6ft rod fishing 。

A 9th telecoms firm has been hit by a massive Chinese espionage campaign, the White House saysWolves head coach Gary O’Neil insists he is happy to look fans in the face and take the criticism which comes his way after his team were jeered off after losing 4-0 to Everton at Goodison Park. It was the fourth time this season they had conceded four or more and the performance showed why they have the Premier League’s worst defence. When O’Neil and the players went over to acknowledge the visiting supporters there were boos for a run of two wins in 14 league matches. “Whatever the fans think of me, there is definitely no-none working harder than me and I will continue to do so until someone tells me not to,” said O’Neil, who is under increasing pressure with his side second bottom of the table. “I go over there to see them because I appreciate every one of the Wolves fans. They have given me unbelievable support since I arrived at the football club,” he said. “We managed to produce some unbelievable stuff last season with a team that was heavily tipped by most of the nation for relegation. We managed to enjoy it together. “Now it is tough. I was happy to go over there and look them right in the face and take any criticism they want to throw at me. “I accept responsibility for my part in that. Whatever criticism they want to throw at me will not change how I feel about them. “Everyone at this football club needs to do more. We will get back to be ready to fight again on Monday (another crucial game against West Ham, whose manager Julen Lopetegui’s tenure is hanging by a thread). “I will work with everything I have. I will back myself to get the most out of the group. I understand the drive for change (but) you never know how much of a percentage of supporters it is.” Veteran Ashley Young ended Everton’s 370-minute wait for a goal with a 10th-minute free-kick, his first league goal for more than two years, and on-loan Lyon midfielder Orel Mangala blasted home his first for the club to establish a 2-0 half-time lead. Two Craig Dawson own goals secured Everton’s biggest home league win since April 2019, but manager Sean Dyche insisted their issues up front were far from sorted. He said: “It’s our fifth clean sheet in the last eight so the consistency has been there in one degree, we just haven’t been scoring goals. That’s been the hardest thing to find consistently and we haven’t solved it yet. “Goals change everything, they change opinions. That’s what football is like.” The victory was hugely important in a month in which, having been hammered 4-0 at Manchester United, they face top-six sides Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest and undoubtedly eased some of the pressure on Dyche and his players. “I’ve told them how proud I am of them,” he added. “The challenges come thick and fast on and off the pitch and they just keep going. “It’s only a step and there are many more to go but it’s a good step and a positive step. “It’s a temporary moment in time because the next one is a big one (Saturday’s Merseyside derby).”

By ERIC TUCKER WASHINGTON (AP) — A ninth U.S. telecoms firm has been confirmed to have been hacked as part of a sprawling Chinese espionage campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans, a top White House official said Friday. Biden administration officials said this month that at least eight telecommunications companies , as well as dozens of nations, had been affected by the Chinese hacking blitz known as Salt Typhoon. But Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, told reporters Friday that a ninth victim had been identified after the administration released guidance to companies about how to hunt for Chinese culprits in their networks. The update from Neuberger is the latest development in a massive hacking operation that has alarmed national security officials, exposed cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the private sector and laid bare China’s hacking sophistication. The hackers compromised the networks of telecommunications companies to obtain customer call records and gain access to the private communications of “a limited number of individuals.” Though the FBI has not publicly identified any of the victims, officials believe senior U.S. government officials and prominent political figures are among those whose whose communications were accessed. Neuberger said officials did not yet have a precise sense how many Americans overall were affected by Salt Typhoon, in part because the Chinese were careful about their techniques, but a “large number” were in the Washington-Virginia area. Officials believe the goal of the hackers was to identify who owned the phones and, if they were “government targets of interest,” spy on their texts and phone calls, she said. The FBI said most of the people targeted by the hackers are “primarily involved in government or political activity.” Neuberger said the episode highlighted the need for required cybersecurity practices in the telecommunications industry, something the Federal Communications Commission is to take up at a meeting next month. “We know that voluntary cyber security practices are inadequate to protect against China, Russia and Iran hacking of our critical infrastructure,” she said. The Chinese government has denied responsibility for the hacking.

