blackjack symbol The contemporary B2B landscape is being reshaped by a seismic shift toward automation and simplification. Companies are ditching clunky, manual processes in favor of sleek, digital-first solutions that prioritize speed, simplicity and scalability. The winners? Those who embrace embedded finance, real-time data insights and automation to streamline workflows and elevate customer experiences. While challenges remain, particularly in bridging the gap between buyer-centric and supplier-friendly solutions, as well as overcoming institutional inertia, this week’s top B2B trends indicate a clear movement toward greater efficiency, transparency and streamlined operations in the B2B landscape. What the Experts Are Saying: Keep It Simple, Stupid Boost Payment Solutions Chief of Staff Sam Silver told PYMNTS that as businesses push for modernization, they encounter a common paradox: What works smoothly for buyers can create operational headaches for suppliers. B2B payments, unlike consumer payments, are often tied to complex data requirements and reporting that surround each transaction, resulting in a fragmented landscape that suppliers must navigate. “At least half of B2B payments are still paper-based , particularly checks, and that creates multiple pain points,” Finexio Chief Strategy Officer Chris Wyatt told PYMNTS during a discussion for the “ What’s Next in Payments ” series, “ Business Simplicity: The New KPI. ” “These aren’t isolated problems. Everything is interconnected, and the inefficiency of manual processes all compound,” Wyatt said, noting that by automating the payment process, businesses can shorten their payment cycles, a key factor in maintaining healthy vendor relationships. Late payments — often a byproduct of inefficient systems — can strain partnerships and lead to supply chain disruptions. “Simplicity is not just a strategy; it’s becoming part of our DNA . As we continue to deconstruct and reimagine financial processes, we’re seeing firsthand how it contributes to sustainable growth,” Christina Wagner , senior vice president of GTM for automated finance at FIS , told PYMNTS, noting that in B2B, “complexity often burdens the finance function.” Tapping Blockchain to Solve Business Challenges PYMNTS unpacked how, for corporate treasurers navigating a global economy defined by uncertainty and complexity , blockchain technology offers a compelling promise: a transformation of the treasury function from a cost center to a strategic enabler. Plus, with the news Thursday (Nov. 21) that Mastercard ’s Multi-Token Network (MTN) has connected to J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys Digital Payments to streamline cross-border B2B transactions, leveraging blockchain for better payments is top of mind for B2B firms operating internationally. And as the holiday season peeks its head around the corner, businesses are bracing themselves for the surge in spending — potentially $240.8 billion in the U.S. — which puts the global supply chain under immense pressure. Fortunately, from loyalty programs to logistics, innovations that include blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI), automation and digital marketplaces are transforming the way B2B businesses handle their supply chains and helping them meet the high expectations of holiday buyers while maintaining operational efficiency. A Freight, Transport and Logistics Revolution The logistics industry is undergoing a transformation fueled by AI and robotics, driving greater efficiency and innovation across operations. From smarter fleets to automated distribution centers, AI and robotics are setting new benchmarks in the freight and logistics industry, paving the way for a future of intelligent operations. Class8 , formerly known as FleetOps , on Tuesday (Nov. 19) raised $22 million in a Series A funding round to promote its original equipment manufacturer (OEM)-integrated, AI-powered logistics solutions. The company’s platform processes over 1 billion daily data points from 227,000 trucks and uses that data to help trucking businesses optimize their fleet operations. And AI is taking off in logistics, Jaime Tabachnik , co-founder and CEO at Mexico FinTech Solvento , told PYMNTS. Solvento, which provides immediate payment solutions to the freight industry, with a focus on Mexico, is itself harnessing AI and an end-to-end accounts payable process to solve the challenges related to doing business in multiple currencies, foreign exchange rates and country-by-country legal frameworks. But it’s not just AI having an impact. Robots and AI are transforming logistics in tandem. PYMNTS sat down with Andrew Smith , founder and CEO of Outrider , to discuss how, with the introduction of autonomous vehicles and robotics, companies are turning their distribution yards into streamlined nerve centers that promise greater speed, safety and cost savings. “When you think about the evolution of AI and machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning techniques, it is important to be on the forefront of using those techniques to address the variability in the outdoor distribution yard environment,” Smith said. B2B Innovation: Unlocking Agility in the Age of Transformation Innovation isn’t just about tech; it’s about culture. More companies are leaning into agility, building collaborative ecosystems, and solving customer pain points by relying on partnerships to drive efficiency. Expense management firm Payhawk launched a partnership with J.P. Morgan Payments . The collaboration will see Payhawk use J.P. Morgan Payments’ APIs to let customers store, exchange and send money in more than 30 currencies within its platform, the companies announced Tuesday. Fiserv and ADP on Tuesday partnered to offer U.S.