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Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Trading Down 0.1% – Here’s WhyTitans QB Mason Rudolph gets another chance at starting, this time against the Jags
Titans QB Mason Rudolph gets another chance at starting, this time against the Jags NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Coach Brian Callahan is sticking with Mason Rudolph at quarterback for a second straight game to see if the Tennessee Titans can build on the veteran who's played in four of their highest scoring games this season. Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press Dec 24, 2024 1:03 PM Dec 24, 2024 1:35 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Tennessee Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph (11) warms up before an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Coach Brian Callahan is sticking with Mason Rudolph at quarterback for a second straight game to see if the Tennessee Titans can build on the veteran who's played in four of their highest scoring games this season. Callahan said Tuesday that he thinks Rudolph earned another chance to play despite a 38-30 loss to Indianapolis. “Obviously the one interception was probably his only really poor moment," Callahan said. "The rest of it was pretty well executed on his part and operated in a drop-back passing game and had to fight his way back through it. And it was good to see, so we’ll let him take another crack at it.” Rudolph is 2-4 in the six games he's played in this season. That includes coming in for an injured Will Levis on Sept. 30 in a 31-12 win at Miami , and he tried to rally the Titans in a turnover-plagued 37-27 loss to Cincinnati before being selected as the starter last week. Rudolph, who is in Tennessee on a one-year deal, was 23 of 34 for 252 yards with two touchdown passes and three interceptions. One went off running back Tony Pollard's hands with the final pick coming on the last play of the game after Rudolph led a rally from a 38-7 deficit in the final 18 minutes. Rudolph's ability to avoid sacks is a key piece of sticking with him over Levis, the 33rd pick overall in the 2023 draft. The quarterbacks' stats are similar with Rudolph having eight TD passes and eight interceptions, completing 63.8% of his passes with a 78.8 passer rating. That’s similar to Levis completing 63.7% of his passes with 12 TD passes and 12 interceptions. But Levis has been sacked 40 times compared to just seven for Rudolph. “He’s got the ability to avoid the negative play when it comes to sacks," Callahan said of Rudolph. “He gets the ball out. He knows where to go with it quickly.” That means Rudolph gets a chance Sunday when the Titans (3-12) visit the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-12) to see if he can guide the offense to more than the six points Levis managed against their AFC South rival in a 10-6 loss on Dec. 8 in Nashville. Rudolph said he knows he put the Titans defense in a bad spot with some turnovers. "I’m ready to prove that I can take care of the ball better and keep scoring points,” Rudolph said. Holiday adjustment The Titans held a walk-through Tuesday with Callahan giving the team Wednesday off for Christmas. An injury report won't be released until Wednesday, and Callahan said it'll likely be lengthy. RG Dillon Radunz, who was knocked out of last week's game with an injury, will be on that report. Lineman Jaelyn Duncan, who hurt a hamstring badly enough early in his first start at right tackle Oct. 20 that he wound up on injured reserve , will be available. Callahan said he is excited to see Duncan play. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Football (NFL) Jets' Rodgers insists he'll play despite knee issue, rookie Fashanu placed on IR with foot injury Dec 24, 2024 1:30 PM Injured cornerback Riley Moss could return to Denver's lineup at Cincinnati Dec 24, 2024 1:17 PM Lopsided loss sinks the reeling Saints further into evaluation mode Dec 24, 2024 1:14 PM
After two extra nights of extended negotiations in Baku , countries finally gave up on bridging their differences and settled on a “roadmap” that has left nearly all developing countries frustrated , developed nations relieved and the planet, still on a perilous path. Officially, the CoP Presidency may claim progress . The text, which was passed early in the morning, included a commitment to triple public finance for developing countries, raising the goal from $100 billion annually to $300 billion by 2035. In addition, countries pledged to work to scale finance from public and private sources to $1.3 trillion per year by 2035. In the world of international negotiations , it is common for countries to bring maximalist demands — asking for the most optimistic outcomes — only to settle for these being scaled back. However, in this case, the gap between what was demanded and agreed upon is striking: the $300 billion figure represents just 20% of the original demand. While $300 billion a year is no small sum, other meaningful concessions would have made its impact far greater. For example, if the funds were predominantly public finance, facilitating the affordable transfer