The Supreme Court appears poised to uphold Tennessee’s ban on access to gender-affirming medical treatments for adolescents after hearing oral arguments on Wednesday, and right-wing activists are celebrating by vowing to completely stamp out America’s transgender community. Chase Strangio, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, became the first trans American to argue before the Supreme Court. Strangio, representing the Department of Justice and the families of several trans youth in Tennessee, argued that the state’s law banning transgender teenagers’ access to hormone treatments and puberty blockers supporting their transition violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. The court’s conservative justices — who hold a controlling majority — seemed unconvinced. The conservative justices seemed hesitant to overrule the state legislature on the matter, determining that they are “not the best situated to address issues like that,” as Chief Justice John Roberts put it. “The Constitution leaves that question to the people’s representatives, rather than to nine people, none of whom is a doctor,” Roberts said during arguments. “It strikes me as a pretty heavy yellow light, if not red light, for this court to come in, the nine of us, and to constitutionalize the whole area, when the rest of the world, or at least the people who the countries that have been at the forefront of this, are pumping the brakes on this kind of treatment,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said. The court’s liberal minority were uniformly skeptical of Tennessee’s position, repeatedly questioning how a law curtailing individual access to medical care on the basis of their gender identity doesn’t constitute gender-based discrimination and a violation of the Equal Protections Clause. “It’s a dodge to say that this is not based on sex,” Justice Elena Kagan said to Tennessee’s solicitor general, J. Matthew Rice. “The medical purpose is utterly and entirely about sex.” Editor’s picks The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time Should the court rule in Tennessee’s favor, the decision will have widespread ramifications for transgender youth living in one of the roughly two dozen states who have passed similar laws restricting minors’ access to gender-affirming care. Outside of the court, protesters and supporters of the law held dueling rallies. At one point, right-wing commentator Matt Walsh took to the podium where he declared that “this case is just the beginning of the fight,” accusing transgender people of wanting to “harm,” “damage,” and “destroy” children. “We are not gonna rest until every child is protected, until trans ideology is entirely erased from the earth. That’s what we’re fighting for, and we will not stop until we achieve it,” he said. Over a loud chorus of boos, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) declared that the pro-trangender position “comes from Satan.” “What you’re is the outcry from the demons in those that worship evil, that are abusing our children — brainwashing out children,” she said of protesters jeering at her. Greene touted her efforts to pass legislation that would “make it a felony to perform so-called gender-affirming care on any child in America” in “all 50 states,” as well as the support she claims from the incoming Trump-Vance administration. Greene recently sponsored legislation that would ban transgender members of Congress and other government employees from using Capitol Hill facilities that match their gender identity. The bill was targeted at incoming Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) who this November became the first openly transgender person to be elected to the House of Representatives. President-elect Donald Trump has promised that in his second presidency he will target the rights and civil liberties of transgender Americans. The Supreme Court could give him an assist by ruling that Tennessee’s law is constitutional. After leaving oral arguments, Strangio told reporters : “Whatever happens we are the defiance.” “We are collectively a refutation of everything they say about us,” he said. “And our fight for justice did not begin today, it will not end in June — whatever the courts decide.”Why Albertsons Companies (ACI) Is Among the Best Retail Stocks to Invest inNone

Gary O’Neil accepts criticism from Wolves fans after heavy defeat at Everton

Record monthly rainfall in Tairāwhiti was followed by dangerous high wind leaving sections of State Highway 2 impassable. Police urged motorists to avoid SH2 near the Wharerata Rd lookout if possible at 2.15pm today due to high winds knocking trees down and leaving parts of the road impassable at times. “The highway is extremely treacherous,” the local police spokesman said. “We’ve had a lot of near misses on the road today, vehicles with blown tyres and one vehicle that hit a rock that had come down,” he said. “Road crews are working hard to clear the obstructions.” More than a month’s worth of rain fell on Boxing Day in Gisborne in what was a record for the wettest December here since records were taken in 1937. A MetService spokesman told on Friday that the Thursday rainfall pushed the city’s December rainfall total to 206.9mm. The previous record was 204mm set in 1954. Gisborne had the best weather in the country on Christmas Day but a day later was enduring conditions among the worst as a wet deluge arrived from the north, followed by a dose from the south. It resulted in significant rainfall figures for Gisborne city and other areas of Tairāwhiti. Boxing Day rainfall at the airport amounted to 89.4mm. Rainfall levels in the city also forced Gisborne District Council to open the emergency sewer valves at pump stations into the Taruheru and Tūranganui rivers to prevent sewage overflowing into properties. Debris built up again on the city beaches after contractors had these looking good before Christmas after last week’s southerly blast. On Christmas Day, Gisborne’s temperature got up a national high of around 28 degrees beneath beautiful blue skies before the rain came late afternoon-early evening. Gisborne city