wow jili slot Pitt and LSU met Friday afternoon in the Greenbrier Tipoff in White Sulpher Springs, W.Va., but the Panthers’ 74-63 victory beared no resemblance to the teams’ most recent meeting Jan. 31, 1969. That day, Pete Maravich scored 40 points in LSU’s 120-79 victory against coach Buzz Ridl’s Panthers. But Pitt put on a shooting display of its own Friday at the outset of the second half, scoring the first 13 points after halftime on its way to its sixth consecutive victory. Pitt is 6-0 to start the season for the second time in coach Jeff Capel’s seven seasons and will play the UCF/Wisconsin winner Sunday. Those teams met in the second game of the Greenbrier doubleheader. Jaland Lowe led the Panthers with a career-high 22 points, followed by Ishmael Leggett (21), Cam Corhen (14) and Zack Austin (10). Damian Dunn, who was Pitt’s second-leading scorer at 15.2 points per game, managed only two before he fouled out with 7 minutes, 1 second left in the game. Lowe, who had a triple-double Monday against VMI, led the Panthers with eight rebounds and six assists. While Pitt made its first five shots of the second half, LSU (4-1) missed its first 12 until Cam Carter scored on a layup with 13:14 left in the game. Pitt scored in a variety of ways to seize a 40-28 lead that included one of Lowe’s four 3-pointers, dunks from Austin and Corhen, 2-point baskets from Leggett and Damian Dunn and Austin’s two foul shots. LSU cut the lead to 43-38 with 10:52 left, but Lowe answered with consecutive 3s in a span of 61 seconds. Eventually, Pitt’s lead ballooned to 51-40 when Lowe hit a 2-point jumper, concluding a run of eight points in a row by the sophomore point guard. The Tigers responded, however, and only trailed 58-54 with 5:26 left. Early in the game, strong defense — or poor shooting — kept the score low, with the teams combining to miss 23 of their first 33 shots. Pitt came into the game shooting 51.3% from the field and averaging 88.2 points, but the Panthers ended the half trailing 28-27 while shooting 31.3% (10 of 32), with six turnovers. They also lost the rebound battle in the first 20 minutes 24-18. Pitt grabbed an early lead and held it through most of the first half, thanks in part to 3-point shots from Austin, Lowe, Brandin Cummings and Leggett in a span of six minutes. After its early shooting slump, LSU recovered from its largest first-half deficit (18-10) and got consecutive 3s from Jalen Reed and Jordan Sears. Lowe made a steal late in the first half, drove to the basket and set up Corhen with an alley-oop dunk and a 25-20 lead. Later in the half in a half-court offensive set, Lowe and Corhen combined for a similar basket, but LSU took its 28-27 lead at intermission when Lowe complained to officials after a turnover and was given a technical foul. LSU’s Carter made one of two foul shots for the Tigers’ halftime margin.What lies ahead for the global economy as Donald Trump prepares to take office

When Elon Musk first suggested a new effort to cut the size of government, Donald Trump didn't seem to take it seriously. His eventual name for the idea sounded like a joke too. It would be called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a reference to an online meme featuring a surprised-looking dog from Japan. But now that Trump has won the election, Musk's fantasy is becoming reality, with the potential to spark a constitutional clash over the balance of power in Washington. Trump put Musk, the world's richest man, and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, in charge of the new department, which is really an outside advisory committee that will work with people inside the government to reduce spending and regulations. Last week, Musk and Ramaswamy said they would encourage Trump to make cuts by refusing to spend money allocated by Congress, a process known as impounding. The proposal goes against a 1974 law intended to prevent future presidents from following in the footsteps of Richard Nixon, who held back funding that he didn't like. “We are prepared for the onslaught from entrenched interests in Washington," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal. ”We expect to prevail. Now is the moment for decisive action." Trump has already suggested taking such a big step, saying last year that he would “use the president’s long-recognized impoundment power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings.” It would be a dramatic attempt to expand his powers, when he already will have the benefit of a sympathetic Republican-controlled Congress and a conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court, and it could swiftly become one of the most closely watched legal fights of his second administration. “He might get away with it," said William Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. “Congress’ power of the purse will turn into an advisory opinion.” Musk and Ramaswamy have started laying out their plans Right now, plans for the Department of Government Efficiency are still coming into focus. The nascent organization has put out a call for “super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.” Applicants are encouraged to submit their resumes