of technology from developed to developing countries, or supporting investments in infrastructure that could help vulnerable populations in the Global South adapt to climate change. Unfortunately, none was included. Despite decades of scientific progress in developed countries that have rigorously outlined the threat posed by rising carbon emissions, these nations have repeatedly backtracked on their responsibility to support meaningful climate solutions. Moreover, many have failed to discourage developing countries from pursuing fossil-fuel-based development. This shift is likely a reflection of broader geopolitical changes — such as the decline of the globalised world order — and a reduction in public support and political will in the West. As a result, climate action has increasingly been framed within the logic of market competition rather than global solidarity. The recent CoP talks revealed that climate negotiations are now entangled with trade conflicts. In this year’s talks, wordplay and political posturing often took precedence over meaningful action. It is possible that next year, there will be a repeat of the drama surrounding the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, especially with the impending return of a Trump presidency. Next year’s CoP, in Brazil, will be a symbolic return to the country that hosted the 1992 Earth Summit, where the world first recognised that action, not just talk, was needed to tackle global challenges. As the climate crisis grows more urgent, it is time for the world to revisit that commitment and move beyond empty promises to real, transformative action. Published - November 26, 2024 12:30 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit United Nations (climate change) / public finance / technology (general) / climate change / carbon emissions / trade policy / US PRESIDENTIAL POLLS / Paris Climate Summit COP21 / summit / BrazilBy LOLITA C. BALDOR and FATIMA HUSSEIN WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has chosen Keith Kellogg, a highly decorated retired three-star general, to serve as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, who is one of the architects of a staunchly conservative policy book that lays out an “America First” national security agenda for the incoming administration, will come into the role as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its third year in February. Trump, making the announcement on his Truth Social account, said, “He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!” Kellogg, an 80-year-old retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence , was chief of staff of the National Security Council and then stepped in as an acting security adviser for Trump after Michael Flynn resigned. As special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Kellogg will have to navigate an increasingly untenable war between the two nations. The Biden administration has begun urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of those as young as 18. The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion and expects to send billions more before Biden leaves office in less than two months. The U.S. has recently stepped up weapons shipments and has forgiven billions in loans provided to Kyiv. Trump has criticized the billions the Biden administration has spent in supporting Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies. As a co-chairman of the American First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security, Kellogg wrote several of the chapters in the group’s policy book. The book, like the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” is designed to lay out a Trump national security agenda and avoid the mistakes of 2016 when he entered the White House largely unprepared. Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” Trump’s proposed national security adviser , U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, tweeted Wednesday that “Keith has dedicated his life to defending our great country and is committed to bringing the war in Ukraine to a peaceful resolution.” Kellogg featured in multiple Trump investigations dating to his first term. He was among the administration officials who listened in on the July 2019 call between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Trump prodded his Ukrainian counterpart to pursue investigations into the Bidens. The call, which Kellogg would later say did not raise any concerns on his end, was at the center of the first of two House impeachment cases against Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate both times. On Jan. 6, 2021, hours before pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Kellogg, who was then Pence’s national security adviser, listened in on a heated call in which Trump told his vice president to object or delay the certification in Congress of President Joe Biden ’s victory. He later told House investigators that he recalled Trump saying to Pence words to the effect of: “You’re not tough enough to make the call.” Baldor reported from Washington. AP writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
Dialogue only way to move forward in politics: Khawaja Asif
