Five days after Bruins firing, Montgomery named NHL Blues coachRepresentative image (Picture credit: Reuters) The United States is accelerating its effort to find and secure the release of Austin Tice , an American journalist abducted in Syria 12 years ago. Roger Carstens , the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, travelled to Beirut as part of the ongoing mission to gather information on Tice’s whereabouts. State Department officials confirmed that these efforts have intensified following the recent overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller emphasised the importance of this operation, stating, “We are ready to engage with any organisation that might have information about the whereabouts of Austin Tice.” He reiterated the US government's commitment, noting, “We will not rest until he is returned home safely to his loved ones.” Tice, a freelance photojournalist working for outlets such as The Washington Post and CBS, was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus on August 14, 2012. In a video released weeks later, he appeared blindfolded and surrounded by armed men, but the identity of his captors has remained unknown. Syria has consistently denied holding him. Biden administration pledges action President Joe Biden underscored the urgency of the mission, saying on Sunday, “The US government believes Austin Tice is alive. We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence of that yet.” Biden also called for anyone with credible information to assist in the effort. Austin Tice’s parents, Marc and Debra Tice, remain hopeful. In a recent statement, they shared, “Austin Tice is alive, in Syria, and it’s time for him to come home. We are eagerly anticipating seeing Austin walk free and are asking anyone who can assist to please do so”, reported the news agency Reuters. Years of frustration and hope Efforts to secure Tice’s release have been fraught with difficulty. According to Reuters, US intelligence received over the summer from a Lebanese source suggested that Tice was alive and possibly held by a group linked to Hezbollah . However, determining the accuracy of such reports has been challenging. Carstens’ visit to Lebanon aims to renew hope, as secretary of state Antony Blinken noted during a recent event, “With every party we engage, we’ll continue to seek information about Austin Tice so that we can find him and bring him home to his family and loved ones.” A $1 million FBI reward for information leading to Tice’s safe return remains active, further reflecting the US government’s commitment to resolving the case.
Bluesky sees growing pains
North Carolina still needs a new football coach. Will its search end with a respected name from the college ranks, or a revered eight-time Super Bowl champion who has never coached college football? Finding someone to replace the program’s all-time winningest coach Mack Brown, who was fired in late November, has proven tougher than the Tar Heels initially thought. Meanwhile, UNC’s ongoing contact with former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has hung over the search as a wild card that would represent a dramatic reversal in the anticipated process of filling one of the most enticing job openings in the college coaching carousel. Advertisement In an appearance Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Belichick confirmed that he had spoken with UNC chancellor Lee Roberts but declined to elaborate on specifics of their conversations. “We’ve had a couple of good conversations, so we’ll see how it goes,” Belichick said. Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, arguably the top candidate from the Group of 5 level, said Sunday that he isn’t leaving for any coaching vacancy this cycle. On Monday, Tulane’s athletic director announced the school and Sumrall have agreed to a contract extension. No matter who eventually gets the job, what has transpired behind the scenes since Brown’s firing — and for most of the last six months in Chapel Hill — highlights the type of disagreement and dysfunction that can arise inside a major college athletic department. A UNC spokesperson said the school cannot comment on ongoing coaching searches. From conversations with multiple people briefed on the search, granted anonymity in order to discuss the ongoing process, here’s what we know so far, and where the search may lead next. The power struggle at the center of UNC’s search Part of the explanation for why UNC’s coaching search has played out this publicly traces back to May, when North Carolina’s Board of Trustees — the 13-person group that serves as the school’s top governing body — approved an audit of the university’s athletic department. At the time, Board of Trustees chair John Preyer publicly scolded athletic director Bubba Cunningham over “the level of bad data that has been provided” to the committee regarding UNC athletics’ financials. Then-interim chancellor Roberts (who has since had the interim tag removed) responded by backing Cunningham in the face of that criticism, saying, “Our athletic director is one of the most senior, well-respected, admired athletic directors in the country.” Advertisement Days later, a local judge granted a temporary restraining order against Preyer and the board preventing them from discussing athletics