A pair of teams with minimal rest will face off in Nassau, Bahamas, on Sunday when No. 22 St. John takes on Georgia. St. John's (5-1), which will play its third game in four days, began the stretch in the Bahamas Championship on Thursday, dropping a heartbreaker to No. 13 Baylor. The Red Storm led by 18 in the first half before Baylor forced overtime. From there, St. John's rallied from five down with 1:47 left to send the game to a second overtime, where it saw Baylor knock down a pair of 3-pointers in the final seven seconds -- including Jeremy Roach's buzzer-beater -- to knock off the Red Storm 99-98. In the third-place game on Friday, St. John's breezed past Virginia 80-55. RJ Luis Jr. led the way with 18 points and four steals, followed by Kadary Richmond's 12 points, as the Red Storm took a one-point lead with 15:21 left in the first half and didn't trail again. "I'm really impressed with our guys, coming off a double-overtime, extremely emotional loss," St. John's head coach Rick Pitino said. "To respond that way was extremely impressive, both offensively and defensively." Pitino, in his second year with the Red Storm, was moved by something off the court on Friday, involving captain Zuby Ejiofor, who chipped in eight points, nine boards, two steals and two blocks. Ejiofor was serenaded by St. John's fans during the win, following his two missed free throws at the end of double overtime against Baylor. "When you've only been in a job for a year, you search for things you love about a place," Pitino said. "Tonight I found out what I love about St. John's. Our fans chanted Zuby's name the whole game, which doesn't happen anywhere else in America. I was really impressed with our fans and I thank them for making Zuby feel good, because he gives you all the energy." Luis leads the Red Storm with 17.3 points per game, followed by Ejiofor (10.7), Aaron Scott (10.5), Deivon Smith (10.3) and Richmond (10.2). Georgia enters Sunday's matchup looking to rebound from its first loss after falling to No. 15 Marquette 80-69 on Saturday. Georgia (5-1) battled back from a 15-point, second-half deficit, but was held to just three points over the final 4:57 in Saturday's loss. Blue Cain led the Bulldogs with a season-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers. "It's a process. It's a journey with this team," Bulldogs head coach Mike White said. "It's about continuing to make strides, continuing to protect our culture. ... At the end of the day, wins and losses are going to take care of themselves. We just have to embrace the process and enjoy it." Five-star freshman recruit Asa Newell was held to a season-low nine points but leads the team with 15.5 points per game. Silas Demary Jr. is second with 13.8. --Field Level MediaCaprock Group LLC Purchases 9,453 Shares of iShares MSCI Australia ETF (NYSEARCA:EWA)ph365 ph 。

France Has a New Government, Again. Politics and Crushing Debt Complicate Next Steps