received substantial falls that caused surface flooding in some streets. The figures from the council website show 74mm in the 24 hours to 11am yesterday and 118mm in the previous seven days in Wheatstone Rd, 75mm and 123mm in the Paraone Rd rain gauge, 65mm and 112min in Stout St. A selection of other 24-hour/7-day falls reported on the website at 11am yesterday were as follows - Mangapoike 104/142; Wharerata 142/195; Waerenga-o-Kuri 60/90; Te Arai 70/122; Mangatu 47/79; Ngatapa 43/74; Maraetaha 68/116; Hikuwai No 4 bridge 93/143; Mangaheia 116/181; Waipaoa at Kanakanaia 42/69; Wharekopae River 39/60; Waikohu River 41/74; Tokomaru Bay 87/137, Panikau Rd 107/180; Ruatōria 57/101; Te Puia 106/167; Poroporo (SH35 bridge) 44/93; Waimata (Monowai) 79/137; Karakatuwhero River 23/77; Ūawa (SH35 bridge); Caesar Road No1 bore 42/95; Puawa 97/174; Tatapouri 78/130; Waimata (Goodwins) 78/141; Matawai 24/51; Waikura Valley 24/105; Wharekahika 20/83. The council reported on Boxing Day the city’s wastewater system was flooded with intense periods of rainfall draining from residential properties. “To prevent sewage from overflowing back into homes and on to roads and causing a significant health risk, we must release the excess water,” the council said in social media. “To do this we opened the emergency sewer valve at Oak St into the Taruheru River and Gladstone Rd Bridge into the Tūranganui River at 1pm that day. “We only open the valves when it was absolutely necessary and only in the areas with issues ... the discharge is highly diluted with rain water, but still poses a health risk.” As is procedure, the council notified the Hauora Tairāwhiti Medical Officer of Health, along with water user and sports groups. Temporary health warning signs were put up. “We advise no swimming, fishing or gathering shellfish in rivers and beaches until at least five days after the valves are closed and warning signs are removed.” As of Friday, the valves remained open. The river flow was strong over Boxing Day and Friday, carrying plenty of woody debris - along with an old and empty dinghy - with build-ups forming against the Gladstone Rd and railway bridges. The region’s state highway network remained open. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi advised caution in some areas, particularly at the various roadwork sites across the region. The weather got the better of one of the festive season trips planned for the Gisborne City Vintage Railway steam train WA165 on Friday. “GCVR had to cancel Friday’s excursion due to the weather conditions with predicted winds of up to 90km an hour,” a spokeswoman said. “That was outside safe operating - particularly on the big bridge (Waipaoa). “Anyone who has already purchased tickets from the i-Site will be able to choose from either refund, or ticket exchange for the excursion today (Saturday), or the one of January 2 (subject to availability).” The MetService forecast for Saturday was rain, easing in the afternoon, and southerlies strong at first, gusting up to 90km/h. A strong wind watch was in place. Sunday’s forecast is partly cloudy with the chance of a shower until evening; southerlies easing in the evening. More rain is forecast for Monday and New Year’s Eve. A heavy rain warning remained in place for the Wairoa district yesterday.By Vanessa G. Sánchez, KFF Health News (TNS) LOS ANGELES — President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations and tougher immigration restrictions is deepening mistrust of the health care system among California’s immigrants and clouding the future for providers serving the state’s most impoverished residents. At the same time, immigrants living illegally in Southern California told KFF Health News they thought the economy would improve and their incomes might increase under Trump, and for some that outweighed concerns about health care. Community health workers say fear of deportation is already affecting participation in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income residents, which was expanded in phases to all immigrants regardless of residency status over the past several years. That could undercut the state’s progress in reducing the uninsured rate, which reached a record low of 6.4% last year. Immigrants lacking legal residency have long worried that participation in government programs could make them targets, and Trump’s election has compounded those concerns, community advocates say. The incoming Trump administration is also expected to target Medicaid with funding cuts and enrollment restrictions , which activists worry could threaten the Medi-Cal expansion and kneecap efforts to extend health insurance subsidies under Covered California to all immigrants. “The fear alone has so many consequences to the health of our communities,” said Mar Velez , director of policy with the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. “This is, as they say, not their first rodeo. They understand how the system works. I think this machine is going to be, unfortunately, a lot more harmful to our communities.” Alongside such worries, though, is a strain of optimism that Trump might be a boon to the economy, according to interviews with immigrants in Los Angeles whom health care workers were soliciting to sign up for Medi-Cal. Since Election Day, community health worker Yanet Martinez said, people are more reluctant to hear her pitch for subsidized health insurance or cancer prevention screenings. “They think I’m going to share their information to deport them,” Martinez said. (Vanessa G. Sánchez/KFF Health News/TNS) Clinics and community health workers encourage immigrants to enroll for health coverage through Medi-Cal and Covered California. But workers have noticed that fear of deportation has chilled participation. (Vanessa G. Sánchez/KFF Health News/TNS) Community health workers like Yanet Martinez encourage people to enroll for health benefits. But many California immigrants fear that using subsidized services could hurt their chances of obtaining legal residency. (Vanessa G. Sánchez/KFF Health News/TNS) Since Election Day, community health worker Yanet Martinez said, people