financials in a closed-door session. But that interaction was the first public sign of the long-simmering power struggle between Cunningham, who has been in his role since 2011, and the board. Preyer did not respond to a request for comment via email. According to sources briefed on the situation, both camps have been frustrated with each other for months, if not longer. Brown did not feel like Cunningham was giving him the resources necessary to continue building UNC into an elite football program — despite the Tar Heels being third in the ACC in football spending in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. UNC completed a $40.2 million indoor practice facility in 2019 and recently renovated both its locker and weight rooms, but with a revenue sharing structure arriving next year as a result of the House v. NCAA settlement, what constitutes the “necessary” level of investment is going to change in the immediate future. Cunningham, meanwhile, was frustrated by Brown, who long maintained he would remain UNC’s coach until the program was in a suitable place to “pass off” to someone else, only to stay on after quarterback Drake Maye left for the NFL last winter. This year’s Week 1 starting quarterback Max Johnson was sidelined by a broken leg in the season-opening win at Minnesota. After an embarrassing 70-50 mid-September loss to James Madison, Brown reportedly told players he would “walk away and step down if he was the problem,” then expressed regret for the comments two days later while confirming he would stay with the team. The Tar Heels went 6-6, a clear step backward from 2023’s 8-4 squad. Behind closed doors, Brown — with the backing of the Board of Trustees and other high-profile donors, all of whom were integral to his return as UNC’s coach in 2018 — was a walking challenge to the idea that anyone but the coach himself was in control of his exit timeline. At his Monday media availability before the season finale against NC State , Brown was asked point-blank if he planned to return next season as UNC’s coach. He said yes. Advertisement Within 24 hours, Cunningham and Roberts had dismissed Brown remotely from Hawaii, where they were following the UNC men’s basketball program at the Maui Invitational. Preyer publicly criticized the administration’s handling of Brown’s exit days later. “I have no doubt coach Brown would have done whatever the university would have wanted him to do at the end of the season,” Preyer said. “And for some reason that I do not understand, the athletic director would not allow that to happen and instead fired him from halfway around the world ... I think that is shameful.” Mixed signals After Brown was fired, Cunningham appeared on UNC’s “Carolina Insider” podcast and detailed what he was looking for in the Tar Heels’ next football coach. “There’s a certain person that’s best suited at the right time, at the right place. Right now, that’s what we’re looking for,” Cunningham said. “We have to develop this program. As we’ve said, we’ve been right at the cusp of really great seasons: getting to eight, nine wins. How do we get to 10, 11? Who can get us to that level?” The Tar Heels also had reason to replace the 73-year-old Brown with a younger coach more suited for the long haul of elevating the program, which has consistently run up against a ceiling below conference championship and College Football Playoff contention. With help from an advisory committee, Cunningham said on Dec. 3 that his intention was to cull the roughly 30 names he had on an initial list down to 10-12 for Zoom interviews and proceed from there. “But all the coaches we’re talking to right now are playing, and so they’re continuing to be in championship games or in the playoffs,” he added. “So it’ll probably take a week or so.” With a smaller-than-usual number of power-conference head coaching jobs changing hands this season, UNC was widely expected to be one of the most coveted openings. But then last week, another name emerged from seemingly out of nowhere: Belichick. Advertisement Belichick spent this season out of coaching after parting ways with the Patriots in January. But The Athletic confirmed that North Carolina officials — including Cunningham — spoke to Belichick last Wednesday, before meeting with him in person on Thursday. Sources familiar with the board’s thinking believe that it, as well as UNC’s highest-profile boosters, would prefer that Belichick be the one to succeed Brown. Belichick may have never coached in college, but he has spent ample time in the last year around the University of Washington’s program, where his son Steve serves as the Huskies’ defensive coordinator. Sources familiar with Bill Belichick’s thinking say the coach has been encouraged by seeing college players pick up his schemes. Belichick is only 15 wins away from breaking Don Shula’s all-time NFL wins record, but sources close to Belichick say he was turned off by the NFL’s hiring cycle last winter , when only the Atlanta Falcons opted to interview him out of eight total openings. Belichick was expected to have a stronger NFL market this offseason; three franchises have already fired their coaches — the New York Jets, the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints — with another five to seven expected to open up. “Any time as a coach you join with an organization, whatever level it’s at, you just want a shared vision with that person,” Belichick said on “The Pat McAfee Show”. “What are your goals, what are your expectations, what do you need to achieve those, how do we achieve them and so forth. Talking through a lot of things — I don’t think it really matters where the program is — there are a lot of things that go into that, team building, and the structure of the program and so forth, that take some time to just talk through.” Bill Belichick emphasized "IF" he was coaching in a college program, it would be "a professional program." 