U.S. stocks climbed after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher Thursday after flipping between modest gains and losses several times in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up less than 0.1%. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. On Thursday: The S&P 500 rose 31.60 points, or 0.5%, to 5,948.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 461.88 points, or 1.1%, to 43,870.35. The Nasdaq composite rose 6.28 points, or less than 0.1%, to 18,972.42. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 38.48 points, or 1.7%, to 2,364.02. For the week: The S&P 500 is up 78.09 points, or 1.3%. The Dow is up 425.36 points, or 1%. The Nasdaq is up 292.30 points, or 1.6%. The Russell 2000 is up 60.18 points, or 2.6%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 1,178.88 points, or 24.7%. The Dow is up 6,180.81 points, or 16.4%. The Nasdaq is up 3,961.07 points, or 26.4%. The Russell 2000 is up 336.94 points, or 16.6%.Police lathi charge outside counting centre in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Heavy travel day starts with brief grounding of all American Airlines flightsWASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a national ground stop for the airline. The order, which prevented planes from taking off, was issued at the airline's request after it experienced trouble with its flight operating system, or FOS. The airline blamed technology from one of its vendors. As a result, flights were delayed across American’s major hubs, with only 37% of the airline's 3,901 domestic and international flights leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Nineteen flights were canceled. Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said the airline told pilots at 7 a.m. Eastern that there was an outage affecting the FOS system. It handles different types of airline operations, including dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, as well as an airplane's weight and balance data, he said. Some components of FOS have gone down in the past, but a systemwide outage is rare, Tajer said. Hours after the ground stop was lifted, Tajer said the union had not heard about any “chaos out there beyond just the normal heavy travel day.” He said officials were watching for any cascading effects, such as staffing problems. On social media, however, customers expressed frustration with delays that caused them or their family members to miss connecting flights. One person asked if American planned to hold flights for passengers to make connections, while others complained about the lack of assistance they said they received from the airline or gate agents. Bobby Tighe, a real estate agent from Florida, said he will miss a family Christmas Eve party in New York because his American flight was repeatedly delayed. The delays made him miss a connecting flight, leaving him the choice of going to his destination — Westchester, New York — on Christmas Day or taking another flight to Newark, New Jersey, that was scheduled to land Tuesday evening. He chose the latter. “I’m just going to take an Uber or Lyft to the airport I was originally supposed to go to, pick up my rental car and kind of restart everything tomorrow,” Tighe said. He said his girlfriend was “going through the same exact situation” on her way from Dallas to New York. Cirium noted that the vast majority of flights were departing within two hours of their scheduled departure time. A similar percentage — 36% — were arriving at their destinations as scheduled. Dallas-Fort Worth, New York’s Kennedy Airport and Charlotte, North Carolina, saw the greatest number of delays, Cirium said. Washington, Chicago and Miami experienced considerably fewer delays. Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 4,058 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed, with 76 flights canceled. The site did not post any American Airlines flights on Tuesday morning, but it showed in the afternoon that 961 American flights were delayed. Amid the travel problems, significant rain and snow were expected in the Pacific Northwest at least into Christmas Day. Showers and thunderstorms were developing in the South. Freezing rain was reported in the Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington, and snow fell in New York. Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions. That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that let them put stranded customers on another carrier’s flights. This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them. Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That’s because finding a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be expensive. An American spokesperson said Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline — with about 2,000 fewer flights than the busiest days — so the airline had somewhat of a buffer to manage the delays. The groundings happened as millions of travelers were expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers through Jan. 2. Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up. About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA. “Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said. Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.04 a gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state. Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington are the metropolitan areas primed for the greatest delays, according to the company. ___ Associated Press writers David Koenig, Mae Anderson and Mike Pesoli contributed to this report. Matt Ott And Haleluya Hadero, The Associated Press

Judiciary on verge of institutionalising independenceBy 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: 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.” 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. 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 taps his attorney Alina Habba to serve as counselor to the president National Politics | Donald Trump doesn’t appear to measure up to Prince William’s 6′ 3′′ 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.

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No. 22 St. John's, Georgia pack busy schedule with game on Sunday

The Apple AirTag is arguably among the company’s most useful product releases in recent years. Once you set up an AirTag, it gives you powerful options for locating it (and whatever you attach it to). Put one of Apple’s tracking tags on an item like a keychain or luggage, and you can easily track its location from your iPhone, Mac or iPad. Since AirTag’s launch, numerous reports have detailed how the tracking tag helped owners find lost items. If you recently acquired an AirTag, here’s how you can set it up the right way and use it properly. Like any other Apple device, setting up an is straightforward. Bring the tracking tag near your iPhone. If it is a new AirTag, remove the battery pull tab. A dialog box prompting you to the AirTag to your iPhone should automatically appear. Proceed to assign a name to the AirTag. You can select one from the list or enter one yourself. Despite its small size, AirTag is a marvel of engineering. It sends out a secure Bluetooth signal containing location data that can be detected by other devices on . The data is then shared with iCloud, allowing you to see the tracker’s location in the Find My app. Apple’s Find My network consists of hundreds of millions of devices across the world, each of which can help pinpoint an AirTag’s location. Still, all this happens anonymously, so you never need to worry about anyone else (or even Apple itself) knowing where your item is. Apple says an AirTag will last for more than a year. The good thing is that the battery is user replaceable — the tags use a standard CR2032 3V coin battery. Just , which can keep it from working with AirTag. There’s no way to check AirTag’s battery life, though. Apple initially provided this functionality in the Find My app but . Tracking your AirTag and the item attached to it requires using the Find My app. Open the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Navigate to the tab. All available AirTags linked to your account will be displayed here with the names you assigned to them. Tap on the AirTag to view its location. To get navigation directions to the AirTag and the item it is attached to, tap on . You can use the option to make the AirTag emit a sound. This will be useful if you are near the AirTag’s location but cannot find it. On iPhone 11 and newer models featuring Ultra Wideband support, you can take advantage of Precision Finding to easily locate your AirTag. You need to use the option, though it will only show up when your iPhone is within range of the AirTag. Once you tap the button, follow the on-screen instructions to get the precise location of the tracking tag. You can also set up . This will ensure that you automatically get a notification on your iPhone if you leave the tagged item behind. If you share a household with someone else, you’ll probably want to share your AirTag. Otherwise, if your roommate borrows your keys or your partner takes your luggage, they’ll be inundated with warnings that you might be tracking them. . After you set it up, go to , tap on the new AirTag and tap . You can tap on a recent contact or search for someone. If you don’t see this option, you need to update your phone to iOS 17. An AirTag can be shared with up to four other people. In case you cannot track your AirTag, or its location is temporarily unavailable, you can put it in Enabling this mode will prompt you to enter a phone number or email address and a short message. You also can automatically receive a notification when the AirTag’s location becomes available. If someone else finds your AirTag and the item tagged to it, they will see a notification on their iPhone or NFC-enabled Android phone with your message and the contact details you provided earlier. Open the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Head to the tab. Tap the AirTag you want to mark as lost. Scroll down and select the option under . Tap on the dialog box that pops up explaining Lost Mode. Proceed to enter the phone number for contacting you when someone else finds your AirTag. Alternatively, select the option and enter an email if that’s what you prefer. Tap . Enable the option if you want your iPhone to automatically inform you when the AirTag’s location is again known. Tap in the top-right corner. AirTag range AirTag has a limited range, but in the real world, Apple’s Find My network cleverly compensates for this. Because AirTag uses Bluetooth to connect to nearby Apple devices, the range is limited. Indoors, the range is about 30 feet (10 meters) and outdoors the range is about 100 feet (30 meters). However, because AirTag uses Apple’s Find My Network, it can connect to potentially millions of other iPhones, iPads and other compatible devices, greatly extended the range. To help conserve battery life, the AirTag’s Bluetooth beacon sends out a signal approximately every three to five minutes. When an iPhone participating in the Find My network comes within Bluetooth range of the AirTag (roughly 30-40 feet), it picks up the signal and anonymously relays the phone’s location to Apple servers via the Internet. For this to work, the phone must have an active Internet connection, either through Wi-Fi or cellular. The Apple servers then receive the location data, along with your AirTag’s ID, and forward it to the Find My app on your iPhone. So even if you misplaced your AirTag in Sydney, Australia, and took a flight to New York, it would still be detectable using the Find My network. No — at least not legally. AirTags are meant for tracking your items and pets. Laws strictly prohibit using an AirTag for monitoring a person without explicit permission. When you set up a new AirTag, Apple warns that, “Using this item to track people without their consent is a crime in many regions around the world.” Apple makes it clear that, at the request of law enforcement agencies, it will share the details of the Apple ID paired with an AirTag used for tracking a person without their consent. iPhone 11 and newer owners also can take advantage of Apple’s U1 chip with Ultra Wideband technology to find unwanted AirTags near them using Precision Finding. Your iPhone will automatically detect if an unwanted AirTag is moving with you. A notification will appear in the Find My app, and tapping on it will display the tag’s location. A map will show when the AirTag first appeared, and a red dashed line indicates the path you’ve taken with the AirTag nearby. You also can play a sound to help find the AirTag. Android users can download the from the Google Play Store. It scans for Find My-compatible item trackers using Bluetooth. The app will warn you when it finds an AirTag near you for at least 10 minutes. Besides, AirTags will automatically play a sound at a random time after being away from their owners for more than eight hours within a 24-hour window. You can scan an unwanted AirTag near you to determine if its owner has marked it as lost. Additionally, you should see the AirTag’s serial number and the last four digits of the phone number it is registered to. This can help you identify who the owner is. If not, you can share this detail with a law enforcement agency to help track down the culprit. How to reset AirTag For safety, an AirTag can only be linked to one Apple ID at a time. If you want to use an AirTag that someone else has already set up, they must first remove it from their Apple ID. If the previous owner removed the AirTag but was out of Bluetooth range, you’ll need to reset it before you can pair it with your device. To reset your AirTag, you need to remove the battery and reinsert it five times. Here’s how to do it: : Press down on the steel battery cover and rotate it counterclockwise. Remove the cover and take out the battery. : Put the battery back into the AirTag. : Press on the battery until you hear a sound, indication the battery is properly connected. : Repeat removing the battery and reinserting it four more times. Don’t forget to press on the battery until you hear a sound. You should hear a total of five sounds. The fifth sound will be different, signaling that the AirTag has been reset and is now ready to pair. : Align the three tabs on the cover with the three slots on the AirTag. Press down on the cover and rotate it clockwise until it stops. AirTags prove handy in daily use If you tend to lose things, forget stuff or carry precious items with you, I strongly recommend you buy some AirTags. Once you set up the AirTag properly, it will definitely come in handy. AirTags are far better than other tracking tags on the market, all thanks to Apple’s excellent Find My network. This post about publised this post Dec 24, 2024