-based small businesses a management system with capabilities across payroll, cash management and payments. The companies will create an integrated solution that brings together the capabilities of ADP’s small business payroll and human resources solution, RUN Powered by ADP , and Fiserv’s small business management platform, Clover . LendingTree has teamed with Coverdash to offer insurance coverage to its small business and startup customers. The collaboration, announced Wednesday (Nov. 20), expands LendingTree’s financial product suite to allow small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) access to Coverdash’s fully embedded insurance offering. Elsewhere, embedded payments platform Modulr acquired accounts payable (AP) automation provider Nook on Tuesday, while TreviPay added automated buyer onboarding to its order-to-cash (O2C) offering. With the new feature, business buyers using TreviPay’s Risk Management Platform can apply for trade credit through a dynamic self-serve application, the company said Wednesday (Nov. 20). These developments underscore the ongoing push for automation, integration and embedded solutions in the B2B space.Jimmy Carter: Many evolutions for a centenarian ‘citizen of the world’Smart scores 25, leads Grizzlies to 131-111 win over Pistons

OTTAWA — A lawyer for terrorism suspect Mohamed Harkat told a Federal Court judge Tuesday the Algerian-born refugee has been linked to extremists through speculation, not hard evidence. Harkat, 56, was arrested in Ottawa in December 2002 on suspicion of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent. Harkat says he fled strife-ridden Algeria and worked with an aid agency in Pakistan before he arrived in Canada in 1995 using a false Saudi passport. He denies any involvement in terrorism. The federal government has long been trying to deport the former gas-station attendant using a security certificate — a legal tool for removing non-citizens suspected of ties to extremism or espionage. A Federal Court judge who reviewed the certificate ruled in 2010 there were grounds to believe Harkat is a security threat who maintained ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network after coming to Canada. The judge found Harkat operated a guesthouse for Ibn Khattab and his organization for at least 15 months in Pakistan, demonstrating active membership in an organization involved in terrorist activities. Harkat is back in Federal Court challenging a 2018 decision by a federal delegate that he should not be allowed to remain in Canada. He argues he faces a risk of torture if returned to Algeria. In a written submission to the court, federal lawyers note the delegate found that Harkat’s role as the operator of Khattab's guesthouse made the recruitment, vetting, preparation and training of jihadists and terrorists possible. This allowed the Khattab organization, and the broader bin Laden network with which it was linked, to commit various terrorist acts, the submission adds. In their own submission, counsel for Harkat question the evidence that Khattab was indeed a terrorist. Lawyer Barbara Jackman, representing Harkat, told the hearing Tuesday the federal conclusions were not only unreasonable, but "also it's taking facts and speculating to fill in the blanks." Jackman said operating a guesthouse is not a crime. "Doesn't it depend on the knowledge and intent of the person who's operating the guesthouse?" asked Justice John Norris. The judge suggested the government would need to establish that Harkat knew the purpose of the place. Jackman said Harkat denies even working at the guesthouse. Even so, she took issue with the evidentiary reasoning. "You have to show a connection to the crime or the criminal organization in some kind of real way," she said. "He's a passive actor running a hotel that people come in and out of." At the end of the hearing, Norris said he would make a ruling on Harkat's challenge at a later date. Civil libertarians have criticized the security certificate process as fundamentally unjust because the detainee sees only a summary of the accusations, making them difficult to challenge. In a 2014 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada said the security certificate regime does not violate the person's right to know and contest the allegations they face. The Supreme Court also concluded Harkat "benefited from a fair process" when Noel reviewed his case. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024. Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jake Evans scored for the career-high fifth consecutive game and the surging Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Sunday night. Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Newhook also scored to help the Canadiens win for the fifth time in six games. Sam Montembeault made 21 saves. Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel scored for Tampa Bay. Jonas Johansson stopped 31 shots. Newhook opened the scoring on a one-timer midway through the first period. Hagel tied it 37 seconds into the second period, but Dvorak and Evans scored 5:54 apart in the period for a two-goal Montreal lead they would not relinquish. Canadiens: Montreal has scored four or more goals in six consecutive games. ... The Canadiens snapped a four-game losing streak to Tampa Bay. Lightning: LW Jake Guentzel missed the game because of an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. ... Tampa Bay fell to 0-7-1 when scoring fewer than three goals. After Hagel tied it 7 seconds into the second period, the Canadiens' Lane Hutson took a hooking call 13 seconds later to give Tampa Bay a power play. But Montreal’s penalty kill held the Lightning without a shot during the man advantage. Evans' five-game goals streak is tied for the longest active run in the NHL. Montreal is at Vegas on Tuesday. Tampa Bay is at San Jose on Thursday night. AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhlFILE – Former President Jimmy Carter stands behind his birthday cake during his 90th birthday celebration held at Georgia Southwestern University, Oct. 4, 2014, in Americus, Ga. (AP Photo/Branden Camp, File) ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old . The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday afternoon, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. The center said he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief” and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America’s dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights, he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise” speech, even though he never used that word. After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter’s diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics. Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Want stories like this delivered straight to your inbox?Stay informed. Stay ahead. Subscribe to InqMORNING

Dana Hull | (TNS) Bloomberg News Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s money manager and the head of his family office, is listed as the chief executive officer. Jehn Balajadia, a longtime Musk aide who has worked at SpaceX and the Boring Co., is named as an official contact. Related Articles National Politics | Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus National Politics | Biden vetoes once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal judgeships, citing ‘hurried’ House action National Politics | A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own National Politics | President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America’s tallest peak National Politics | Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use But they’re not connected to Musk’s new technology venture, or the political operation that’s endeared him to Donald Trump. Instead, they’re tied to the billionaire’s new Montessori school outside Bastrop, Texas, called Ad Astra, according to documents filed with state authorities and obtained via a Texas Public Information Act request. The world’s richest person oversees an overlapping empire of six companies — or seven, if you include his political action committee. Alongside rockets, electric cars, brain implants, social media and the next Trump administration, he is increasingly focused on education, spanning preschool to college. One part of his endeavor was revealed last year, when Bloomberg News reported that his foundation had set aside roughly $100 million to create a technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin, with eventual plans for a university. An additional $137 million in cash and stock was allotted last year, according to the most recent tax filing for the Musk Foundation. Ad Astra is closer to fruition. The state documents show Texas authorities issued an initial permit last month, clearing the way for the center to operate with as many as 21 pupils. Ad Astra’s website says it’s “currently open to all children ages 3 to 9.” The school’s account on X includes job postings for an assistant teacher for preschool and kindergarten and an assistant teacher for students ages 6 to 9. To run the school, Ad Astra is partnering with a company that has experience with billionaires: Xplor Education, which developed Hala Kahiki Montessori school in Lanai, Hawaii, the island 98% owned by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison. Ad Astra sits on a highway outside Bastrop, a bedroom community about 30 miles from Austin and part of a region that’s home to several of Musk’s businesses. On a visit during a recent weekday morning, there was a single Toyota Prius in the parking lot and no one answered the door at the white building with a gray metal roof. The school’s main entrance was blocked by a gate, and there was no sign of any children on the grounds. But what information there is about Ad Astra makes it sound like a fairly typical, if high-end, Montessori preschool. The proposed schedule includes “thematic, STEM-based activities and projects” as well as outdoor play and nap time. A sample snack calendar features carrots and hummus. While Birchall’s and Balajadia’s names appear in the application, it isn’t clear that they’ll have substantive roles at the school once it’s operational. Musk, Birchall and Balajadia didn’t respond to emailed questions. A phone call and email to the school went unanswered. Access to high quality, affordable childcare is a huge issue for working parents across the country, and tends to be an especially vexing problem in rural areas like Bastrop. Many