jilievo withdrawal BOSTON — Forty years ago, Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie rolled to his right and threw a pass that has become one of college football’s most iconic moments. With Boston College trailing defending champion Miami, Flutie threw the Hail Mary and found receiver Gerard Phalen, who made the grab while falling into the end zone behind a pair of defenders for a game-winning 48-yard TD. Flutie and many of his 1984 teammates were honored on the field during BC’s 41-21 victory over North Carolina before the second quarter on Saturday afternoon, the anniversary of the Eagles’ Miracle in Miami. “There’s no way its been 40 years,” Flutie told The Associated Press on the sideline a few minutes before he walked out with some of his former teammates to be recognized after a video of The Play was shown on the scoreboards. A statue commemorating Doug Flutie's famed "Hail Mary" pass during a game against Miami on Nov. 23, 1994, sits outside Alumni Stadium at Boston College. Famous football plays often attain a legendary status with religious names like the "Immaculate Reception," the "Hail Mary" pass and the Holy Roller fumble. It’s a moment and highlight that’s not only played throughout decades of BC students and fans, but around the college football world. “What is really so humbling is that the kids 40 years later are wearing 22 jerseys, still,” Flutie said of his old number. “That amazes me.” That game was played on national TV the Friday after Thanksgiving. The ironic thing is it was originally scheduled for earlier in the season before CBS paid Rutgers to move its game against Miami, thus setting up the BC-Miami post-holiday matchup. Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie rejoices in his brother Darren's arms after B.C. defeats Miami with a last second touchdown pass on Nov. 23, 1984, in Miami. “It shows you how random some things are, that the game was moved,” Flutie said. “The game got moved to the Friday after Thanksgiving, which was the most watched game of the year. We both end up being nationally ranked and up there. All those things lent to how big the game itself was, and made the pass and the catch that much more relevant and remembered because so many people were watching.” There’s a statue of Flutie winding up to make The Pass outside the north gates at Alumni Stadium. Fans and visitors can often be seen taking photos there. “In casual conversation, it comes up every day,” Flutie said, when asked how many times people bring it up. “It brings a smile to my face every time we talk about it.” A week after the game-ending Flutie pass, the Eagles beat Holy Cross and before he flew off to New York to accept the Heisman. They went on to win the 49th Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day. Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie evades Miami defensive tackle Kevin Fagan during the first quarter of a game on Nov. 23, 1984, in Miami, Fla. “Forty years seem almost like incomprehensible,” said Phalen, also standing on the sideline a few minutes after the game started. “I always say to Doug: ‘Thank God for social media. It’s kept it alive for us.”’ Earlier this week, current BC coach Bill O’Brien, 55, was asked if he remembered where he was 40 years ago. “We were eating Thanksgiving leftovers in my family room,” he said. “My mom was saying a Rosary in the kitchen because she didn’t like Miami and wanted BC to win. My dad, my brother and I were watching the game. “It was unbelievable,” he said. “Everybody remembers where they were for the Hail Mary, Flutie pass.” Mike Tyson, left, slaps Jake Paul during a weigh-in ahead of their heavyweight bout, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, Spain's tennis player Rafael Nadal serves during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) A fan takes a picture of the moon prior to a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup 2026 between Uruguay and Colombia in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich) Rasmus Højgaard of Denmark reacts after missing a shot on the 18th hole in the final round of World Tour Golf Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Taylor Fritz of the United States reacts during the final match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Italy's Jannik Sinner at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (1) fails to pull in a pass against Atlanta Falcons cornerback Dee Alford (20) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/ Brynn Anderson) Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, top right, scores a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) India's Tilak Varma jumps in the air as he celebrates after scoring a century during the third T20 International cricket match between South Africa and India, at Centurion Park in Centurion, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski warms up before facing the Seattle Kraken in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Kansas State players run onto the field before an NCAA college football game against Arizona State Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Manhattan, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) A fan rapped in an Uruguay flag arrives to the stands for a qualifying soccer match against Colombia for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) People practice folding a giant United States flag before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Brazil's Marquinhos attempts to stop the sprinklers that were turned on during a FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Venezuela at Monumental stadium in Maturin, Venezuela, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Georgia's Georges Mikautadze celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the UEFA Nations League, group B1 soccer match