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Every Denzel Washington Movie, Ranked

Former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation. The Republican's announcement came one day after meeting with senators in an effort to win their support for his confirmation to lead the Justice Department. Here's the latest: As incoming White House chief of staff, one of Susie Wiles ’ vexing challenges will be policing the buffet line of powerful interests who want something from Donald Trump. It’s a world she knows well. During Trump’s first presidency, she lobbied for many of them. Trump was first elected on a pledge to “drain the swamp” in Washington. But his transactional approach to the presidency instead ushered in a lobbying boom that showered allies, including Wiles, with lucrative contracts, empowered wealthy business associates and stymied his agenda after his administration was ensnared in a series of influence-peddling scandals. Now, as Trump prepares to return to power , his victory is likely to embolden those who think they can get his ear, raising the prospect that his second administration could face many of the same perils as his first. That will test the ability of Wiles to manage a growing number of high-powered figures — including Trump’s children, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and billionaires like Elon Musk — who will not be dependent on her for access to the president. ▶ Read more about Susie Wiles and her new role Vance accompanied Matt Gaetz in meetings with GOP senators on Wednesday. “I’m extremely grateful for the work Matt put into the nomination process,” the Ohio senator posted on X. “Matt is a patriot, and I look forward to seeing what he does next.” President Joe Biden still believes President-elect Donald Trump is a dangerous figure in U.S. democracy, his top spokesperson said Thursday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “his thinking on that has not changed” even as the Biden White House emphasizes its commitment to the “peaceful transfer of power.” Jean-Pierre told reporters there is no double-speak in Biden’s approach. Biden framed Donald Trump as a “fundamental threat” to the nation’s identity as a democracy and its stability as a global superpower when he defeated Trump in 2020. He did it as a candidate for reelection. He did it again when he dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. But Jean-Pierre said Biden recognizes the legitimacy of Trump’s election to another term, even if it’s not the result he wanted. “The American people spoke,” she said, adding that Biden wants to be an example of how to respect U.S. elections. That was an opaque reference to Trump’s refusal to accept Biden’s victory in 2020 and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters as Congress met to affirm the results. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says she hasn’t spoken to her designated successor, Karoline Leavitt. Jean-Pierre told reporters gathered Thursday at the White House that she hopes the second Trump administration will be forthright with the public by talking to reporters. Trump’s first White House dramatically curtailed its initial interactions with the White House press corps, and Jean-Pierre said Biden and his staff “worked really hard to bring back the norms” with press briefings and interactions. “We’ve tried to do this in a very respectful way,” she said. Jean-Pierre declined to “speak to what any administration is going to do” in the future, but added that the back-and-forth with the press is part of “what democracy is all about.” In other presidential transition news, Trump is urging federal lawmakers to kill a bill that would protect journalists from having to disclose information about anonymous sources or other records obtained during reporting. The proposal that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, but is pending in the Senate, also bars the government from requesting data from phone or email providers. The bill includes exceptions such as when there’s a reasonable threat of imminent violence or an act of terrorism. As of now, only some states grant absolute protection from disclosing sources or other records. “Republicans must kill this bill!” Trump posted on Truth Social and shared a video from PBS News Hour interviewing the CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalist, Jodie Ginsburg, talking about the proposal. Last month, The Associated Press, along with more than 100 news outlets and organizations, signed a letter authored by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press asking senators to support the bill. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre isn’t commenting on Matt Gaetz withdrawing his nomination as president-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general in the new administration. “We really, truly want to respect the transfer of power,” Jean-Pierre said Thursday during a White House press briefing, explaining her steadfast refusal to comment on Trump personnel moves. But Jean-Pierre nonetheless used the matter to take a subtle jab at how Trump, who was twice indicted by the federal government, has reacted to federal law enforcement. “Look, the president has said when it comes to investigation, that department should be independent. there should be no partisanship. There should be no loyalty to one party or the other,” she said. “The loyalty should be to the Constitution, and the loyalty should be to the rule of law.” Trump has insisted that it was Biden and his lieutenants who weaponized the Justice Department by indicting him for his role in trying to overturn Biden’s 2020 election victory and for hoarding national security documents after Trump left the White House in January 2021. That latter case has been thrown out by a Trump-appointed judge. The former case is still pending. Taken together, there are a striking number of incidents in which potential high-ranking government officials in Trump’s second administration face allegations of sexual abuse. Here’s a look at some of the cases: President-elect Donald Trump: He was found liable by a New York City jury for sexual abuse and defamation and eventually ordered to pay the woman, E. Jean Carroll , $83 million in damages. Pete Hegseth, nominee for secretary of defense: A woman told police she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police the encounter had been consensual and denies wrongdoing. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominee for secretary of health and human services: A woman who babysat for Kennedy and his second wife told Vanity Fair magazine he groped her in the late 1990s, when she was 23. Kennedy did not deny the allegation, telling a podcast: “I had a very, very rambunctious youth.” He texted the woman an apology after the story was published. Linda McMahon, nominee for secretary of education: A lawsuit filed last month alleges McMahon knowingly enabled sexual exploitation of children by a World Wrestling Entertainment employee as early as the 1980s. She denies the allegations. Elon Musk, Trump’s choice to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency: The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX was accused of sexual misconduct by a flight attendant contracted by SpaceX who worked on his private jet in 2016. He denied the claim. ▶ Read more about the allegations of sexual misconduct Among those who were seen as contenders before Gaetz was picked is former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker , who Trump chose earlier this week to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Other names that were floated as potential attorney general nominees include Jeff Jensen, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. Trump last week chose Todd Blanche , an attorney who led the legal team that defended the Republican at his hush money criminal trial , to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official. Emil Bove, a former federal prosecutor, was chosen to be the principal associate deputy attorney general. An attorney who represents two women who say they were paid by Gaetz for sex says his clients are “relieved to have this chapter behind them.” “They’re grateful for the opportunity to move forward with their lives,” said Joel Leppard, whose clients testified before the House Ethics Committee. “They’re hoping that this brings final closure for all the parties involved.” Leppard revealed earlier this week details about his clients’ testimony to House Ethics Committee to release its report on the Gaetz investigation. Leppard said his clients were paid a total of $10,000 by the congressman. One of his clients testified that she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old at a party in 2017, while he was in Congress. Though Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration for attorney general, he isn’t Trump’s only appointee in hot water. A woman told police she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report made public late Wednesday. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said. Earlier today, Hegseth held a round of private meetings alongside incoming Vice President JD Vance in an attempt to shore up support and told reporters afterward: “The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared, and that’s where I’m gonna leave it.” ▶ Read more about the allegations against Hegseth In his Nov. 13 resignation letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Gaetz said, “I hereby resign, as United States Representatives for Florida’s First Congressional District, effective immediately, and I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress, to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration.” He transmitted a similar letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the state began a special election process to fill the vacancy. Attorneys involved in a civil case brought by a Gaetz associate were notified this week that an unauthorized person accessed a file shared between lawyers that included unredacted depositions from a woman who said Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17 and a second woman who says she saw the encounter, according to attorney Joel Leppard. Leppard said that two women he represents told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions beginning in 2017 when Gaetz was in Congress. The files the person was able to access were part of a defamation case filed by a Gaetz associate against the former representative’s onetime political ally Joel Greenberg , who pleaded guilty in 2021 to sex trafficking of a minor, and admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men. The apparent breach was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. Gaetz has denied all the allegations. ▶ Read more about the apparent file breach Trump had announced last week that he’d chosen Todd Blanche, an attorney who’s defended him in some of his criminal cases, to serve as deputy attorney general. That’s the second highest ranking position at the Justice Department. A former federal prosecutor, Blanche has been a key figure defended him both in the New York hush money criminal trial that ended in a conviction in May, and the federal cases brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Thursday in a post on X that he believes the now-former congressman “will continue to contribute to our nation’s wellbeing for years to come.” Graham, a member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, also said he looks forward to working with Trump “regarding future nominees to get this important job up and running.” The caption of the Instagram photo reads “The end of an era. No one loves America more than this guy.” The Florida representative was once embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation involving underage girls by the Justice Department, the very department President-elect Trump had tapped him to lead. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and in February 2023 said the investigation ended with no federal charges against him.He was also being investigated by the House Ethics panel, but Republicans declined yesterday to release the committee’s findings over objections from Democrats in a split vote. ▶ Read more about the Justice Department’s investigation into Gaetz He had abruptly resigned from his congressional seat upon being nominated as attorney general amid a long-running House Ethics investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, which was seen as a way to halt the probe. The House Ethics panel’s Republicans declined this week to release the committee’s findings into Gaetz over objections from Democrats in a split vote. But the committee did agree to finish its work and is scheduled to meet again Dec. 5 to discuss the matter. However, Gaetz did win re-election earlier this month for the new Congress which convenes Jan. 3. But it’s unclear if he would take office. There’s also been plans for a special election in Florida for his seat. “President Trump remains committed to choosing a leader for the Department of Justice who will strongly defend the Constitution and end the weaponization of our justice system,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition team. In a message on his Truth Social network, Trump also said he was looking forward to seeing what Gaetz will do next after withdrawing as his pick. “He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” Trump posted. “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!” Matt Gaetz has just withdrawn as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following continued scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on the former congressman’s ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. The Florida Republican’s announcement came one day after meeting with senators in an effort to win their support for his confirmation to lead the Justice Department. Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Trump’s push to install steadfast loyalists in his incoming administration and the first sign that Trump could face resistance from members of his own party.

HMC saves two patients' limbs from amputationWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer, a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Related Story: Debate Plays Out on X Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer’s comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks, whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.” Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government, weighed in, defending the tech industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump’s world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift. His presidential transition team did not respond to questions about positions on visas for highly skilled workers or the debate between his supporters online. Instead, his team instead sent a link to a post on X by longtime adviser and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller that was a transcript of a speech Trump gave in 2020 at Mount Rushmore in which he praised figures and moments from American history. Musk, the world’s richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect, was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump’s movement but his stance on the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Related Story: Musk Was Once on a H-1B Visa Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump’s own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration, including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Related Story: Trump’s businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club, and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country” and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” he told the “All-In” podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump’s budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.

Gap Inc. Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2024 Results, Raises Full Year Outlook

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International ( NYSE:SCI – Free Report ) by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,364 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,209 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Service Co. International were worth $5,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in Service Co. International by 53.5% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,239,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,966,000 after buying an additional 2,524,795 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 1st quarter worth $224,137,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 7.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,942,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,183,000 after purchasing an additional 135,017 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,810,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,875,000 after purchasing an additional 61,838 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Service Co. International by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 946,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,672,000 after purchasing an additional 25,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock. Insider Buying and Selling In other news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at $9,410,563.80. This represents a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock. Service Co. International Stock Performance Service Co. International ( NYSE:SCI – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 31.84%. Service Co. International’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year. Service Co. International Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts have commented on SCI shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.25. Get Our Latest Report on Service Co. International Service Co. International Company Profile ( Free Report ) Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses. The company also provides professional services related to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral home facilities and motor vehicles; arranging and directing services; and removal, preparation, embalming, cremation, memorialization, and travel protection, as well as catering services. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Service Co. International ( NYSE:SCI – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Service Co. International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Service Co. International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

Texans look to regroup as they prepare for Ravens after Tank Dell suffers another injury

Mytheresa CEO on personalization, culture, Saudi Arabia’s luxury boomSergei Belski-Imagn Images The New York Rangers started this season on a 5-0-1 tear, and fans in Manhattan were feeling like the Blueshirts were every bit the first-rate, Grade-A Stanley Cup frontrunner GM Chris Drury built them to be. But since that span, the Rangers have shockingly gone 7-6-0 in their last 13 games. And something that was a positive for them last season – their defense, which was the NHL’s seventh-best in goals-against per game – is starting to become a serious problem. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Thanks for the feedback.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After taking over as governor amid a scandal in 2018, Republican Mike Parson hoped to bring stability to a state that had just watched the unsettling resignation of his predecessor. But, in an expansive interview as he prepares to leave office, Missouri’s 57th chief executive said he remains in awe of how multiple crises unfolded during his tenure as chief executive. Within weeks of taking over for scandal-plagued Republican Eric Greitens, the former state lawmaker and county sheriff raced to Branson in the aftermath of the sinking of a duck boat ride at Table Rock Lake that killed 17 tourists. There was a flood, a drought , a crisis in the St. Louis prosecutor’s office and the COVID-19 pandemic. “There was so much turmoil when I first walked in these doors. The first big challenge was, ‘How do you stabilize that?’” Parson said. “I think at the end of the day, we did.” Parson will leave the warren of offices overlooking the Missouri River on the Capitol’s second floor on Jan. 13, handing the keys to Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, a fellow Republican who has signaled he too wants relative continuity in 2025 by retaining a number of Parson holdovers to serve in his Cabinet. In a wide-ranging conversation with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Parson said there were many incidents that no governor could have been prepared to face, including a respiratory virus that infected a third of all residents and killed 22,000 Missourians. Like other governors, Parson faced evolving and often conflicting health advice, as well as members of the public split on masks, vaccines and school and business closures. “It was one of the most difficult times I had,” Parson said. “It was just unprecedented.” The governmental response to the virus wasn’t just a fight between a more relaxed approach in rural Missouri versus heightened health concerns in more populous urban areas, Parson said. “Some people wanted mandates, some people didn’t and that was all over the state,” said Parson, pointing to examples that came from friends in his hometown of Bolivar. “I remember people down home talking about churches, for example. I remember people calling me and saying you need to shut the churches down,” Parson said. “And that was people back home. You had that kind of pressure every day.” The COVID-19 shutdowns sent Missouri’s unemployment rate skyrocketing, pushing beyond the 12% level in April 2020. But, through a combination of vaccines and businesses opening, the rate was down to 6.8% by July 2020 and 4.2% a year later. “The whole time you’re fighting the virus you’re trying to keep the economy going,” he said. Parson said his decision to not shut down the state was based largely on his experience of owning a Polk County gas station in his younger days. Small business owners need to pay loans, mortgages and employees. “We made it possible for people to stay open,” Parson said. “I think looking back on it we did the right thing.” It wasn’t smooth sailing. In July 2020, Parson downplayed the risk of children contracting the coronavirus during school reopenings, insisting “they’re going to get over it.” “These kids have got to get back to school,” he said at the time. “They’re at the lowest risk possible. And if they do get COVID-19, which they will — and they will when they go to school — they’re not going to the hospitals. They’re not going to have to sit in doctor’s offices. They’re going to go home and they’re going to get over it.” “We gotta move on,” he continued. “We can’t just let this thing stop us in our tracks.” The blowback was harsh. Some health officials expressed concern about returning to schools because students could carry the virus home to older relatives. “I probably didn’t do it as tactfully as I should have,” Parson now acknowledges. “It was pretty brutal. People came after me with both barrels.” The governor’s approach to COVID-19 was similar to how he addressed other issues. Often out of sync Parson governed as a staunch Republican, eagerly taking up GOP talking points on guns, immigration and cultural issues. He signed a strict abortion ban in 2019 that went into effect in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. He won legislative