Incoming first lady Melania Trump announced her first major East Wing hire on Friday, naming her longtime aide, Hayley Harrison, as her chief of staff. “Mrs. Harrison has maintained an integral role and exceptional leadership on the First Lady’s team over the past seven years,” she said in a statement on X. The time-period spans Trump’s White House years and as well as her post-First lady life at Mar-a-Lago, their estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump said Harrison had a “strong understanding of White House operations,” and in her new role would “oversee and manage the East Wing’s team while strategically liaising with other parts of government.” In an appearance on ‘Fox & Friends’ on Oct. 29, a week before the election, Trump said she was not “anxious” because she had “much more experience” as she had already lived in the White House. Sign-up for Your Vote: Text with the USA TODAY elections team. “So when you go in, you know exactly what to expect,” she said. “You know what kind of people you need to get.” “You need to have people that are on your team that they have the same vision as me and to serve me because they serve the country,” she added. Harrison was one of the figures named and identified as “Trump Employee 1” in the indictment against the former and future President Donald Trump last year for his alleged mishandling of classified documents, according to ABC News. Special Counsel Jack Smith looks is expected to wind down the investigation before Trump is inaugurated. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani wins his third MVP and first in the NL following a historic offensive season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As Bitcoin hovers around $100,000, the entire crypto market is rejoicing with greens, which has sent the total crypto market cap past $3.5 trillion. While BTC, much like always, continues to lead bull cycles, memecoins have emerged as the leading narrative, surpassing utility coins. This time, there are no whitepapers or litepapers to take a deep dive into the project's value and understand the fundamentals. Crypto's run-up these past two years has been dominated by memecoin. A primary reason for this traction has been regular crypto users being fed up with backroom dealings where projects raise money from venture capitalists (VCs) by selling their coins at a really low price. These VCs then dump their coins on the retail after the project goes live, and the token gets an exchange listing. But with memecoins, there's no such shenanigans involved. With platforms like Pump.fun making it extremely easy for anyone to launch memecoins, everyone has to buy tokens in the open market and race to dump on each other. There are no rules either; memecoins are simply an attempt to be lighthearted and attract a user base by promising a fun community while offering a really low entry point. They have no utility beyond this and tend to be highly volatile, even more so than the typical crypto. Memecoins are simply cryptocurrencies representing animals, artwork, characters, or individuals. As a matter of fact, absolutely anything can be used for a memecoin. Actually, the coins that have been utility coins throughout your crypto journey have been switching into memecoins, too. This is exactly what digital silver and Bitcoin's digital gold, Litecoin (LTC), have done. On Nov. 14, this over-a-decade-old coin got renewed interest when the person behind Litecoin's X (previously Twitter) account put this on social media: The post came amidst the memecoin market cap reaching a new high, signaling a slow return of retail interest into the market. This was on the back of the listings of two popular memecoins, Pepe and Dogwifhat (WIF), and on major U.S. exchange Coinbase. Pepe, the frog coin that started the memecoin mania last year, was also listed on Robinhood, a leading brokerage platform popular among retail in the US. So, with its humorous attempt to get the same attention that memecoins have been getting, Litecoin also jumped in on the trend. As can be seen from the response the post generated, Litecoin suddenly got a lot of attention, which helped its price gain traction. The price of LTC surged more than 42% since that post as it moved past $106, a level last seen in early April this year. Crypto exchange Gate.io even listed it under the memecoin section. At the time of writing, the 26th largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $7.34 billion, has been trading at $97.57 while managing $1.174 billion in 24-hour volume. Still, LTC price is only up a mere 35.21% this year compared to other older coins like Bitcoin, which is up 133.35%, XRP's 144.5% gains, ADA's 79%, Tron's 96.69%, and XLM's 317% upside during the same period. But then, there's Ethereum, whose 52.66% year-to-date (YTD) performance has also been a disappointing one despite the second-largest cryptocurrency getting a Spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved. While ETH is only 29% off of its peak, LTC is a whopping 76.3% away from its all-time high (ATH) of $410.26 hit in May 2021. The same trend can be seen in Litecoin's open interest (OI), which surged to $472 million on Nov. 24, though nowhere near its last bull cycle peak of a billion dollars, as per Coinglass . A Memecoin or a Utility Coin: Understanding Litecoin Litecoin (LTC) was launched in 2011, only a few years after Bitcoin, by Charlie Lee, an MIT graduate and former Google engineer. It utilized Bitcoin's