jili aaa Who is Bullying Whom?It has taken new Michigan coach Dusty May just nine games to guide the Wolverines into the Top 25. May and the Wolverines enter the poll at No. 14 and strive to continue their strong start when they face Arkansas in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night in New York. Michigan (8-1) has reeled off seven straight wins to crack the rankings for the first time in nearly 25 months. "All this stuff doesn't matter to me," May said of the rankings. "It does change the complexion of what we think about and things like that. Overall, I like where we are. We have guys who work well together and they put in the time." The Wolverines look to remain hot against the Razorbacks (7-2). John Calipari's first Arkansas squad has won its past two games. Calipari spent the previous 15 seasons as coach of Kentucky and claims he's excited to be in Arkansas. "I'm not bitter about anything. I'm not," Calipari said. "This is the first page of the first chapter of a new book. The timing for me and my career and my life, this is perfect. And I appreciate the fans and everybody giving me the opportunity to do that." The Razorbacks will be searching for their initial milestone victory under Calipari during their first visit to Madison Square Garden since 1997. Their losses this season are to then-No. 8 Baylor and Illinois on neutral courts. Calipari grabbed several players out of the transfer portal in the offseason, including guard Johnell Davis, one of the stars of the Florida Atlantic team that reached the 2023 Final Four. That squad was coached by May. One of the other Florida Atlantic starters was center Vladislav Goldin, who followed May to Michigan after the coach was hired in the offseason. Goldin has strung together three straight solid games, including a season-best 24 points in a 67-64 road win over then-No. 11 Wisconsin on Dec. 3. He followed that up with 20 points and a season-high 11 rebounds in Saturday's 85-83 home win over Iowa. "He's just been a guy that you can see when he's really locked in and focused there's a different level of play," said May, "and I think now he's finding that level of play." Goldin is part of a balanced attack. Roddy Gayle Jr. averages a team-best 12.2 points per game, followed by Tre Donaldson and Danny Wolf at 12.1 and Goldin at 12.0. Wolf averages a team-best 10 rebounds per game. Arkansas is coming off a 75-60 home victory over UTSA on Saturday. Adou Thiero excelled by matching his career high of 26 points to go with 10 rebounds. Thiero scored 17 points in the second half when the Razorbacks overcame a five-point halftime deficit to outscore the Roadrunners by 20. "We've been seeing that the whole summer," Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile said of Thiero's strong play. "Him dominating. Dominating in practice and (Calipari) pushing him. This is just a reflection of the work he's done this summer and him trusting the coaches." Thiero leads the Razorbacks with averages of 18.6 points and 6.1 rebounds. Boogie Fland is averaging 15 points and Zvonimir Ivisic is scoring 12 per game. Davis (9.3) started slow with just two double-digit outings in the first seven games before averaging 12.5 over the last two games. Michigan holds a 4-3 edge in the all-time series. The Wolverines recorded an 80-67 home victory on Dec. 8, 2012 in the most recent meeting. --Field Level Media

Trump selects longtime adviser Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and RussiaHarrison Smith Returns to Practice in Latest Minnesota Vikings Injury Report

Iconic moments of 2024 in style

FanSided’s Chris Landers pitched a perfect break-glass-in-case-of-emergency QB option for Tigers head football coach Brian Kelly, since after losing Bryce Underwood to Michigan it can accurately be called an emergency in Baton Rouge right now, and his LSU offense: Louisiana’s own Arch Manning. Landers proposed the bombshell transfer portal possibility while operating under the hypothetical that Quinn Ewers returns to Texas. “Brian Kelly is a man in need of a lifeline right now, with his LSU team reeling after three straight losses and top 2025 QB Bryce Underwood flipping his commitment to Michigan on Thursday night,” Landers prefaced before saying, “And what a lifeline Manning would be, a guy who was just as sought-after as Underwood coming out of high school — and who just so happened to grow up nearby in New Orleans? “The Tigers weren't on Manning's initial list of finalists, which could be a sign that Manning is looking to get a little bit further away from home. But they have the recent track record in QB development, having put Jayden Daniels (and soon Garrett Nussmeier) into the NFL and churning out great receivers on a regular basis. There isn't much behind Nussmeier for 2025, and if Manning becomes available, LSU could take all that Underwood money and simply redirect it to the next best thing.” Horns247’s Chip Brown reported on November 21 that Ewers is expected to declare for the 2025 NFL draft. “I spoke to two sources close to Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers on Wednesday night who said they expect Ewers to enter the 2025 NFL Draft after this season, meaning Saturday's game against Kentucky (2:30 p.m., ABC) would be Ewers' last regular-season home game as a Longhorn,” Brown wrote. Manning would represent a dramatic upswing for a Kelly-led program with practically no narrative wins to stand in recent months besides early-season wins over Ole Miss and South Carolina. In truth, LSU is supposed to win those matchups every year given the program’s pedigree. With all that said, Manning could do worse than a school that turned two recent transfers, Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, into Heisman winners.

Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, has died, her family said on social media Saturday (Dec 28). She was 73. Hussey died on Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a statement posted to her Instagram account said. Hussey was 15 when director Franco Zeffirelli cast her in his adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy after spotting her onstage in the play The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which also starred Vanessa Redgrave. Romeo and Juliet won two Oscars and Hussey won a Golden Globe for best new actress for her part as Juliet, opposite British actor Leonard Whiting, who was 16 at the time. Decades later Hussey and Whiting brought a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud over nude scenes in the film. They alleged that they were initially told they would wear flesh-coloured undergarments in a bedroom scene, but on the day of the shoot Zeffirelli told the pair they would wear only body makeup and that the camera would be positioned in a way that would not show nudity. They alleged they were filmed in the nude without their knowledge. The case was dismissed by a Los Angeles County judge in 2023, who found their depiction could not be considered child pornography and the pair filed their claim too late. Hussey was born on April 17, 1951, in Bueno Aires, Argentina, and moved to London as a child. She also starred as Mary, mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television series Jesus of Nazareth, and in the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. She is survived by her husband, David Glen Eisley, her three children and a grandson.