support to give the nation’s lowest-paid state workers raises topping 25% to address an ongoing labor shortage in his administration, but he refused to sign any state worker employee union contracts during his entire tenure. Long waiting times for residents seeking state benefits were a frustrating feature of the Parson era. Missouri voters also sent Parson and his fellow Republicans multiple reminders that Missouri is not a wholly red state when it comes to social service issues. In 2020, for example, Missouri voters approved an expansion of Medicaid coverage after years of Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s signature achievement of trying to fix the nation’s health care system. Parson opposed the expansion as a dangerous drain on tax revenues. The administration slow-walked the voter-approved rollout until the Supreme Court of Missouri held the expansion amendment to be constitutional. People began enrolling in October 2021, nearly a year after the matter was approved at the ballot box. Expansion has proven popular. As of Dec. 6, more than 316,000 adults were enrolled to get health coverage. In all, there are nearly 1.3 million Missourians receiving health insurance through Obamacare. In response to the Medicaid vote and other citizen-led petition drives, Parson says lawmakers must make it harder for residents to amend the state’s constitution. Republicans who control the Legislature were unable to raise the threshold for passage during a contentious spring legislative session and, by the fall, voters overturned the ban on abortion through an initiative petition. Although Parson favors toughening the standards for passage of amendments, he also urged the Legislature to resolve problems before residents feel the need to make changes themselves at the ballot box. “If you don’t take action ... people are going to go to the initiative petition process because they get frustrated because nothing ever happens here and nobody is willing to come to a compromise,” Parson said. The state budget also grew exponentially during his tenure, some of that due to an influx of billions of dollars in federal funds. As he leaves office, Parson contends that a series of income tax cuts also helped boost the bottom line. “Yes, the budget has ballooned during this administration. There’s no doubt about it,” he said. “It’s because revenues went up. If you put money back in people’s pockets, the general revenue and the economy grows.” Picking the ‘right people’ Parson’s relationship with the Democrat-controlled St. Louis region was sometimes testy over Republican opposition to tightening the state’s loose gun laws and ongoing threats to put the city’s police department under state control. “I set out early on to make sure the people of St. Louis realize I just wasn’t some old country boy from southwest Missouri and I was just going to take care of things back home,” Parson said. “For the state of Missouri to do well, St. Louis must do well.” “You’ve got to be part of finding solutions. Sometimes when you get involved it becomes controversial,” he said. Parson said he never imagined he would be in the middle of a fight over the St. Louis city prosecutor’s office when he was first sworn in. “I didn’t even know it was my job to pick the circuit attorney of St. Louis,” Parson said. In 2023, Parson appointed Gabe Gore , a civil attorney, to rebuild the city prosecutor’s office following the abrupt resignation of beleaguered Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner. Gore, then a partner at the high-powered and politically connected Dowd Bennett law firm, served on the Ferguson Commission following protests over the 2014 death of Michael Brown and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney prosecutor in the 1990s. “That was a big selection. You could tell he cared about the city,” Parson said of Gore. Parson also had the unprecedented opportunity to appoint four people to statewide office to fill vacancies when the officeholder ran for higher office and left the post open. He elevated state treasurer Eric Schmitt to attorney general to succeed Josh Hawley. Hawley and Schmitt are now both U.S. senators. Parson named Scott Fitzpatrick, a state representative, to succeed Schmitt as treasurer. Fitzpatrick is now state auditor. The governor named his general counsel Andrew Bailey to succeed Schmitt as attorney general and lawyer Vivek Malek to succeed Fitzpatrick as treasurer. “I really tried to pick people who were good for the jobs,” he said. All four ran for election after their appointments and voters gave them easy wins on Election Day — a result Parson says means that he chose the right people. “I think the people of the state said, ‘You did a pretty good job,’” Parson said. There also were controversies inside the Capitol and outside. At the height of the pandemic, amid concerns about the ongoing spread of the virus, former House Speaker Rob Vescovo informed Parson’s office that he would have to deliver the annual State of the State speech to an empty House chamber. An enraged Parson received permission to give his speech in the Senate chamber. Two days later, a fuming Parson fired off a letter accusing Vescovo of engaging in a “purposeful and disgusting scheme to embarrass” him. “Instead, Wednesday became an insider stunt and petty show of arrogance and political power,” Parson wrote. Dealing with the media In 2021, Parson accused the Post-Dispatch of hacking into a state website despite evidence that his own administration’s computer shortcomings had left personal information about Missouri teachers available within a few mouse clicks on a state-run website. He never apologized for the accusation after prosecutors declined to press charges. Parson also raised eyebrows for pardoning Central West End attorney Mark McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, in 2021 for brandishing guns at protesters who were moving through the