👀 @PatMcAfeeShow "The college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that have the ability to play in the NFL." pic.twitter.com/p2raPzm2DN — ESPN (@espn) December 9, 2024 Adding to the uncertainty, multiple people briefed on the school’s conversations with Belichick have described a disconnect between the coach’s and the school’s expectations for the terms of the job, should Belichick take the plunge into college coaching. Part of the disconnect comes from the impression that Preyer and at least one other member of UNC’s board presented Belichick with a preliminary offer to make him the Tar Heels’ next coach. Any board member going over top university officials’ heads to do so would violate the university’s bylaws, which would be grounds for dismissal from the board. UNC’s finances are another potential complication. The school paid Brown, who entered this season as one of three active national championship-winning coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision, $5 million in total compensation. How much could the program realistically afford to pay Belichick — formerly the NFL’s highest-paid coach, believed to be earning at least $20 million per year from New England — plus an entirely new staff? And would there still be enough thereafter for North Carolina to field a competitive roster built to Belichick’s liking? Who else, if not Belichick? Amid the uncertainty around who is actually making this hire, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell declined to meet with UNC on Sunday, according to sources familiar with his thinking and those briefed on UNC’s search. As the search continues, other college options could emerge in the wake of Sumrall and Campbell’s withdrawals. Army coach Jeff Monken could be a logical target. He has been wildly successful in 11 years at the service academy (81-56) and has made it known that he is not married to running a triple-option offense at other programs. Advertisement But Monken also has one more very important game to play, against Navy this weekend, and no coach wants to seriously engage with another school while they are preparing for their current team’s most important game. So if Monken is indeed a desirable candidate for UNC, it will take at least a few more days for the search to conclude. Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks — who is from nearby Charlotte and spent last season as an advisor with the Charlotte 49ers — also spoke with UNC officials the same day school representatives first made contact with Belichick, according to a source briefed on Wilks’ thinking. Wilks coached UNC and Pro Football Hall of Famer Julius Peppers for several seasons while both were with the Carolina Panthers. Should Wilks earn the UNC job, it would be expected that Peppers — who has spent time in an advisory role with the Carolina Panthers since retiring in 2019 — would also return to his alma mater in a more pronounced role, likely related to the program’s name, image and likeness efforts. Meanwhile, college football’s winter transfer portal window opened Monday. Most schools with head coach vacancies, many of which made changes after UNC fired Brown, have filled their jobs with the portal period in mind. That UNC remains open suggests a process that has been unusual. The school certainly can’t wait until Belichick goes through the NFL hiring cycle in January and February to fill its head coaching job. If the Tar Heels really want to hire Belichick, and Belichick really wants the job, the time for it to happen would be ... pretty much now. — The Athletic ’s Bruce Feldman, Dianna Russini and Jeff Howe contributed reporting. (Photo: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)Five days after Bruins firing, Montgomery named NHL Blues coachBy Jaspreet Singh and Rishi Kant (Reuters) - OpenAI on Friday laid out a plan to transition its for-profit arm into a Delaware public benefit corporation (PBC) to help it raise capital and stay ahead in the costly AI race against companies such as Google. OpenAI's new structure aims to potentially make a more investor-friendly corporation, while maintaining a mission of funding a related charity. Rivals including Anthropic have also adopted the PBC structure to balance societal interests along with shareholder value. WHAT IS A PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION? While both PBCs and traditional corporations are for-profit entities, PBCs are legally required to pursue one or more public benefits, including social and environmental goals. Delaware amended its general corporation law to allow the formation of PBCs in 2013 and as of December 2023, there were 19 publicly traded PBCs, according to research by Jens Dammann of the University of Texas. In its blog, OpenAI described the current structure as "a for-profit, controlled by the non-profit, with a capped profit share for investors and employees". Under the new organization, the non-profit will own shares in the for-profit, similar to outside investors, and the for-profit will fund the charitable mission of the non-profit. "The PBC will run and control OpenAI's operations and business, while the non-profit will hire a leadership team and staff to pursue charitable initiatives in sectors such as healthcare, education, and science," it said. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PBC AND OTHER CORPORATE STRUCTURES Unlike PBCs, non-profit corporations do not have shareholders and reinvest profits into their mission rather than distributing them to individuals. PBCs do not receive special tax exemptions or incentives, while non-profits are generally exempted from federal income taxes if they meet certain requirements. LIMITATIONS OF PBCs Becoming a benefit corporation does not guarantee a company will put its stated mission above profit, as the law only legally requires the board to "balance" its mission and profit-making interests, said Ann Lipton, a corporate law professor at Tulane Law School. Delaware law does require the company to report on its progress towards the goals to shareholders, who, in practice, dictate how closely a PBC sticks to its mission, Lipton said. "The only reason to choose benefit form over any other corporate form is the declaration to the public. It doesn't actually have any real enforcement power behind it," Lipton added. Some legal experts also say that publicly traded PBCs are more susceptible to takeovers, as bidders can argue the company lacks profit maximization or that its public benefit goals conflict with the bidder's objectives. SOME EXISTING PBCs Anthropic and xAI: OpenAI's rivals, Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI have also adopted PBCs. Allbirds: Allbirds is a San Francisco-based PBC that sells sustainable shoes and apparel made from natural materials. Kickstarter: Kickstarter is a New York-based PBC that maintains a global crowdfunding platform for creative projects. Patagonia: Patagonia is a California-based retailer of outdoor recreation clothing, equipment and food. The company has contributed over $230 million to environmental organizations, according to its website. Warby Parker: Warby Parker is a New York-based manufacturer and retailer of eyewear products. The company's "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair" policy aims to help people in need. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh and Rishi Kant in Bengaluru and Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
A new streaming platform launched this November and is already offering “official streamer deals” to both beginners and seasoned content creators. From TikTok to YouTube , Kick , Twitch , and more, there are plenty of streaming platforms to share live updates and videos about your lifestyle. While these social media platforms have been established for years, a new streaming site, Parti , was officially launched in November 2024. Parti allows users to livestream and share videos to their channels. Much like its competitor sites, Parti offers streamers a chance to hear from their viewers in a “chat” box. Some categories of interest on the new streaming site include gaming, fitness, music, alternative, IRL, and creative. In Parti’s official announcement about their launch, they said they intend to give creators the earrings they “deserve.” They noted that regardless of how popular your channel is, they want to ‘open the doors wide’ for users’ continued success. 🎉 Streamers, It’s Time to Join the Parti! 🎉 Hey, streamers! Whether you’re just starting out or already have a crowd of fans, this is your moment. We’re rolling out official streamer deals for 30 dedicated streamers to become part of the https://t.co/8iSsaOUzzJ family! Here’s... “Hey, streamers! Whether you’re just starting out or already have a crowd of fans, this is your moment,” Parti tweeted. “We’re rolling out official streamer deals for 30 dedicated streamers to become part of the Parti family! Here’s your chance to be part of the next big thing in streaming and earn while you do it. “Whether you’re small, big, or somewhere in between, we’re opening the doors wide. No limits, no bias — just talent, creativity, and a chance to thrive!” The new streaming service added that small streamers are eligible to earn $1K a month. Top-tier streamers, however, can earn up to $10K a month. As for who Parti considers “mega streamers,” they ask that you contact them by direct message to discuss potential earnings. “We’re ready to work with the biggest names who want to lead this new movement,” they said. Related: After Parti succeeds for a month’s time, they said they’ll pick the 30 winners to offer “official streamer deals” to. “By the end of the month, we’ll look at every streamer who’s joined us, dive into your content, your vibe, and your reach — and start handpicking our winners for official streamer deals,” they said. “We’re ready to give you a spotlight and the earnings you deserve.” Currently, one of the biggest names to begin using Parti’s streaming services is content creator Jack Doherty .