through X, the social media company that Musk owns. In the Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy provided the most detailed look yet at how they would operate and where they could cut. Some are longtime Republican targets, such as $535 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Other plans are more ambitious and could reshape the federal government. The two wrote that they would “identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions,” leading to “mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy.” Civil service protections wouldn’t apply, they argue, because they wouldn’t be targeting specific people for political purposes. Some employees could choose “voluntary severance payments to facilitate a graceful exit.” But others would be encouraged to quit by mandating that they show up at the office five days a week, ending pandemic-era flexibility about remote work. The requirement “would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.” Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said such cutbacks would harm services for Americans who rely on the federal government, and he suggested that Musk and Ramaswamy were in over their heads. “I don’t think they’re even remotely qualified to perform those duties," he said. "That’s my main concern.” Kelley said his union, which represents 750,000 employees for the federal government and the city of Washington, D.C., was ready to fight attempts to slash the workforce. “We’ve been here, we’ve heard this kind of rhetoric before," he said. "And we are prepared.” Federal regulations would be targeted for elimination There was no mention in the Wall Street Journal of Musk's previously stated goal of cutting $2 trillion from the budget, which is nearly a third of total annual spending. Nor did they write about “Schedule F,” a potential plan to reclassify federal employees to make them easier to fire. Ramaswamy once described the idea as the “mass deportation of federal bureaucrats out of Washington, D.C.” However, Musk and Ramaswamy said they would reduce regulations that they describe as excessive. They wrote that their department “will work with legal experts embedded in government agencies, aided by advanced technology," to review regulations that run counter to two recent Supreme Court decisions that were intended to limit federal rulemaking authority. Musk and Ramaswamy said Trump could “immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission.” Chris Edwards, an expert on budget issues at the Cato Institute, said many Republicans have promised to reduce the size and role of government over the years, often to little effect. Sometimes it feels like every budget item and tax provision, no matter how obscure, has people dedicated to its preservation, turning attempts at cuts into political battles of attrition. “Presidents always seem to have higher priorities," he said. “A lot of it falls to the wayside.” Although DOGE is scheduled to finish its work by July 4, 2026, Edwards said Musk and Ramaswamy should move faster to capitalize on momentum from Trump's election victory. “Will it just collect dust on a shelf, or will it be put into effect?" Edwards said. "That all depends on Trump and where he is at that point in time.” Ramaswamy said in an online video that they're planning regular “Dogecasts” to keep the public updated on their work, which he described as “a once-in-a-generation project” to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse.” “However bad you think it is, it’s probably worse,” he said. Musk and Ramaswamy will have allies in Congress House Republicans are expected to put Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally from Georgia, in charge of a subcommittee to work with DOGE, according to two people with knowledge of the plans who were not authorized to discuss them publicly. Greene and Rep James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, have already met with Ramaswamy, the two people said. Musk brought up the idea for DOGE while broadcasting a conversation with Trump on X during the campaign. “I think we need a government efficiency commission to say like, ‘Hey, where are we spending money that’s sensible. Where is it not sensible?’” Musk said. Musk returned to the topic twice, volunteering his services by saying “I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.” “I’d love it,” Trump replied, describing Musk as “the greatest cutter.” Musk has his own incentives to push this initiative forward. His companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, have billions of dollars in government contracts and face oversight from government regulators. After spending an estimated $200 million to support Trump's candidacy, he's poised to have expansive influence over the next administration. Trump even went to Texas earlier this week to watch SpaceX test its largest rocket. DOGE will have an ally in Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who has railed against federal spending for years. He recently told Fox News that he sent “2,000 pages of waste that can be cut” to Musk and Ramaswamy. “I’m all in and will do anything I can to help them," Paul said.

