AD Ports Group, an enabler of integrated trade, transport and logistics solutions, announced the inauguration of CMA Terminals Khalifa Port, a state-of-the-art, AED 3.1 billion (USD 845 million) container terminal by His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. The inauguration is a major milestone in the development of Khalifa Port, AD Ports Group’s flagship port. The world-class container, ro-ro, and multipurpose port facility opened in December 2012, and in just 12 years has expanded to become one of the world’s fastest-growing, most efficient commercial ports. CMA Terminals Khalifa Port, managed by a joint venture between the CMA CGM Group’s subsidiary CMA Terminals (70%) and AD Ports Group (30%), showcases advanced port infrastructure, including automated gates and integrated systems that enhance efficiency and sustainability. The facility offers shore-power for vessels to limit emissions, several solar panels areas contributing to the energy mix of the terminal operations and includes the region’s first net zero carbon administration building, which is powered by renewable energy sources. The building won the Net Zero Building Project of the Year Award in 2022 from the MENA Green Building Awards. The addition of the CMA CGM facility increases Khalifa Port’s annual container capacity by 23% to almost 10 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units). The new terminal is ready for rail connectivity and will significantly enhance Khalifa Port’s position as a major gateway for the region. The design of the new facility incorporates sustainability principles into the construction which support the UAE’s wider targets for building the circular economy, recycling construction and reducing operational waste. The new facility includes eight advanced Ship to Shore (STS) cranes, and 20 Electric Rubber Tyred Gantry (e-RTG) cranes, which enhances Khalifa Port’s reputation as one of the world’s most technologically advanced commercial ports, underscoring Abu Dhabi’s role in driving the future of sustainable and smart trade. H.E. Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Chairman of AD Ports Group, said: “The inauguration of CMA Terminals Khalifa Port highlights the UAE as a premier investment destination and solidifies its position as a key partner for global players. The new terminal will boost trade flows and foster long-term economic growth in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.” Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, said: “The inauguration of our new container terminal is a major step in the development of Khalifa Port, consolidating Abu Dhabi’s position as a global trade hub. This strategic infrastructure will boost shipping and logistics activities across the region. Together with our partner AD Ports Group, we are pleased to deliver a modern terminal with a strong focus on innovation and sustainability.” Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group, said: “CMA Terminals Khalifa Port will significantly boost Abu Dhabi’s connectivity, reinforcing its vital role on the global trade map and contributing to local economic diversification in line with the vision of our leadership. This new facility places AD Ports Group firmly in the ranks of the world’s leading global port operators. We look forward to a long, mutually beneficial partnership with CMA CGM that brings long-term economic benefits to the UAE and Abu Dhabi, as we work together to build a sustainable global transport future.” The inauguration of CMA Terminals Khalifa Port marks the completion of Phase 1 of the new terminal project for CMA CGM, with the opening of an initial quay wall of 800 metres 18.5 metres of depth, and 8 STS Cranes adding a total capacity of 1.8 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) to Khalifa Port. With the opening of the new CMA CGM facility, Khalifa Port has reached a new stage as one of the region’s leading port trade hubs. Khalifa Port now extends over 6.3 km2, with 41 quay cranes, 159 yard cranes, 11.7 km of quay wall and 3.8 km of breakwater length. Source: AD Ports Group24-year-old wins whopping $2 million prize on $10 scratch-off bought at Florida PublixWASHINGTON (AP) — As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become Project 2025 as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. As the blueprint for a hard-right turn in America became a liability during the 2024 campaign, Trump pulled an about-face . He denied knowing anything about the “ridiculous and abysmal” plans written in part by his first-term aides and allies. Now, after being elected the 47th president on Nov. 5, Trump is stocking his second administration with key players in the detailed effort he temporarily shunned. Most notably, Trump has tapped Russell Vought for an encore as director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, his former immigration chief, as “border czar;” and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy . Those moves have accelerated criticisms from Democrats who warn that Trump's election hands government reins to movement conservatives who spent years envisioning how to concentrate power in the West Wing and impose a starkly rightward shift across the U.S. government and society. Trump and his aides maintain that he won a mandate to overhaul Washington. But they maintain the specifics are his alone. “President Trump never had anything to do with Project 2025,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “All of President Trumps' Cabinet nominees and appointments are whole-heartedly committed to President Trump's agenda, not the agenda of outside groups.” Here is a look at what some of Trump's choices portend for his second presidency. The Office of Management and Budget director, a role Vought held under Trump previously and requires Senate confirmation, prepares a president's proposed budget and is generally responsible for implementing the administration's agenda across agencies. The