Santa Clara County’s Family and Children Services Director Damion Wright is resigning, after more than a year of controversy over the fentanyl overdose death of an infant who the agency – under policies pushed by Wright’s predecessor – refused to separate from her drug-abusing father. Wright’s resignation is effective Jan. 17, according to a farewell letter obtained by San José Spotlight . Wright said the decision comes after the death of his father, which prompted him to “reevaluate” his priorities and accept another opportunity in Southern California. Wright joined the the department as an assistant director in early 2021. He became director last August, after his predecessor, Daniel Little, was promoted to Social Services Agency director. “During my tenure as Director, since late August 2023, I have dedicated myself to establishing a robust safety net for children and families in partnership with DFCS staff and internal and external stakeholders,” Wright wrote. “Together with our staff and partners, we have made significant strides toward enhancing workplace practices that prioritize child safety.” Related Stories Wright, who could not be immediately reached for comment, took over the agency several months after the May 2023 drug overdose death of a 3-month-old Baby Phoenix in San Jose. County officials confirmed Wright’s resignation. A county spokesperson said they anticipate announcing an interim director in the coming days. “We thank Damion for his continued dedication to ensuring the safety and well-being of children residing in our County and wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” a spokesperson told San José Spotlight. Phoenix’s death – and a Mercury News investigation – raised questions about the county’s family preservation policies pushed by Little, which gave county lawyers more of a say over the removal of children from families and aimed its focus more on healing through classes and programs. But social workers said those policies trumped child safety. Mercury News reporting showed that social workers assigned to Phoenix’s case repeatedly objected to giving the child back to her parents. The agency has since committed to reforming its child welfare policies and practices, which came under scrutiny from two different state reports. “I firmly believe that by adhering to the pathway forward we have laid out for safe children and safe communities, we can continue to uphold the safety of our vulnerable populations during this transition and beyond,” Wright wrote in his farewell letter. “My commitment to ensuring that children are protected, whether in their homes or through necessary court interventions, remains steadfast.” Alex Lesniak, a social worker who has been outspoken about the county’s child welfare policies since Phoenix’s death, said her heart goes out to Wright for the loss of a loved one. But she said social worker morale has been at an all time low since county’s handling of the Phoenix scandal. “I have been hearing that from people who have been here for 15, 20 or even 30 years — including people who don’t typically speak up at all — who are telling me (the morale) as bad as they’ve seen it,” Lesniak told San José Spotlight. She said Wright’s departure raises questions about a potential power vacuum over Family and Children Services. “What does leadership look like for the next step?” Lesniak said. “A lot of us know that the person who implemented the policies and procedures that led to Baby Phoenix’s death is still the agency director for the Social Services Agency.” Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Two senior members of the federal cabinet were in Florida Friday pushing Canada’s new border plan with Donald Trump’s transition team, a day after Trudeau himself appeared to finally push back at the president-elect over his social media posts about turning Canada into the 51st state. Both Trudeau and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who Trudeau has been courting to become Canada’s next finance minister, shared posts on X Thursday, a day after Trump’s latest jab at Canada in his Christmas Day message. It isn’t clear if Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who has repeatedly insisted Trump’s 51st state references are a joke, will raise the issue with Trump’s team when he and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly meet with them in Palm Beach. The two are there to discuss Canada’s new $1.3 billion border plan with just under four weeks left before Trump is sworn in again as president. He has threatened to impose a new 25 per cent import tariff on Canada and Mexico the same day over concerns about a trade imbalance, as well as illegal drugs and migration issues at the borders. The broad strokes of Canada’s plan were made public Dec. 17, including a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of the border, and improved efforts using technology and canine teams to seek out drugs in shipments leaving Canada LeBlanc’s spokesman, Jean-Sébastien Comeau, said the ministers will also emphasize the negative impacts of Trump’s threatened tariffs on both Canada and the U.S. Comeau said the ministers will build on the discussions that took place last month when Trudeau and LeBlanc met Trump at Mar-a-Lago just days after Trump first made his