are more reluctant to hear her pitch for subsidized health insurance or cancer prevention screenings. “They think I’m going to share their information to deport them,” Martinez said. (Vanessa G. Sánchez/KFF Health News/TNS) Selvin, 39, who, like others interviewed for this article, asked to be identified by only his first name because he’s living here without legal permission, said that even though he believes Trump dislikes people like him, he thinks the new administration could help boost his hours at the food processing facility where he works packing noodles. “I do see how he could improve the economy. From that perspective, I think it’s good that he won.” He became eligible for Medi-Cal this year but decided not to enroll, worrying it could jeopardize his chances of changing his immigration status. “I’ve thought about it,” Selvin said, but “I feel like it could end up hurting me. I won’t deny that, obviously, I’d like to benefit — get my teeth fixed, a physical checkup.” But fear holds him back, he said, and he hasn’t seen a doctor in nine years. It’s not Trump’s mass deportation plan in particular that’s scaring him off, though. “If I’m not committing any crimes or getting a DUI, I think I won’t get deported,” Selvin said. Petrona, 55, came from El Salvador seeking asylum and enrolled in Medi-Cal last year. She said that if her health insurance benefits were cut, she wouldn’t be able to afford her visits to the dentist. A street food vendor, she hears often about Trump’s deportation plan, but she said it will be the criminals the new president pushes out. “I’ve heard people say he’s going to get rid of everyone who’s stealing.” Although she’s afraid she could be deported, she’s also hopeful about Trump. “He says he’s going to give a lot of work to Hispanics because Latinos are the ones who work the hardest,” she said. “That’s good, more work for us, the ones who came here to work.” Newly elected Republican Assembly member Jeff Gonzalez, who flipped a seat long held by Democrats in the Latino-heavy desert region in the southeastern part of the state, said his constituents were anxious to see a new economic direction. “They’re just really kind of fed up with the status quo in California,” Gonzalez said. “People on the ground are saying, ‘I’m hopeful,’ because now we have a different perspective. We have a businessperson who is looking at the very things that we are looking at, which is the price of eggs, the price of gas, the safety.” Gonzalez said he’s not going to comment about potential Medicaid cuts, because Trump has not made any official announcement. Unlike most in his party, Gonzalez said he supports the extension of health care services to all residents regardless of immigration status . Health care providers said they are facing a twin challenge of hesitancy among those they are supposed to serve and the threat of major cuts to Medicaid, the federal program that provides over 60% of the funding for Medi-Cal. Health providers and policy researchers say a loss in federal contributions could lead the state to roll back or downsize some programs, including the expansion to cover those without legal authorization. California and Oregon are the only states that offer comprehensive health insurance to all income-eligible immigrants regardless of status. About 1.5 million people without authorization have enrolled in California, at a cost of over $6 billion a year to state taxpayers. “Everyone wants to put these types of services on the chopping block, which is really unfair,” said state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat and chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus. “We will do everything we can to ensure that we prioritize this.” Sen. Gonzalez said it will be challenging to expand programs such as Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, for which immigrants lacking permanent legal status are not eligible. A big concern for immigrants and their advocates is that Trump could reinstate changes to the public charge policy, which can deny green cards or visas based on the use of government benefits. “President Trump’s mass deportation plan will end the financial drain posed by illegal immigrants on our healthcare system, and ensure that our country can care for American citizens who rely on Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security,” Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to KFF Health News. During his first term, in 2019, Trump broadened the policy to include the use of Medicaid, as well as housing and nutrition subsidies. The Biden administration rescinded the change in 2021. KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News, found immigrants use less health care than people born in the United States. And about 1 in 4 likely undocumented immigrant adults said they have avoided applying for assistance with health care, food, and housing because of immigration-related fears, according to a 2023 survey . Another uncertainty is the fate of the Affordable Care Act, which was opened in November to immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and are protected by the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals program. If DACA eligibility for the act’s plans, or even the act itself, were to be reversed under Trump, that would leave roughly 40,000 California DACA recipients, and about 100,000 nationwide , without access to subsidized health insurance. On Dec. 9, a federal court in North Dakota issued an order blocking DACA recipients from accessing Affordable Care Act health plans in 19 states that had challenged the Biden administration’s rule. Clinics and community health workers are encouraging people to continue enrolling in health benefits. But amid the push to spread the message, the chilling effects are already apparent up and down the state. “¿Ya tiene Medi-Cal?” community health worker Yanet Martinez said, asking residents whether they had Medi-Cal as she walked down Pico Boulevard recently in a Los Angeles neighborhood with many Salvadorans. “¡Nosotros podemos ayudarle a solicitar Medi-Cal! ¡Todo gratuito!” she shouted, offering help to sign up, free of charge. “Gracias, pero no,” said one young woman, responding with a no thanks. She shrugged her shoulders and averted her eyes under a cap that covered her from the late-morning sun. Since Election Day, Martinez said, people have been more reluctant to hear her pitch for subsidized health insurance or cancer prevention screenings. “They think I’m going to share their information to deport them,” she said. “They don’t want anything to do with it.” This article was produced by KFF Health News , which publishes California Healthline , an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation . ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.By REBECCA SANTANA WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end birthright citizenship as soon as he gets into office to make good on campaign promises aiming to restrict immigration and redefining what it means to be American. But any efforts to halt the policy would face steep legal hurdles. Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen. It’s been in place for decades and applies to children born to someone in the country illegally or in the U.S. on a tourist or student visa who plans to return to their home country. It’s not the practice of every country, and Trump and his supporters have argued that the system is being abused and that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen. But others say this is a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, it would be extremely difficult to overturn and even if it’s possible, it’s a bad idea. Here’s a look at birthright citizenship, what Trump has said about it and the prospects for ending it: What Trump has said about birthright citizenship During an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Trump said he “absolutely” planned to halt birthright citizenship once in office. “We’re going to end that because it’s ridiculous,” he said. Trump and other opponents of birthright citizenship have argued that it creates an incentive for people to come to the U.S. illegally or take part in “birth tourism,” in which pregnant women enter the U.S. specifically to give birth so their children can have citizenship before returning to their home countries. “Simply crossing the border and having a child should not entitle anyone to citizenship,” said Eric Ruark, director of research for NumbersUSA, which argues for reducing immigration. The organization supports changes that would require at least one parent to be a permanent legal resident or a U.S. citizen for their children to automatically get citizenship. Others have argued that ending birthright citizenship would profoundly damage the country. “One of our big benefits is that people born here are citizens, are not an illegal underclass. There’s better assimilation and integration of immigrants and their children because of birthright citizenship,” said Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies at the pro-immigration Cato Institute. In 2019, the Migration Policy Institute estimated that 5.5 million children under age 18 lived with at least one parent in the country illegally in 2019, representing 7% of the U.S. child population. The vast majority of those children were U.S. citizens. The nonpartisan think tank said during Trump’s campaign for president in 2015 that the number of people in the country illegally would “balloon” if birthright citizenship were repealed, creating “a self-perpetuating class that would be excluded from social membership for generations.” What does the law say? In the aftermath of the Civil War, Congress ratified the 14th Amendment in July 1868. That amendment assured citizenship for all, including Black people. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” the 14th Amendment says. “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” But the 14th Amendment didn’t always translate to everyone being afforded birthright citizenship. For example, it wasn’t until 1924 that Congress finally granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. A key case in the history of birthright citizenship came in 1898, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a U.S. citizen because he was born in the states. The federal government had tried to deny him reentry into the county after a trip abroad on grounds he wasn’t a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act. But some have argued that the 1898 case clearly applied to children born of parents who are both legal immigrants to America but that it’s less clear whether it applies to children born to parents without legal status or, for example, who come for a short-term like a tourist visa. “That is the leading case on this. In fact, it’s the only case on this,” said Andrew Arthur, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports immigration restrictions. “It’s a lot more of an open legal question than most people think.” Some proponents of immigration restrictions have argued the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the 14th Amendment allows the U.S. to deny citizenship to babies born to those in the country illegally. Trump himself used that language in his 2023 announcement that he would aim to end birthright citizenship if reelected. So what could Trump do and would it be successful? Trump wasn’t clear in his Sunday interview how he aims to end birthright citizenship. Asked how he could get around the 14th Amendment with an executive action, Trump said: “Well, we’re going to have to get it changed. We’ll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it.” Pressed further on whether he’d use an executive order, Trump said “if we can, through executive action.” He gave a lot more details in a 2023 post on his campaign website . In it, he said he would issue an executive order the first day of his presidency, making it clear that federal agencies “require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident for their future children to become automatic U.S. citizens.