families live in “childcare deserts” where there is either not a facility or there isn’t an available slot. Opening Ad Astra gives Musk a chance to showcase his vision for education, and his support for the hands-on learning and problem solving that are a hallmark of his industrial companies. His public comments about learning frequently overlap with cultural concerns popular among conservatives and the Make America Great Again crowd, often focusing on what he sees as young minds being indoctrinated by teachers spewing left-wing propaganda. He has railed against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and in August posted that “a lot of schools are teaching white boys to hate themselves.” Musk’s educational interests dovetail with his new role as Trump’s “first buddy.” The billionaire has pitched a role for himself that he — and now the incoming Trump administration — call “DOGE,” or the Department of Government Efficiency. Though it’s not an actual department, DOGE now posts on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “The Department of Education spent over $1 billion promoting DEI in America’s schools,” the account posted Dec. 12. Back in Texas, Bastrop is quickly becoming a key Musk point of interest. The Boring Co., his tunneling venture, is based in an unincorporated area there. Across the road, SpaceX produces Starlink satellites at a 500,000-square-foot (46,000-square-meter) facility. Nearby, X is constructing a building for trust and safety workers. Musk employees, as well as the general public, can grab snacks at the Boring Bodega, a convenience store housed within Musk’s Hyperloop Plaza, which also contains a bar, candy shop and hair salon. Ad Astra is just a five-minute drive away. It seems to have been designed with the children of Musk’s employees — if not Musk’s own offspring — in mind. Musk has fathered at least 12 children, six of them in the last five years. “Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” reads the school’s website. A job posting on the website of the Montessori Institute of North Texas says “While their parents support the breakthroughs that expand the realm of human possibility, their children will grow into the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can provide.” The school has hired an executive director, according to documents Bloomberg obtained from Texas Health and Human Services. Ad Astra is located on 40 acres of land, according to the documents, which said a 4,000-square-foot house would be remodeled for the preschool. It isn’t uncommon for entrepreneurs to take an interest in education, according to Bill Gormley, a professor emeritus at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University who studies early childhood education. Charles Butt, the chairman of the Texas-based H-E-B grocery chain, has made public education a focus of his philanthropy. Along with other business and community leaders, Butt founded “Raise Your Hand Texas,” which advocates on school funding, teacher workforce and retention issues and fully funding pre-kindergarten. “Musk is not the only entrepreneur to recognize the value of preschool for Texas workers,” Gormley said. “A lot of politicians and business people get enthusiastic about education in general — and preschool in particular — because they salivate at the prospect of a better workforce.” Musk spent much of October actively campaigning for Trump’s presidential effort, becoming the most prolific donor of the election cycle. He poured at least $274 million into political groups in 2024, including $238 million to America PAC, the political action committee he founded. While the vast majority of money raised by America PAC came from Musk himself, it also had support from other donors. Betsy DeVos, who served as education secretary in Trump’s first term, donated $250,000, federal filings show. The Department of Education is already in the new administration’s cross hairs. Trump campaigned on the idea of disbanding the department and dismantling diversity initiatives, and he has also taken aim at transgender rights. “Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools must be totally refocused to prepare our children to succeed in the world of work,” Trump wrote in Agenda 47, his campaign platform. Musk has three children with the musician Grimes and three with Shivon Zilis, who in the past was actively involved at Neuralink, his brain machine interface company. All are under the age of five. Musk took X, his son with Grimes, with him on a recent trip to Capitol Hill. After his visit, he shared a graphic that showed the growth of administrators in America’s public schools since 2000. Musk is a fan of hands-on education. During a Tesla earnings call in 2018, he talked about the need for more electricians as the electric-car maker scaled up the energy side of its business. On the Joe Rogan podcast in 2020, Musk said that “too many smart people go into finance and law.” “I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters,” Musk said while campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania in October. “That’s a lot more important than having incremental political science majors.” Ad Astra’s website says the cost of tuition will be initially subsidized, but in future years “tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program.” “I do think we need significant reform in education,” Musk said at a separate Trump campaign event. “The priority should be to teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life, and to leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom.” With assistance from Sophie Alexander and Kara Carlson. ©2024 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said Wednesday (November 27, 2024), which would make him the latest official to fall in a sweeping crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former U.S. officials familiar with the situation, the British newspaper The Financial Times said the investigation into Mr. Dong was part of that broader probe into military corruption. If confirmed, Mr. Dong would be the third Chinese defence minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. Asked about the report at a regular briefing on Wednesday (November 27, 2024), Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said it was just “chasing shadows” and did not offer further information. A former navy commander, he was appointed defence minister in December following the surprise removal of predecessor Li Shangfu just seven months into the job. Mr. Li was later expelled from the ruling Communist Party for offences including suspected bribery, state media said. He has not been seen in public since. His predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was also kicked out of the party and passed on to prosecutors over alleged corruption. “It’s certainly a blow... because one would imagine they will be super careful to have someone very clean in this role,” Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told AFP . “Graft probes are very commonly targeted at the military because of the long historical ties between the business world and the PLA,” he said, referring to the Chinese military by its official acronym. Deepening crackdown Beijing has deepened a crackdown on alleged graft in the armed forces over the past year, with President Xi Jinping this month ordering the military to stamp out corruption and strengthen its “war-preparedness”. The intensity of the anti-graft drive in the army has been partially driven by fears that it may affect China’s ability to wage a future war, Bloomberg reported citing U.S. officials this year. “If the corruption probe into Dong Jun is true, then it is normal that people will question if it erodes morale and if it will affect the PLA’s warfighting capabilities,” Nanyang Technological University’s Mr. Loh said. The country’s secretive Rocket Force – which oversees China’s vast arsenal of strategic missiles, both conventional and nuclear – has come under particularly intense scrutiny. In July, a top Chinese official in the Rocket Force, Sun Jinming, was placed under investigation for corruption. Mr. Sun was kicked out of the ruling Communist Party and placed under investigation for “grave violations of party discipline and laws”, state news agency Xinhua said at the time, using a common euphemism for graft. At least two other high-ranking officers connected to the Rocket Force, a relatively new unit of the Chinese military, have also been removed for graft. Victor Shih, an expert on China’s elite politics, told AFP that Mr. Dong “likely had authority over tens of billions in procurement per year” during his time in the navy. “The problem is that competition for top positions is so fierce that there might be some mutual recriminations between officers, which would lead to endless cycles of arrests, new appointments and recriminations,” he said. Benjamin Ho from the China programme at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies told AFP there were “a couple of possibilities” for the reported investigation. “One is the vetting process is wrong, or the other is that there is some kind of political scandal or problem out there which in this case somehow Dong Jun had to take the fall for.” Published - November 28, 2024 01:30 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit China / defence / corruption & briberyJimmy Carter: Many evolutions for a centenarian ‘citizen of the world’

PLAINS, Ga. – Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. Recommended Videos The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter's in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Defying expectations Carter's path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That's a very narrow way of assessing them," Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” ‘Country come to town’ Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn't suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he'd be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter's tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter's lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” A ‘leader of conscience’ on race and class Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor's race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival's endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King's daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn was Carter's closest advisor Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters' early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Reevaluating his legacy Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan's presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan's Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. Pilgrimages to Plains The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.