job is influential but Vought made clear as author of a Project 2025 chapter on presidential authority that he wants the post to wield more direct power. “The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President’s mind,” Vought wrote. The OMB, he wrote, “is a President’s air-traffic control system” and should be “involved in all aspects of the White House policy process,” becoming “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” Trump did not go into such details when naming Vought but implicitly endorsed aggressive action. Vought, the president-elect said, “knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State” — Trump’s catch-all for federal bureaucracy — and would help “restore fiscal sanity.” In June, speaking on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Vought relished the potential tension: “We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.” The strategy of further concentrating federal authority in the presidency permeates Project 2025's and Trump's campaign proposals. Vought's vision is especially striking when paired with Trump's proposals to dramatically expand the president's control over federal workers and government purse strings — ideas intertwined with the president-elect tapping mega-billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency.” Trump in his first term sought to remake the federal civil service by reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers — who have job protection through changes in administration — as political appointees, making them easier to fire and replace with loyalists. Currently, only about 4,000 of the federal government's roughly 2 million workers are political appointees. President Joe Biden rescinded Trump's changes. Trump can now reinstate them. Meanwhile, Musk's and Ramaswamy's sweeping “efficiency” mandates from Trump could turn on an old, defunct constitutional theory that the president — not Congress — is the real gatekeeper of federal spending. In his “Agenda 47,” Trump endorsed so-called “impoundment,” which holds that when lawmakers pass appropriations bills, they simply set a spending ceiling, but not a floor. The president, the theory holds, can simply decide not to spend money on anything he deems unnecessary. Vought did not venture into impoundment in his Project 2025 chapter. But, he wrote, “The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.” Trump's choice immediately sparked backlash. “Russ Vought is a far-right ideologue who has tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral authority he does not possess to override the spending decisions of Congress (and) who has and will again fight to give Trump the ability to summarily fire tens of thousands of civil servants,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and outgoing Senate Appropriations chairwoman. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, leading Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Vought wants to “dismantle the expert federal workforce” to the detriment of Americans who depend on everything from veterans' health care to Social Security benefits. “Pain itself is the agenda,” they said. Trump’s protests about Project 2025 always glossed over overlaps in the two agendas . Both want to reimpose Trump-era immigration limits. Project 2025 includes a litany of detailed proposals for various U.S. immigration statutes, executive branch rules and agreements with other countries — reducing the number of refugees, work visa recipients and asylum seekers, for example. Miller is one of Trump's longest-serving advisers and architect of his immigration ideas, including his promise of the largest deportation force in U.S. history. As deputy policy chief, which is not subject to Senate confirmation, Miller would remain in Trump's West Wing inner circle. “America is for Americans and Americans only,” Miller said at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Oct. 27. “America First Legal,” Miller’s organization founded as an ideological counter to the American Civil Liberties Union, was listed as an advisory group to Project 2025 until Miller asked that the name be removed because of negative attention. Homan, a Project 2025 named contributor, was an acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during Trump’s first presidency, playing a key role in what became known as Trump's “family separation policy.” Previewing Trump 2.0 earlier this year, Homan said: “No one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.” John Ratcliffe, Trump's pick to lead the CIA , was previously one of Trump's directors of national intelligence. He is a Project 2025 contributor. The document's chapter on U.S. intelligence was written by Dustin Carmack, Ratcliffe's chief of staff in the first Trump administration. Reflecting Ratcliffe's and Trump's approach, Carmack declared the intelligence establishment too cautious. Ratcliffe, like the chapter attributed to Carmack, is hawkish toward China. Throughout the Project 2025 document, Beijing is framed as a U.S. adversary that cannot be trusted. Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, wrote Project 2025's FCC chapter and is now Trump's pick to chair the panel. Carr wrote that the FCC chairman “is empowered with significant authority that is not shared” with other FCC members. He called for the FCC to address “threats to individual liberty posed by corporations that are abusing dominant positions in the market,” specifically “Big Tech and its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square.” He called for more stringent transparency rules for social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and “empower consumers to choose their own content filters and fact checkers, if any.” Carr and Ratcliffe would require Senate confirmation for their posts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become Project 2025 as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. As the blueprint for a hard-right turn