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump has flip-flopped on abortion policy. His appointees may offer clues to what happens next National Politics | In promising to shake up Washington, Trump is in a class of his own National Politics | Election Day has long passed. In some states, legislatures are working to undermine the results National Politics | Trump attorney Alina Habba, a Lehigh University grad, to serve as counselor to the president National Politics | With Trump on the way, advocates look to states to pick up medical debt fight Trump wrote that the executive order would make clear that children of people in the U.S. illegally “should not be issued passports, Social Security numbers, or be eligible for certain taxpayer funded welfare benefits.” This would almost certainly end up in litigation. Nowrasteh from the Cato Institute said the law is clear that birthright citizenship can’t be ended by executive order but that Trump may be inclined to take a shot anyway through the courts. “I don’t take his statements very seriously. He has been saying things like this for almost a decade,” Nowrasteh said. “He didn’t do anything to further this agenda when he was president before. The law and judges are near uniformly opposed to his legal theory that the children of illegal immigrants born in the United States are not citizens.” Trump could steer Congress to pass a law to end birthright citizenship but would still face a legal challenge that it violates the Constitution. Associated Press reporter Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

Ange Postecoglou has admitted his position will be under “a lot of scrutiny” if he has not lifted Tottenham out of mid-table by Christmas. The club play at Manchester City on Saturday – the start of what Postecoglou called a “pivotal” nine-game sequence in 29 days – and he was keen to highlight the fine margins at work. If Spurs had beaten on the Sunday before last, they would sit third in the Premier League. They have the second-best goal difference in the division, are into the Carabao Cup quarter-final – where they have a home tie against Manchester United – and are going well in the Europa League. Instead, they were beaten by Ipswich – they have lost before each of the three international breaks – to lag in 10th. Postecoglou made a fast start to his Spurs tenure, winning eight and drawing two of 10 league matches at the beginning of last season. Since then his record in the competition reads W17 D5 L17. “It’s a significant period and at the end of it we could be in a decent position for a strong second half of the year,” Postecoglou said. “You can build some momentum or if things don’t go well you could get yourself into a bit of a grind. So it’s going to be a really pivotal part of the season. If we’re still 10th then people won’t be happy, I won’t be happy. But we might not be 10th. “If we had beaten Ipswich, we’d be third and I reckon this press conference would be much different. I’m not going to let my life be dictated by one result. I take a wider perspective because I know how fickle it can be. But we need to address our position. And if we’re 10th at Christmas it won’t be great – for sure. Rightly so, there’d be a lot of scrutiny and probably a lot of scrutiny around me. That’s not where I plan for us to be.” Postecoglou, preparing for his 50th league game in charge, said Spurs were “definitely a better side than we were last year”. He also remembered where the club were when he took over. They had finished eighth, failing to qualify for Europe, and were about to embark on a squad overhaul in terms of personnel and style. “I think there’s enough there that shows we are progressing and developing into the team we want,” Postecoglou said. “The key is the next 50 games: if they can be, in totality, better than the first 50? First, that means I’m here. Second, I think we’ll be in a good space. I firmly believe we’re on the right path. I firmly believe in this squad of players. I firmly believe we will have success. But I can see why outwardly, if you put a pin in it right now, it doesn’t look that way.” Postecoglou reported that Cristian Romero would miss the City game as he looks to recover full fitness after hamstring and toe problems. The manager’s other first-choice centre-half, Micky van de Ven, is out with a hamstring injury, meaning Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies are likely to start. Romero came off at half-time for Argentina against Paraguay on Thursday of last week and missed his country’s game against Peru on Wednesday. His daughter, Lucy, was born on Tuesday. Postecoglou admitted Romero had not been properly fit for a few weeks and he was asked whether he might have had second thoughts about him travelling to South America. “Yeah, you do,” Postecoglou replied. “But there’s always a line there, especially with someone like Romero, where you’ve got to trust his judgment as well. He understands the responsibility he has. “I think when he went away, he realised that this is not healing the way we want it to. I said: ‘Just have a break. We need you 100% fit.’ As much as we’d love to have him out there, it’s best for him he gets totally over everything. He had the birth of his daughter this week, which is a significant event in his life. It’s important for him to pause a little bit and just spend some time with his family. He’s kind of over both [injuries] now. But we’ll just wait.” Postecoglou also addressed the fallout from Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-game ban for making a racial slur against his teammate Son Heung- min. The club are understood to have not fined him and want the FA’s to the minimum tariff of six matches but their appeal has been criticised for its bad optics, particularly as their position is that Bentancur has made a mistake. The seventh game of his ban is against Liverpool. “I couldn’t care less who it is against and, yes, the appeal is worth it,” Postecoglou said. “We still have a judicial process. That’s why appeals are there. We think it was harsh, we think it should have been the minimum [punishment] and we’ll go through that process.”Pie crimes and misdemeanors: Thieves nab $30,000 worth of pies from Michelin-star chef