source code but made changes to make it faster and cheaper. Referred to as “the silver to Bitcoin's gold,” the idea with Litecoin wasn't to create a replacement for Bitcoin but to provide yet another blockchain to the developing crypto ecosystem, which is decentralized but has faster block generation. So, as a digital gold, Bitcoin acts as a store of value, while Litecoin, as a digital silver, is to be used to facilitate transactions. Much like Bitcoin, Litecoin also experiences halving every four years. So far, it has had three, with the last one occurring in August 2023, which reduced the block reward from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 BTC. The next halving is expected to occur in mid-2027, which will bring its rewards further down to 3.125 LTC, which is Bitcoins' current block reward following its most recent halving in April of this year. But while Litecoin also has a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain , it uses the Scrypt algorithm to Bitcoin's SHA-256, making it less energy-intensive than the world's largest cryptocurrency. Despite having many benefits compared to Bitcoin, which has been garnering the attention from institutions and even nations as it gears up to be a reserve asset, Litecoin has been pretty much lost to irrelevance as the crypto sector continues to grow with more innovative projects and new narratives. This was until Litecoin changed its tactics and jumped on the new trend. As the project stated in an X post , it was a lighthearted jab at the market's state and a self-deprecating acknowledgment that despite being the “oldest and most reliable cryptocurrencies in the world,” their accomplishments have been largely unnoticed all these years. So, while the LTC price has been rather limited, the Litecoin blockchain has been working just fine. In fact, the Litecoin network has achieved the milestone of processing 84 million transactions so far this year. “$LTC is more active than ever!” – posted Litecoin Foundation on X while sharing this achievement Yet another development has been its hashrate, which has been experiencing a constant increase throughout this year. Currently, sitting around 1.4112 PH/s, the hash rate is near its ATH of 1.49 PH/s hit on Nov. 18, as per Bitinfocharts . The growing hashrate shows that more and more computational power is being contributed to the network in order to get a chance to successfully mine a block and earn rewards . Then there are the short-term LTC holders, which are on the increase too. The number of such holders spiked over 30% in the past month as the token gained market attention, and traders and investors jumped to take advantage of the opportunity. In an interview with CCN, David Schwartz, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Litecoin Foundation, talked about Litecoin's speed, affordability, and utility as its unique selling point that makes it a practical tool for everyday transactions. Developers have also been working on offering Litecoin users optional privacy through MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB). This privacy feature enables confidential transactions without compromising the blockchain's integrity, which, according to Schwartz, makes it appealing to those individuals and businesses that value financial privacy. The average daily transaction activity for MWEB has tripled since July. But if this feature is incorporated by larger wallets, Schwartz sees it making “a significant difference in adoption. “ Besides adopting the memecoin trend, Litecoin has been keeping up with the market by integrating with DeFi. For this, the project introduced Wrapped Litecoin (wLTC), which enables the usage of LTC in the booming DeFi ecosystem. And now, Litecoin is seeing the potential to get its very own ETF, much like Bitcoin and Ether, which can supercharge its network metrics and market demand. The Most Bullish Upcoming Event: Will it Materialize? Spot ETFs have been the primary driver of Bitcoin's run-up this cycle. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) giving Bitcoin Spot ETFs a green light sent BTC's price up by 525% since Nov. 2021 low under $16K. Since getting the approval, all the Bitcoin ETFs have recorded a total of $30.84 billion in inflows, achieving $107.5 billion in net assets, according to SoSo Value . BlackRock's IBIT leads this Bitcoin ETF race with $31.33 bln in net inflows, followed by Fidelity's FBTC, which captured $11.54 bln. Then, in late July, Ethereum ETF got approved, which has so far only managed to gain $106.80 million in cumulative inflows. This is because Grayscale's ETHE still leads in net assets at $4.95 bln. With these approvals, the market is now trying to have institutions gain exposure to other crypto assets. In October, Canary Capital Group filed for a Litecoin ETF in addition to submitting documents for an XRP fund. However, the firm has yet to disclose the ticker or management fee for the funds. The filing was just an S-1 document, which is the first step to getting a new security issued and listed on a public stock exchange. It needs to be followed by the 19b-4 filing for the S-1 filing to have any meaning. And once that happens, the SEC has to make a decision, under a strict timeline, to approve or deny the application. Despite the move being primarily, LTC price spiked 5% on the news of the filing. Given that Litecoin had no token sale or pre-mining, its fair launch makes it a viable candidate for an ETF. The Spot Litecoin