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NEW DELHI: With the IAF grappling with an acute shortage of fighter aircraft as well as force-multipliers, the govt has constituted a high-level committee under defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh to chalk out a roadmap to plug the major operational gaps in the force. The committee will examine the IAF's overall capability development through several indigenous design and development as well as direct acquisition projects. "Among the three Services, IAF has the most critical capability voids. The committee will submit its report by the end of Jan," a source said. DRDO chief Samir V Kamat, secretary (defence production) Sanjeev Kumar and IAF deputy chief Air Marshal Tejinder Singh, among others, are the members of the committee. The need to fast-track projects has been reinforced by the way the Chinese air force has deployed additional fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and drones at all its air-bases facing India, like Hotan, Kashgar, Gargunsa, Shigatse, Bangda, Nyingchi and Hoping, after upgrading them with new runways, hardened shelters, fuel and ammunition sto-rage facilities. With the IAF currently making do with just 30 fighter squadrons when 42.5 are authorised to tackle the threat from China and Pakistan, one of the major challenges before the committee will be to break the logjam over the long-pending project to manufacture 114 new 4.5-generation fighters, at an initial estimate of Rs 1.25 lakh crore, with foreign collaboration. "Some jets will be directly acquired, while the bulk will be produced in India," a source said. Then, there is also the induction of indigenous Tejas Mark-1A fighters, which has taken a hit primarily because of the continuing delay in supply of engines by US major General Electric. Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) will be able to deliver only two to three Tejas Mark-1A fighters instead of 16 promised to the IAF in the 2024-25 fiscal, under the Rs 46,898 crore deal for 83 such single-engine jets inked in Feb 2021. The order for another 97 TejasMark-1A fighters for Rs 67,000 crore is also in the pipeline. Meanwhile, GE has promised to begin the deliveries of the contracted 99 GE-F404 turbofan jet engines by March 2025 now, around two years behind schedule. HAL and GE, of course, are now also conducting the final techno-commercial negotiations for co-production of the more powerful GE-F414 aero-engines in India for the planned induction of at least 108 Tejas Mark-II fighters, with 80% transfer of technology for around $1 billion. Induction of force-multipliers is also crucial. IAF, for instance, has just six IL-78 mid-air refuelers, inducted in 2003-04, when it requires at least 18 such aircraft to extend the operational range of its fighter jets. In the "eyes in the sky" arena, India is even behind Pakistan, let alone China. IAF has just three indigenous 'Netra' airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, apart from the three Israeli Phalcon AWACS inducted in 2009-11. Consequently, the plan to develop six Mark-1A and six Mark-2 versions of the Netra aircraft also needs to be fast-tracked. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .

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SAN DIEGO , Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CreateAI Holdings Inc., formerly TuSimple Holdings Inc. (OTCMKTS: TSPH) ("CreateAI" or the "Company"), a global artificial intelligence technology company, today announced shareholder voting results for its annual meeting of stockholders held on December 20, 2024 (the "Annual Meeting"). As of October 28, 2024 , the record date for the Annual Meeting, there were a total of 232,618,399 shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting, comprised of 208,618,399 shares of Class A Common Stock (each with one vote per share) and 24,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock (each with ten votes per share). At the Annual Meeting, holders of 207,347,538 shares of common stock, representing 423,347,538 votes, entitled to vote at the meeting were represented in person or by proxy and, therefore, a quorum constituted of the majority of the voting power of the shares of common stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting was present. The following is a brief description of each matter voted upon at the 2024 Annual Meeting and the numbers of votes cast for, withheld, or against, the number of abstentions, and the number of broker non-votes with respect to each other, as applicable. 1. Election of six nominees to serve on the Board of Directors (the "Board") for a term which will expire at the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders, or, if Proposal Two is adopted, to hold office until the annual meeting of stockholders in accordance with the class of director to which each nominee will be assigned. The following six directors were elected by the votes as indicated below. For Withheld Broker Non-Votes Cheng Lu 208,949,915 164,765,019 1 49,632,604 Mo Chen 208,946,146 164,768,788 1 49,632,604 James Lu 209,109,928 164,605,006 1 49,632,604 Zhen Tao 209,158,316 164,556,618 1 49,632,604 Albert Schultz 348,895,019 1 24,819,915 49,632,604 Jianan Hao 209,021,652 164,693,282 1 49,632,604 The totals above include the 240,000,000 votes represented by the Class B shares of Common Stock. 12,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock (representing 120,000,00 votes) were voted "FOR" and 12,000,000 shares of Class B Common stock (representing 120,000,00 votes) were voted "WITHHELD" for each of the Directors other than Albert Schultz . All shares of Class B Common Stock were voted "FOR" the election of Albert Schultz . Excluding the 240,000,000 votes from the 24,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock from the totals above, the 183,347,538 shares of Class A Common Stock were voted as indicated below. For Withheld Broker Non-Votes Cheng Lu 88,949,915 44,765,019 49,632,604 Mo Chen 88,946,146 44,768,788 49,632,604 James Lu 89,109,928 44,605,006 49,632,604 Zhen Tao 89,158,316 44,556,618 49,632,604 Albert Schultz 108,895,019 24,819,915 49,632,604 Jianan Hao 89,021,652 44,693,282 49,632,604 2. Amendment to the Company's Restated Certificate of Incorporation to classify the Board of Directors into three classes, with directors in each class to serve staggered three-year terms. Pursuant to the Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Proposal Two must receive the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of the capital stock of the Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, since directors representing two-thirds (2/3) of the total number of authorized directors have already approved. The amendment was not approved 2 by the votes as indicated below: For Against 1 Abstain Broker Non-Votes 208,955,668 164,659,652 99,614 49,632,604 Because Proposal Two was not approved, the six directors elected pursuant to Proposal One will serve on the Board for a term which will expire at the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders. 3. Ratification of the appointment of UHY LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024 . The selection was ratified by the votes as indicated below: For Against 1 Abstain Broker Non-Votes 255,504,371 155,923,768 11,919,399 - Note 1: Includes 120,000,000 votes of the 12,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock held by White Marble LLC and White Marble International Limited (together, the "White Marble Entities") controlled by Dr. Xiaodi Hou . Note 2: The White Marble Entities have filed an action in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking a declaratory judgment that the voting agreement between White Marble and Mo Chen is invalid and White Marble, not Mo Chen , controls the vote. White Marble LLC v. Chen , C.A. No. 2024-1208-PAF (Del. Ch.) On December 13, 2024 , the Court entered an order that allows the Company to hold the vote on Proposal Two, and ordered that if Proposal Two is not approved at the Annual Meeting but the Court determines in the Action that Mo Chen , not the White Marble Entities, control how the White Marble Entities' Shares are voted, then the White Marble Entities' shares shall be deemed to have been voted in favor of Proposal Two at the Annual Meeting and that such vote shall stand. The vote totals above include the votes of the shares held by the White Marble Entities as voted by the White Marble Entities. If the shares held by the White Marble entities reflected in the totals above are deemed to have been voted in favor of Proposal Two, the Proposal will have passed. Accordingly, if the Court rules in Mo Chen's favor, Proposal Two will be deemed to have passed and the Company would be permitted to amend its Certificate of Incorporation to implement Proposal Two and each of the directors elected pursuant to Proposal One will serve on the Board until the annual meeting of stockholders in accordance with the class of director to which each nominee is assigned. About CreateAI CreateAI (formerly TuSimple) is a global artificial intelligence company with offices in US, China , and Japan . The company is pioneering the future of digital entertainment content production, seamlessly blending cutting-edge generative AI technology with the creativity of world-class talent. Our mission is to redefine the boundaries of what's possible in digital storytelling by developing immersive, captivating, and visually stunning experiences that resonate with audiences on a global scale. Investor Relations Contact: ICR for CreateAI CreateAI.IR@icrinc.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/createai-announces-results-of-2024-annual-meeting-of-stockholders-302338618.html SOURCE CreateAI Holdings Inc

Wild trend turning Aussies into millionairesDALLAS (AP) — The championship vision that led Nathan Eovaldi to sign with Texas as a free agent two years ago is the same one that brought him back to the Rangers. A World Series title in his first season was followed by a losing record this year. “I believe in the guys in the group that we have. We were able to do it in ‘23. I don’t feel a lot has changed,” Eovaldi said Friday, a day after finalizing a $75 million, three-year contract . “We had a down year last year, but I've said it before, you learn a lot from losing seasons.” Eovaldi had declined a $20 million player option to become a free agent again and reaching an agreement during the winter meetings in Dallas. Texas also acquired slugging corner infielder Jake Burger in a swap with Miami. Burger had fallen asleep before getting a call late Tuesday night that he had been traded to Texas, where his family was already planning to move after the October birth of a daughter with Down syndrome. “The other city that is really good other than Nashville in terms of children's hospital and resources for her Downs is in Dallas," Burger said. “Not just from the baseball spectrum, from the life aspect as well ... I feel like it was meant to be, and we couldn’t be more more excited about that.” In the Nashville area, Burger lives close to Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, whom he plans to visit with soon. His former