A former Ross Lyon protege has been locked in to lead the likes of Michael Walters and Alex Pearce in Perth next year, with Xavier Clarke announced as coach of the Indigenous All Stars for February’s exhibition clash against Fremantle. Clarke will lead the representative side for the February 15 clash at Optus Stadium, with former Sydney favourite Michael O’Loughlin named the squad’s chairman of selectors. Having played under Lyon for the latter part of his 105-game career at St Kilda between 2002 and 2008, Clarke - now an assistant at North Melbourne - will help direct fellow Lyon disciples Walters and Pearce in the one-off game against their AFL club. Dockers recruit Shai Bolton is also likely to feature for the All Stars, pitting him against his new Freo teammates before he’s even played a game in purple. The game will see O’Loughlin return to Perth, almost two decades after the city was the setting for one of his most iconic career moments. The Swans great and Australian Football Hall of Fame member booted the winning goal late in the 2006 qualifying final against West Coast, with his celebration in close proximity to members of the Eagles cheer squad at the western end of Subiaco Oval producing one of modern footy’s most memorable images. “To have a former player of the calibre of Micky lead the selection of this side is fantastic,” AFL social policy and inclusion manager Tanya Hosch said. “His football record speaks for itself but he has also been an immense leader amongst the Indigenous community and continues to give back to through his work on numerous foundations and through his business. “He epitomises the on and off field excellence and community spirit that characterises the Indigenous All Stars side and we are thrilled to have him on board leading the selection next year.”

Hail Flutie: BC celebrates 40th anniversary of Miracle in MiamiChaz Lanier made five 3-pointers while scoring 23 points to help top-ranked Tennessee notch an 82-64 victory over Middle Tennessee on Monday night in nonconference play at Knoxville, Tenn. Zakai Zeigler had 17 points and a career-best 15 assists for the Volunteers (12-0), who trailed by six at halftime but pulled away over the final 13 minutes. The 12-0 start ties for the second best in program history, behind a 14-0 run to begin the 1922-23 season. Felix Okpara had 12 points and Jordan Gainey added 10 points and six rebounds for Tennessee. Camryn Weston recorded 24 points and four steals for the Blue Raiders (9-4), who had won four of their previous five games. Kamari Lands added 13 points for Middle Tennessee, which shot 40.7 percent from the field and was 9 of 30 (30 percent) from 3-point range. The Volunteers held a 40-29 rebounding edge while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and hitting 10 of 22 (45.5 percent) from behind the arc. Tennessee was down by six at the break and finally regained the lead at 52-51 on two free throws by Lanier with 12:21 left in the game. Lanier followed with a 3-pointer 26 seconds later, and Cade Phillips slammed home a ferocious dunk to cap a 9-0 run and give the Volunteers a six-point edge with 11:09 to play. Essam Mostafa later scored back-to-back hoops to bring Middle Tennessee within 59-58, but Tennessee followed with a 14-2 surge. The first six points came on free throws -- four by Zeigler, two by Okpara -- as the Volunteers pushed the lead back to seven with 7:14 remaining. After Middle Tennessee's Chris Loofe split two free throws, Lanier scored on a drive through the lane and Gainey drained a 3-pointer to make it 70-59 with 4:20 left. Mostafa split two free throws with 3:56 to go for the Blue Raiders before Lanier drilled a trey to make it 73-60 with 3:39 remaining, and Tennessee cruised to the finish. Weston scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first half to help Middle Tennessee hold a 40-34 advantage. The Blue Raiders trailed 25-14 with 9:31 remaining in the half before outscoring the Volunteers 26-9 the rest of the period. After Zeigler scored four straight points to give Tennessee the 11-point lead, Middle Tennessee took over. The Blue Raiders scored 18 of the next 23 points to take a 32-30 lead, their first of the game, on Jestin Porter's trey with 3:06 left. Weston capped his explosive half by sinking a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left for the six-point advantage. --Field Level Media