tariff threat. It was at that dinner on Nov. 29 when Trump first raised the notion of Canada becoming the 51st state, a comment LeBlanc has repeatedly since insisted was just a joke. But Trump has continued the quip repeatedly in various social media posts, including in his Christmas Day message when he said Canadians would pay lower taxes and have better military protection if they became Americans. He has taken to calling Trudeau “governor” instead of prime minister. Trudeau had not directly responded to any of the jabs, but on Thursday posted a link to a six-minute long video on YouTube from 2010 in which American journalist Tom Brokaw “explains Canada to Americans.” The video, which originally aired during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, explains similarities between the two countries, including their founding based on immigration, their trading relationship and the actions of the Canadian Army in World War 2 and other modern conflicts. “In the long history of sovereign neighbours there has never been a relationship as close, productive and peaceful as the U.S. and Canada,” Brokaw says in the video. Trudeau did not expand about why he posted a link to the video, posting it only with the words “some information about Canada for Americans.” Carney, who is at the centre of some of Trudeau’s recent domestic political troubles, also called out Trump’s antics on X Thursday, calling it “casual disrespect” and “carrying the ‘joke’ too far.” “Time to call it out, stand up for Canada, and build a true North American partnership,” said Carney, who Trudeau was courting to join his cabinet before Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister last week. Freeland’s sudden departure, three days after Trudeau informed her he would be firing her as finance minister in favour of Carney, left Trudeau’s leadership even more bruised than it already was. Despite the expectation Carney would assume the role, he did not and has not made any statements about it. LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister instead the same day Freeland quit. More than two dozen Liberal MPs have publicly called on Trudeau to resign as leader, and Trudeau is said to be taking the holidays to think about his next steps. He is currently vacationing in British Columbia.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge won't be bothered if free agent Juan Soto gets a bigger deal from the New York Yankees than the captain's $360 million , nine-year contract. “It ain’t my money. I really don’t care as long as we get the best players, we get the most that we can, I’m happy with whatever,” Judge said Friday, a day after he was a unanimous winner of his second AL MVP award. “That's never been something on my mind about who gets paid the most.” Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322 as New York reached the World Series for the first time since 2009, only to lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers . Soto batted .288 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs and 129 walks in his first season with the Yankees and finished third in MVP voting, also trailing Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt. Jr. A free agent at 26, Soto has met with the Yankees, Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox, and he plans to meet with the Philadelphia Phillies, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the meetings have not been publicly announced. Negotiations are not likely to intensify until after Thanksgiving. Judge hasn’t spoken with Soto since the World Series. Judge went through the free-agent experience after hitting an AL record 62 homers in 2022. “The best thing is to really give those guys space," Judge said. "I talked to him all season and he knows how we feel about him and I think the most important thing is now let him do his thing with his family, pray about it, talk with people and come to the right decision for him and his family.” Soto met with Yankees officials on Monday at a hotel in southern California, a group that included owner Hal Steinbrenner, team president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone and senior adviser for baseball operations Omar Minaya. “We had a good meeting. It was a very honest back-and-forth dialogue, a couple hours long,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday. Asked how confident he was about keeping Soto, Steinbrenner said: “No idea. We’ll be in the mix. I’ll leave it at that.” Soto and Judge filled the Nos. 2 and 3 slots in the Yankees batting order in a franchise-record 153 games, topping the 145 of Joe Dugan and Babe Ruth in 1923, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. “I get to see a lot of pitches," Judge said. "He's going to be a tough at-bat in front of me. He’s going to wear down the pitcher right there in the first inning, within the first 15 pitches or so. Yeah, I think that was a big impact just having having a guy like that in front of you. "If I could have eight Juan Sotos in the lineup with me, I would love that.” After the World Series, Judge spent about a week in Tampa, Florida, where the Yankees hold spring training, and met with Steinbrenner. “We kind of just discussed a lot of things from Juan to other guys that are kind of out there that I think could definitely help this team,:" Judge said. "So I kind of just gave my input on a couple things.” Judge said when he agreed to his big deal in late 2022, Steinbrenner wanted to have a deeper relationship. They've been meeting every week or two, and pitcher Gerrit Cole has developed a similar exchange with the owner. “I think just having that relationship to where I can kind of communicate with him about what I’m seeing, what I’m feeling, what I see with the guys, what I see against other guys that we play against,” Judge said. “I think it’s a cool part to where I think just the more communication you have from top to bottom, it just — it makes everybody better.” Judge's contract is baseball's fourth largest behind the deals of the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani ($700 million), the Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout ($426.5 million) and the Dodgers' Mookie Betts ($365 million). Judge cited the example of teammate Giancarlo Stanton, whose $325 million deal was the highest when he joined the Yankees ahead of the 2018 season but now ranks tied for ninth. “Even though he signed one of those — the first big mega-contracts back in Miami, once he came here he didn’t care about the highest-paid guy. He just wanted good players around him,” Judge said. In joining Mickey Mantle in 1956 as the Yankees' only unanimous MVPs, Judge credited his teammates. “You look at every single one of my teammates in that room and know that each and every single one of them impacted me in a way that put me in that position,” Judge said. “So it’s always going to be a team award in my book.” ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB Ronald Blum, The Associated PressTrump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise US prices and won't rule out revenge prosecutions
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming government waste-cutters Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are catching heat from conservatives for the tech industry’s use of foreign-born workers. Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramasway, who will lead Mr. Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, defended the use of H-1B visas, arguing that the high-tech companies they operated needed to import workers to function. Silicon Valley has benefited from the visa program, which gives visas to specialized foreign workers, and South Africa-born Mr. Musk held an H1-B before becoming a U.S. citizen. Mr. Musk argued that America needs to double the number of engineers and that the number of “super talented” and “super motivated” engineers in the U.S. was “far too low.” He compared the H-1B visa program sports team bringing in new talent “to keep winning.” His electric vehicle company, Tesla, snatched up over 700 of the visas this year. “If you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win,” Mr. Musk said on social media. It is an issue where Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy, who is a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from India, clash with Mr. Trump and his supporters. Conservative commentator Laura Loomer blasted the duo on X and later accused Mr. Musk, who owns the social media platform, of censoring her account. “I have been more loyal to President Trump and his agenda than ANYONE. And I have only been punished for it,” Ms. Loomer said on X. “Pay attention MAGA. This is how you will all be treated now that Big Tech has infiltrated MAGA. ’President Musk’ is starting to look real.” During Mr. Trump’s first term, he increased the wage requirement for H-1B visas far higher than what is typically paid to U.S. workers for the same jobs. The rule was blocked by a federal court. Mr. Trump also attempted to narrow the definition of “specialty occupations” that qualify for the vistas. He also temporarily suspended H-1B visas in 2020. President Biden eventually reversed changes Mr. Trump made to the program. How the president-elect may change the program during his second term, if at all, is unclear. However, Mr. Trump said on “The All-In Podcast” that he wanted foreign-born students graduating from American universities to “automatically” get green cards with their diplomas. The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Trump’s transition team for comment on what the president-elect plans for the H-1B program in his upcoming term. Still, Mr. Trump’s most ardent supporters came out swinging against Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy, who further fueled the social media firestorm by calling the issue a cultural problem that has “venerated mediocrity” in the U.S. “The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over ’native’ Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation),” Mr. Ramaswamy said on X. “A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture.” He argued that a “culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.” His comments struck a nerve with conservatives, including former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who also is a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from India. “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have,” Ms. Haley said on X. “We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.” Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. .