ETF, according to Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, “should theoretically have the same pathway” as Bitcoin ETF. Already, there are several investment vehicles that give institutions a way to buy LTC. This includes CoinShares' LITE and ETC Group's ELTC, but both are in Europe. In the US, Grayscale remains the dominant force, which has several closed-end funds offering investment in various crypto assets such as Aave, Avalanche, Bitcoin Cash, Bittensor, Ethereum Classic, Filecoin, Horizon, Near, Solana, Stellar, XRP, Zcash, Stacks, and more. Grayscale Litecoin Trust ( LTCN ) meanwhile has $180.74 in assets under management (AUM). The asset manager charges a hefty management fee of 2.50% on this fund, but it still accounts for the majority of the funds invested in Litecoin-related ETPs globally. LTCN was launched in 2018 and began trading on the OTC market over two years later. While Grayscale has converted its both Bitcoin (GBTC) and Ethereum (ETHE) funds into an ETF, it hasn't filed for an ETF for LTCN. However, last month, Grayscale filed to have its multi-token fund converted into an ETF. The Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC:OTCQX) covers BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and AVAX. Despite all this, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee believes that Spot Litecoin ETF will get a green light from the regulator. “I'm excited to see the Litecoin ETF filing by Canary Capital. We are definitely seeing a lot of institutional demand for Litecoin. This is clear from the daily growth of the Grayscale Litecoin Trust, which has a price that is over twice the NAV. Given that Litecoin is a commodity that is very similar to Bitcoin, I hope to see the Litecoin ETF approved very soon.” – The Litecoin founder told Fox Business A Litecoin ETF is expected to see LTC as a seriously investable option for traditional market players, who can use LTC as a way to diversify their crypto portfolio without needing to buy the asset itself. The digital assets-linked ETF applications, as per Lee, can help more people adopt crypto. Much like Lee, Litecoin Foundation's Schwartz also believes it to be a matter of when and not if Litecoin will get an ETF due to LTC's value as a transactional currency. The approval, according to him, “could catalyze a broader recognition of Litecoin's utility.” Click here to learn if Litecoin can stand alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Here's How to Buy Litecoin (LTC) in Four Easy Steps Now, if all these factors that paint a bullish picture for Litecoin make you want to have an LTC bag, then here's how you can get that. The entire process of buying LTC is a simple one that'll take as little as ten minutes. To get started, first get your phone or computer. It's up to you which device you are most comfortable with. Next, choose a cryptocurrency exchange. There are a lot of options out there, each offering a different feature and tool. While you'll find that a vast majority of exchanges have listed LTC, we'd recommend using Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, KuCoin, Uphold, or Gate.io. Once you have chosen the trading platform that you want to use, create an account by verifying your email address. You'll also be required to verify your identity (KYC) by providing documents to prove your identity, address, and other details. In the next step, make a deposit. To fund your account with fiat currency, you can make use of a debit card, credit card, and bank transfer. You can also deposit BTC and USDT, which are popularly available as trading pairs against LTC. Then, simply use your funds to buy BTC by finding the coin on the platform, choosing your investment size based on how much you want to buy, and then clicking ‘buy. ‘ You'll find the purchased LTC in your exchange wallet. Once you are ready to sell, depending on your financial goal, you can sell your LTC on the same platform using the ‘sell ‘ button. Click here to learn all about buying Litecoin (LTC). The Road Ahead for Litecoin As we saw, Litecoin has a lot of things working out for it. For starters, Litecoin has been in the market for over thirteen years now, which makes it one of the oldest coins. This longevity factor is further supported by the growing miner activity, transaction volume, and user addresses. Built to be complementary to Bitcoin, Litecoin's accessibility and reliability can help it get the market's attention and gain adoption. So, as BTC hits six figures and retail feels priced out, they may even turn to LTC as a cheaper option. Notably, Litecoin has a fixed supply of 84 million. So, a continued increase in its demand can help its prices elevate substantially. The potential of an ETF presents yet another big tailwind for Litecoin. Depending on the institutional interest and capital flow it sees, LTC price can see an upside. Then there's the mainstream attention that old coins like XRP, ADA, and XLM are getting, which forecasts good things for Litecoin, too. Add the memecoin trend LTC has onboarded and the mind share it has been getting, thanks to the voice behind its X account, and LTC can enjoy good momentum. Retail interest in meme coins also has a long way to go. “A strong indicator of retail interest, “ memecoin activity is still low compared to that seen during the previous peaks of most memecoins, noted IntoTheBlock, adding that this divergence from the total memecoin market cap hitting new highs “suggests retail enthusiasm hasn't fully re-entered the crypto space yet.” The broad crypto market has certainly started the party, though, with BTC ready to blast through $100K, driven by both strong spot demand and institutional inflows. With President-elect Donald Trump's win, the most crypto-friendly administration ever, prices are expected to climb much higher. So, against this backdrop, Litecoin can potentially rise to new heights, which, unlike the last cycle , can actually be much higher than the 2017 peak if the coin is able to capture the memecoin and ETF trend well in this bull market! Click here to learn all about investing in Litecoin.