Marlins manager, Skip Schumaker , was hired last month by the Rangers as as a senior adviser for baseball operations, and Luis Urueta, Miami’s bench coach the past two seasons, recently joined Bochy’s on-field coaching staff for 2025. Burger and Rangers pitcher Dane Dunning were once roommates in the Chicago White Sox organization. Burger hit .250 with 29 home runs and 76 RBIs in 137 games for the Marlins last season, when he started 59 games at third base and 50 starts at first. He was with the White Sox in Texas when he got traded to Miami on Aug. 1, 2023, and four days later hit his first homer with the Marlins at Globe Life Field. When the Rangers made the title run in 2023, Eovaldi was 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in six postseason starts. He was the winning pitcher in their World Series-clinching Game 5 at Arizona. He was also part of Boston’s 2018 title. Eovaldi was 12-8 this year with a 3.80 ERA in 29 starts, the last seven scoreless innings in the regular-season finale. He is 24-13 with a 3.72 ERA in 54 starts for Texas the past two seasons. The new deal for the Texas native, who who turns 35 in February, includes a $12 million signing bonus, half payable on Nov. 15, 2026, and the rest on Jan. 15, 2028, and salaries of $18 million next season, $25 million in 2026 and $20 million in 2027. He gets a full no-trade provision. After being welcomed back by Chris Young, the Rangers president of baseball operations, the pitcher said he never felt like he really left. The Rangers stayed in contact throughout the process after he declined his option Nov. 4. “Kind of listening to the market and everything, I’m extremely happy to be back. I’m glad we were we were able to make it all work out,” Eovaldi said. “We had a lot of teams reach out right away and we were in contact with most them across the league. Ultimately we were able to make it back here.” AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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The Kremlin fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday in response to Kyiv's use this week of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia, President Vladimir Putin said. In a televised address to the country, the Russian president warned that U.S. air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies at ten times the speed of sound and which he called the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree. He also said it could be used to attack any Ukrainian ally whose missiles are used to attack Russia. “We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” Putin said in his first comments since President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light this month to use U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike at limited targets inside Russia. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia’s missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate range missile based on it’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. “This was new type of lethal capability that was deployed on the battlefield, so that was certainly of concern," Singh said, noting that the missile could carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. The U.S. was notified ahead of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels, she said. The attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro came in response to Kyiv's use of longer-range U.S. and British missiles in strikes Tuesday and Wednesday on southern Russia, Putin said. Those strikes caused a fire at an ammunition depot in Russia's Bryansk region and killed and wounded some security services personnel in the Kursk region, he said. “In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in kind,” the Russian president said, adding that Western leaders who are hatching plans to use their forces against Moscow should “seriously think about this.” Putin said the Oreshnik fired Thursday struck a well-known missile factory in Dnipro. He also said Russia would issue advance warnings if it launches more strikes with the Oreshnik against Ukraine to allow civilians to evacuate to safety — something Moscow hasn’t done before previous aerial attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially said Russia hadn’t warned the U.S. about the coming launch of the new missile, noting that it wasn't obligated to do so. But he later changed tack and said Moscow did issue a warning 30 minutes before the launch. Putin's announcement came hours after Ukraine claimed that Russia had used an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dnipro attack, which wounded two people and damaged an industrial facility and rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, according to local officials. But American officials said an initial U.S. assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the use of the missile was an "obvious and serious escalation in the scale and brutality of this war, a cynical violation of the UN Charter.” He also said there had been “no strong global reaction” to the use of the missile, which he said could threaten other countries. “Putin is very sensitive to this. He is testing you, dear partners,” Zelenskyy wrote. “If there is no tough response to Russia’s actions, it means they see that such actions are possible.” The attack comes during a week of escalating tensions , as the U.S. eased restrictions on Ukraine's use of American-made longer-range missiles inside Russia and Putin lowered the threshold for launching nuclear weapons. The Ukrainian air force said in a statement that the Dnipro attack