ph777 ph Thousands of UK social media users experiencing ongoing Meta blackoutCalzada TD to Alexander sends Incarnate Word to FCS quarterfinal with win over VillanovaDespite the disappointment of Eriksen's impending departure, it is clear that the midfielder still has a lot to offer at the highest level. His vision, passing range, and technical ability make him a sought-after talent, with several clubs likely to express interest in securing his services on a free transfer.

Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter gets a hug from his wife, Rosalynn, after the third presidential debate on Oct. 22, 1976, Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo, File) Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old . The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief" and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America's dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights , he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise" speech, even though he never used that word. After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter's diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.”For Kingdom Hearts fans, Sora's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate represents a validation of the series' impact and influence on the gaming world. It is a recognition of the deep connection that players have formed with the character and his story, as well as a testament to the enduring popularity of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Seeing Sora stand alongside other iconic characters in Super Smash Bros. is a moment of pride for fans who have been with him on his journey from the beginning.

Title: The Elderly Man Who Crawls Through the Dog Hole to Pass Through the Turnstile and Enter the Subway StationNEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Emerance Maschmeyer turned in 34 saves on 35 shots on goal and the Ottawa Charge held off the New York Sirens 3-1 on Sunday for their second win in six games. Playing their first game in 10 days, the Charge got a first-period goal from Emily Clark and Shiann Darkangelo and Kateřina Mrázová added second-period goals to build a 3-0 lead through two periods. Ottawa has scored at least three goals in all five of its meetings with New York over two seasons. Alex Carpenter earned a third-period assist to extend her scoring streak to nine straight games dating to last season. Sarah Fillier's goal moved her into a tie for the league lead with eight points in her first eight games after being drafted No. 1 by the Sirens. Ottawa's defense neutralized much of New York's speed advantage and used a strong penalty kill to take a 1-0 lead after one period after Clark tipped home a wrist shot from the point by Brianne Jenner six minutes into the game. The Charge added two goals in the first seven minutes of the second period but could not capitalize on a pair of power plays late in the period. Fillier wasted little time getting New York on the board in the third period, firing a shot past Maschmeyer 23 seconds into the period, but the keeper saved the next dozen shots, including an almost three-minute finish when the Sirens pulled goalkeeper Corinne Schroeder to gain a player advantage. New York's Jill Saulnier was activated off long-term injured reserve following an upper body injury sustained in the opening game December 1. ___ AP hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/hockey The Associated Press