NEW YORK (AP) — Top-ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for refusing to change out of jeans . Lamenting the contretemps, International Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement Sunday that he'd let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket, and other “elegant minor deviations” from the dress code. He said Carlsen's stand — which culminated in his quitting the tournament Friday — highlighted a need for more discussion “to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the evolving nature of chess as a global and accessible sport.” Carlsen, meanwhile, said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he would play — and wear jeans — in the World Blitz Championship when it begins Monday. “I think the situation was badly mishandled on their side,” the 34-year-old Norwegian grandmaster said. But he added that he loves playing blitz — a fast-paced form of chess — and wanted fans to be able to watch, and that he was encouraged by his discussions with the federation after Friday's showdown. “I think we sort of all want the same thing,” he suggested in the video on his Take Take Take chess app’s YouTube channel. “We want the players to be comfortable, sure, but also relatively presentable.” The events began when Carlsen wore jeans and a sportcoat Friday to the Rapid World Championship, which is separate from but held in conjunction with the blitz event. The chess federation said Friday that longstanding rules prohibit jeans at those tournaments, and players are lodged nearby to make sartorial switch-ups easy if needed. An official fined Carlsen $200 and asked him to change pants, but he refused and wasn't paired for a ninth-round game, the federation said at the time. The organization noted that another grandmaster, Ian Nepomniachtchi, was fined earlier in the day for wearing sports shoes, changed and continued to play. Carlsen has said that he offered to wear something else the next day, but officials were unyielding. He said “it became a bit of a matter of principle,” so he quit the rapid and blitz championships. In the video posted Sunday, he questioned whether he had indeed broken a rule and said changing clothes would have needlessly interrupted his concentration between games. He called the punishment “unbelievably harsh.” “Of course, I could have changed. Obviously, I didn’t want to,” he said, and “I stand by that.”
The Southern Chiefs’ Organization is maintaining its silence despite mounting evidence it has replaced Grand Chief Jerry Daniels after he was hospitalized following an altercation outside a bar in downtown Ottawa this week. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * The Southern Chiefs’ Organization is maintaining its silence despite mounting evidence it has replaced Grand Chief Jerry Daniels after he was hospitalized following an altercation outside a bar in downtown Ottawa this week. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? The Southern Chiefs’ Organization is maintaining its silence despite mounting evidence it has replaced Grand Chief Jerry Daniels after he was hospitalized following an altercation outside a bar in downtown Ottawa this week. The organization — one of the largest Indigenous political groups in Manitoba — has scrubbed nearly all references to Daniels from its website, and now lists Lake Manitoba First Nation Chief Cornell McLean as “acting grand chief” on its . On Thursday, pictures of Daniels were featured prominently on the website’s main page. They have since been removed. SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files) A detailing his history and accomplishments with the organization is also largely missing, except for a . McLean, who was questioned about the Ottawa incident by reporters during an unrelated news conference Friday, refused to comment. “No comment. This is not about Jerry Daniels here,” he said. Pushed further, McLean said the organization is “hoping” to put out an official statement regarding the leadership change on Dec. 10. It is unclear whether Daniels’ removal is a permanent or temporary measure; multiple requests for comment to the organization’s communications team have gone unacknowledged and unanswered. Multiple sources have told the Daniels was involved in an altercation with at least one other Manitoba First Nation band councillor early Tuesday morning. Daniels was in Ottawa to attend the Assembly of First Nations special chief assembly, which unites Indigenous leaders from throughout the country. The altercation happened just blocks from the Rogers Centre, where the assembly began Tuesday. The Ottawa Police Service could not confirm the victim’s name, but said an ambulance was dispatched to the 1-100 block of York Street for reports of a “disturbance” just after 2:30 a.m. “We can advise that no charge has been laid and the call for service was related to an assault. The matter remains under investigation and as such, no further details will be released at this time,” a police spokesperson said Friday. The police service previously said one man was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. AMC Deputy Grand Chief Cornell McLean in 2023 (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files) It is unclear whether Daniels remains in hospital. SCO has provided no update on his condition. Karl Zadnik, chief executive officer for the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council, which hosted Friday’s unrelated news conference, chided reporters questioning McLean about Daniels. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. “To those that are asking questions, can you please just keep them to the Jordan’s Principle funding issue that we are having? Any other discussions for any other issues — this is not the appropriate time, please. Thank you,” he said. Requests for comment to the leaders of several SCO member First Nations have either been declined or gone unanswered. Some of Manitoba’s other major Indigenous political organizations and the Assembly of First Nations also have not responded. Daniels, who was elected for a third term as grand chief in June, represents more than 87,000 people in 33 southern Manitoba First Nations. His organization is involved in a $200-million development project to transform the former Hudson’s Bay Co. building in downtown Winnipeg. Construction on the 655,000 square foot building is currently underway. When complete, it will feature more than 300 affordable housing units, assisted living and a health centre. tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the ‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the , and before joining the paper in 2022. . Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the ‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the , and before joining the paper in 2022. . Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Advertisement Advertisement Updated on Friday, December 6, 2024 3:32 PM CST: Correction regarding photos on websiteTV and Movie Merchandise Market to Grow by USD 103.5 Billion (2024-2028), Driven by E-Commerce Platform Growth, AI Redefining Market Landscape - TechnavioTrump says he wants to get rid of “woke” generals. He can.
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President-elect Trump says he should be the one to make the decision on whether TikTok can continue operating in the United States due to the unique national security and First Amendment issues raised by this case, he said in an amicus brief Friday. Trump’s argument comes in an amicus brief "supporting neither party," filed Friday, weeks before the Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on Jan. 10, 2025 on the law that requires a divestment of TikTok from foreign adversary control. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing and connected to the Chinese Communist Party. "Today, President Donald J. Trump has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to extend the deadline that would cause TikTok’s imminent shutdown, and allow President Trump the opportunity to resolve the issue in a way that saves TikTok and preserves American national security once he resumes office as President of the United States on January 20, 2025," Trump spokesman and incoming White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. "President Donald J. Trump ("President Trump") is the 45th and soon to be the 47th President of the United States of America," the brief states. "On January 20, 2025, President Trump will assume responsibility for the United States’ national security, foreign policy, and other vital executive functions." Trump argues that "this case presents an unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other." "As the incoming Chief Executive, President Trump has a particularly powerful interest in and responsibility for those national-security and foreign-policy questions, and he is the right constitutional actor to resolve the dispute through political means. President Trump also has a unique interest in the First Amendment issues raised in this case," the brief states. "Through his historic victory on November 5, 2024, President Trump received a powerful electoral mandate from American voters to protect the free-speech rights of all Americans—including the 170 million Americans who use TikTok." "President Trump is uniquely situated to vindicate these interests, because ‘the President and the Vice President of the United States are the only elected officials who represent all the voters in the Nation,’" the brief continues. Trump argues that due to his "overarching responsibility for the United States’ national security and foreign policy— President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office." "On September 4, 2024, President Trump posted on Truth Social, ‘FOR ALL THOSE THAT WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA, VOTE TRUMP!’" the brief states. Trump argues that he "alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government—concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged." "Indeed, President Trump’s first Term was highlighted by a series of policy triumphs achieved through historic deals, and he has a great prospect of success in this latest national security and foreign policy endeavor," the brief states. Trump notes that the 270-day deadline imposed by the new TikTok law "expires