was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea. “Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is,” Zelenskyy said hours before Putin's address. “And how afraid he is.” Russia was sending a message by attacking Ukraine with an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of releasing multiple warheads at extremely high speeds, even if they are less accurate than cruise missiles or short-range ballistic missiles, said Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “Why might you use it therefore?” Savill said. "Signaling — signaling to the Ukrainians. We’ve got stuff that outrages you. But really signaling to the West ‘We’re happy to enter into a competition around intermediate range ballistic missiles. P.S.: These could be nuclear tipped. Do you really want to take that risk?’” Military experts say that modern ICBMs and IRBMs are extremely difficult to intercept, although Ukraine has previously claimed to have stopped some other weapons that Russia described as “unstoppable,” including the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missile. David Albright, of the Washington-based think tank the Institute for Science and International Security, said he was “skeptical” of Putin’s claim, adding that Russian technology sometimes “falls short.” He suggested Putin was “taunting the West to try to shoot it down ... like a braggart boasting, taunting his enemy.” Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use the U.S.-supplied, longer-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia — a move that drew an angry response from Moscow. Days later, Ukraine fired several of the missiles into Russia, according to the Kremlin. The same day, Putin signed a new doctrine that allows for a potential nuclear response even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. The doctrine is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons. In response, Western countries, including the U.S., said Russia has used irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behavior throughout the war to intimidate Ukraine and other nations. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Russia’s formal lowering of the threshold for nuclear weapons use did not prompt any changes in U.S. doctrine. She pushed back on concerns that the decision to allow Ukraine to use Western missiles to strike deeper inside Russia might escalate the war. ′′They’re the ones who are escalating this,” she said of the Kremlin — in part because of a flood of North Korean troops sent to the region. More than 1,000 days into war , Russia has the upper hand, with its larger army advancing in Donetsk and Ukrainian civilians suffering from relentless drone and missile strikes. Analysts and observers say the loosening of restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western missiles is unlikely to change the the course of the war, but it puts the Russian army in a more vulnerable position and could complicate the logistics that are crucial in warfare. Putin has also warned that the move would mean that Russia and NATO are at war. “It is an important move and it pulls against, undermines the narrative that Putin had been trying to establish that it was fine for Russia to rain down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles on Ukraine but a reckless escalation for Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons at legitimate targets in Russia,” said Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security adviser who now sits in the House of Lords. ___ Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Emma Burrows in London, and Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Hanna Arhirova, Illia Novikov, Aamer Madhani And Tara Copp, The Associated PressFraser Health has launched a public awareness campaign encouraging pregnant people and people with syphilis symptoms to get tested for the sexually transmitted infection as cases continue to climb in British Columbia. In 2019 the provincial health officer declared a syphilis outbreak in B.C. based on rising case numbers. Since then the entire province has seen a “dramatic” increase in cases, said Dr. Vincent Valdrez, a BC Centre for Disease Control sexually transmitted infection physician. During the first six months of this year, B.C. had 1,049 cases of infectious syphilis, up from 154 cases in all of 2010. There were 1,060 cases in 2019, and 1,964 in 2022, according to the 2023 BC Syphilis Action Plan Refresh. A decade ago most syphilis cases were among men who have sex with men, but today two-thirds of syphilis cases occur in people who report having only heterosexual partners, and one-third of all cases are in women, he said. To boost public awareness about syphilis and the importance of testing, Fraser Health has placed ads on buses and bus stops. They’ve also placed digital ads in Fraser Health facilities, online and on Facebook and Instagram, the health authority told The Tyee in an email. Valdrez said it’s not clear why case counts are increasing and the demographics are significantly shifting, but it’s important that people know that anyone who is sexually active has some risk of contracting an STI. Testing is recommended for anyone who has never been tested, has a sexual partner who tested positive, is pregnant or has a new sexual partner, and, of course, anyone who is symptomatic. Regular testing at least every few months is recommended for anyone who has multiple sexual partners or engages in other activities that can increase the risk of exposure, such as sex work. Syphilis is a bacterial infection that is usually transmitted through sexual contact, often