While the news of a "Free Aid Education Program" in Tianjin turned out to be false, it has highlighted the public's interest and concern for education and support for disadvantaged students. It serves as a reminder to the government and education authorities of the importance of providing equal educational opportunities for all students and ensuring that no child is left behind due to financial constraints.WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Summer Lee overcame a primary challenge to return to office in January. Two of her close allies did not. While Lee of Swissvale easily dispatched Edgewood Council member Bhavini Patel last spring, challengers ousted two other members of the left-wing group of House Democrats known as the Squad. What Lee and the two Democrats who lost their reelection bids — U.S. Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri — had in common was that they have been among Israel's fiercest critics in Congress, even before Hamas launched an attack on the Jewish State on Oct. 7, 2023. "While the number of anti-Israel Democrats and their influence have been exaggerated, there's no doubt that the defeat of two of them should send a strong message to those who refuse to condemn the Iranian attack on Israel in April or voted against a resolution standing with Israel against Hamas or more recently has called on the administration to withhold weapons," said Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. But while Bowman's and Bush's races attracted millions of dollars from the pro-Israel community, Lee's did not. Her district is more liberal than others — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris received more votes in 2024 against Donald Trump than Joe Biden did in 2020 — and Nachama Soloveichik, a partner in ColdSpark, a Pittsburgh-based Republican consulting firm, said there wasn't the outrage over Lee's positions as there was in those other two districts. "I don't think she has suffered from the same kind of negatives," Soloveichik said. Lee did not respond to requests for comment. But a close ally, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the millions of dollars spent by outside groups influenced the outcome of the races. "It's really heartbreaking to have members depart from here, especially in races that had the highest levels of special interest spending that we've seen in American history," Ocasio-Cortez said. "I don't think anyone feels good about that." A super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel lobby, spent $14.6 million on the Bowman race and $8.6 million on the Bush race, according to the research group OpenSecrets. Those were the PAC's two highest-spending races in 2024, and AIPAC-backed candidates won both, as they did in 96% of Democrats the group endorsed. AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittman said the results showed that "being pro-Israel is both good policy and good politics." Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders recommended that the Democratic National Committee ban super PACs from spending money in party primaries. Outgoing caucus chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said that the outside money was a big factor in Bowman's and Bush's defeats. "Those two individuals had a lot of big money come in against them," Jayapal said. "Every election you have to convince voters. It gets very difficult, when you get enormous amounts of money coming in, to make your case. I don't think there's any big lesson to learn from it other than big money." After all, she said, many other progressives were reelected despite the outside spending. "I think people want to look at those two instead of looking at the whole range of progressives that won, including ones that had a lot of big money against them," she said. "But we obviously think we need to get big money out of these primaries." Another caucus member, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., cautioned against calling the primary losses a backlash to progressive politicians. "There are unique factors to each of those districts, which I think we ought to refrain from making general statements," McGovern said. "Those districts are different, and there were a bunch of factors. I don't think it was a repudiation of the Squad or people wanted to move to the right. These are individual races." Still, Democratic strategist Joel Rubin, a Squirrel Hill native, said Lee should study why so much money was spent in those other races and why it worked. "It would benefit her and her political position to look at the lessons from the Bowman and the Bush races and rather than chalk it up to one generalized talking point, look deeper at why the money that went into the race had the impact on voters that it did," said Rubin. But Soloveichik cautioned that politicians aren't very good at personal introspection. "If Oct. 7, which was the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, did not cause people to question their votes and their rhetoric, I don't think anything will," Soloveichik said. "They talk to people who think and vote just like them. Their supporters are hard-left activists, and their districts are overwhelmingly liberal. I doubt that we'll see anything." Lee's district includes the large Jewish community in Squirrel Hill, site of the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history when Robert Bowers gunned down 11 worshippers in a local synagogue in 2018. She obtained $1 million in federal funds to convert the Squirrel Hill synagogue into a memorial and education center, and another $547,000 for the 10.27 Healing Partnership, which helps those traumatized by the shooting. Soifer said the congresswoman needs to build a better relationship with her Jewish constituents. "One doesn't always have to agree, but one should always have open lines of communication with one's constituents," Soifer said. And Soloveichik warned that Lee's electoral success in 2024 didn't close the door on a future, more successful challenger if she continues on her current path regarding the Jewish state. "I feel pretty confident that the people who care about Israel are keeping an eye on her performance and if there is an opportunity to fire her electorally, they will jump on it," she said. One of those watching Lee is Pittsburgh resident Lou Weiss, a local pro-Israel activist and member of the Republican Jewish Coalition. "If the appropriate candidate pops up, we'd love to happen to her what happened to these others," he said. "Hopefully she joins her buddies Jamaal and Cori in early retirement." In the wake of the primary defeats of her Squad colleagues, Lee disregards her Jewish constituents at her own risk, Rubin said. "What kind of relationship does she want to have with these constituents and will that influence her positions?" Rubin said. "If it doesn't and if the way she's engaging continues to make them concerned and upset, then you bet they're going to be looking for alternatives. ...If you keep on having your voters and constituents upset, you increase the likelihood of a credible challenger appearing." So far, Lee hasn't changed her positions on Israel. She was one of 14 House members to vote against a Republican-led resolution condemning antisemitism and one of nine opposing a resolution expressing support for Israel and condemning Hamas for the October 2023 attack. Earlier this month, Lee helped lead a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, urging them to suspend transfers of offensive weapons to Israel. "Continuing to transfer offensive weapons to Netanyahu's government prolongs the suffering of Palestinian families, puts Israeli lives in further danger, and risks our own national security by sending a message to the world that the U.S. applies its laws and values selectively," Lee said. Among the 19 other lawmakers signing the letter were Bowman and Bush. But Lee acts at her own peril if she doesn't acknowledge that Bowman's and Bush's positions on Israel were factors in their defeats, said Sam Markstein, national political director for the Republican Jewish Coalition. "As a proud Squad member, Congresswoman Lee has embraced, time and again, the most radical elements in the Democratic Party," Markstein said. "Congresswoman Lee would be wise to change course, but we know she won't." (c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Prime Minister's firm stance on the Golan Heights is also seen as a strategic move to bolster his political standing domestically. With elections looming on the horizon, Netanyahu's strong rhetoric resonates with a segment of the Israeli population that values security and stability above all else. By portraying himself as a steadfast defender of Israel's territorial integrity, Netanyahu is positioning himself as a leader who can be trusted to protect the country's interests in a volatile region.

Bengals' Joe Burrow Unsure About Wrist Injury Holding Up in Cold: 'We'll Find Out'

Furthermore, the international community had grown increasingly vocal in its criticism of the Assad regime, with many countries imposing sanctions and calling for Assad to step down. The regime's isolation on the world stage only served to further weaken its position, making it increasingly untenable for Assad to maintain power in the face of mounting opposition.Calzada TD to Alexander sends Incarnate Word to FCS quarterfinal with win over Villanova

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