between Georgia and Ukraine at the AdjaraBet Arena in Batumi, Georgia, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Tamuna Kulumbegashvili) Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque, right, attempts to score while Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) and Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) keep the puck out of the net during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt) Mike Tyson, left, fights Jake Paul during their heavyweight boxing match, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Italy goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario misses the third goal during the Nations League soccer match between Italy and France, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki (88) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second half of an NFL football game in Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) President-elect Donald Trump attends UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Fans argue in stands during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between France and Israel at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Thursday Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova hits a return against Danielle Collins, of the United States, during a tennis match at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Malaga, southern Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) St. John's guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) falls after driving to the basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against New Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith) England's Anthony Gordon celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between England and the Republic of Ireland at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Katie Taylor, left, lands a right to Amanda Serrano during their undisputed super lightweight title bout, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver DJ Turner, right, tackles Miami Dolphins wide receiver Malik Washington, left, on a punt return during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) UConn's Paige Bueckers (5) battles North Carolina's Laila Hull, right, for a loose ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Greensboro, N.C., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown) Get local news delivered to your inbox!By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Timour Azhari AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels announced they gained full control over the key city of Homs early on Sunday after only a day of fighting, leaving President Bashar al-Assad's 24-year rule dangling by a thread as insurgents marched on the capital, Damascus. Thousands of Homs residents poured onto the streets after the army withdrew from the central city, dancing and chanting "Assad is gone, Homs is free" and "Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad". Rebels fired into the air in celebration, and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control has collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the military. The fall of Homs gives the insurgents control over Syria's strategic heartland and a key highway crossroads, severing Damascus from the coastal region that is the stronghold of Assad's Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base. Homs' capture is also a powerful symbol of the rebel movement's dramatic comeback in the 13-year-old conflict. Swathes of Homs were destroyed by gruelling siege warfare between the rebels and the army years ago. The fighting ground down the insurgents, who were forced out. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the main rebel leader, called the capture of Homs a historic moment and urged fighters not to harm "those who drop their arms". Rebels freed thousands of detainees from the city prison. Security forces left in haste after burning their documents. MORE: The battle for control of the country is likely to turn quickly to the capital. Residents of numerous Damascus districts turned out to protest Assad on Saturday evening, and security forces were either unwilling or unable to clamp down. Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghani said in a statement early Sunday that operations were ongoing to "completely liberate" the countryside around Damascus and rebel forces were looking toward the capital. In one suburb, a statue of Assad's father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, was toppled and torn apart. The Syrian army said it was reinforcing around Damascus, and state television reported on Saturday that Assad remained in the city. Outside the city, rebels swept across the entire southwest over 24 hours and established control. EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO ASSAD RULE The fall of Homs and threat to the capital pose an immediate existential danger to the Assad dynasty's five-decade reign over Syria and the continued influence there of its main regional backer, Iran. Foreign officials said the government may be on the verge of collapse. One U.S. official put the timeframe at five to 10 days, while another said Assad could be ousted within the coming week. The pace of events has stunned Arab capitals and raised fears of a new wave of regional instability. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Russia issued a joint statement saying the crisis was a dangerous development and calling for a political solution. But there was no indication they agreed on any concrete steps, with the situation inside Syria changing by the hour. Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against Assad's rule, dragged in big outside powers, created space for jihadist militants to plot attacks around the world and sent millions of refugees into neighbouring states. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest rebel group, is the former al Qaeda affiliate in Syria regarded by the U.S. and others as a terrorist organisation, and many Syrians remain fearful it will impose draconian Islamist rule. Golani has tried to reassure minorities that he will not interfere with them and the international community that he opposes Islamist attacks abroad. In Aleppo, which the rebels captured a week ago, there have not been reports of reprisals. When asked on Saturday whether he believed Golani, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov replied, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating". ALLIES' ROLE IN SUPPORTING ASSAD Assad long relied on allies to subdue the rebels. Russian warplanes conducted bombing while Iran sent allied forces including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi militia to reinforce the Syrian military and storm insurgent strongholds. But Russia has been focused on the war in Ukraine since 2022 and Hezbollah has suffered big losses in its own gruelling war with Israel, significantly limiting its ability or that of Iran to bolster Assad. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said the U.S. should not be involved in the conflict and should "let it play out". Russia has a naval base and airbase in Syria that have not only been important for its support of Assad, but also for its ability to project influence in the Mediterranean and Africa. (Reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Damascus, Timour Azhari in Beirut, Jaidaa Taha in Cairo, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by Angus McDowall and Matt Spetalnick) Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

The Bucs signed the two-time Super Bowl champion on Saturday, while also announcing safety Jordan Whitehead was activated from injured reserve ahead of Sunday’s home game against the Carolina Panthers. Barrett spent five seasons with Tampa Bay from 2019 to 2023. He led the NFL with a franchise-record 19 1-2 sacks in his first year with the Bucs, then helped the team win its second Super Bowl title the following season. In all, Barrett started 70 games with Tampa Bay, amassing 45 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions. He was released last winter in a salary cap move, signed a one-year contract with the Miami Dolphins in free agency, then abruptly announced his retirement on social media before the start of training camp in July. Barrett, who also won a Super Bowl during a four-season stint with the Denver Broncos, decided to unretire last month. He signed with the Bucs after clearing waivers earlier in the week. Whitehead has missed the past four games with a pectoral injury. His return comes of the heels of the Bucs placing safety Christian Izien on IR with a pectoral injury. On Saturday, the Bucs also activated rookie wide receiver Kameron Johnson from IR and elevated punter Jack Browning to the active roster from the practice squad. NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflRaspadori's late winner sends Conte's Napoli level with Atalanta at top of Serie A

Trump’s lawyers rebuff DA’s idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it ‘absurd’Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, is the 10th-richest person in the United States, worth $US127 billion ($198.6 billion). In theory, when he dies, his estate should pay 40 per cent of his net worth to the government in taxes. But Huang, 61, is not only an engineering genius and Silicon Valley icon whose company, the world’s second-most valuable, makes the chips that power much artificial intelligence. He is also the beneficiary of a series of tax dodges that will enable him to pass on much of his fortune tax-free, according to securities and tax filings reviewed by The New York Times . His family’s savings are on pace to be roughly $US8 billion ($12.5 billion). This likely ranks among the largest tax dodges in the United States. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. Credit: Bloomberg The types of strategies Huang has deployed to shield his wealth have become ubiquitous among the ultrawealthy. It is just one sign of how the estate tax – imposed on a sliver of the country’s multimillionaires – has been eviscerated. Revenue from the tax has barely changed since 2000, even as the wealth of the richest Americans has roughly quadrupled. If the estate tax had kept pace, it would have raised around $US120 billion ($187 billion) last year. Instead, it brought in about a quarter of that. The story of Huang’s tax avoidance is a case study of how the ultrarich bend the US tax system for their benefit. His strategies were not explicitly authorised by Congress. Instead, they were cooked up by creative lawyers who have exploited a combination of obscure federal regulations, narrow findings by courts, and rulings that the IRS issues in individual cases that then served as models for future tax shelters. ‘Don’t expect anyone in Congress to stop this’ “You have an army of well-trained, brilliant people who sit there all day long, charging $US1,000 an hour, thinking up ways to beat this tax,” said Jack Bogdanski, a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School and the author of a widely cited treatise on the estate tax. “Don’t expect anyone in Congress to stop this.” The richest Americans can pass down approximately $US200 billion ($312 billion) each year without paying estate tax on it, thanks to the use of complex trusts and other avoidance strategies, estimated Daniel Hemel, a tax law professor at New York University. Enforcement of the rules governing the estate tax has eased in part because the IRS has been decimated by years of budget cuts. In the early 1990s, the agency audited more than 20 per cent of all estate tax returns. By 2020, the