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday passed a $895 billion measure that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill passed the House by a vote of 281-140 and will next move to the Senate, where lawmakers had sought a bigger boost in defense spending than the current measure allows. The North Country Chamber of Commerce praised the agreement in a statement. “We have been advocating this year with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand for four provisions supporting our area economy and all four are in the final bill,” Chamber President Garry Douglas said. “They include two provisions important to BETA Technologies, featuring robust funding for the Air Force’s Agility Prime program which is supporting their on-going evaluation of BETA’s aircraft and establishment of a DoD Working Group to help boost a transition to eVTOL technologies including BETA. There is also important support for the planned production of composite tracks for DoD by Michelin in Plattsburgh and encouragement of DoD scientific research by non-profit institutions including Trudeau Institute.” Stefanik, in a statement, said she was “proud to help deliver another national defense bill that brings the priorities of Upstate New York and the North Country to the highest levels and enhances U.S. national security.” PAY RAISE Lawmakers are touting the bill’s 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the U.S. military. Those serving as junior enlisted personnel are in pay grades that generally track with their first enlistment term. Lawmakers said service member pay has failed to remain competitive with the private sector, forcing many military families to rely on food banks and government assistance programs to put food on the table. The bill also provides significant new resources for child care and housing. “No service member should have to live in squalid conditions and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that’s exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “This bill goes a long way to fixing that.” The bill sets key Pentagon policy that lawmakers will attempt to fund through a follow-up appropriations bill. The overall spending tracks the numbers established in a 2023 agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached with President Joe Biden to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators had wanted to increase defense spending some $25 billion above what was called for in that agreement, but those efforts failed. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the overall spending level was a “tremendous loss for our national defense,” though he agreed with many provisions within the bill. “We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it,” Wicker said. House Republicans don’t want to go above the McCarthy-Biden agreement for defense spending and are looking to go way below it for many non-defense programs. TRANSGENDER CARE They are also focused on cultural issues. The bill prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 if that treatment could result in sterilization. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said minors dealing with gender dysphoria is a “very real problem.” He said the treatments available, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, have proven effective at helping young people dealing with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression. “These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives,” Smith said. “And in this bill, we decided we’re going to bar servicemembers’ children from having access to that.” Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care extends into the thousands. He could have supported a study asking medical experts to determine whether such treatments are too often used, but a ban on health insurance coverage went too far. He said Speaker Mike Johnson’s office insisted upon the ban and said the provision “taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation.” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the ban a step in the right direction, saying, “I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates.” Smith said he agrees with Roy that lawmakers should be focused on the military and not on cultural conflicts, “and yet, here it is in this bill.” RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION Branden Marty, a Navy veteran who served for 13 years, said the loss of health coverage for transgender medical treatments could prompt some with valuable experience to leave the military, affecting national security because “we already struggle from a recruiting and retention standpoint.” He also said the bill could regularly force service members into difficult choices financially. “It will be tough for a lot of them because of out-of-pocket expenses, especially enlisted members who we know already struggle with food insecurity,” said Marty, the father of a transgender teenager. “They don’t get paid very much, so they’re going to be making a lot of choices on a day-to-day, tactical level.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said his team was not telling Democrats how to vote on the bill. “There’s a lot of positive things in the National Defense Authorization Act that were negotiated in a bipartisan way, and there are some troubling provisions in a few areas as well,” Jeffries said. Overall, 81 Democrats ended up voting for the bill and 124 against it. On the Republican side, 200 voted for the bill and 16 against. “It’s disappointing to see 124 of my Democrat colleagues vote against our brave men and women in uniform over policies that have nothing to do with their intended mission,” Johnson said. The defense policy bill also looks to strengthen deterrence against China. It calls for investing $15.6 billion to build military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration had requested about $10 billion. On Israel, the bill, among other things, includes an expansion of U.S. joint military exercises with Israel and a prohibition on the Pentagon citing casualty data from Hamas. The defense policy bill is one of the final measures that lawmakers view as a must-pass before making way for a new Congress in January.

