, and that’s been the foundation of the Democratic Party ever since FDR,” Goodwin said in a Fox News interview on Nov. 8. “I think the working class felt invisible. They felt forgotten.” David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, told The Epoch Times that Democrats should talk to real working-class people. “More importantly, go out and listen to them,” he said. A likely takeaway from those conversations, Schultz said, could be that identity politics seems less important to working-class voters than basic questions of economic survival. “ Hispanics, at the end of the day, are saying, ‘We want jobs. We’re not thrilled about illegal immigration, and we want higher wages. ’” Schultz said, noting that this does not conform to the general perception of “Hispanic issues.” Gabriel Sanchez, a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, reached a similar conclusion. “ Overwhelmingly, the economy is what Latino men have actually been talking about for three election cycles in a row ,” Sanchez said in the Nov. 12 panel discussion. That may be, in part, because Hispanics are a diverse group comprising a mix of national origins and cultures. As a result, “they do not have nearly as strong a sense of linked fate,” Aaron Dusso, a professor of political science at Indiana University Indianapolis, told The Epoch Times, referring to the sense of common identity and interests that characterizes some demographic groups. The sense of linked fate is more pronounced among black Americans, according to Dusso. Yet an increasing share of black men voted Republican in the 2024 presidential election—for a fourth consecutive time. And that was despite direct appeals to black men from both Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, to vote for Harris based on their identity. One explanation for that shift may be that younger blacks seem less concerned with the civil rights issues of a previous generation and more concerned with economic opportunity. Lorenzo Sewell, a Detroit-area pastor who spoke at the Republican National Convention, said his decision to support Trump was rooted in disappointment with the economic results of Democratic leadership for the black community. Noting that many are routinely forced to choose between paying rent, repairing their car, or paying child support, Sewell told the Epoch Times, “We’ve had Democrats running this city for 56 years. I’m not saying Democrats are wrong. I’m just asking, ‘Where’s the change?’” Harris campaigned heavily on a promise to protect access to abortion as a civil right. Democrats had success with that issue on several state ballot initiatives after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Yet in the presidential contest, Harris drew the smallest share of the women’s vote, 53 percent, since 2004. Trump, with 45 percent, received the highest share of the women’s vote by any Republican since President George H.W. Bush. “It’s a clear indication to me that, ultimately, the Dobbs decision is not going to have a political effect,” Dusso said. Read the rest here...
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