Daniels and the Commanders host Penix and the Falcons in prime time with playoff chances at stake
Israel's attorney general has ordered police to investigate allegations Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife harassed political opponents and witnesses in her husband's corruption trial. The Israeli Justice Ministry made the announcement in a terse message late on Thursday, saying the investigation would focus on a recent report by the Uvda investigative program into Sara Netanyahu. The program uncovered a trove of WhatsApp messages in which Sara Netanyahu appears to instruct a former aide to organise protests against political opponents and to intimidate Hadas Klein, a key witness in the trial. The announcement did not mention Sara Netanyahu by name and the Justice Ministry declined further comment. But in a video released earlier on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu listed what he said were the many kind and charitable acts by his wife and blasted the Uvda report as "lies". "My opponents on the left and in the media found a new-old target. They mercilessly attack my wife, Sara," he said. He called the program "false propaganda, nasty propaganda that brings up lies from the darkness". It was the latest in a long line of legal troubles for the Netanyahus — highlighted by the prime minister's ongoing corruption trial. Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of cases alleging he exchanged favours with powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. Netanyahu denies the charges and says he is the victim of a "witch hunt" by overzealous prosecutors, police and the media. The report obtained correspondence between Sara Netanyahu and Hanni Bleiweiss, a former aide to the prime minister who died of cancer last year. The messages indicated that Sara Netanyahu encouraged police to crack down violently on anti-government protesters and ordered Bleiweiss to organise protests against her husband's critics. She also told Bleiweiss to get activists in Netanyahu's Likud party to publish attacks on Klein. Klein is an aide to billionaire Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and has testified in the corruption case about her role in delivering tens of thousands of dollars worth of champagne, cigars and gifts to Netanyahu for her boss. According to the report, Sara Netanyahu mistreated Bleiweiss, prompting her to share the messages with a reporter shortly before her death. Sara Netanyahu has been accused of abusive behaviour toward her personal staff before. This, together with accusations of excessive spending and using public money for her own extravagant personal tastes, has earned her an image as being out of touch with everyday Israelis. In 2019, she was fined for misusing state funds.
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His remarks came after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of “fakery” in response to Reform claiming they had surpassed the Tories in signed-up members. Mrs Badenoch said Reform’s counter was “coded to tick up automatically”. A digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally before lunchtime on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. Mr Farage, on whether he was threatening legal action or not, told the PA news agency: “I haven’t threatened anything. I’ve just said that unless I get an apology, I will take some action. “I haven’t said whether it’s legal or anything.” He added: “All I’ve said is I want an apology. If I don’t get an apology, I will take action. “I will decide in the next couple of days what that is. So I’ve not specified what it is.” Mr Farage, on the move to make membership data available to media organisations, said: “We feel our arguments are fully validated. “She (Mrs Badenoch) has put out this crazy conspiracy theory and she needs to apologise.” On why Mrs Badenoch had reacted as she did, Mr Farage said: “I would imagine she was at home without anybody advising her and was just angry.” Mr Farage, in a statement issued on social media site X, also said: “The accusations of fraud and dishonesty made against me yesterday were disgraceful. “Today we opened up our systems to The Telegraph, Spectator, Sky News and FT in the interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct. “I am now demanding Kemi Badenoch apologises.” A Conservative Party source claimed Mr Farage was “rattled” that his Boxing Day “publicity stunt is facing serious questions”. They added: “Like most normal people around the UK, Kemi is enjoying Christmas with her family and looking forward to taking on the challenges of renewing the Conservative Party in the New Year.” Mrs Badenoch, in a series of messages posted on X on Thursday, said: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn. Mrs Badenoch claimed in her thread that “the Conservative Party has gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”. Elsewhere, Mr Farage described Elon Musk as a “bloody hero” and said he believes the US billionaire can help attract younger voters to Reform. Tech entrepreneur Mr Musk met Mr Farage earlier this month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, amid rumours of a possible donation to either Mr Farage or Reform. Mr Farage told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “The shades, the bomber jacket, the whole vibe. Elon makes us cool – Elon is a huge help to us with the young generation, and that will be the case going on and, frankly, that’s only just starting. “Reform only wins the next election if it gets the youth vote. The youth vote is the key. Of course, you need voters of all ages, but if you get a wave of youth enthusiasm you can change everything. “And I think we’re beginning to get into that zone – we were anyway, but Elon makes the whole task much, much easier. And the idea that politics can be cool, politics can be fun, politics can be real – Elon helps us with that mission enormously.”