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(Excerpted from Rendering Unto Caesar, by Bradman Weerakoon) Most important visitors to the country called over at Temple Trees to pay their respects to the prime minister. One of the most interesting of these occasions was the morning the West Indies cricket team called over on the initiative of Felix Goonewardene, then Editor of the Times of Ceylon. While world class on the field, most of them like Garfield Sobers and the legendary three W’s Walcott, Weekes and Worrell were distinctly uncomfortable in the prime minister’s presence. Exceptional among them were Conrad Hunte, who spoke eloquently of his MRA (Moral Rearmament) connections and the dashing Rohan Kanhai. Conference of Six Afro-Asian Non-aligned Countries December 1962 Towards the end of 1962 the situation on the disputed China-India border in the snow-bound Himalayan and Karakoram ranges had deteriorated and the occasional skirmishing between the border guards had broken out into open war between the two countries. Conflict between the two giants of the non-aligned world who had proclaimed “panchseela” and particularly the peaceful resolution of disputes between nations, was embarrassing to say the least to those who had paraded non-alignment as the best way forward for the developing nations in an increasingly divided Cold-War driven world. It led to the Afro-Asian community taking up the issue and deliberating on what should be done to prevent full-scale war between the two former friends. Sirimavo took the initiative in convening a meeting in- Colombo in early December, which brought together Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and General Ne Win of Burma, in addition to representatives from the United Arab Republic, Indonesia and Ghana. It was the first international conference I had participated in and what struck me was the extreme formality of the occasion the set speeches made by the participants and the overly effusive compliments each gave the other. I was also surprised at the sight of the delegation leaders changing their suits for each session of the meeting. The Conference lasted only a day and it seemed as if they wanted to make sure they were noticed. It was agreed that the prime minister of Ceylon and three or four of the other leaders should visit China and India before the end of the month; so Felix, Glannie Peiris and I accompanied Sirimavo on the visits to Peking and New Delhi. First to China to meet Chou En-lai and Mao Tse Tung and then to India to speak with Jawaharlal Nehru The Chinese looked upon the visit as both a mission on behalf of the Colombo powers as well as a state visit of a prime minister of Ceylon to their country, and Sirimavo was received in a right royal manner. It was winter and very cold in Hong Kong and we bought as much warm clothing as we could to protect ourselves from the freezing temperatures that we were warned we would face in Peking. From Hong Kong to Canton, our first stop in the People’s Republic was by train, as no air flights existed in view of the hostile nature of the relations between Hong Kong then a British colony, and China. I recorded the entry of a Sri Lankan Prime Minister into China for the first time in a piece I did on our return for Ceylon Today, the monthly journal of the Department of Information in the following terms: “At Samchun, where a little iron bridge marks the frontier between the People’s Republic of China and the new territory leased to Hong Kong on the mainland, the prime minister was received by the vice-governor of Kwangtung Province and Chinese protocol officials. His Excellency Hsieh Ke-Hsi, Chinese Ambassador in Ceylon, also accompanied the party from there on in the special train to Canton. “After a three-hour train journey through a countryside strikingly similar to rural Ceylon, with its paddy fields and irrigation channels, Canton was reached. At the railway station a reception had been organized and the prime minister was formally welcomed to the city by the provincial governor of Kwangtung. Long lines of children carrying the flags of Ceylon and China cheered the prime minister shouting, “Long Live Friendship between China and Ceylon.” “Outside, in the station square, several thousands of people, dancers in traditional lion costumes, and bands playing Chinese music greeted the delegation. After inspecting an impressive army Guard-of-Honour and reviewing the march-past, the prime minister, was formally welcomed to the People’s Republic of China by the governor of Kwantung, who referred to the friendly relations that bound the people of the two countries together and to the common desire of the people of China and Ceylon for peace. “The train ride into Canton and the People’s Republic was interesting for its first impressions of the contrast between the bustling, over-crowded, capital-driven city of Hong Kong and the rather bleak and forlorn appearance of the mainland. But as we entered the territory of China marked by the small iron bridge and many sign boards, the hospitality of the Chinese customs and railway staff who took over was evident. “The friendliness of the waitresses with their trays of steaming mugs of green tea, from then on to Canton was infectious. The first sights of the Chinese countryside in deep winter, however, were not very encouraging. Groups of solemn-faced men and women dressed in identical blue tunic suits, waved little paper `lion’ flags as the train passed on. Canton itself was a large and active city. Much of the population seemed to be on the move on bicycles. Their noses and mouths were masked in gauze, as we learned, to prevent the spread of infection and to protect them from the bitterly cold wind.” In recent Chinese history Canton had been the centre of revolutionary ferment. It is here that the Opium War had its beginnings and the revolution which ushered in Dr Sun Yat Sen’s proclamation of a Chinese revolutionary movement gained ground. That afternoon, the prime minister visited the site of the Peasant Movement Institute. After a day or two of being feted in Canton, where we were equipped with heavy fur overcoats and headgear, so that we all looked, as Felix remarked ‘like cuddlesome teddy bears’, we left for Peking where the temperature was 10 degrees below zero. Sirimavo was to make a little ‘thank you’ speech as she came down the gangway and set foot on Chinese soil for the first time, but she wasn’t able to do so. The cold was so intense that although she tried to move her lips no sound came forth. The speech was finally made in the warm reception area well inside the airport building. The meetings with the Chinese side, with Chou En-lai sitting opposite Sirimavo at the table, went into the evening hours when we would adjourn for some Chinese ballet and dinner which was always a feast. The story-line of the ballet or opera was invariably about the incursions of invaders of the past into Chinese territory. The interpretation which came over our headphones was by Chou En-lai’s personal translator, a young man with a strong American accent since he had had his early education in the United States. Hearing snatches of the interpreted dialogue like the heroine asking: “Where is the pass?” and the peasant’s reply: “There ain’t no pass” in a broad American drawl, as we watched Chinese opera in the heart of Peking, was uncanny. Felix was a great source of strength throughout. Sirimavo passed the baton over to him and he responded magnificently. He intervened, even cross-examined, of course, with great respect and courtesy, at every opportunity. The Chinese were determined to show us that their move over the Himalayas, both on the eastern and western fronts, was right and just and that all they were doing was to correct an anomaly and go up to their historic boundary. The conference table was littered with maps of the Himalayan heights and we heard mention of the MacMahon Line and the Ladakh Plateau and the passes so often during those days that they almost became part of our dreams. A ceasefire was in place before we arrived and the Colombo powers delegation’s plan was to consolidate this and prevent a recurrence of conflict. After four days of discussions we agreed on a communique which we were then to put to the Chinese side. It was difficult coming to a final agreement. The Chinese strategy in negotiation at the time, seemed to be to agree fairly easily to the principle when the leaders met, but to fight it out to the bitter end when the officials worked on the draft. I recall one occasion in the middle of the night – we were leaving early the next morning – when Sirimavo