neighborhood. He also was criticized in 2024 for pardoning Britt Reid, the son of Kansas City Chiefs Coach Andy Reid, who had been in prison for a drunken driving crash that seriously injured a 5-year-old girl. His decision this month to commute the prison sentence of former police detective Eric DeValkenaere , the first Kansas City officer ever convicted of killing a Black man, was, as expected, highly controversial. But Parson also was widely praised for granting clemency to Patty Prewitt , who had spent 40 years behind bars for her husband’s 1984 murder. “It wasn’t like we liked all the stories anyone wrote, but you’re not in the business of writing everything I like,” Parson said. “You have to learn to deal with the media. From Day One, we tried to establish a role with the media. And for the most part we were able to do that,” he said. Parson said Kehoe will hit the ground running next month. He hopes the former senator and Jefferson City businessman will address the state’s child care industry, which has not recovered from the pandemic. A key to solving the problems lies with Kehoe navigating divisiveness among Republicans, who have been unable to overcome differences in the state Senate, leading to a record-low number of non-budget bills going to Parson’s desk. “I think he’s got a really good foundation to build on,” Parson said. “If there is one thing on the table that I didn’t get done ... you’ve got to do something about the day care situation in the state.” “It is a huge issue for everyday people out there. There’s just a lack of it,” Parson said. As he heads back to Bolivar, a city of 11,300 people, his small cattle operation and home to Southwest Baptist University, Parson said the last six years were more intense than many can imagine. “The worst part of the job is time. You just have very little time,” Parson said. “I missed my family. I missed a lot of ball games. It is a pressure cooker every day and it just never stops.” But, he said, “We got about everything done that we started out to do. I’m looking forward to going home.” ©2024 STLtoday.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.US-Based Ghanaian Lawyer Raises Concerns Over Electoral Commission’s Ruling on Dome Kwabenya Rerun

Navy QB Blake Horvath's 95-yard TD run in Armed Forces Bowl win is longest play in school historyThe Reform UK leader pushed back against reports suggesting that legal action would be the next step, saying he would make a decision in the next couple of days about his response if there is no apology for the “crazy conspiracy theory”. Mr Farage also said the party has “opened up our systems” to media outlets, including The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times, in the interests of “full transparency to verify that our numbers are correct”. His remarks came after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of “fakery” in response to Reform claiming they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”. A digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. Mr Farage, on whether he was threatening legal action or not, told the PA news agency: “I haven’t threatened anything. I’ve just said that unless I get an apology, I will take some action. “I haven’t said whether it’s legal or anything.” He added: “All I’ve said is I want an apology. If I don’t get an apology, I will take action. “I will decide in the next couple of days what that is. So I’ve not specified what it is.” Mr Farage, on the move to make membership data available to media organisations, said: “We feel our arguments are fully validated. “She (Mrs Badenoch) has put out this crazy conspiracy theory and she needs to apologise.” The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News & FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. I am now demanding @KemiBadenoch apologises. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) December 27, 2024 On why Mrs Badenoch had reacted as she did, Mr Farage said: “I would imagine she was at home without anybody advising her and was just angry.” Mr Farage, in a statement issued on social media site X, also said: “The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. “Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News and FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. “I am now demanding Kemi Badenoch apologises.” A Conservative Party source claimed Mr Farage was “rattled” that his Boxing Day “publicity stunt is facing serious questions”. They added: “Like most normal people around the UK, Kemi is enjoying Christmas with her family and looking forward to taking on the challenges of renewing the Conservative Party in the New Year.” Mrs Badenoch, in a series of messages posted on X on Thursday, said: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn. Mrs Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Party has gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”. Elsewhere, Mr Farage described Elon Musk as a “bloody hero” and said he believes the US billionaire can help attract younger voters to Reform. Tech entrepreneur Mr Musk met Mr Farage earlier this month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, amid rumours of a possible donation to either Mr Farage or Reform. Mr Farage told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “The shades, the bomber jacket, the whole vibe. Elon makes us cool – Elon is a huge help to us with the young generation, and that will be the case going on and, frankly, that’s only just starting. “Reform only wins the next election if it gets the youth vote. The youth vote is the key. Of course, you need voters of all ages, but if you get a wave of youth enthusiasm you can change everything. “And I think we’re beginning to get into that zone – we were anyway, but Elon makes the whole task much, much easier. And the idea that politics can be cool, politics can be fun, politics can be real – Elon helps us with that mission enormously.”

