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NoneThe FBI has admitted it has a budget of less than $500,000 to defend the nation against waves of suspicious drones plaguing New York City, New Jersey, military bases and the Mexican border. A US Homeland Affairs committee was “mind-boggled” when it was revealed that security forces were shockingly under-resourced to defend against drone attacks, including an incident where up to 30 drones stalked a Coast Guard boat this week. Committee members slammed the FBI for spending only a fraction of its $12 billion budget on “counter-drone” efforts, despite dozens of reports of large unidentified drones looming over New York and New Jersey in recent weeks. “Why isn’t the FBI taking this more seriously? That is obviously reflected in the budget.” Congressman Eli Crane questioned. Mystery drones have been flying over the New York City skyline. Picture: X They’ve also been spotted over the New Jersey skyline. Picture: X FBI Critical Incident Response leader, Robert Wheeler Jr, admitted the FBI still didn’t know the origin of the drones , noting some were “larger than a commercially available drone”. New Jersey Rep. Brain Bergen stormed out midway through the hearing and told reporters it was the “biggest amateur hour I have ever seen about anything.” “The biggest waste of five hours in my life ... this is a complete lack of effort, in my opinion, of trying to figure this out,” he told the press. Congressman Tony Gonzales said the lack of answers made him feel like he was “in the Twilight Zone”. “You’re telling me we don’t know what the hell these drones are in New Jersey. That’s crazy! It is madness that we don’t know,” he said. With authorities offering no explanations, some have come to their own conclusions about the origin of the mysterious drones. A New Jersey congressman claimed that an Iranian mothership off the east coast of the US was launching the drones. The Homeland Security House Committee heard that drones, otherwise known as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), were wreaking havoc all across the nation. Congressman August Pfleuger told the room that the FBI had just recently arrested a white supremacist in Tennessee who “planned to use a drone with an explosive payload to attack a power grid”. Customs and Border Patrol top official Keith Jones said his organisation had detected nearly 1000 suspicious UASs at the Mexican border every week, but had only intercepted 60 so far in FY24. The moment a US fighter jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon in 2023. Picture: Angela Mosley Some of those UASs were being used by Narcos gangs to smuggle weapons and drugs into the country. Others were spying on the border from Mexican airspace without ever crossing into US territory, which meant Border forces had no power to intervene. Mr Jones said some of the UASs plaguing the border were “potentially collecting information for the government of China”, as most of the drones used by Cartels were made by China. He also revealed that Customs and Border Protection had a “zero” budget dedicated to dealing with the UAS problem. New York Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis was “astounded” that there wasn’t more action being taken, noting an incident in 2023 when a Chinese Spy Balloon flew over multiple military installations. “It is very concerning that we could be having this happen again. I, it’s astounding to me that this is even happening without any type of intervention,” Ms Malliotakis said. More Coverage Bombshell claim about mystery drone wave Frank Chung Biden commutes 1500 sentences, pardons 39 AFP Originally published as Congress members blast FBI ‘amateur hour’ response to growing drones threat Gadgets Don't miss out on the headlines from Gadgets. Followed categories will be added to My News. More related stories Designers Surprising Aussie fashion trend revealed Buy-now pay-later giant Afterpay has revealed some surprising Aussie fashion trends in its latest Afterpaid report, with one colour dominating 2024. Read more Technology ‘Deeply personal’: Why Apple says its AI will bring joy to Aussies Can artificial intelligence really bring us joy? Create emotion? Enhance creativity and be personal, useful, intelligent and contextual? Apple thinks so, but there’s a trade-off. Read moreQuantum Computing: The New AI? A Look at the Rapidly Expanding Market and Top Stocks For 2025

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By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea “absurd.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won’t include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn’t sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment. It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. “To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.” The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they argued. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump” who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.” Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case. “This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.” Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury’s verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution . Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza . Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records . Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases , which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all. Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.