had to be put up to speak on the telephone to Chou En-lai, who was at the same Guest House, to object to a particular phraseology that the Chinese officials wanted us to adopt. It did not take long for Chou to agree to our formulation. I felt that this was a useful negotiating ploy, to go for the maximum but to be prepared to back-down, if the opposition was too great. A minor disaster that we had to face after the China visit was a reported reference in the speech – one of many that Sirimavo made – replying to the toast proposed at the dinner accorded by Chou En-lai. I was responsible for the general speeches like those at dinner and receptions, and had been very careful in drafting about any references to Taiwan, the United Sates and the West. However, although we had not realized it at the time the prime minister was making her speech, the words ‘rapacious West’ appeared in the text, as reported. We actually became aware of it only when we returned to Ceylon as all of us in the delegation were so caught up in the euphoria, which the very act of being in China creates, that nobody realized that we had unwittingly made a slip. When we checked on our notes, Felix, Glannie and I could not imagine how these words had crept in. Finally we came to the conclusion that it must have been inserted in the final draft by someone who had an axe to grind in the embassy. The finger pointed to the embassy, although there was no proof of it. It taught me a very good lesson as to how careful one had to be with the final copy. We took quite some time to shrug off the ‘rapacious West’ comment which the press kept reminding Sirimavo about for several months. The visit to New Delhi was noteworthy in that it marked the visible nearing of the end of an era in which the great Nehru had dominated the politics, not only in India but the entire region. I will never forget one late afternoon’s image of a very tired, ageing and bald Nehru having removed his Nehru cap without which I had never seen a photograph of him, walking slowly down the corridor of the South Bloc where his offices were, after a long and not successful round of discussions with our side. The Himalayas which had been the ‘Great Wall’ of India from time immemorial had been breached and in his historian’s vision of India’s oneness, her purity violated. His policy of friendship with neighbouring countries, especially China had not yielded the expected response. Life, it appeared, would never be the same for him. We were put up at the Rashtrapati Bhavan itself as the president of India’s guests. It was my first visit there and I was immensely impressed at the sense of power, the architecture, the layout of the gardens and the dress of the uniformed guards. Everything about it exuded majesty, enormous size and strength. The British architect had indeed succeeded in memorializing the immense potency of the Raj’s imperial presence. Even the old habits and behaviour seemed to yet live, as I was reminded by the “Any one for tennis this afternoon?” query, aired by the young adjutant doing protocol duty for our team, in a very Oxonian accent at his colleagues passing by, as he walked us down the stately corridors to our suites. State Visits to the Socialist Countries Our relations with the socialist-bloc countries were so good that we made state visits to several countries which had been earlier `out of bounds’. In addition to Poland, Czechoslovakia and the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany and the eastern side of Berlin separated by the famous Berlin Wall) we were welcome guests in the Soviet Union in the summer of 1962. After three days of talks and the signing of agreements in Moscow we toured, sometimes by Aeroflot and at other times by train to Leningrad (St Petersburg). The Hermitage museum was a special treat, especially to art lover Lakshmi Bandaranaike, and Volvograd, earlier Stalingrad, where during the great `patriotic war’ almost a million Soviet troops had died during a six-month siege was impressive. I was able to capture the moment in Sirimavo’s speech that morning when she was presented, by the Mayor of Volvograd, with a small silver box containing the soil of the city ‘made sacred by the blood of heroic men’. T B Subasinghe, who with his beautiful wife Lalitha made a very effective contribution as our ambassador, was very complimentary about the prime minister’s speech. Sirimavo was a very special guest of Khrushchev, the general secretary of the Communist Party, and prime minister of the Soviet Union. He was a bluff and earthy man with a homely wife, who called a spade a spade and the two leaders got on very well together. Sirimavo who was very particular about observing the regulations, asked me whether she could keep the gift that Khrushchev presented her with. I observed that since it was a personal gift, albeit of considerable value, she would be well entitled to keep it on refunding to the state its nominal value. The question of state gifts continued to be one which always was a concern with the leaders I worked with. When could they be retained by the recipient and in what circumstances should they in terms of the Establishment Code, be returned to the State to be kept in the Colombo museum? The logic behind the rules was that since the taxpayer paid for the gift that was given outwards usually in those days the familiar ebony elephant, caparisoned in silver Kandyan filigree work and encrusted with semi-precious stones, the inward gift also should go to the taxpayer via the Colombo museum. As a postscript I would add that state gifts today are of much lesser intrinsic value though highly imaginative. The recent state gifts to President George Bush, for example, included in addition to a beautiful coffee-table book, Geoffrey Bawa’s Lunuganga, a substantial block of recycled writing paper. The recycling was of elephant dung, and on hearing this, a recent British visitor remarked that this was indeed an appropriate gift considering the present times. In Moscow in view of the special relationship that we enjoyed with the Soviet Union, we were not put up at one of the many state guest houses or the state-owned hotels, but were given luxurious suites in the Kremlin Palace itself The Kremlin, contrary to the forbidding and gloomy picture that years of negative media publicity had evoked, was a highly decorative, heavily ornamented, museum-like place. The onion-shaped spires of the familiar exterior seemed to flow into the elaborate interior decor. Everywhere there was gold ornamentation not only in the large armchairs of the suites and on the solid headrest of the enormous bed, but even in the bathrooms where the knobs of the water taps appeared to have received a heavy coating of gold. We got a good sense of the basic richness of the Soviet Union, and its heritage from Tsarist times, which was being carefully and proudly, preserved by its present rulers most of the time. The Ceylon touch after the dinner given at the Kremlin by Khrushchev was the welcome appearance of Chitrasena and Vajira doing excerpts of their ballet ‘Karadiya’. The evening before we had been mesmerized by the grace and sylph-like dancing of the Russian ballerinas in ‘Swan Lake’ at the Bolshoi Theatre. Vajira, then in her prime, did us all proud with the fluid agility and statuesque beauty of her dancing and came a very close second to the star performers of the Bolshoi, the home of classical ballet. Harvard in the Summer of 1963 In August, Henry Kissinger, then Professor of International Relations at Harvard, invited me to the International Seminar he annually convened, during the three-month summer vacation. This was a good opportunity to go back to ‘school’ after my 1952-53 year at Michigan where I first did my post-graduate work in Sociology. Kissinger even then was quite a character with strong opinions. When we asked him how he would like to be addressed – Dr or Professor – he rather grandly replied, “Just call me Kissinger.” The link with Kissinger was to prove very useful when he moved to Washington later on as the National Security Advisor in the Kennedy administration. The stay at Harvard was significant for a particular incident which indicated the way in which the United States administration went about its business. One day I had a call from Washington asking whether someone from the state department could call on me at Harvard. It was to ‘tap’ me on what was going on back home. I never found out whether he was from the CIA, but he certainly asked me a whole lot of probing questions that day.Anastasia Beverly Hills dropped an exclusive holiday set. Save more than $200 today!