WASHINGTON − President-elect Donald Trump wants the Supreme Court to pause a law that could ban TikTok in the United States next month, arguing he can find a way to "save" the popular video platform without compromising national security or American's free speech rights. Trump alone, his attorneys told the justices in a filing Friday, has the "consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution." Trump takes office on Jan. 20, a day after TikTok must be divested from ByteDance, its Chinese-based parent company, or it will be banned in the United States. Will the Supreme Court save TikTok? What's ahead in the final legal showdown. TikTok has already asked the Supreme Court to pause enforcement of that requirement while the company continues to make their case for why the law is unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court this month said they won't decide whether to keep the Jan. 19 deadline until after the justices debate the merits of the law during oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10. Trump's filing Friday was part of a flurry of written briefs filed before those arguments.CIBC Asset Management Inc Makes New $120,000 Investment in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Caprock Group LLC Has $376,000 Holdings in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)The Reform UK leader pushed back against reports suggesting that legal action would be the next step, saying he would make a decision in the next couple of days about his response if there is no apology for the “crazy conspiracy theory”. Mr Farage also said the party has “opened up our systems” to media outlets, including The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times, in the interests of “full transparency to verify that our numbers are correct”. His remarks came after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of “fakery” in response to Reform claiming they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”. A digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. Mr Farage, on whether he was threatening legal action or not, told the PA news agency: “I haven’t threatened anything. I’ve just said that unless I get an apology, I will take some action. “I haven’t said whether it’s legal or anything.” He added: “All I’ve said is I want an apology. If I don’t get an apology, I will take action. “I will decide in the next couple of days what that is. So I’ve not specified what it is.” Mr Farage, on the move to make membership data available to media organisations, said: “We feel our arguments are fully validated. “She (Mrs Badenoch) has put out this crazy conspiracy theory and she needs to apologise.” The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News & FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. I am now demanding apologises. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) On why Mrs Badenoch had reacted as she did, Mr Farage said: “I would imagine she was at home without anybody advising her and was just angry.” Mr Farage, in a statement issued on social media site X, also said: “The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. “Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News and FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. “I am now demanding Kemi Badenoch apologises.” A Conservative Party source claimed Mr Farage was “rattled” that his Boxing Day “publicity stunt is facing serious questions”. They added: “Like most normal people around the UK, Kemi is enjoying Christmas with her family and looking forward to taking on the challenges of renewing the Conservative Party in the New Year.” Mrs Badenoch, in a series of messages posted on X on Thursday, said: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn. Mrs Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Party has gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”. Elsewhere, Mr Farage described Elon Musk as a “bloody hero” and said he believes the US billionaire can help attract younger voters to Reform. Tech entrepreneur Mr Musk met Mr Farage earlier this month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, amid rumours of a possible donation to either Mr Farage or Reform. Mr Farage told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “The shades, the bomber jacket, the whole vibe. Elon makes us cool – Elon is a huge help to us with the young generation, and that will be the case going on and, frankly, that’s only just starting. “Reform only wins the next election if it gets the youth vote. The youth vote is the key. Of course, you need voters of all ages, but if you get a wave of youth enthusiasm you can change everything. “And I think we’re beginning to get into that zone – we were anyway, but Elon makes the whole task much, much easier. And the idea that politics can be cool, politics can be fun, politics can be real – Elon helps us with that mission enormously.”Cowboys win wild one vs. Commanders to halt five-game slide