rate had fallen to about 3 per cent. Newly elected Senate majority leader John Thune. Credit: AP The trend is likely to accelerate with Republicans controlling both the White House and Capitol Hill. They are already slashing funding for law enforcement by the IRS. The incoming Senate majority leader, John Thune, and other congressional Republicans for years have been trying to kill the estate tax, branding it as a penalty on family farms and small businesses. Yet, Huang’s multibillion-dollar manoeuvre – detailed in the fine print of his filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and his foundation’s disclosures to the IRS - shows the extent to which the estate tax has already been hollowed out. An Nvidia spokesperson, Stephanie Matthew, declined to discuss details of the Huangs’ tax strategies. The United States adopted the modern estate tax in 1916. In recent decades, congressional Republicans have successfully watered it down, cutting the rate and increasing the amount that is exempt from the tax. Today, a married couple can pass on about $US27 million ($42 million) tax-free; anything more than that is generally supposed to be taxed at a 40 pr cent rate. Can you dig it? In 2012, Huang and his wife, Lori, took one of their first steps to shield their fortune from the estate tax. They set up a financial vehicle known as an irrevocable trust and moved 584,000 Nvidia shares into it, according to a securities disclosure Huang filed. The shares were worth about $US7 million ($11 million) at the time, but they would eventually generate tax savings many times greater. The Huangs were taking advantage of a precedent set nearly two decades earlier, in 1995, when the IRS blessed a transaction that tax professionals affectionately nicknamed “I Dig It.” (The moniker was a play on the name of the type of financial vehicle involved: an intentionally defective grantor trust.) One of the beauties of I Dig It was that it had the potential to largely circumvent not only the estate tax but also the federal gift tax. That tax applies to assets that multimillionaires give to their heirs while they’re alive and essentially serves as a backstop to the estate tax; otherwise, rich people could give away all their money before they die in order to avoid the estate tax. In Huang’s case, the details in securities filings are limited. But multiple experts, said it was almost certainly a classic I Dig It gift, loan and sale transaction. The $US7 million of shares Huang moved into his trust in 2012 are today worth more than $US3 billion ($4.7 billion). If those shares were directly passed on to Huang’s heirs, they would be taxed at 40 per cent – or well over $US1 billion. Instead, the tax bill will probably be no more than a few hundred thousand dollars. The Huangs soon took another big step toward reducing their estate tax bill. In 2016, they set up several vehicles known as “grantor-retained annuity trusts” or GRATs, securities filings show. They put just over 3 million Nvidia shares into their four new GRATs. The shares were worth about $US100 million ($156 million). If their value rose, the increase would be a tax-free windfall for their two adult children, who both work at Nvidia. That is precisely what happened. The shares are now worth more than $US15 billion ($23.4 billion), according to data from securities filings compiled by Equilar, a data firm. That means the Huang family is poised to avoid roughly $US6 billion ($9.4 billion) in estate taxes. If the Huangs’ trusts sell their shares, that will generate a hefty capital gains tax bill – more than $US4 billion ($6.2 billion), based on Nvidia’s current stock price. The Huangs can pay that bill on behalf of the trusts without it counting as a taxable gift to their heirs. Tax strategy Starting in 2007, Huang deployed another technique that would further reduce his family’s estate taxes. This strategy involved taking advantage of his and his wife’s charitable foundation. Huang has given the Jen Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation shares of Nvidia worth about $US330 million ($516 million) at the time of the donations. Such donations are tax-deductible, meaning they reduced the Huangs’ income tax bills in the years that the gifts took place. Foundations are required to make annual donations to charities equal to at least 5 per cent of their total assets. But the Huangs’ foundation is satisfying that requirement by giving heavily to what is known as a donor-advised fund. Such funds are pools of money that the donor controls. There are limitations on how the money can be spent. Buying cars or vacation homes or the like is off-limits. But a fund could, say, invest money in a business run by the donor’s friend or donate enough money to name a building at a university that the donor’s children hope to attend. There is a gaping loophole in the tax laws: Donor-advised funds are not required to actually give any money to charitable organisations. When the donor dies, control of the fund can pass to his heirs – without incurring any estate taxes. In recent years, 84 per cent of the Huang Foundation’s donations have gone to its donor-advised fund, named GeForce, an apparent nod to the name of an Nvidia video game chip. The Nvidia shares the Huangs have donated are today worth about $US2 billion ($3.1 billion). The fund is not required to disclose how its money is spent, though the foundation has said the assets will be used for charitable purposes. Matthew said those causes included higher education and public health. But there is another benefit. Based on Nvidia’s current stock price, the donations to the fund have reduced Huang’s eventual estate tax bill by about $US800 million ($1.2 billion). This article originally appeared in The New York Times . The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning .

Digi International Announces the Nomination of Two Accomplished Executives to its Board of Directors and the Pending Retirement of Sally Smith from the Board of Directors

After 56 hours of travel to Calgary, including a 24-hour bus ride from Dnipro to Warsaw, Poland, that required army escort for a portion of it, the Ukrainian Wings will join Wickfest, Hayley Wickenheiser’s annual girls’ hockey festival, on Thursday. The squad of players aged 11 to 13 was drawn from eight different cities in Ukraine, where sport facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Russia started its invasion in February 2022. “They all have a personal story of something awful happening,” said Wickenheiser. “We give them a week of peace and joy here, and I hope they can carry that with them. “We know full well they’re going back to difficult circumstances. It’s tough that way.” Nine players are from Kharkiv, where pictures show a large hole in the roof of the Saltovskiy Led arena where the girls’ team WHC Panthers once skated. “It was our home ice arena, and we played all our national team championships in this ice arena,” said Kateryna Seredenko, who oversees the Panthers program and is the Wings general manager. Ukraine’s Olympic Committee posted photos and wrote in a Facebook post Sept. 1 that Kharkiv’s Sport Palace, which was home to multiple hockey teams, was also destroyed in an attack on the city. Seredenko says the Wings’ arduous journey to Calgary was worth it because it gives the girls hope. “It’s not a good situation in Ukraine, but when they come here, they can believe that everything will be good, everything will be fine, of course we will win soon and we must play hockey. We can’t stop because we love these girls and we will do everything for them,” she said. “So many girls on this Ukrainian team are future players of the national team.” Wickenheiser, a Hockey Hall of Famer , is the assistant general manager of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs and a doctor who works emergency room shifts in the Toronto area. The six-time Olympian and four-time gold medalist organized her first Wickfest after the 2010 Winter Games. She’s had teams from India, Mexico and the Czech Republic attend over the last decade and a half, but never a team that ran the Ukrainians’ gauntlet of logistics. The Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health took on the task of arranging visas and paying for the team’s travel. “We care about women and children’s health. Sport is such a symbol. When you see a group of girls coming off the ice all sweaty and having worked hard on the ice, it’s a symbol of a healthy girl,” said chief executive officer Julia Anderson. “That’s a healthy kid that’s able to participate in sport. We really believe if we can get girls there, whether they’re in an active war zone, or here in Canada, those girls will change the world.” The Wings aren’t the first Ukrainians to seek a hockey haven in Canada since the war began. An under-25 men’s team played four games against university squads in early 2023 to prepare for that year’s world university games. Ukrainian teams have also twice played in the Quebec City International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. “It’s the first time in Ukrainian history where a girls’ team is coming to Canada to a very good tournament,” Seredenko said. “They can see how they can play in their future. And they can see how it is to play hockey in Canada.” AP sports: https://apnews.com/sportsA nonprofit leader who supports at-risk New Orleans youth. A social worker who fosters animals. A postdoctoral researcher. They are among the roughly 1,540 people whose sentences were commuted or who were pardoned by President Joe Biden on Thursday in what was the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. But not everyone was pleased by Biden’s decisions. A Republican state senator said a commutation for a woman who stole $54 million from a small town in Illinois was “a slap in the face” to residents. The Democratic governor of Pennsylvania said Biden "got it absolutely wrong” when he commuted the sentence of a judge who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks. Here are some of their stories: Fulton was pardoned after pleading guilty to participating in a payroll fraud scheme while serving as a New Orleans middle school teacher in the early 2000s. She was convicted of a felony and sentenced to three years of probation in 2008. Fulton, who has two children and works as an elementary school teacher, said that for years she had lived with “a sense of embarrassment and shame” about the felony conviction. Even though she completed a master’s degree in educational leadership in 2017, Fulton felt that her criminal record disqualified her from applying for principal positions she felt she could handle. “The conviction has served as a mental barrier for me, limiting my ability to live a full life,” Fulton said. Nearly a decade after she first applied for a presidential pardon, Fulton this week received a phone call informing her that it had been granted. “It was astonishing for me, I wasn’t expecting a call,” Fulton said, adding that the pardon will enable her to explore more career opportunities. A White House news release commended Fulton as “someone who goes above and beyond for her community.” For years, Fulton has helped lead a nonprofit supporting at-risk New Orleans youth with hot meals, clothing and shelter and mental health referrals. Doyle applied for a pardon six years ago. It had been so long that she had all but forgotten about it — until Wednesday. “I was in shock,” Doyle said of the call she received from a Justice Department pardon attorney. “And honored.” Doyle, who was once addicted to meth, had pleaded guilty to drug possession and check forging charges when she was 24. She served more than two years in state and federal prison. Released in 2006, Doyle resolved to stay clean. She started a family, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and now