by Jayantha Perera At the Urumqi Airport in Xinjiang Province, China, I did not expect to face any immigration formalities. I had travelled from Guangzhou in southern China to Urumqi on a local flight. I was with an ADB team, on a mission to examine how several projects funded by ADB in Xinjiang Province, particularly those aimed at improving infrastructure and livelihoods, would impact local ethnic minorities. An officer with two stars on his jacket lapel stopped me before I reached the immigration desk. Nandia, the ADB translator, told me that the officer wanted my passport. A few minutes later, he shouted at Nandia when she tried to explain something. The officer led us into an unheated dark room. He sat on the only chair in the room, studied my passport for a few minutes, and walked out of the room with it. After half an hour, a man in civil attire came with the officer who had taken my passport. They discussed something with Nandia. She told me he was the chief Inspector. He examined my passport page by page while questioning me: “Why do you live in the Philippines?” Nandia translated. “Because I work in Manila at the Asian Development Bank,” I replied. “Why do you come to Urumqi?” the chief queried. “Asian Development Bank assists several projects in western Xinjiang, and I have come to meet project officials with a team of experts from ADB,” I responded. “But the infrastructure ministry did not inform us about your coming,” he shouted. Another 10 minutes passed before the chief Inspector read the official invitation letter in Mandarin and English. He first read the Mandarin letter and then tried to read its English translation. The Inspector opened a fat ledger pulled from a dusty cupboard and flipped through pages looking for something. He shook his head and muttered something. Nandia tried to avoid his gaze, but her unease was apparent. “The chief can’t find any entry about your arrival,” Nandia whispered in a strained voice. “But we have official invitation letters,” I told her. “Could you please stop talking to me? They suspect us when we talk in English.” Nandia sounded angry. I tried to avoid her eyes, too. A few minutes later, two jovial young security guards came running in their black uniforms with long lances. A lance is a long, black, rod-like weapon with a trigger at one end and a long, sharp blade at the other. The two escorted me to another dark room. They switched on the light and directed me to sit. I waited for the Chief Inspector and the officer who had taken my passport. I knew I was under arrest. I was mentally prepared to spend the night in this dingy room with the two guards. I did not know what happened to my ADB colleague who travelled with me and Nandia. Twenty minutes later, the chief Inspector returned. He said, “Okay, bye,” and returned my passport and the invitation letter. The relief was palpable as I regained my freedom. A middle-aged man with a short beard and rimmed glasses awaited me with my ADB colleague and Nandia in the ‘Visitors Area.’ I guessed he was the ADB’s contact person in Urumqi. Nandia introduced me to him. He was a shy man and spoke a few words in English. He was a professor of economics at a local university. The two young women with him helped us load our suitcases into a large van. One woman told us the outside temperature was minus 25 Celsius. The professor apologetically informed us he would not join our mission because his mother was ill. He said he was taking us to a hotel. I saw an elegant hotel near the airport and asked the professor whether we would stay there. He told us only foreign journalists were accommodated there and all other visiting foreigners stay at designated hotels in the city for security reasons. The hotel the professor booked for us was an old building. It looked grandiose but was in a state of disrepair. The van driver directed us to walk through the police barricade in the hotel lobby. Two uniformed policemen checked our bags manually first, then x-rayed them. They used hand-held detectors to search our bodies. One examined me roughly as if he were determined to find suspicious objects on me. He was huge, smelly, and unfriendly. He grabbed my passport after baggage examination and went through its pages. He then disappeared with passports, leaving us at the barrier. The hotel’s lobby manager was agitated because he was waiting for the local authority’s approval to allocate rooms for us. After 30 minutes, the professor told us we could stay at the hotel that night. Then, the manager told us to wait in the lounge for room keys. A hotel employee led us to our rooms through a narrow, dimly lit corridor. My room was large with huge curtains. The room lights were dim, and I could hardly see my bed. A few minutes later, I left the room to find my way to the lounge, where I hoped to have dinner. There was no dinner, so I headed back to my room. I realised it was a mistake to roam in the hotel without a local colleague. The policeman at the hotel entrance raised his head and saw me in the lounge. He recognised me and waved me back to my room. I was hungry. I had tea bags and a few cookies. There was no kettle in the room. I ate the cookies and drank cold water from the tap, feeling the stark loneliness of the unfamiliar surroundings. The following day, I bundled up in all my warm clothes and headed to the hotel restaurant. The large, dimly lit banquet room was a stark contrast to the breakfast spread, which consisted of a simple meal of thick rice soup, boiled eggs, and black tea, with no coffee in sight. The professor came to see us off to Alashankou City. He advised Nandia what she should tell guards at checkpoints. He introduced the vehicle driver as a senior project official who would safely take us to our destination. The driver did not speak English, but his assistant, who sat beside him, tried talking to us in English. He was a civil servant. We could see only the snow for many hours, and the road ahead was barely visible. We travelled for about six hours, and the civil servant told us we would soon reach a critical checkpoint. Before we arrived there, we saw a large concrete display board that stated, “Border Area.” We could see high barbed-wire fences and low buildings on both sides of the road, partially covered with snow. After collecting our passports and official invitation letters, the civil servant told us to stay in the van and ran to a small office about 25 metres from the road in a heavy snowstorm. He returned within a few minutes, distributed our passports, and asked us to follow him, leaving our bags behind in the van. We stood in an open area outside the building and waited for the civil servant to accompany us. There were several police officers, and sliding steel barricades blocked the entrance. I could hardly breathe and felt dizzy. The civil servant talked to a policeman and told us to follow him through an electrical gate. He disappeared again. A young Chinese policeman shouted at us, showed us the entrance, and waved us to go through the gate. A policewoman beckoned me to the gate and indicated I should leave my wallet and reading glasses beside the gate counter. Someone else directed me to empty my pockets and remove my trouser belt. After that, I went through a box-like structure without knowing it was an X-ray machine. Before I collected my belongings, including the passport, from the gate, I was told to enter a tunnel-like concrete structure. I did not know what had happened to my passport, reading glasses, and the wallet. When I resurfaced from the tunnel, a young policewoman gave them to me. She then directed me into another building, where several locals waited for security clearance. I soon realised they were bus passengers from the border area between Xinjiang Province and Kazakhstan. Several buses were waiting for them on the road under heavy security and snowfall. I tried to find a corner in the foyer to avoid the cold wind. I was curious to watch what the young, enthusiastic policemen