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Waukegan residents got an early Christmas present — the possibility of getting rid of coal leftovers in their yule stockings. In a terse message, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week companies have to eliminate coal ash pits from decommissioned properties. The High Court’s one-sentence decision allows the federal Environmental Protection Agency to enforce its law requiring coal-fired generating plants to dispose of what is considered toxic: Coal ash pits, which contain the byproducts of making electricity. Various power companies across the nation have fought the EPA rule and perhaps will continue to do so in the courts or seek relief from the incoming Trump administration. One of them was the Eastern Kentucky Power Cooperative, which asked federal courts to stay enforcement of the EPA rule while its lawsuit against the anti-pollution agency weaves through the judicial process. The Supreme Court’s one-sentence decision gives the EPA the enforcement tool while court action continues, according to Steve Sadin’s page-one News-Sun story of Dec. 18. The pre-Christmas ruling affects the two coal-ash pits located yards from Lake Michigan along Waukegan’s shoreline on the site of the sprawling former ComEd Generating Station now owned by Houston-based NRG Energy, which has been turned into a “peaker plant” used only to produce electricity when demand is high to avoid power shortages. Cleaning up the two nasty-looking pits has been in limbo since 2015 when the EPA issued its first directive governing coal ash. It left a loophole — leaving unregulated those unlined ponds and landfills that stopped receiving coal fly and bottom ash before 2015 — large enough for companies to exploit. The agency’s new rule sought to make up for the previous oversight. This is not just a Waukegan problem. The “ponds” are yards away from the main source of drinking water for much of Lake County, indeed the Chicago region. Ponds are usually associated with idyllic swimming holes — with a few panfish, amphibians and algae — but the two NRG ash “ponds” are filled with hazardous materials. There are an estimated 1,000 operating ash ponds in the U.S., with the EPA saying coal ash is one of the country’s largest types of generated industrial waste. Waukegan certainly has had enough of its share of industrial waste and remaining pollutants from its legacy industries along the lakeshore. It doesn’t need more, or the possibility down the stretch of another EPA Superfund in the city. Some may remember the December 2008 catastrophic failure of ash ponds at a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in the eastern part of the state. In that instance, a dike ruptured releasing 1.1 billion gallons of contaminated sludge composed of fly ash slurry which flowed into nearby waterways. At the time, it was the largest industrial spill in the nation, and an environmental and economic nightmare in Tennessee. It cost the TVA some $1 billion to clean up after pollution fouled rivers in the area and destroyed dozens of homes. That is why Waukegan and state officials are leery of NRG’s plans. Especially since the Illinois Pollution Control Board found in 2019 that NRG was responsible for groundwater contamination. The plans offered by the company include removing the west coal ash pond tailings from the site and just cap the one to the east, the one closest to Lake Michigan. NRG’s proposal is to keep the coal ash static and buried beneath the cover of artificial turf. At that point, the land would become “passive open space.” Environmental groups, city and state officials have long prodded NRG for total remediation of both ponds which would entail draining them, removing all the environmentally hazardous materials from them, trucking the ash out and covering the pits. The EPA says coal ash contains deadly contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic. The contaminants can pollute waterways and groundwater if proper protocols are not followed, the agency notes. Ironically, just to the north in Zion, radioactive nuclear waste was trucked and removed via trains when the retired ComEd nuclear plant, also along the Lake Michigan shoreline, closed in 1998. Seems they could do the same with the existing Canadian National spur line which leads to the power plant and was used by freight trains bringing mega-tons of coal into the generating station over the decades. Maybe by this time next holiday season, there will be a solid plan in place to deal with the environmental issue at the NRG site. That should include the total drainage and removal of all pollutants in order to protect future city residents and Lake Michigan. Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor. [email protected] X: @sellenewsThe Assad regime's fall has freed displaced Syrians stuck in a remote desert camp