in America became a liability during the 2024 campaign, Trump pulled an about-face . He denied knowing anything about the “ridiculous and abysmal” plans written in part by his first-term aides and allies. Now, after being elected the 47th president on Nov. 5, Trump is stocking his second administration with key players in the detailed effort he temporarily shunned. Most notably, Trump has tapped Russell Vought for an encore as director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, his former immigration chief, as “border czar;” and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy . Those moves have accelerated criticisms from Democrats who warn that Trump's election hands government reins to movement conservatives who spent years envisioning how to concentrate power in the West Wing and impose a starkly rightward shift across the U.S. government and society. Trump and his aides maintain that he won a mandate to overhaul Washington. But they maintain the specifics are his alone. “President Trump never had anything to do with Project 2025,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “All of President Trumps' Cabinet nominees and appointments are whole-heartedly committed to President Trump's agenda, not the agenda of outside groups.” Here is a look at what some of Trump's choices portend for his second presidency. The Office of Management and Budget director, a role Vought held under Trump previously and requires Senate confirmation, prepares a president's proposed budget and is generally responsible for implementing the administration's agenda across agencies. The job is influential but Vought made clear as author of a Project 2025 chapter on presidential authority that he wants the post to wield more direct power. “The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President’s mind,” Vought wrote. The OMB, he wrote, “is a President’s air-traffic control system” and should be “involved in all aspects of the White House policy process,” becoming “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” Trump did not go into such details when naming Vought but implicitly endorsed aggressive action. Vought, the president-elect said, “knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State” — Trump’s catch-all for federal bureaucracy — and would help “restore fiscal sanity.” In June, speaking on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Vought relished the potential tension: “We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.” The strategy of further concentrating federal authority in the presidency permeates Project 2025's and Trump's campaign proposals. Vought's vision is especially striking when paired with Trump's proposals to dramatically expand the president's control over federal workers and government purse strings — ideas intertwined with the president-elect tapping mega-billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency.” Trump in his first term sought to remake the federal civil service by reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers — who have job protection through changes in administration — as political appointees, making them easier to fire and replace with loyalists. Currently, only about 4,000 of the federal government's roughly 2 million workers are political appointees. President Joe Biden rescinded Trump's changes. Trump can now reinstate them. Meanwhile, Musk's and Ramaswamy's sweeping “efficiency” mandates from Trump could turn on an old, defunct constitutional theory that the president — not Congress — is the real gatekeeper of federal spending. In his “Agenda 47,” Trump endorsed so-called “impoundment,” which holds that when lawmakers pass appropriations bills, they simply set a spending ceiling, but not a floor. The president, the theory holds, can simply decide not to spend money on anything he deems unnecessary. Vought did not venture into impoundment in his Project 2025 chapter. But, he wrote, “The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.” Trump's choice immediately sparked backlash. “Russ Vought is a far-right ideologue who has tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral authority he does not possess to override the spending decisions of Congress (and) who has and will again fight to give Trump the ability to summarily fire tens of thousands of civil servants,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and outgoing Senate Appropriations chairwoman. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, leading Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Vought wants to “dismantle the expert federal workforce” to the detriment of Americans who depend on everything from veterans' health care to Social Security benefits. “Pain itself is the agenda,” they said. Trump’s protests about Project 2025 always glossed over overlaps in the two agendas . Both want to reimpose Trump-era immigration limits. Project 2025 includes a litany of detailed proposals for various U.S. immigration statutes, executive branch rules and agreements with other countries — reducing the number of refugees, work visa recipients and asylum seekers, for example. Miller is one of Trump's longest-serving advisers and architect of his immigration ideas, including his promise of the largest deportation force in U.S. history. As deputy policy chief, which is not subject to Senate confirmation, Miller would remain in Trump's West Wing inner circle. “America is for Americans and Americans only,” Miller said at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Oct. 27. “America First Legal,” Miller’s organization founded as an ideological counter to the American Civil Liberties Union, was listed as an advisory group to Project 2025 until Miller asked that the name be removed because of negative attention. Homan, a Project 2025 named contributor, was an acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during Trump’s first presidency, playing a key role in what became known as Trump's “family separation policy.” Previewing Trump 2.0 earlier this year, Homan said: “No one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.” John Ratcliffe, Trump's pick to lead the CIA , was previously one of Trump's directors of national intelligence. He is a Project 2025 contributor. The document's chapter on U.S. intelligence was written by Dustin Carmack, Ratcliffe's chief of staff in the first Trump administration. Reflecting Ratcliffe's and Trump's approach, Carmack declared the intelligence establishment too cautious. Ratcliffe, like the chapter attributed to Carmack, is hawkish toward China. Throughout the Project 2025 document, Beijing is framed as a U.S. adversary that cannot be trusted. Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, wrote Project 2025's FCC chapter and is now Trump's pick to chair the panel. Carr wrote that the FCC chairman “is empowered with significant authority that is not shared” with other FCC members. He called for the FCC to address “threats to individual liberty posed by corporations that are abusing dominant positions in the market,” specifically “Big Tech and its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square.” He called for more stringent transparency rules for social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and “empower consumers to choose their own content filters and fact checkers, if any.” Carr and Ratcliffe would require Senate confirmation for their posts.Democrat Bob Casey concedes to Republican David McCormick in Pennsylvania Senate contest
Dolphins Parlays for SundayStream It Or Skip It: ‘Surveilled’ on Max, Ronan Farrow’s Deep-Dive Documentary About How Governments Use Spyware to Hack Civilian Cell PhonesNow that he’s stepped back into the role of being a starter, Dalton Risner is working tirelessly to make sure he’s at his best for the Vikings. ADVERTISEMENT That could be easier said than done in the short term. After starting exclusively at left guard since entering the NFL, Risner got the start at right guard for the first time last weekend with the Vikings playing the Tennessee Titans. Though he said he was extremely grateful for the opportunity, Risner also admitted there’s a learning curve now playing a new position. Not that he’s complaining about his place on the offensive line. “It was awesome,” Risner said. “I’m really happy with how I played. A few things to clean up. I think I’ll only continue to get better.” ADVERTISEMENT After rewatching the game, head coach Kevin O’Connell praised Risner for the way he competed in the trenches. “He showed some of that veteran moxie to win some downs that were some hard downs,” O’Connell said. “There are some things he’ll continue to improve with the speed and physicality of it as he finds his groove.” The biggest hurdle for Risner is getting his mind to think in reverse. He has spent so much time at left guard throughout his career that switching over to right guard has forced him out of his comfort zone. “All of it is flip-flopped,” Risner said. “It’s not an easy process.” ADVERTISEMENT It was made even more difficult last weekend with Risner going up against the combination of star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and rookie defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat. “That’s about as good of a pair as we’re going to find in the NFL,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. “We knew it was going to be a challenge up front with those guys. There are some things we could’ve done better from a technique perspective. We expect these guys to respond.” That includes Risner as the Vikings prepare for the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. As he gains more experience at his new position, his hope is that it becomes second nature to him at some point soon. ADVERTISEMENT “I don’t know how many reps it’ll be or how many games it’ll be,” Risner said. I know I’ll consistently get more and more comfortable there.” The only player listed as a non-participant on the injury report was tight end Josh Oliver (wrist/ankle). He hasn’t practiced at all this week, so his availability for this weekend is very much up in the air. ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here .Countries at the COP29 summit in Baku adopted a $300 billion a year global finance target on Sunday to help poorer nations cope with impacts of climate change, a deal its intended recipients criticized as woefully insufficient. The agreement, clinched in overtime at the two-week conference in Azerbaijan's capital, was meant to provide momentum for international efforts to curb global warming in a year destined to be the hottest on record. Some delegates gave the deal a standing ovation in the COP29 plenary hall. Others lambasted wealthy nations for not doing more and criticized the Azerbaijan host for hurriedly gavelling through the contentious plan. "I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion," Indian delegation representative Chandni Raina told the closing session of the summit, minutes after the deal was gavelled in. "This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. Therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document." United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell acknowledged the difficult negotiations that led to the agreement, but hailed the outcome as an insurance policy for humanity against global warming. "It has been a difficult journey, but we've delivered a deal," Stiell said. "This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing and protect billions of lives." "But like any insurance policy - it only works - if the premiums are paid in full, and on time." The agreement would provide $300 billion annually by 2035, boosting rich countries' previous commitment to provide $100 billion per year in climate finance by 2020. That earlier goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025. The deal also lays the groundwork for next year's climate summit, to be held