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NEW YORK — Darrion Williams scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half and Texas Tech kept Syracuse at bay for a 79-74 victory in the third-place game of the Legends Classic on Friday. JT Toppin scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, Chance McMillian finished with 13 and Elijah Hawkins had 11 points and six assists for the Red Raiders (5-1). J.J. Starling was 9-of-15 shooting and scored 27 points and Chris Bell 22, making all 11 of his free throws, to lead the Orange (3-2). Donnie Freeman grabbed 13 rebounds to go with five points. Shooting stats were about even but Syracuse had 12 turnovers to the Raiders' three giving Texas Tech an 18-7 edge on points off errors. The game was tied when McMillian hit consecutive 3-pointers five minutes into the second half. Texas Tech built on that lead with an 11-3 run with Toppin and Williams combining for nine points as the Red Raiders went up 59-47 with nine minutes remaining. Bell missed a wide-open 3 from the baseline and Williams then worked inside for a bucket and a seven-point edge with 1:13 to go. From there eight free throws held off the Orange. Texas Tech led most of the first half with its largest lead of seven coming with five minutes left on a Christian Anderson 3-pointer. Starling brought the Orange back, scoring seven points in the final four minutes, including a 3 in the final minute to go into the break tied at 31-all.

For the past two years, Uddhav Thackeray has been saying that Eknath Shinde walked away with 13 members of parliament and 40 legislators but ordinary Shiv Sainiks are with him. On Saturday that claim was put to rest with Eknath Shinde scoring spectacular success in the Maharashtra State assembly elections. “Voters of Maharashtra have decided which is the real Shiv Sena,” Eknath Shinde declared as he thanked the electorate. Of the 85 seats it contested across the State, Shiv Sena won 15 seats and was leading in 40 more as on Saturday afternoon. Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged winner in seven and was leading in 14 others of a total 95 seats. In the 2019 assembly elections the undivided Shiv Sena had contested 126 seats and emerged victorious in 56 of them. In Mumbai, which is the birthplace of the party, Shiv Sena (UBT) contested in 22 seats this time while Shiv Sena fielded representatives in 16. The two parties faced off in 11 of those seats. In four of those (Byculla, Mahim, Vikhroli and Worli) Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged winner while Shiv Sena emerged on top in Andheri East. Among its star winners was Aaditya Thackeray who defeated Milind Deora of Shiv Sena by 8,801 votes. As counting was underway, Shiv Sena led in four seats (Bhandup, Chembur, Kurla, and Magathane) while Shiv Sena (UBT) was in front in Dindoshi and Jogeshwari (East). With Marathi-speaking population their key support base both parties adopted different campaign strategies. Shinde’s campaign blended infrastructure development with ideology. Shinde’s campaign tagline of ‘ Kelay Kaam Bhaari, Aata Pudhchi Tayari ’ (I have done my best and now readying for the next) and his claim of being the rightful leader of the party that would never join hands with Congress resonated with the voters. “People of Maharashtra reposed faith in us because they saw us as doers. People have embraced the politics of development and welfare and shunned the politics of revenge and hate,” Shinde remarked. In contrast, Sena (UBT) made the campaign a Maharashtra versus Gujarat issue. Claiming to champion the cause of locals, it accused the Shinde government for the shift of industries to Gujarat, sell out of Mumbai to Adani group etc. Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena which failed to win a single seat got labelled as Gujarat Navnirman Sena in Sena (UBT)‘s campaigns. “Voters chose progress without speed limits over speed breaker politics. The real gaddari was in 2019, not in 2022. Hope always triumphs over fear,” Deora said in a X post summarising the party’s success. However, Uddhav is in no mood to give up his claim as the real Sena. “We will need to find exact reasons of the results. I want to tell people of the State to not get disappointed. Some people say this is EVM’s victory, it may be the case, but if State’s citizens agree with the results, then no one should argue. We will continue fighting for Maharashtra’s rights. I promise the people of Maharashtra, we are with you.” CommentsNiSource Inc. stock outperforms competitors despite losses on the day