on January 19, 2025—one day before President Trump will assume office as the 47th President of the United States." That legislation, which was signed into law in the spring, requires a sale of TikTok from ByteDance by Jan. 19. If ByteDance does not divest by the deadline, Google and Apple are no longer able to feature TikTok in their app stores in the U.S. "This unfortunate timing interferes with President Trump’s ability to manage the United States’ foreign policy and to pursue a resolution to both protect national security and save a social-media platform that provides a popular vehicle for 170 million Americans to exercise their core First Amendment rights," the brief states. "The Act imposes the timing constraint, moreover, without specifying any compelling government interest in that particular deadline." Trump points to the law, which "contemplates a 90-day extension to the deadline under certain specified circumstances." Supreme Court Justices said they will hold a special session on Jan. 10 to hear oral arguments in the case -- an expedited timeline that will allow them to consider the case just nine days before the Jan. 19 ban is slated to take effect. The law allows the president to extend the deadline by up to 90 days if ByteDance is in the process of divesting. "President Trump, therefore, has a compelling interest as the incoming embodiment of the Executive Branch in seeing the statutory deadline stayed to allow his incoming Administration the opportunity to seek a negotiated resolution of these questions," the brief states. "If successful, such a resolution would obviate the need for this Court to decide the historically challenging First Amendment question presented here on the current, highly expedited basis." TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency application to the high court earlier this month asking justices to temporarily block the law from being enforced while it appealed a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Lawyers for TikTok have argued that the law passed earlier this year is a First Amendment violation, noting in their Supreme Court request that "Congress's unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and bar them from operating one of the most significant speech platforms in this nation" and "presents grave constitutional problems that this court likely will not allow to stand." TikTok, last year, created its "Project Texas" initiative, which is dedicated to addressing concerns about U.S. national security. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says "Project Texas" creates a stand-alone version of the TikTok platform for the U.S. isolated on servers in Oracle’s U.S. cloud environment. It was developed by CFIUS and cost the company approximately $1.5 billion to implement. Chew has argued that TikTok is not beholden to any one country, though executives in the past have admitted that Chinese officials had access to Americans' data even when U.S.-based TikTok officials did not. TikTok claims that the new initiative keeps U.S. user data safe, and told Fox News Digital that data is managed "by Americans, in America." Trump has signaled support for TikTok. Earlier this month, he met with Chew at Mar-a-Lago, telling reporters during a press conference ahead of the meeting that his incoming administration will "take a look at TikTok" and the looming U.S. ban. "I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump told reporters.
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Lucia Richardson has been dancing since she was four years old. or signup to continue reading The 17-year-old Yamatji girl grew up in Geraldton, Western Australia, and has always loved to dance. But another passion was uncovered when, in 2021, she was inspired by an older member of her dance studio. "She performed an aerial hoop piece at our end of year dance conert, and when I saw that I thought it was like the coolest thing ever," she told AAP. "I really wanted to give it a go so I asked my mum and she agreed if I drop some dance classes I was allowed to take on a circus class." Working with her trainer Daniel Power in a small shed in Geraldton, she entered the world of circus. Lucia is now living in the NSW border town of Albury and studying at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, where she's continued to hone her skills. On the cusp of graduating from the national youth circus, Lucia has big dreams for the future. "I'm hoping to continue with circus, but I don't want to close myself off to just that," she said. "Dancing has always been a huge part of my life and culture has been a big part of my identity so Bangarra Dance Company is a huge goal of mine to work with in the future. "There's also some huge circus companies like Cirque Du Soleil that I would absolutely love to join - I can't even put into words how amazing and dream-like that would be." But it's the feeling of community she gets with circus, Lucia loves the most. "It feels like anyone on earth, no matter your abilities or who you are, you just feel so welcome and like there's a place for you," she said. It's also important to Lucia to give back to the circus community, she said has given her so much support and love through her journey. She's teaching younger children at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, and hopes her journey can inspire her peers to chase their passions. "If you see something within yourself or feel something within yourself that you feel you need or want to do, then absolutely do it," she said. "There's no harm in giving it a go." Lucia is one of the students performing in 'Live and Famous' at Sydney's Carriageworks over the weekend. She will also feature in the Flying Fruit Fly circus' annual Borderville Festival in Albury/Wodonga in December. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Advertisement Advertisement