through a lesion like a genital ulcer, but also can be transmitted when the infected person is asymptomatic, Valdrez said. A pregnant person can also transmit the infection to their developing fetus. The first stage usually consists of a painless sore or sores on the genitals, lips, mouth or anus. The infection then spreads to the rest of the body. At the second stage, symptoms can include a non-itchy rash on the chest, belly, genitals, palms or soles of the feet, having a headache, fever, hair loss or swollen lymph nodes, and having bumps or patches inside the mouth, anus and genitals, according to the SmartSexResource, a service provided by the BC Centre for Disease Control. Syphilis is called the “great mimicker” because these symptoms are non-specific and can be mistaken for other conditions, Valdrez said. It’s important for individuals but also clinicians to be aware of the symptoms and to include syphilis testing when trying to diagnose an illness. The third stage is called the “dormant” or “latent” phase, Valdrez said. It doesn’t have symptoms but can still be contagious. Within as little as a year after infection, syphilis can spread to different organ systems, such as the nervous system, he said. An infection can make people “go blind, [or] people can lose their hearing and it can spread to the brain and people can get strokes or seizures,” which are caused by inflammation around the brain, Valdrez said. “It’s very important to catch syphilis early and to treat it early to prevent these longer-term effects,” Valdrez said. Congenital syphilis An increase in infections in people assigned female at birth is doubly concerning because of the risk of congenital syphilis, in which a pregnant person can transmit the infection to a developing fetus, Valdrez said. Congenital syphilis can mean “babies are quite sick when they’re born, and it can lead to long-term health effects, in their immediate future but also later in life,” he added. Congenital syphilis can result in premature birth, low birthweight and other serious debilitating conditions, including stillbirth, according to Fraser Health. In 2022, over 90 per cent of women with infectious syphilis were between the ages of 15 and 49, according to the 2023 BC Syphilis Action Plan Refresh. There were 355 cases of infectious syphilis in females aged 15 to 49 during the first half of this year, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control. Twenty-three of those cases were diagnosed during prenatal screening. There were 21 cases of congenital syphilis in 2023, up from two cases in 2020, Fraser Health said. In 2019 B.C. introduced a new guideline for pregnant people to test for syphilis during the first trimester or at the first prenatal visit, and again during delivery. Valdrez said a syphilis blood test ideally happens during the first trimester so there are at least four weeks between when they get treatment and when they deliver. This “would ensure a treatment of the syphilis infection in both the pregnant person and the prevention of transmission to the baby,” he said. Unfortunately people aren’t always interacting with the health-care system during their first trimester of pregnancy, he said. There are complex reasons why people don’t access medical care at regular intervals, he added. For example, a person may be unhoused and learn they are pregnant and have syphilis only when they seek emergency care for an unrelated issue, he said. Late is better than never, he said. The good news: syphilis is curable The good news is that testing and treatment for STIs is free in B.C., and that syphilis can be cured with antibiotics at any stage of the infection. Further good news is that, so far, there haven’t been any antibiotic-resistant cases of syphilis found in the province, Valdrez said. British Columbians can speak with their doctor about getting tested for STIs, or use other free and confidential testing services like the BC Centre for Disease Control’s GetCheckedOnline. GetCheckedOnline allows people to make a lab form that they can take to participating labs for free STI testing. Participants don’t need to provide their name or have a Medical Services Plan number — you just need to provide an email and phone number. There are participating labs in Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Victoria, Duncan, Kamloops, Kimberley and Nelson. Vancouver is also home to the BC Centre for Disease Control’s STI clinic, located near City Hall and open six days a week. The STI clinic offers free and confidential testing and treatment, and patients are not required to be enrolled in B.C.’s provincial health care. Options for Sexual Health has 60 clinics across the province that provide free STI testing and treatment for people enrolled in MSP. Those without MSP coverage may be charged up to $200, depending on the service, and Options for Sexual Health does not offer anonymous testing like GetCheckedOnline or the BC Centre for Disease Control STI clinic. Syphilis can be treated for free in B.C. with penicillin injections. Urgent and primary care centres, emergency departments, sexual health clinics, community health centres and public health centres will generally have these stocked, or a doctor could order and administer the treatment regardless of where you live in B.C., Valdrez said. Alternative antibiotics are available for people with penicillin allergies; people should discuss options with the doctor who is treating them. Men who have sex with men and are at high risk of contracting STIs should speak with their doctor about other preventive measures they could take, Valdrez added.