(The Center Square) – Legislators in Washington, D.C., have taken a number of steps over the past few days to push for insurance and pharmaceutical reforms to be passed before the end of the year. On Wednesday, a bicameral group of Republican and Democrat lawmakers held a press conference discussing the need for pharmacy benefit manager reform to protect small pharmacies across the country and “save lives.” “Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or an independent, we all want the same thing. We want accessible, affordable, quality health care,” said Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga. “We’re not here today to just discuss one bill or to discuss just one patient’s story. We're here because there's broad, bipartisan pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM, reform that is needed to save lives.” Pharmacy benefit managers are the middlemen responsible for managing the drug prices covered by health insurance plans. According to the Harvard Political Review , the problem with pharmacy benefit managers is that they “have vertically integrated with pharmacy chains and health insurers through massive conglomerates.” That then allows them to abuse their power to cut out small pharmacies and increase prices. Carter also signed a letter that was released last week calling on the Department of Justice to dig into the role pharmacy benefit managers played in the opioid epidemic. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., Deborah Ross, D-N.C., and Cliff Benz, R-Ore., all joined him in signing that letter. “The opioid crisis has devastated communities in North Carolina and across the country, and PBMs may have fueled it by prioritizing profits over people,” Ross said on social media . “That’s why I joined a letter calling on the DOJ to investigate their role and hold these bad actors accountable.” The letter looked at recent reports on the largest pharmacy benefit managers, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx which state that they “colluded and conspired to steer patients towards OxyContin in exchange for $400 million.” OxyContin is a trade name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride, a painkiller available by prescription only. This and the general “lack of transparency” is just one of the many complaints that legislators aired on Wednesday. “My colleagues who are joining me today, Democrats and Republicans ... all recognize that PBMs are decreasing the accessibility, the affordability, and therefore the quality of health care in America,” Carter said. “We have an opportunity, right now, to advance bipartisan legislation that increases reporting requirements, which would heighten transparency and shine a light on the opaque practices of these PBMs.” Carter was also joined by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who is leading the effort to get legislation passed in the U.S. Senate. “This year, we're losing about one pharmacy a day in America,” Lankford said. “We want leadership to be able to take this up and to bring it up in the end-of-year package ... Stop holding up legislation that is bipartisan, bicameral, and solving a problem that Americans need solved.”It was the fourth time this season they had conceded four or more and the performance showed why they have the Premier League’s worst defence. When O’Neil and the players went over to acknowledge the visiting supporters there were boos for a run of two wins in 14 league matches. “Whatever the fans think of me, there is definitely no-none working harder than me and I will continue to do so until someone tells me not to,” said O’Neil, who is under increasing pressure with his side second bottom of the table. “I go over there to see them because I appreciate every one of the Wolves fans. They have given me unbelievable support since I arrived at the football club,” he said. “We managed to produce some unbelievable stuff last season with a team that was heavily tipped by most of the nation for relegation. We managed to enjoy it together. “Now it is tough. I was happy to go over there and look them right in the face and take any criticism they want to throw at me. “I accept responsibility for my part in that. Whatever criticism they want to throw at me will not change how I feel about them. “Everyone at this football club needs to do more. We will get back to be ready to fight again on Monday (another crucial game against West Ham, whose manager Julen Lopetegui’s tenure is hanging by a thread). “I will work with everything I have. I will back myself to get the most out of the group. I understand the drive for change (but) you never know how much of a percentage of supporters it is.” Veteran Ashley Young ended Everton’s 370-minute wait for a goal with a 10th-minute free-kick, his first league goal for more than two years, and on-loan Lyon midfielder Orel Mangala blasted home his first for the club to establish a 2-0 half-time lead. Two Craig Dawson own goals secured Everton’s biggest home league win since April 2019, but manager Sean Dyche insisted their issues up front were far from sorted. He said: “It’s our fifth clean sheet in the last eight so the consistency has been there in one degree, we just haven’t been scoring goals. That’s been the hardest thing to find consistently and we haven’t solved it yet. “Goals change everything, they change opinions. That’s what football is like.” The victory was hugely important in a month in which, having been hammered 4-0 at Manchester United, they face top-six sides Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest and undoubtedly eased some of the pressure on Dyche and his players. “I’ve told them how proud I am of them,” he added. “The challenges come thick and fast on and off the pitch and they just keep going. “It’s only a step and there are many more to go but it’s a good step and a positive step. “It’s a temporary moment in time because the next one is a big one (Saturday’s Merseyside derby).”