Who will replace Ray Hadley? Bizarre theory emerges over broadcast veteran's potential successor READ MORE: Ray Hadley's multimillion retirement property investment revealed By A. JAMES FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA Published: 18:31 EST, 22 November 2024 | Updated: 18:44 EST, 22 November 2024 e-mail View comments Ray Hadley shocked listeners earlier this month when he announced he was hanging up his mic for good in December . And as the 70-year-old's retirement looms, speculation is hot over who will take his seat at Channel Nine's flagship station, 2GB. Front runners include current 2GB personalities Ben Fordham , and Chris O'Keefe. But since Channel Nine management has the summer to settle on the host's ultimate successor, a bizarre theory has emerged about how 2GB plans to fill the void left by Hadley in the meantime. Instead of popping in a stand-in announcer for Hadley's regular 9-12pm slot, there's now speculation that presenters will 'likely' have their shifts 'extended', according to The Daily Telegraph . There's been no confirmation from 2GB management over their plans. Ray Hadley astounded listeners earlier this month when he announced he was hanging up his mic for good in December. As the 70-year-old's retirement looms, speculation is hot over who will take his seat at Channel Nine's flagship station, 2GB. (Pictured) Instead of popping in a stand-in announcer for Hadley's regular 9-12pm slot, there's now speculation that presenters will 'likely' have their shifts 'extended' before a full-time successor is announced. Pictured: Ben Fordham Meanwhile, insiders are tipping 2GB's reigning breakfast show host Ben Fordham as his likely replacement. The tireless talkback presenter has repeatedly shown he is more than capable of winning over a crowd. He was given the almost impossible task of replacing 2GB's all-powerful Alan Jones four years ago and has since proved a runaway success at retaining the station's critical early morning audience. He's well-known to audiences after doing impressive stints with Sky News, A Current Affair and 60 Minutes. The only drawback? The internal shuffle would just create further headaches for Nine Radio execs who would then have to replace him at breakfast. There's also much talk about Nine reporter Chris O'Keefe comfortably slotting into Hadley's old chair. Currently wowing 2GB listeners in the station's 3-6pm drive time slot he impressed management as Nine Sydney's state political editor before switching formats. Also in the mix to replace Hadley is talkback veteran Jason Morrison. Front runners for Hadley's gig include current 2GB stars Ben Fordham and Chris O'Keefe (pictured) Read More Viewers mock Ray Hadley's new TV move with hilarious throwback post He kicked off his lengthy media career at 2GB as a cadet reporter in 1989 at the tender age of 17. Just 10 years later he was the station's director of news - the youngest person to ever hold the role – and been giving a weekly newspaper column. Like Fordham and O'Keefe, Morrison is a veteran of 2GB's drivetime slot, hosting the show between 2008 and 2010. He was also Alan Jones regular fill-in host at breakfast during the golden age of talkback and, according to industry legend, even out-rated him during one extended stint before defecting to rival 2UE. Morrison eventually left radio for the glitz and glamour of television during an eight-year run as Seven's Sydney news director before taking some time out with his young family last year. There is currently speculation that Sydney's 2SM are pursuing him for a major role. Insiders are also pointing to former Nine player Liam Bartlett. The award-winning journalist is a favourite among executives across all of the country's commercial networks - and was even a headline act at the national broadcaster for a while – due to his hard-hitting, take-no-prisoners approach to interviews. This year he made headlines for his chat with billionaire former media baron James Packer and for breaking the 'fake gun shots' scandal enveloping the ABC. A former presenter A Current Affair and 60 minutes, he's also worked for Seven's Spotlight. After leaving 60 Minutes for the second time five years ago, he enjoyed a successful stint at 2GB's sister station 6PR in his hometown of Perth. Sources said he enjoyed a strong relationship with Nine Radio boss Tom Malone while the duo worked together at 60 Minutes and that he shouldn't be ruled out of contention. Share or comment on this article: Who will replace Ray Hadley? Bizarre theory emerges over broadcast veteran's potential successor e-mail Add commentNone