Two months into his entrepreneurial comeback, Aakash Chaudhry , one of India's most successful education entrepreneurs, has secured backing from two of the country's most prominent consumer tech billionaires-Zomato's Deepinder Goyal and Zerodha 's Nithin Kamath-for his new venture, Sparkl Edventure , said people in the know. Kamath's Rainmatter, a fintech and sustainability-focused fund, along with Goyal, is participating in a $4 million seed round. The round is expected to attract a few more marquee investors. In October, Chaudhry joined forces with Pavan Chauhan and Ritesh Hemrajani, founders of Meritnation.com, an edtech company acquired by his family business Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) in 2020, to launch Sparkl. This comes three years after the $950 million cash-and-stock sale of AESL to Byju's in one of India's largest edtech deals till date. Despite the sale, Chaudhry retains an 11% stake in AESL. Sparkl aims to provide bespoke one-on-one online tutoring for students in grades 6 to 12, specializing in International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge curricula. The platform offers personalised classes across subjects such as mathematics, science, languages, business studies etc. With teachers already on board, Sparkl has begun enrolling students from major Indian cities such as Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad, as well as Singapore and plans to grow the platform leveraging its tech interventions. "The initial plan was to launch in the new year, but with the product being ready ahead of schedule, the timeline was advanced," said a source familiar with the developments. "The seed round will further accelerate the rollout." Chaudhry declined to comment. Goyal and Kamath weren't immediately available for comment. 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The 6-foot-1 sixth-year senior from Chicago has recorded 27 tackles, three interceptions and a team-high seven pass breakups in 10 games for the Hawkeyes this season. That includes a pick-6 in a 38-21 win over Troy earlier this season. Iowa (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) plays at Maryland on Saturday before closing out its regular season at home against Nebraska on Nov. 29. The Hawkeyes are already bowl eligible, so Harris is likely opting out of three games in total. After missing the entire 2022 season due to an ankle injury, Harris was suspended for two games of the following season for his involvement in the gambling investigation into Iowa athletics. He later emerged as the Hawkeyes' top cornerback, earning the team's comeback player of the year award after compiling 42 tackles, one interception and eight pass breakups. Harris will finish his college career with 105 tackles and eight interceptions. --Field Level Media

The grape debate has been settled. Two scientists at the University of California, Davis, believe they discovered why Cabernets, Pinot Noirs and other types of red wine cause such brutal hangovers. Andrew Waterhouse, an enology professor, and Apramita Devi, a postdoctoral researcher in food science and technology, told The Conversation that red wines contain a lot of quercetin, which is affecting the body’s ability to process alcohol properly. Quercetin is a phenolic compound found in the skins of grapes. There’s more Quercetin in red wine than white wine because red grape skins are left in longer during the fermentation process. Waterhouse and Devi measured how quercetin slows down the process of the enzyme ALDH breaking down acetaldehyde, which is produced in the human body when breaking down alcohol. The tests confirmed that quercetin was a strong inhibitor in the process. Quercetin glucuronide, according to the study, disrupts the body’s metabolism of alcohol and creates extra acetaldehyde circulates — which causes inflammation and headaches. Waterhouse and Devi noted that extra acetaldehyde circulates cause people to get red, flushed skin which is accompanied by a headache. The headache is as a result of a lagging metabolic step as the body breaks down the alcohol. The study also addressed whether sulfites, biogenic amines and tannins are among the causes of red wine hangovers. Sulfites are frequently found in all types of wines and have long been blamed as the reason for hangovers from alcohol. But according to Waterhouse and Devi, the amount of milligrams of sulfites in wine — 20 milligrams in a single glass — are unlikely to be enough to overwhelm the body’s sulfite oxidases. Biogenic amines are nitrogenous substances that are similarly found in many fermented foods and drinks. However, the scientists said there’s too few of an amount of biogenic amines in wine is far too low to cause brutal hangovers. Lastly, tannin is in high amount in red wines, which leads many hungover people to blame the chemical compounds. But as Waterhouse and Devi noted, there are many other phenolic compounds in grapes’ skins and seeds — like quercetin — that are causing the hangovers. Plus, tannin is in other products like tea and chocolate, which rarely cause headaches. In conclusion, Waterhouse and Devi said that grapes exposed to the sun produce more quercetin, which in turn is leading those types of red wine to cause greater hangovers. So, inexpensive wines may be the greatest solution for red wine drinkers wanting to avoid a hangover.Hyd lost over 380cr to cyber fraud in 2024; banking system under scrutinyFalcons feeling the pressure at .500 as Cousins' interceptions put spotlight on downturn for offense