works as a social worker with a behavioral health center. Doyle applied for a pardon in 2018 and heard nothing until 2020, when the FBI reached out — and the vetting began. “They talked to my boss, my boss’ boss, they talked to my mother’s boss, they called my doctors," Doyle said. “Just pretty much anybody that had any type of relationship with me in the past 20 years they contacted.” After the vetting was over, she would have to wait some more: four years, it turned out. “I just want people to know that are in the throes of addiction, or families to know that when they have somebody in their family that is addicted, that there is hope,” Doyle said Thursday. “This has just brought so much joy to me and my family and is just the continuation of my recovery.” She has five children and three grandchildren, volunteers in her community, fosters animals and competes in roller derby. Crundwell was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison in 2013 for stealing about $54 million over two decades when she was in charge of finances for Dixon, Illinois. She was released to a halfway house program in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic before moving to home confinement. Biden’s commutation releases Crundwell from any restrictions. Paul Gaziano, a lawyer who represented Crundwell in federal court, declined to comment Thursday. Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes said he believes most of the town is probably stunned, and maybe even angry, that Biden would provide clemency to Crundwell. Republican state Sen. Andrew Chesney called Biden’s act “nothing short of a slap in the face to the people of Dixon.” Dixon, best known as the childhood home of President Ronald Reagan, sued auditors and a bank after Crundwell’s theft was revealed and recovered $40 million in settlements. Crundwell, who was a horse breeder, told a judge in 2020 that more than $15 million was repaid from the sale of her horses and other assets. “I am going to do everything possible to make up for my mistakes," she told the judge in a handwritten letter that described various health problems. “I have taken responsibility for my actions since the first day.” Conahan was sentenced to 17 years in prison for helping orchestrate one of the worst judicial scandals in U.S. history: a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks . Biden’s decision to commute his sentence angered many in northeastern Pennsylvania, from the governor to the families whose children were victimized by the disgraced former judge. Conahan had already served the vast majority of his sentence, which was handed down in 2011. “I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania,” Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said Friday. A message seeking comment was sent to an attorney who recently represented Conahan, the former judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas. In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, Conahan and Judge Mark Ciavarella shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and accepted $2.8 million in illegal payments from a friend of Conahan’s who built and co-owned two for-profit lockups. Sandy Fonzo, whose son killed himself at age 23 after Ciavarella locked him up as a teen, called Conahan’s commutation an “injustice.” “I am shocked and I am hurt,” Fonzo said in a statement provided to The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre. “Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son‘s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power." The Juvenile Law Center, which represented plaintiffs in a $200 million civil judgment against Conahan and Ciavarella, said it “supported President Biden’s actions” but wants to see the “same kind of compassion and mercy” extended to juvenile defendants around the country. When he pleaded guilty in 2010, Conahan apologized to the youths he had hurt. “The system is not corrupt,” Conahan said at the time. “I was corrupt.” Becklin was 21 when she got into trouble, which she said was due to trying to get money to support her drug addiction. She pleaded guilty to a nonviolent felony charge for failing to provide information to police about a 2007 bank robbery. She served four months in a halfway house, four months of home confinement and three years of probation. She found out she was pregnant after she’d been out of custody for about a year. She said she had her “aha moment” when her son was 1 year old. “And I was living at home with my parents. I had, like, no job, no education, no future,” Becklin said. “Had a felony on my record. I had substance use history, you know, all these things. And he was 1. And I just remember, like looking at him and realizing that his whole life was, like, really dependent on what I did with mine.” Within days, she said, she enrolled at a community college. She recently earned her doctoral degree in comparative molecular biosciences at the University of Minnesota. For her doctorate, she used stem cell biology and genetic engineering to better understand how pediatric cancers grow and develop. She’s still working in the cell and gene therapy space, now as a postdoctoral researcher at the university. The White House noted in its announcement that Becklin also mentors currently and previously incarcerated people who are seeking to pursue higher education. She said she does it as part of a program called Prison to Professionals. They help guide people on the unique issues they’ll face in higher education and provide them with a support network. She said she still doesn’t know exactly how being pardoned and having her record cleared will affect her future. “I think there was a point in my life where it really mattered if I, like, had a certain career path or if I did that. But I have found that, kind of wherever I am, I find my purpose and my need there. And, you know, it’s kind of a beautiful way to live,” she said. Associated Press writers Jack Brook in New Orleans, Ed White in Detroit, Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyo., Michael Rubinkam in Pennsylvania; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Wash., contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

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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.Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn’s involvement with Habitat for Humanity was so deep and publicized that it created a myth: that he both founded and ran the nonprofit that builds affordable housing. “Neither of those things are true,” said Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International. But Carter’s years of volunteer presence with the organization in the U.S. and abroad, which was founded in Americus, just down the road from his hometown of Plains, was essential to Habitat’s success, Reckford said. The Carters first worked with Habitat in 1984, eight years after it was founded. At that point, Habitat had built fewer than 1,000 homes. Over the years, the Carter Work Project alone, a special program in Habitat that did construction drives in cities from Memphis, Tennessee to New York, has built, renovated or repaired more than 4,300 homes. The COVID-19 pandemic and the declining health of the Carters, both in their 90s, curtailed the yearly programs recently. Habitat has built more than 800,000 homes across the world. “Carter really put Habitat on the map,” Reckford said. “It was so unlikely to have a former U.S. president sleeping in a church basement and literally doing construction.” The couple also inspired large numbers of volunteers to join Habitat’s cause, starting with their first weeklong Carter Work Project in New York City’s Lower East Side, which attracted global media attention. Since 1984, they have worked alongside more than 100,000 volunteers at work sites in 14 countries. “The Carters have brought extraordinary international awareness to the great need for affordable housing and to Habitat for Humanity’s specific mission to be a part of the solution,” Reckford said. A skilled carpenter, Carter was always one to get his hands dirty. The former president was one of only two people to work on each of the first 35 annual Carter Work Projects, the other being his wife. “I’ve had the great privilege of being with them with heads of state around the world and also with some of the poorest people in the world, and I think the Carters are always the same in every setting,” Reckford said. “That’s an extraordinary mark of integrity.” In 2015, when Carter announced the growing threat and toll of cancer on his body, he didn’t allow the disease to stop him from working at Habitat builds. Carter received treatment for spots of melanoma found on his brain and planned to attend a build in Nepal that was eventually canceled because of a natural disaster and political unrest in the country. Instead, he worked at a Habitat build in Memphis in November 2015. He returned to Memphis a year and one day after his cancer announcement to host a Carter Work Project in August 2016. Reckford, who has been on several builds with the Carters, said Habitat volunteers were always eager to join the former president. “He worked hard, and he expected everyone else to work really hard. If he saw something he didn’t like, you would get that submarine commander blue-eyed gaze that you never want to get,” Reckford said lightheartedly. Carter’s involvement with Habitat also was an extension of his legacy as a peacemaker. During the 2006 Carter Work Project in Lonavala, India, Reckford said he saw cultural and religious differences dissipate. Two men from different faiths — one Muslim and one Hindu — and from different social castes were going to share one of the new duplexes. After participating in the weeklong build, one gentleman put his arm around his new neighbor and said despite their differences they were now brothers, Reckford said. “President Carter was such a great ambassador in breaking down barriers between people and building, both physical homes but building community in that process,” he said. Because of Carter’s involvement with Habitat, Reckford said millions of people worldwide are living in new or improved homes. “You have to admire the way he led his life, which was a life of service to others,” he said.

Shares of Weatherford International plc ( OTCMKTS:WFTLF – Get Free Report ) were up 6.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $13.01 and last traded at $12.40. Approximately 452,600 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 242% from the average daily volume of 132,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.60. Weatherford International Trading Up 6.9 % The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.40 and a 200 day moving average of $12.40. About Weatherford International ( Get Free Report ) Weatherford International plc, an oilfield service company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere. It offers artificial lift systems, including reciprocating rod, progressing cavity pumping, gas, hydraulic, plunger, and hybrid lift systems, as well as related automation and control systems; pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, such as acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing, and coiled-tubing intervention; and drill stem test tools, surface well testing, and multiphase flow measurement services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Weatherford International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Weatherford International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

— — "Particularly thank-you letters." — — — — — "I moved to a tiny town and it is about a 45 drive to any chain, except Dairy Queen — the only fast-food joint in town. It is like living in the , and I love it. Plus, my husband bought a fixer-upper for $6k about six years ago and has fixed it up cash only. I work from home and now have about $1.5k in monthly expenses (car, insurance, groceries, etc.) and have a plan to save $700k in the next 10 years. The American Dream is still alive, at least in rural Minnesota, but most people can’t live without endless consumption." — — — "Oh yeah! My friends and I would always call those 'Track 99.' That reminds me — how about the beep tones at the end of a cassette tape to let you know you had to eject it and flip it over?" — — — "I'm always glad there were no cell phones when I was a kid. There would have been so many pictures of me being an idiot..." — — — — — "Wow, I’d totally forgotten about that. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face!" — — — — "I am feeling this hard. Yesterday, I spent 45 minutes on the phone. A total of three minutes, I was talking to an actual human; Two of the humans couldn't help and had to transfer me to a third, who initially kept repeating the script 'til they realized what I actually needed." — — "On my co-worker's daughter's first day of high school, she was glued to her phone, watching the app she had tracking her daughter (yes, the daughter knew about the tracker). 'Now she's walking to History.' 'Now the day is over, and she's walking home.' I can't imagine that's healthy for the daughter OR her mother." — — — "At Thanksgiving this year, I watched the parents of a little boy sit at the table looking at their phones while he was trying to get their attention. It made me so sad. He's being raised by people who are privileging a phone screen over eye contact, connection, attentiveness, etc." — — — "I recovered much of mine by spending a couple of hours each morning reading printed books and doing word puzzles on paper. It also just makes for a nice start to the day over a cup or two of coffee." — — — — — — "Standing in line for hours to buy concert tickets was a social thing. It was fun, and we didn't mind doing it. Total strangers stuck together just hanging out and having fun. I don't think there is anything like it now, and if there was, most people would just stand there scrolling and not interacting with each other." — — — — "And severe disappointment when mum’s finger was ALWAYS in the way or all the heads were cut off." — "My kids go online, swipe left or right, text someone, set up a meeting, and after a couple of meetings, they're having sex and practically living together. They never learn the nuances of the other person, never find out the skeletons in each other's closets, and then they get married. No wonder the divorce rate is astronomical. You married someone after six months that you are not the least bit compatible with." — "My family moved into the air-conditioned world in 1970. I continued my love of books but never completely disappeared into the pages as completely as I did on the shady porch." —Russia central bank holds off rate hike after criticism

Viridian Therapeutics to Webcast Veligrotug Phase 3 THRIVE-2 Topline Results on December 16, 2024Wong (third right) presents the MRP cheque to TR Abell. KUCHING (Dec 14): Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) senior vice-president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh wants students to be equipped with the 3Cs – ‘Concept’, ‘Competence’, and ‘Connection’. “Concept means ideas, knowledge, and skills, which you need in facing your future tasks and doing them well,” he said when officiating at SMK Batang Igan’s ‘Student Excellence Award Ceremony’ yesterday. “Competence is when you have the necessary knowledge and skills that allow you to do things in the most successful way. “Connection is being able to connect yourself with capable people and successful organisations or groups using the necessary ideas, knowledge and skills, enabling yourself to do things better and more competently,” he said, adding that this 3C concept could be applied in any form of human endeavour. The Bawang Assan assemblyman also highlighted that the government has offered many incentives to students who are willing to study hard. For instance, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government is offering free education starting 2026 to deserving students in five state-owned colleges and universities, he pointed out. “For us in the Central Region of Sarawak, we have Laila Taib College and the University of Technology Sarawak. I thus hope many of you here will succeed in pursuing your tertiary studies.” Adding on, Wong advised the students to ‘have a self to live with, a belief to hold, and a mission to achieve’ in order to make life worth-living. “You must consider yourself as an important person and do something successful so that you can make others, especially your parents, proud. “You need to have faith in yourself and confidence in doing whatever you want to do. Life must have a purpose, a direction, goals, and a mission. Only then can you succeed in life. “Let us all strive hard for a better future not only for ourselves, but also for our parents and our country, especially since 2024 is almost over,” he said. Commenting further, Wong encouraged the students to go for continuous learning. “Succeeding only this term or this year is not enough. You must consistently excel every year throughout your studies. “For those who have not succeeded, do not give up and make sure you start working harder so that you can achieve success in the future. “As a growing student, you must excel academically, as well as be healthy and strong physically, morally, and emotionally. A healthy body and mind are important to face life challenges when you work in the larger community after leaving the protected school community,” he said. Wong also praised SMK Batang Igan principal Mackinna Melodie Johnny for her role in managing the school well. “The parents of the schoolchildren are very grateful to her and thank her for the job well done.” In a separate occasion in Sibu yesterday, Wong presented a minor rural project (MRP) cheque to chieftan TR Abell to support his longhouse’s two-day 70th anniversary celebration. The assemblyman also presented the MRP cheque to the United Chinese Association (UCA) Sibu to support their annual activities.