and women in dark uniforms were doing inside the glass cubicle. The cubicle had three front windows. Several computers were below the windows, and the young policemen sat before them. Behind them, there were several rooms. And I guessed some were to detain those who could not prove their bona fide travel purposes. The young police officers were more enthusiastic about checking those locals who had arrived from the border area than clearing us for travel. Our driver, the project officer or the civil servant who travelled with us could not do anything to rescue us. Local travellers handed their cell phones to police officers. Two officers checked each cell phone’s telephone messages, photos, and internet downloads under the scrutiny of a senior officer. Checking each cell phone for suspicious material took about 15 minutes. Out of about 20 persons, the police detained three. They pleaded in their languages, but the officers ignored them. An officer with several stars on his coat lapel arrived and checked with his colleagues what we, foreigners, were doing in the lobby. He entered the cubicle, chased two young police officers away from a computer and occupied it. Our driver forced himself into the front and handed our passports to the officer. The driver told us to give the officer our invitation letters and pose our faces to a mirror-like gadget on the wall. The officer carefully observed what he had seen on the computer and matched our facial images with our passport photographs. He handed over our passports and talked to the driver. The driver saluted him and took us to our vehicle. The saga of security clearance took about 90 minutes. I could not feel my legs when I walked to the van because of the nasty cold wind. The driver gave us hot tea from his large flask. The unexpected delay at the border checkpoint made our journey difficult and precarious. The sun had set about an hour before, and fresh snow covered the unlit, slippery road. The driver drove fast as if he knew each nook and corner of the road. We reached Alashankou City at 8.30 pm. Unlike in Urumqi, in Alashankou, checking into the hotel was easy. It was a modern four-star hotel. Its furniture and internal décor were artistic and minimalist. The staff at the counter spoke English. Two policemen appeared from nowhere and beckoned us back to the security gate at the hotel entrance. They were polite and wanted to X-ray our handbags. My room was large and had modern furniture and amenities. There was a TV on the wall facing the cosy double bed. When I removed my shoes and socks, my feet felt warm, and I was elated to walk barefoot in my room. Hot water was flowing under the room floor, warming the room. We had dinner in the hotel dining room. A hot vegetable soup and spicy meat dishes were tasty and lifted my spirit. I could not sleep because of some loud shouting outside the hotel. A group of people shouted slogans as if they were in an army regiment. I suspected the regimented roar came from a police training centre or a workers’ camp. I did not ask Nandia about the uproar because I did not want to embarrass her by asking about things she might not want to discuss with me. Several Project Management Office (PMO) officials picked us up from the hotel lobby the following morning. They took us to their office, and we walked through several barriers without any hindrance. After a brief, cordial conversation on ethnic minority issues in project areas, the PMO chief told us there were no ethnic minorities in Xinjiang province! After lunch at our hotel, I watched the main public road from my room’s balcony. It was a four-lane road with a concrete partition in the middle. I saw several small white police cars of the same make crawling on the road at a human pace. The vehicles had tinted dark windows. It would be eerie to walk on the road if such a car accompanied me at my speed. My strange feeling graduated to a sense of fear. I counted three such cars moving north and three cars south all the time on the road. Although it was a working day, the road was largely empty. Two armoured vehicles parked at a street corner were waiting for trouble to break out on the road. A compact police station with deep blue walls on a slightly elevated platform was at each street corner. It had small windows and bright blinking blue lights hanging from the roof. On our second day in Alashankou, we lunched at a family-run Muslim restaurant. A middle-aged man served grilled lamb chunks on long skewers, unleavened bread as big as a standard pizza, and boiled vegetables. The soup came in a separate bowl. The food was tasty and was enough for three or four people. Several police officers were also having lunch at the restaurant. They were jovial but curiously observed us from their table. On the following day, when we were at the restaurant for breakfast, we saw a platoon of young police officers in their black uniforms and with lances. They secured each floor’s hotel entrances, exits, elevators, and staircases. They opened room doors as if they knew the layout of the building. Two came to us, smiled, and went away. Twenty policemen came down with a local young couple. The bearded man was wearing ethnic attire. The woman looked like a young teenager draped in a Muslim wedding dress. They talked with a middle-aged police officer and shook hands. Soon, the police platoon disappeared from the hotel. I checked the road and saw several young officers joking with each other while crossing the street. I wanted to ask the hotel manager what had happened. But the golden rule in Xinjiang – not publicly discussing government activities – stopped me from talking to him. At Horgos City, we were mesmerised by distant snow-capped mountains and frozen lakes. The road was winding, and we drove slowly, absorbing the breathtaking beauty. The bright sun gave us a sense of warmth as the heating device of the van quit working. We saw several skiing kiosks where local people gathered. We stopped at a kiosk to use the toilet. An old woman managed the toilet and gave a piece of paper for a few cents. The bathroom was clean and modern. Its floor was dry. We talked to a few people at the resort through our driver and the translator. The locals came to ski on the lake and stayed at local hotels. The civil servant took us to a restaurant where foreigners could have Chinese, Uyghur, and halal meals and consume liquor. Halfway to the restaurant, there was a large police station. Several police officers were smoking and chatting on the side road. I could see stone plates of the pavement under a layer of fresh snow. When I reached the officers, they did not move for me to pass, and I had to wade through fresh snow by the path to continue my walk. When we returned to the hotel from the restaurant, I saw many police officers on the side walk in front of the police Station. They were smoking and joking with each other. Snow piled up to about two feet on both sides of the side walk. When I reached them, they ignored me. They expected me to circumvent them and continue through the snow. I told them, “Excuse me.” They moved away from the side walk and stared at me. I walked a few yards and waited for my colleagues. I watched how they walked without disturbing the police officers. At the hotel, I talked to Nandia about the episode. She said she saw how I had walked through the police officers’ circle. She was scared as the police officers would have harassed me for disturbing their conversation. She told me never to anger a police officer in Xinjiang: they were powerful, arrogant, and quick-tempered, although they pretended to be cheerful and helpful. They probably did not stop me because I was a foreigner, and they did not know any English to accost me. Or perhaps they did not want to spoil their relaxing evening over a minor incident. The inter-country dry port at the border of Kazakhstan and Xinjiang Province is a thriving business centre. I saw hundreds of Kazaks in colourful clothes and with large empty suitcases, coming to shop at warehouses and shopping malls across the border. The central bus stand displayed a list of bus numbers for different Kazakhstani cities. Some went to large, covered markets to buy Russian goods. They brought clothes, leather hats, dried fruits such as dates, pistachios, and sliced dry bananas. The dry port area looked like a heavily guarded fort, and surveillance cameras observed the movements and transactions of visitors. The PMO officer invited us to visit the free trade zone. We went through several security searches; the final was verifying our identities. The officer could not tally the information on the computer with my passport information. An alarm bell went off, and two smiling policemen appeared from nowhere. They escorted me to a room. They asked me to sit on a bench and studied me. Suddenly, one guard spoke to me in English. “Hi, what is your name? American? We like to talk English.” I smiled; they smiled. I said “Jayantha, a Sri Lankan.” But they could not go further, so they repeated ‘Jantha,’ ‘Jantha.’ Again, they smiled; I smiled. After 20 minutes, two senior officials interviewed me in the room and returned my passport. The following day, we visited Yining City. We checked into a palace-like hotel where we were the only guests. The rooms were enormous and well-appointed. The professor had arranged with three friends in Yining to take us sightseeing. A woman and two men in their forties met us at the hotel. They took us to the Xibo Ethnic Minority Exhibition Village. Zibo was a civilisation in medieval times, but with the arrival of marauding bands, the Zibo state collapsed and became a collection of ethnic communities spread over a vast area. When we returned to the exit gate, some officers showed us two policemen in black with a white strip glued to their chest, “SWAT.” The SWAT officers directed us to follow their vehicle and sped away. Our friends followed the police vehicle with us. After travelling for 15 minutes, the police officers signalled us to get out of the car. The two policemen went through several barriers and waited for us to follow them. Nandia joined my ADB colleague and me. Our friends stayed in their vehicle. As we passed through each barrier, its gate closed with a loud bang behind us. After going through the three barriers, we found ourselves in the compound of the large building, where puppies were playing with several young men. Nandia introduced us to a man in jeans who was the chief of the police station. A few minutes later, he asked me, and Nandia translated: “You are a Sri Lankan. Why do you live in Manila”? “I have been in Manila because I work for the Asian Development Bank,” I replied. “Show me your invitation letter from Beijing,” he demanded. He read the Mandarin portion of the letter and phoned someone. Then he said, “Bye”. The three friends took us for dinner. They ordered a roasted baby lamb with boiled potatoes and vegetables. In addition, they selected a local steamed fish dish. Our hosts were a very close group of buddies from their school days. They travelled together and often met for drinks and dinner without their spouses. They were a cheerful group; one man tried to sing a song, and the other two politely stopped him. At the dinner, I commented that the lamb roast was excellent. That triggered a discussion among our hosts. The woman sent the lamb’s head to the kitchen. Before the dessert, a plate arrived with cut pieces of the lamb head. The host invited me to eat the cooked brain in the skull and said that it would be a great honour for them if I ate a piece of the brain. I told them that I could not eat lamb brain. My ADB colleague came to my rescue and ate the baked brain on my behalf. She told me later that it would have insulted them if we had refused to eat the brain. The hosts were sad to leave us. Before leaving, they called a taxi to send us back to our hotel so we could catch the earliest flight to Urumqi the following day.UN urges Taliban to protect journalists, ensure media freedom in AfghanistanMexico emphasises interconnectedness of economic ties with US – and the mutual threat of tariffs. Mexico’s president and economy minister have given the clearest picture yet of how their government will respond to United States President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on the country, which their government has warned will cost 400,000 US jobs. Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the Mexican response would be swift if Trump followed through on the plans. “If there are US tariffs, Mexico would also raise tariffs,” Sheinbaum said. The comments were the latest response to Trump’s statement on Monday that he plans to impose massive tariffs not just on China, but on Canada and Mexico as well, at a whopping 25-percent rate. Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard also warned against Trump starting a regional trade war, calling the cost to US workers “huge”. “Around 400,000 jobs will be lost” in the US, he said, pointing to a study based on figures from US carmakers that manufacture in Mexico. He added the impact would extend beyond workers to US consumers. For example, Ebrard said, most pick-up trucks sold in the US are manufactured in Mexico. He claimed Trump’s tariffs would add $3,000 to the cost of a new vehicle. “That is why we say that it would be a shot in the foot,” he said. ‘Unacceptable’ Trump has promised to use tariffs to bolster the US manufacturing industry – an attempt at a hard reset that economists have cast doubt on. Still, the severity of the president-elect’s approach to Canada and Mexico, who along with China make up the US’s top three trading partners, has come as somewhat of a surprise. In his statement on Monday, Trump said he would impose the 25-percent tariffs if the three countries do not do more to address irregular migration and drug smuggling into the US. Sheinbaum had previously called the threats “unacceptable”. On Wednesday, Sheinbaum revealed she held a call with Trump to discuss migration across the US-Mexico border, where she attempted to assuage his fears. “I had an excellent conversation with President Donald Trump,” Sheinbaum posted on social media. “We discussed Mexico’s strategy on the migrant phenomenon, and I shared that caravans are not arriving at the northern border because they are being taken care of in Mexico.” Officials have also warned Trump’s tariffs likely run afoul of the free trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada, the USMCA, which prohibits most duties on trade between the three countries. Trump himself had renegotiated the agreement during his first term, complaining that US businesses were getting a raw deal. Sheinbaum has requested a meeting with Trump before he takes office on January 20. For his part, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had already spoken with Trump about the tariff threat, stressing the longstanding ties between the two countries. “We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call,” he said. “This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do.” Government officials have not been the only ones who have warned of the impact of the proposed tariffs on US companies and consumers. Analysts at Barclays have said they estimate the proposed tariffs “could wipe out effectively all profits” from the “Detroit Three” automakers: GM, Stellantis and Ford. “While it’s generally understood that a blanket 25 percent tariff on any vehicles or content from Mexico or Canada could be disruptive, investors under-appreciate how disruptive this could be,” they wrote in a note on Tuesday. Trump’s team, for its part, has remained defiant. Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, told the Reuters news agency the tariffs would protect US manufacturers and workers from “unfair practices of foreign companies and foreign markets”. He contended Trump would implement policies he said would make life affordable and more prosperous for the US.