The states that saw the most active attacks against election certification two years ago certified the results of this year’s races without controversy this week, prompting the Arizona secretary of state to proclaim that “election denialism” is a thing of the past. Others said they weren’t so sure. Certification proceeded normally this year in part because Donald Trump won the presidential race, quieting his supporters after he had spent the campaign making unsubstantiated claims that he could lose only through widespread cheating . People are also reading... The statewide certification votes Tuesday in Nevada and New Mexico follow a vote Monday to certify the results in Arizona. In all three states, the certification process was tumultuous during the 2022 midterms when Democrats won most statewide offices. Those controversies followed attempts by Trump and his allies to halt or challenge certification in Michigan, Georgia and other battleground states in 2020, disrupting what until then had been a routine administrative process. This year, some who have been the most vocal in questioning the integrity of elections have instead been celebrating Trump’s victory. “The results are being accepted in the manner that they are, in part, because those who have been eroding trust or casting doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections have a result they feel good about,” said David Levine, a former local election official in Idaho who now advises on election administration issues. “Hopefully we can get back to a place where Americans can feel confident in the results even if it’s one they disagree with.” On Tuesday, Nevada and New Mexico certified their statewide results with little discussion. During Monday’s certification in Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes reflected on the lack of controversy this year. “I think the age of election denialism, for all intents and purposes, is dead,” he said. Sitting next to Fontes, state Attorney General Kris Mayes, a fellow Democrat, said she was more skeptical. Her Republican opponent in 2022 spent two years challenging his loss . “Do I think election denialism is dead? No, I don’t,” she said. “We’ll see over the next couple of election cycles what happens, but I don’t think we’re there yet.” Public confidence in elections has dropped since Trump challenged his loss in 2020 and made false claims of widespread fraud, particularly among Republicans . Some Republicans began targeting the certification process, when local and state boards certify the results after local election officials provide them with the final tally of votes. A firestorm erupted in Georgia over the summer when the state election board, with a new pro-Trump majority, attempted to politicize the certification process with changes later blocked by the courts. While certification battles did not surface after the Nov. 5 election , a vocal segment within the Republican Party remains deeply skeptical of election processes, particularly of the availability of mail ballots and the use of ballot scanners to tally votes. During a forum Monday on the social platform X led by the group Cause of America, the group's director expressed doubt about voting equipment. Shawn Smith, who also is a retired Air Force colonel, argued the certification process suppresses legitimate concerns and goes against “the sovereignty of the people.” Although not as widespread as four years ago, this sentiment did surface sporadically at the local level this month. In Washoe County, Nevada, which includes Reno and voted narrowly for Vice President Kamala Harris, the vote to certify the results was 3-1 with one abstention. Commissioner Jeanne Herman has consistently voted against certification and did not make a public comment about her vote this year. Commissioner Mike Clark, a staunch Trump supporter who had also previously voted against certification, said he would abstain and left before the vote. “I am not an election denier and clearly the person I wanted to win, won this state,” Clark said before leaving the meeting. “However, that does not mean that all the protocols were followed and that we can truly certify the election.” Such skepticism, whether in Nevada or elsewhere, leaves the door open to certification disputes during future elections. The questioning of election results isn't limited to Republicans. Even though Harris quickly conceded after losing all seven presidential battleground states , online posts among her supporters continue to raise concerns about her loss. One Reddit community that has amassed 23,000 members features a steady drumbeat of Democrats scrutinizing a result they can’t believe is real. Some posting in the group have issued calls to contact Harris and her running mate to ask them to demand a recount or otherwise object to the outcome. Among the battlegrounds, Michigan was among those where Trump and his allies pressed to halt certification of the 2020 election for Democrat Joe Biden amid false claims of fraud and manipulation. Two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers who initially opposed certification eventually relented. The state board of canvassers eventually voted to certify, even after one Republican member abstained. This year, the state board voted unanimously on Nov. 22 in favor of certifying and praised the state’s election workers. In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger certified his state’s results on Nov. 22. Four years ago, the Republican state official was facing immense pressure from Trump and his allies to investigate their unsubstantiated claims of fraud. Also certifying results Tuesday, and doing so unanimously, was the state Board of Elections in North Carolina. It was the only presidential battleground state won by Trump in 2020 — and the only one where he and his allies didn't make claims of fraud. Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 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