Undefeated Oregon and No. 23 Texas A&M will collide Tuesday afternoon in Las Vegas in the second game of the new Players Era Festival. Both teams are in the "Power" group of the eight-team event. All eight teams are receiving $1 million for their name, image and likeness (NIL) collectives, but placing fourth or higher in the tourney in order will net them anywhere from $1.1 million to $1.5 million. The Aggies (4-1) opened the season with a three-point loss at UCF, but since then have won four straight, all in convincing fashion. Texas A&M upset then-No. 21 Ohio State 78-64 on Nov. 15 at home in College Station, Texas. Then the Aggies crushed Southern 71-54 last Wednesday, when Wade Taylor IV led the way with 17 points and six assists. All of Texas A&M's wins have been by double digits. The Aggies and Ducks (5-0) have split the two previous meetings against each other. Until March 2022 in an NIT second-round game, they had not met since the 1970-71 season. Texas A&M tied the overall series with a 75-60 win at home in 2022. The only player on the Ducks' current roster who played in that game was 7-foot senior Nate Bittle, who has been one of Oregon's best players so far this season. Bittle's 16.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game lead the Ducks so far this season, and the big man also averages two blocked shots per game. Texas A&M guard Zhuric Phelps, a transfer from SMU, leads the Aggies in scoring at 16 points per game. Taylor adds 14 points per game. The Aggies could be the best defensive team the Ducks will have seen this season. A&M is allowing teams to shoot only 36.6 percent in games. Head coach Buzz Williams and his staff are hoping the team gets better at taking charges on defense, as the Aggies have just one so far this season. "I guess the thing that you work on most is verticality around the rim," Texas A&M assistant coach Steve Roccaforte told KBTX television. "‘Hey, once you get there, if you try and take a charge, it's going to be a block. Just jump as high as you can, stay vertical, try to go chest-to-chest. Make it a hard shot.'" Oregon is coming off a 78-75 win at Oregon State, the Ducks' first road game of the season. The Ducks trailed by 10 points at halftime but, as they have in several games this season, they found a rhythm on offense in the second half and came up with a comeback win. Bittle's 23 points and 14 rebounds led the way. Jackson Shelstad had 15 points and Jadrian Tracey and Keeshawn Barthelemy both added 10. "We started rebounding the ball a little better. Nate really got it going inside and our guys got him the ball," Oregon head coach Dana Altman told the school's athletics website. "He had a heck of a game." --Field Level Media
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Logistical issues meant that thousands of Namibians were still waiting to vote in pivotal presidential and legislative elections late on Wednesday as the polling stations were scheduled to close. The vote could usher in the desert nation's first woman leader even as her party, the ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) faces the strongest challenge yet to its 34-year grip on power. Some voters told AFP they queued all day, for up to 12 hours, blaming technical problems which included issues with voter identification tablets or insufficient ballot papers. According to Namibia's electoral law, those in the queue before the polls closed -- scheduled at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) -- should be allowed to vote. "We have the obligation to make sure that they pass their vote," said Petrus Shaama, chief officer of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN). The main opposition party, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) has blamed the ECN for the long lines and cried foul play. "We have reason to believe that the ECN is deliberately suppressing voters and deliberately trying to frustrate voters from casting their vote," said Christine Aochamus of the IPC. She said the party had "started the process" of approaching a court "to order the ECN to extend the voting time". At one polling station inside Namibia's University of Science and Technology in the capital Windhoek, hundreds of people were still in line at 09:00 pm despite some having arrived at 6:00 am, an hour before polls opened. It was a similar situation at the Museum of Independence, according to an AFP reporter, where one voter said he arrived 12 hours earlier and was still in line with hundreds of others. SWAPO's candidate and current vice president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, was one of the first to vote and called on Namibians "to come out in their numbers". An estimated 1.5 million people in the sparsely populated nation had registered to cast their ballot. SWAPO has governed since leading mineral-rich Namibia to independence from South Africa in 1990 but complaints about unemployment and enduring inequalities could force Nandi-Ndaitwah into an unprecedented second round. Leader of the IPC, Panduleni Itula, a former dentist and lawyer said he was optimistic he could "unseat the revolutionary movement". "We will all march from there and to a new dawn and a new era of how we conduct our public affairs in this country," the 67-year-old told reporters after voting. Itula took 29 percent of votes in the 2019 elections, losing to SWAPO leader Hage Geingob with 56 percent. It was a remarkable performance considering Geingob, who died in February, had won almost 87 percent five years before that. Namibia is a major uranium and diamond exporter but not many of its nearly three million people have benefitted from that wealth. "There's a lot of mining activity that goes on in the country, but it doesn't really translate into improved infrastructure, job opportunities," said independent political analyst Marisa Lourenco, based in Johannesburg. "That's where a lot of the frustration is coming from, (especially) the youth," she said. Unemployment among 15- to 34-year-olds is estimated at 46 percent, according to the latest figures from 2018, almost triple the national average. For the first time in Namibia's recent history, analysts say a second round is a somewhat realistic option. That would take place within 60 days of the announcement of the first round of results due by Saturday. "The outcome will be tight," said self-employed Hendry Amupanda, 32, who queued since 9:00 pm the night before to cast his ballot. "I want the country to get better and people to get jobs," said Amupanda, wearing slippers and equipped with a chair, blanket and snacks. Marvyn Pescha, a self-employed consultant, said his father was part of SWAPO's liberation struggle and he was not going to abandon the party. "But I want SWAPO to be challenged for better policies. Some opportunistic leaders have tarnished the reputation of the party, they misuse it for self-enrichment," the 50-year-old said. While lauded for leading Namibia to independence, SWAPO is nervous about its standing after other liberation-era movements in the region have lost favour with young voters. In the past six months, South Africa's African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority and the Botswana Democratic Party was ousted after almost six decades in power. clv/br/lhd/sbkA senior bishop of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a social media post on Tuesday, ahead of Christmas, sparking a controversy. Yuhanon Meletius, the Metropolitan bishop of the Thrissur diocese of the Church, wrote in Malayalam on Facebook, “There, bishops are revered and cribs are bowed to. Here, cribs are destroyed. Isn’t there a phrase in Malayalam for such an action?” The bishop was referring to the Christmas event hosted by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) in Delhi on Monday, where the PM was the chief guest. Simultaneously, he pointed out the two separate incidents that took place at Palakkad district in Kerala, in which suspected Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) supporters allegedly attempted to disrupt Christmas celebrations at a government school on December 20, and a crib was found to be vandalised at another school on Monday. The Christian leader’s remarks came at a time when the BJP is conducting an outreach programme with a focus on the Christian community in Kerala and elsewhere. Under the programme, BJP leaders and workers are heading to Christian homes across the state to convey Christmas greetings of the PM as part of its attempts to get closer to the community, which accounts for 18% of the state’s population. The incident involving VHP leaders took place at the Government Upper Primary School in Nallepilly where they allegedly questioned the teachers and other staff about the reasons for celebrating Christmas and ignoring Hindu festivals. In the second incident, the crib, set up as part of Christmas celebrations at a government school in Thathamangalam, was allegedly vandalised. Three VHP leaders have been arrested for the first incident and sent to judicial remand. The Orthodox bishop later told reporters on Tuesday, “I see the Delhi event (of the CBCI) as a drama. In Malayalam, there’s a saying ‘cutting the neck while blowing from mouth’. That’s the fashion I see.” He meant that the BJP and the PM were indulging in contrasting actions at the same time. After the remarks, Mar Andrews Thazhath, president of the CBCI, told reporters, “We didn’t invite a BJP leader to the event. We invited the Prime Minister of India. We thanked him for attending the event. At the same time, we appealed to him to take the country forward by following the basic tenets of the Constitution and including people of all faiths such as Christians and Muslims in the process.” Congress MP KC Venugopal hit out at PM Modi saying, “Are people in Manipur able to celebrate Christmas? Did the PM utter a single word about it? Instead he spoke about the incident in Germany (where there was an attack on a Christmas market).” BJP state president K Surendran condemned the incident of Christmas celebration disruption at the school in Palakkad and suspected a conspiracy behind it. “Members of the VHP or other Sangh Parivar outfits are not responsible for it. I condemn it in the strongest terms. It cannot be encouraged. There must be strong action. I suspect a conspiracy behind it. For the past few years, the BJP has been interacting with the Christian community in a loving and harmonious way. There are some people who don’t like it. Some people who have left the BJP may have been involved. I demand a fair and transparent probe,” he said.