Minnesota is focused on one final task before it sets its sights on the Big Ten Conference season. The Golden Gophers (7-5) will look to finish 2024 on a high note when they host Morgan State on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis. It will be the final nonconference game for Minnesota before it begins conference play in earnest with a home date against No. 21 Purdue on Thursday. Meanwhile, Morgan State (6-9) is hoping to break out of a skid that has included seven losses in its past 10 games. The Bears are coming off a 99-72 loss against No. 3 Iowa State on Dec. 22. The highest scorer on either team is Minnesota's Dawson Garcia, who is averaging 19.2 points to go along with a team-high 7.3 rebounds this season. Garcia is shooting 49.7 percent from the field, 85 percent from the free-throw line and 31.8 percent from 3-point range. Mike Mitchell Jr. ranks second on the Golden Gophers with 11.6 points per game. Lu'Cye Patterson is next with 10 points per contest, and Parker Fox is fourth with 6.8 points per game. "At the end of the day, we're all here for a reason," Mitchell said. "We have to produce when we're out there, but once (Garcia) gets going, it helps us all figure it out together." Minnesota coach Ben Johnson has seen opponents focus on slowing down Garcia as the season has progressed. That strategy could create opportunities for other teammates, he said. "Teams are always going to guard Dawson differently," Johnson said. "Are they not switching ball screens? Can you play through him in the post? ... When you get two on the ball, you can (kick) it out. Now you've got an advantage on the backside." For Morgan State, Wynston Tabbs leads the way with 16.1 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting from the field. Three other players are scoring in double figures: Amahrie Simpkins (12.7 points per game), Will Thomas (12.1) and Kameron Hobbs (10.7). Morgan State coach Kevin Broadus wants his players to be more disciplined on defense. "That's one of the things that we have to change," Broadus said. "We're fouling too much." This is the second meeting between the schools. Minnesota pulled away for a 94-64 win on its home court in the inaugural matchup on Dec. 8, 2009. --Field Level MediaDeutsche Bank Appointed as Depositary Bank for the Sponsored American Depositary Receipt Program of Jinxin Technology Holding Company

Insider Stock Buying Reaches AU$3.00m On Peter Warren Automotive HoldingsIT’S been a hell of a year for travel. The Sun team has ventured all over the globe, hunting out the best bargain getaways that will save our readers dosh, ticking off the lesser-known attractions that are loved by locals and sailing on record-breaking ships. Advertisement 9 The Sun's travel experts reveal their favourite moments of 2024 We share our favourite moments of 2024 . . . LISA MINOT Head of Travel ICON OF THE SEAS WHILE my last trip of the year was a lazy few days in Lanzarote , the start of 2024 saw me clock up 13,000 steps in just eight hours as I explored the world’s biggest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas. Heading to the luxury liner’s home port of Miami, I was among the first to experience this leviathan of a ship. Advertisement READ MORE ON TRAVEL FOG CHAOS Dozens of flights cancelled & hundreds delayed sparking chaos at UK airports NOT BA-D British Airways launches £1 flights to Croatia, Greece and Spain with a catch 9 At full capacity cruise ship The Icon of the Seas can accommodate 7,600 guests and 2,350 crew across 20 dazzling decks Credit: Royal Carribean 9 Lisa Minot on the £2billion vessel Credit: Supplied Longer than the Shard or Eiffel Tower are tall, at full capacity it can accommodate 7,600 guests and 2,350 crew across 20 dazzling decks. The $2billion giant has seven pools — including the largest at sea — as well as 40 places to eat and drink spread across eight distinct neighbourhoods. Advertisement New is the AquaDome, sitting proud at the front of the ship. This multi-deck glass marvel is a tranquil oasis by day, with floor-to-ceiling ocean views and a 55ft waterfall tumbling into a pool that by night features aerial acrobatics and daring dives. Most read in News Travel CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE Flight attendant reveals empty middle seat rules & who gets tray table HEADING NORTH Aer Lingus flight forced to make 200-mile diversion to Edinburgh Airport HOLIDAY HIT Families face huge '£400 holiday tax' after eye-popping budget raid DRINK IT IN Why Coca-Cola always tastes worse on a plane and what to choose instead But the highlight of my visit was the Crown’s Edge — a terrifying walk-the-plank adventure where you’re strapped in and then step out 16 decks above the ocean across a series of tiny platforms, before reaching the final spot where the floor gives way and you’re flying over the sea and back on board. While the ship has been sailing the Caribbean in 2024, it will be joined by sister liner Star of the Seas in August next year, giving cruisers yet more to enjoy. Advertisement See royalcaribbean.co.uk Exploring the UK's Natural Wonderlands: Top 5 National Parks SOPHIE SWIETOCHOWSKI Assistant Travel Editor DEVON THIS may surprise some readers but my most cherished trips this year were not on my bucket list – although an oyster-fuelled adventure along Australia’s eastern coast was epic. Instead, they were the ones that didn’t involve hopping on a plane. Advertisement 9 Sophie Swietochowski enjoyed a relaxing staycation in Devon Credit: Supplied The South West of England, with its jaw-dropping coastlines, is where I can truly unwind. No airport stress. No time-strict schedule. No “where shall we go for dinner tonight?”. Just a cosy self-catered stay in a quiet seaside village where you can snuggle down with a book, potter to the local chippy or whip up a feast of fresh seafood caught by the local fishermen early that morning. Advertisement I’m in this neck of the woods at least once or twice a year (partly thanks to local friends) but hadn’t ever visited the peaceful town of Lynton on the Exmoor coast until a few months ago. It’s got buckets of charm and the dog-friendly apartments at Tors Park offer unbeatable views of a windswept bay. I took up running earlier this year and my dog Dora and I relished the chance to explore some of the most scenic coastal paths in the UK – with a few pub pit-stops along the way, too, of course. For those planning to visit Cornwall, the 18-mile Camel Trail is a must. Advertisement If you’re not a runner, walk it or hire a bike from one of the rental stores in Wade-bridge, close to the trail. CAROLINE McGUIRE Head of Travel (Digital) PARIS IT has been a few years since I paid a visit to Paris and after a weekend break this August, I’m delighted to say the city is more exciting than it has been in years. Yes, the traditional hotels and brasseries are still there, but so are many cool and innovative new bars, shops and more. Advertisement 9 Caroline McGuire says Paris is more exciting than it has been in years Credit: Getty 9 Caroline with a delicious array of small plates Credit: PR HANDOUT Staying in the Molitor on the outskirts of town was a prime example — it’s a posh place but not old-school-Paris stuffy, with an amazing art deco pool and a lively rooftop bar and restaurant. We were there to attend the annual summer music festival Rock En Seine, with the UK producer Fred Again headlining on the night we attended, and the buzz of the twenty and thirty-something Parisians was that of a city that knows it has its mojo back. Advertisement Following some of their recommendations, we headed into the previously overlooked 11th and 18th arrondissements on our second night — the cool, Shoreditch-like parts of the city. We dined on fusion tapas at Pantobaguette where the DJ is as good as the food, and Bambino, a chic restaurant-cocktail bar where records line the walls. We topped off our trip with a visit to one of Paris’s legendary flea markets on the edge of the city, Marche aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves, for extremely affordable vintage jewellery and homeware, that, thanks to the Eurostar, we could lug back home without extra baggage charges. HOPE BROTHERTON Travel Reporter THAILAND Advertisement I SPENT most of 2024 stomping through European cities such as Stockholm , Vienna , Ljubljana and Florence . But while Europe has my heart, I also left a slice in Khao Sok National Park after a dream trip to Thailand with TUI in March. 9 Hope Brotherton greets an elephant in Thailand Credit: supplied Specifically, I’ll never forget the moment I came face to face with an elephant at Elephant Hills. Advertisement The luxury tented jungle camp has its own elephant sanctuary where holidaymakers can meet these magnificent creatures in a safe and protected environment. Visitors prepare a medley of snacks such as bananas, sugar canes and pineapple wedges for the elephants to eat before watching them bathe and lounge in the safety of the sanctuary. The whole experience feels almost otherworldly. Elephant Hills puts on other activities, too, such as a jungle trek, a kayak tour along the Sok River and an excursion to Cheow Lan Lake to visit the Lake Camp, where you can paddleboard, kayak and swim. Advertisement And nothing felt strenuous because I spent my free time relaxing in a rather bougie glamping tent. It had an outside porch with a hammock and wicker rocking chairs as well as an en-suite bathroom. There was also a huge dining area where guests gathered to eat meals and a small pool to cool off in the heat. Put simply, my trip was heaven on earth and I don’t think it will be topped for a long while. Advertisement KARA GODFREY Deputy Travel Editor AMSTERDAM FOR me, 2024 was a mix of long-awaited bucket-list destinations — and revisiting old favourites. In South Korea, I stocked up on skincare and make-up by Renowned brand K-beauty, while on safari in Kenya I got up close with lion cubs, and in Hawaii I marvelled at the beaches. 