in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, where countries are meant to map out the next decade of climate action. The summit cut to the heart of the debate over financial responsibility of industrialized countries — whose historic use of fossil fuels has caused the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions — to compensate others for worsening damage from climate change. It also laid bare divisions between wealthy governments constrained by tight domestic budgets and developing nations reeling from costs of storms, floods and droughts. Negotiations had been due to finish on Friday, but ran into overtime as representatives from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach consensus. Talks were interrupted Saturday as some developing countries and island nations walked away in frustration. "We are leaving with a small portion of the funding climate-vulnerable countries urgently need. It isn’t nearly enough, but it’s a start," said Tina Stege, Marshall Islands climate envoy. Nations have been seeking financing to deliver on the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels - beyond which catastrophic climate impacts could occur. The world is currently on track for as much as 3.1C (5.6F) of warming by the end of this century, according to the 2024 U.N. Emissions Gap report, with global greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuels use continuing to rise. Sunday's deal failed to set out detailed steps for how countries will act on last year's U.N. climate summit pledge to transition away from fossil fuels and triple renewable energy capacity this decade. Some negotiators said Saudi Arabia had attempted to block such a plan during the talks. "There's definitely a challenge in getting greater ambition when you're negotiating with the Saudis," said U.S. climate advisor John Podesta. A Saudi official did not immediately provide comment. The roster of countries required to contribute — about two dozen industrialized countries, including the U.S., European nations and Canada — dates back to a list decided during U.N. climate talks in 1992. European governments have demanded others pay in, including China, the world's second-biggest economy, and oil-rich Gulf states. The deal encourages developing countries to make contributions, but does not require them. The agreement includes a broader goal of raising $1.3 trillion in climate finance annually by 2035 — which would include funding from all public and private sources and which economists say matches the sum needed to address global warming. Countries also agreed on rules for a global market to buy and sell carbon credits that proponents say could mobilize billions more dollars into new projects to fight global warming, from reforestation to deployment of clean energy technologies. Securing the climate finance deal was a challenge from the start. Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election victory this month has raised doubts among some negotiators that the world's largest economy would pay into any climate finance goal agreed in Baku. Trump, a Republican who takes office in January, has called climate change a hoax and promised to again remove the U.S. from international climate cooperation. Western governments have seen global warming slip down the list of national priorities amid surging geopolitical tensions, including Russia’s war in Ukraine and expanding conflict in the Middle East, and rising inflation. The showdown over financing for developing countries comes in a year scientists predict will be the hottest on record. Climate woes are stacking up, with widespread flooding killing thousands across Africa, deadly landslides burying villages in Asia, and drought in South America shrinking rivers. Developed countries have not been spared. Torrential rain triggered floods in Valencia, Spain, last month that left more than 200 dead, and the U.S. so far this year has registered 24 billion-dollar disasters - just four fewer than last year.
UCF will attempt to shake off a dreadful offensive performance when it collides with LSU on Sunday afternoon in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. The Knights (4-1) couldn't get anything going against No. 19 Wisconsin on Friday, going 21-for-62 from the field (33.9 percent) and just 2-for-17 from 3-point range (11.8 percent) en route to an 86-70 loss. Jordan Ivy-Curry finished with 13 points while Keyshawn Hall and Dior Johnson added 11 apiece for UCF, which never led and fell behind by as many as 23. Knights coach Johnny Dawkins is hoping that his team's struggles don't carry over into the meeting with the Tigers (4-1). "We have to do better offensively," Dawkins said. "We have to space the floor better. We have to balance our offense between our perimeter and our bigs. Those are things that we didn't do consistently (on Friday)." LSU also needs to clean things up after committing 15 turnovers in a 74-63 setback against Pitt on Friday. Tigers forward Jalen Reed doesn't believe giving the ball away will be a lingering issue. "I feel like a lot of our turnovers were more on us than them," Reed said. "I feel like a lot of the turnovers were careless, but we're a better team than that and I feel like we'll take care of the ball better moving forward." Reed and Vyctorius Miller each posted 14 points in the loss to the Panthers, with Reed also hauling in seven rebounds. Cam Carter chipped in 11 points. Carter is putting up a team-leading 16.4 points per game. Jordan Sears (12.0 points per game), Reed (11.0) and Miller (10.2) also have scoring averages in double figures. Ivy-Curry (16.8 points per game), Hall (16.2) and Darius Johnson (13.0) have been leading the way for UCF. Sunday marks the first-ever meeting between the Knights and Tigers. --Field Level Media
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The woman who in 2006 falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her – making national headlines that stirred tensions about race, class and the privilege of college athletes — has admitted publicly for the first time that she made up the story. Crystal Mangum, who is Black, said in an interview with the “Let’s Talk with Kat” podcast that she “made up a story that wasn’t true” about the white players who attended a party where she was hired to perform as a stripper “because I wanted validation from people and not from God.” “I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t and that was wrong,” Mangum, 46, said in the interview, which was released Monday. The interview was recorded last month at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is incarcerated for fatally stabbing her boyfriend in 2011. The former Duke players were declared innocent in 2007 after Mangum’s story fell apart under legal scrutiny. The state attorney general’s office concluded there was no credible evidence an attack ever occurred, and its investigation found no DNA, witness or other evidence to confirm Mangum’s story. The Durham prosecutor who championed Mangum’s case was disbarred for lying and misconduct. Prosecutors at the time declined to press charges against Mangum for the false accusations. Related Articles National News | How to protect your communications through encryption National News | Companies tighten security after a health care CEO’s killing leads to a surge of threats National News | Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge National News | Unidentified drones spotted flying at locations across NYC, including LaGuardia Airport National News | About 2.6 million Stanley cups recalled after malfunctions caused burns. Is your mug included? The former lacrosse players reached an undisclosed settlement with Duke University in 2007 after suing it for the handling of the rape allegations. Mangum, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 2013 and is eligible to be released from prison as early as 2026, told the podcast interviewer that she hopes the three falsely accused men can forgive her. “I want them to know that I love them and they didn’t deserve that,” she said. Durham-based podcaster Kat DePasquale said she wrote to Mangum because she was curious about the case that got so much attention, and that Mangum wrote back saying she wanted to talk.The Prime Minister used an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday to vow to “get to grips” with the cost of welfare after figures suggested more than four million people will be claiming long-term sickness support by the end of the decade. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will announce a package of legislation next week designed to “get Britain working” amid Government concerns about the projected rise. Official forecasts published by her department this week show that the number of people claiming incapacity benefits is expected to climb from a pre-pandemic figure of around 2.5 million in 2019 to around 4.2 million in 2029. Last year there were just over three million claimants. The Prime Minister wrote: “In the coming months, Mail on Sunday readers will see even more sweeping changes. Because make no mistake, we will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society. “Don’t get me wrong, we will crack down hard on anyone who tries to game the system, to tackle fraud so we can take cash straight from the banks of fraudsters. “There will be a zero-tolerance approach to these criminals. My pledge to Mail on Sunday readers is this: I will grip this problem once and for all.” Ms Kendall’s white paper is expected to include the placement of work coaches in mental health clinics and a “youth guarantee” aimed at ensuring those aged 18-21 are working or studying.None
The Onion's bid to buy Infowars goes before judge as Alex Jones tries stopping sale The Onion's bid to buy conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars has returned to a Texas courtroom. A federal judge in Houston is hearing arguments Monday on whether a bankruptcy auction was run properly as Jones alleges collusion and fraud. The hearing is expected to continue into Tuesday. The Onion satirical news outlet was named the winning bidder last month over a company affiliated with Jones. The auction was held to help pay nearly $1.5 billion in defamation judgments that Jones was ordered to pay families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The families won lawsuits against Jones for calling the shooting a hoax. Juan Soto agrees to record $765 million, 15-year contract with Mets, AP source says DALLAS (AP) — A person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press that star outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets have agreed to a record $765 million, 15-year contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement, first reported by the New York Post, was subject to a successful physical. Soto’s deal is the largest and longest in Major League Baseball history, topping Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s $340 million, 14-year contract with San Diego. Soto's deal does not include deferred money, the person said. TikTok asks federal appeals court to bar enforcement of potential ban until Supreme Court review TikTok on Monday asked a federal appeals court to bar the Biden administration from enforcing a law that could lead to a ban on the popular platform until the Supreme Court reviews the case. The legal filing was made after a panel of judges on the same court sided with the government last week and ruled that the law, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based parent company or face a ban as soon as next month, was constitutional. If the law is not overturned, both TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have said the popular app will shut down by mid-January. Pinheiro Braathen performs snow samba to celebrate Brazil's first podium in a World Cup ski race It’s not just soccer anymore. Brazil is finding World Cup success in skiing now too. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen became the first Brazilian skier to finish on a World Cup podium when he placed second in a giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado, on Sunday. Pinheiro Braathen celebrated the achievement in truly Brazilian style: with a samba dance on the podium, the Brazilian flag wrapped around his waist and cowboy boots on his feet. Pinheiro Braathen’s mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He raced for Norway until switching his nationality for this season. The end of an Eras tour approaches, marking a bittersweet moment for Taylor Swift fans NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The global phenomenon that is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to an end after the popstar performed more than 150 shows across five continents over nearly two years. Since launching the tour in 2023, Swift has shattered sales and attendance records. It's even created such an economic boom that the Federal Reserve took note. But for many who attended the concerts, and the millions more who eagerly watched on their screens, the tour also became a beacon of joy. It's become a chance not only to appreciate Swift’s expansive music career, but also celebrate the yearslong journey fans have taken with her. College Football Playoff's first 12-team bracket is set with Oregon No. 1 and SMU in, Alabama out SMU captured the last open spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, bumping Alabama to land in a bracket that placed undefeated Oregon at No. 1. The selection committee preferred the Mustangs, losers of a heartbreaker in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game, who had a far less difficult schedule than Alabama of the SEC but one fewer loss. The inaugural 12-team bracket marks a new era for college football, though the Alabama-SMU debate made clear there is no perfect formula. The tournament starts Dec. 20-21 with four first-round games. It concludes Jan. 20 with the national title game in Atlanta. Dave Parker and Dick Allen elected to baseball's Hall of Fame DALLAS (AP) — Dave Parker and Dick Allen have been elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame by the classic era committee. Parker received 14 of 16 votes and Allen got 13. A vote of 75% or more was needed for election. They will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27 along with players voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, whose balloting will be announced on Jan. 21. ‘Moana 2’ cruises to another record weekend and $600 million globally “Moana 2” remains at the top of the box office in its second weekend in theaters as it pulled in another record haul. According to studio estimates Sunday, the animated Disney film added $52 million, bringing its domestic total to $300 million. That surpasses the take for the original “Moana” and brings the sequel's global tally to a staggering $600 million. It also puts the film in this year's top five at the box office. “Wicked” came in second place for the weekend with $34.9 million and “Gladiator II” was third with $12.5 million. The 10th anniversary re-release of Christopher Nolan's “Interstellar” also earned an impressive $4.4 million even though it played in only 165 theaters. Hemingway look-alikes visit Cuba and some of the late writer's favorite places HAVANA (AP) — Eighteen white-bearded men who resemble the late U.S. author Ernest Hemingway have arrived in Havana for the weekend to visit some of the his favorite places when he lived on the island decades ago. Members of the Hemingway Look-alike Society visited the author’s favorite bar in Havana, La Floridita, where the music immediately picked up, and tourists and locals gathered around to take photos. The visit comes as Cuba and the United States are in the midst of tense relations. Hemingway lived in Cuba from 1939 to 1960. 'Reindeer' volunteers bring holiday magic to Ukrainian children living on the frontlines IZIUM, Ukraine (AP) — A volunteer group is trying to fulfill the holiday dreams of thousands of children living near the frontlines in Ukraine. The St. Nicholas’ Reindeers initiative publishes letters online detailing the children's wishes. Some ask for gifts, such as a bicycle or a pet mouse, alongside more complicated requests for their family members to be released from captivity or to be able to return to their homes. Donors fulfill the gift requests and volunteer “reindeers,” named for the magical beasts that pull Santa's sleigh, deliver them in the weeks following Dec. 6, when Ukraine celebrates St. Nicholas Day. Project co-founder Inna Achkasova says the reindeer volunteers aim to ensure that every child feels seen, heard and loved.
After Trump's Project 2025 denials, he is tapping its authors and influencers for key roles24-year-old wins whopping $2 million prize on $10 scratch-off bought at Florida Publix
Key details to know about the arrest of a suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO
Friendly reminder |
The authenticity of this information has not been verified by this website and is for your reference only. Please do not reprint without permission. If authorized by this website, it should be used within the scope of authorization and marked with "Source: this website". |
Special attention |
Some articles on this website are reprinted from other media. The purpose of reprinting is to convey more industry information, which does not mean that this website agrees with their views and is responsible for their authenticity. Those who make comments on this website forum are responsible for their own content. This website has the right to reprint or quote on the website. The comments on the forum do not represent the views of this website. If you need to use the information provided by this website, please contact the original author. The copyright belongs to the original author. If you need to contact this website regarding copyright, please do so within 15 days. |