9 Kara Godfrey was reminded how fantastic Amsterdam is Credit: Getty Advertisement 9 Kara in the Dutch capital Credit: supplied But one destination where I was reminded of how fantastic the place is was Amsterdam. Returning to the Dutch city after ten years, I escaped the crowds by checking out its Noord district, which is a quick, free ferry ride from the main train station. It’s here that I found a fantastic bar scene — set to be the next big thing, or so I’m told — as well as a thriving art community and even the neighbourhood’s own “beach” behind a trendy warehouse restaurant. Advertisement Dubbed the Brooklyn of Amsterdam, this is a place that makes you feel cooler than you really are, while surrounded by red-brick galleries and giant murals. Read more on the Scottish Sun 'DISGUSTING' Festive fly-tippers slammed for dumping mountains of rubbish at Scots Asda GHOST TOWN Former Scots shopping hotspot 'decaying' as multimillion pound revamp ‘failing’ And you don’t even have to brave the airport in order to get there. It has become my favourite lesser-known place to suggest friends visit.Trump has flip-flopped on abortion policy. His appointees may offer clues to what happens next

One person died in Ecuador and ports closed across Peru as massive waves up to four meters (13 feet) high pummeled the region, officials said Saturday. Many beaches along the central and northern stretches of the Peruvian coastline were closed to prevent risk to human life, local authorities said. Waves there submerged jetties and public squares, sending residents fleeing to higher ground, according to images on local media. In neighboring Ecuador, the National Secretariat for Risk Management said a body was recovered in the coastal city of Manta. "The Manta Fire Department reported that, at 6:00 am, the body of a missing person was found lifeless in the Barbasquillo sector," the agency announced on social media. Peru closed 91 of its 121 ports until January 1, the National Emergency Operations Center said on its X social media account. The municipality of Callao, close to the capital Lima and the location of the country's main port, closed several beaches and barred tourist and fishing boats from venturing out. "These waves are being generated thousands of kilometers away from Peru, off the coast of the United States," navy Captain Enrique Varea told Channel N television. "They are waves generated by a persistent wind on the surface of the ocean that is approaching our coasts," he said. Dozens of small fishing boats and businesses near the sea were affected, according to images broadcast on television and social networks. axl/rmb/nro/acbOTTAWA — The RCMP will create a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of Canada's border using helicopters, drones and surveillance towers. The move is part of the federal government's $1.3-billion upgrade to border security and monitoring to appease concerns of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump about the flow of migrants and illegal drugs. Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S. as soon as he is inaugurated next month unless both countries move to improve border security. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he has discussed parts of the plan with American officials and that he is optimistic about its reception. Canada will also propose to the United States to create a North American "joint strike force" to target organized crime groups that work across borders. The government also intends to provide new technology, tools and resources to the Canada Border Services Agency to seek out fentanyl using chemical detection, artificial intelligence and canine teams. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024. Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who led US crackdown on cryptocurrencies, to step downAfrica is on the cusp of a profound economic transformation. The population boom in Sub-Saharan countries, which is expected to increase the number of Africans from 1.4bn today to 3.3bn in 2075, holds the potential to trigger rapid GDP growth and raise living standards across the continent. Ghana aims to be at the forefront of these developments. But its ability to capitalise on the demographic dividend hinges on one critical factor: the health of its citizens. For this reason, it is seeking to form strategic international partnerships that help us improve health outcomes, stimulate economic growth, and deliver broadly shared prosperity. This raises a fundamental question: What does an equitable strategic partnership between African countries and the Global North look like? Historically, development aid for vital health projects in the developing world, though well-intentioned, has often been uncoordinated and unsustainable, focusing on short-term crises rather than addressing the systemic problems that cause them. Over the past two decades, African countries have been laying the groundwork to sustain their health systems entirely through domestic resources. Recent trends suggest that partnerships between the public and private sectors are key to expanding access and achieving true health self-sufficiency. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a case in point. Since its founding in 2000, this international partnership has helped African countries immunise nearly a half-billion children, halve mortality rates among children under five, and generate tens of billions of dollars in economic benefits by improving educational outcomes, boosting productivity, and dramatically reducing healthcare costs. These positive effects on African countries’ health and economic performance are just the starting point. Sustainable, inclusive income growth could enable countries like Ghana to diversify their economies and foster more stable societies. It could also help us retain talent, as more people choose to build their futures here instead of searching for economic opportunities abroad. Moreover, a thriving Africa would benefit our trading partners, thereby contributing to a stronger, more resilient global economy. The immediate benefits of strategic health partnerships are obvious. The rapid purchase and deployment of mpox vaccines over the past two months show that key lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic have been learned, as new emergency financing mechanisms – established through continent-wide efforts and supported by international partners – have boosted vaccine equity and bolstered health security. Looking ahead, new initiatives to expand domestic vaccine manufacturing create an invaluable opportunity to meet Africa’s growing demand and achieve vaccine sovereignty. While international partnerships are essential for fostering long-term growth, our ultimate objective remains self-reliance. In 2023, African governments contributed more than $200mn to Gavi’s immunisation programmes – a historic milestone. With the Global South now providing 40% of the funding for Gavi’s routine activities, many countries, including Ghana, are on track to fund their immunisation efforts independently by the end of this decade. But if Africa is to achieve full vaccine sovereignty, Gavi must secure at least $9bn for the next five years. The importance of this support is evident in Ghana, where our partnership with Gavi has reinvigorated the fight against malaria – a longstanding scourge – and will soon help protect young women from cervical cancer for the first time by expanding access to the HPV vaccine. One of the strengths of Gavi’s model is its capacity to harness and scale private-sector innovations, enabling governments in the Global South to vaccinate more children, provide quality health care, and cut costs. In Ghana, Gavi’s financial and logistical support has helped us integrate technological advances such as digital record-keeping, solar power, drone delivery, and infant biometric identification into our health system. The message to Gavi’s donors is simple: as partners, achieved remarkable progress together has. Stepping back now would jeopardise our hard-won gains. A healthier, safer, more prosperous, and more equitable future for all is within reach. By deepening our collaboration, we can achieve it. — Project SyndicatePROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Aaron Cooley's 17 points helped Brown defeat Stony Brook 77-54 on Wednesday. Cooley also contributed five rebounds for the Bears (4-3). AJ Lesburt Jr. scored 16 points, going 6 of 10 (4 for 8 from 3-point range). Landon Lewis shot 5 of 8 from the field to finish with 12 points, while adding eight rebounds. Joseph Octave finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and two steals for the Seawolves (2-5). Stony Brook also got 17 points and three steals from Ben Wight. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .