LeBron James at 40: A milestone birthday arrives Monday for the NBA's all-time scoring leader When LeBron James broke another NBA record earlier this month, the one for most regular-season minutes played in a career, his Los Angeles Lakers teammates handled the moment in typical locker room fashion. They made fun of him. Dubbed The Kid from Akron, with a limitless future, James is now the 40-year-old from Los Angeles with wisps of gray in his beard, his milestone birthday coming Monday, one that will make him the first player in NBA history to play in his teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. He has stood and excelled in the spotlight his entire career. 'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' battle for No. 1 at the holiday box office Two family films are dominating the holiday box office, with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” winning the three-day weekend over “Mufasa” by a blue hair. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Sonic movie earned $38 million, while “Mufasa” brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The R-rated horror “Nosferatu” placed third with an unexpectedly strong $21.2 million. Thanksgiving release holdovers “Wicked” and “Moana 2” rounded out the top five. Christmas Day had several big film openings, including the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” the Nicole Kidman erotic drama “Babygirl” and the boxing drama “The Fire Inside.” Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes as of Jan. 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move for European Union nations. Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke tells The Associated Press that the inexpensive e-cigarettes have turned into a health threat since they are an easy way for teenagers to be drawn into smoking and get hooked on nicotine. Australia outlawed the sale of “vapes” outside pharmacies earlier this year in some of the world’s toughest restrictions on electronic cigarettes. Now Belgium is leading the EU drive. Belgium's minister wants tougher tobacco measures in the 27-nation bloc. Charles Dolan, HBO and Cablevision founder, dies at 98 Charles F. Dolan, who founded some of the most prominent U.S. media companies including Home Box Office Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp., has died at age 98. Newsday reports that a statement issued Saturday by his family says Dolan died of natural causes. Dolan’s legacy in cable broadcasting includes founding HBO in 1972, Cablevision in 1973 and the American Movie Classics television station in 1984. He also launched News 12 in New York City, the first U.S. 24-hour cable channel for local news. Dolan also held controlling stakes in companies that owned Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. Snoop's game: Snoop Dogg thrills the crowd in the bowl that bears his name TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Miami of Ohio beat Colorado State in the Arizona Bowl, but Snoop Dogg was the main attraction. The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop was much a spectacle as a football game. Snoop Dogg seemed to be everywhere all at once, from a pregame tailgate to the postgame trophy presentation. Snoop Dog donned a headset on Colorado State's sideline, spent some time in the broadcast and even led both marching bands as conductor during their halftime performance. Snoop Dogg saved the best for last, rolling out in a light green, lowrider Chevy Impala with gold rims and accents, the shiny Arizona Bowl trophy in his hand as fans screamed his name. Mavs star Luka Doncic is latest pro athlete whose home was burglarized, business manager says DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks is the latest professional athlete whose home has been burglarized. The star guard’s business manager tells multiple media outlets there was a break-in at Doncic’s home Friday night. Lara Beth Seager says nobody was home, and Doncic filed a police report. The Dallas Morning News reports that jewelry valued at about $30,000 was stolen. Doncic is the sixth known pro athlete in the U.S. whose home was burglarized since October. Star NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City and Joe Burrow of Cincinnati are among them. The NFL and NBA have issued security alerts to players over the break-ins. Victor Wembanyama plays 1-on-1 chess with fans in New York Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Wemby was playing chess. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama put out the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. And people began showing up almost immediately. Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen quits a tournament in a dispute over jeans NEW YORK (AP) — The International Chess Federation says top ranked player Magnus Carlsen has left the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships after refusing to change out of the jeans he wore to the competition. The federation said Friday that its regulations include a dress code that bars participants from wearing jeans at the event. The Norwegian chess grandmaster says he accepted a $200 fine but refused to change his pants out of principle before leaving the competition in New York. The federation said the dress code is designed to ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants. Trailblazing model Dayle Haddon dies from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) — A trailblazing former “Sports Illustrated” model who pushed back against age discrimination has died in a Pennsylvania home from what authorities believe was carbon monoxide poisoning. Authorities in Bucks County found 76-year-old Dayle Haddon, dead in a second-floor bedroom Friday morning after emergency dispatchers were notified about a person unconscious at the Solebury Township home. A 76-year-old man who was also in the home was hospitalized in critical condition. As a model, Haddon appeared on dozens of magazine coverage in the 1970s and 1980s. She then reentered the industry in the 1990s after landing contracts with cosmetic companies to promote their anti-aging products. 2 Oregon men die from exposure in a forest after they went out to look for Sasquatch STEVENSON, Wash. (AP) — Officials say two Oregon men have died in a Washington state forest after they failed to return from a trip to look for Sasquatch. The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says the 59-year-old and 37-year-old appear to have died from exposure. The sheriff's office says it based that conclusion on the weather and their lack of preparedness. Both men were from Portland. They were found in a heavily wooded area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest northeast of that city. Family reported them missing after they failed to return from a Christmas Eve outing. Sasquatch is a folkloric beast thought by some to roam the forests, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.

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CHARLEBOIS: Canada’s top food stories of 2024, a mix of triumphs and setbacksATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old . The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday afternoon, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. The center said he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” and he lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter’s compassion and moral clarity, his work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and advocacy for the disadvantaged as an example for others. “To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” Biden said in a statement. “He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.” Biden said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief" and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America's dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights , he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise" speech, even though he never used that word. After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter's diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Sanz is a former Associated Press reporter.

By Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe The day after completing its latest billion-dollar deal, Boston Scientific dispatched food trucks to hand out fried chicken sandwiches and burritos to Silk Road Medical employees in California and Minnesota, before holding a town hall-style meeting to welcome them into the fold. That September day was a big one for the teams at Silk Road , which makes stroke-prevention devices. But deals like this are a regular occurrence for Boston Scientific, and the Marlborough company has the process down to, well, a science. During chief executive Mike Mahoney’s 12-year tenure, Boston Scientific has completed more than 40 acquisitions, helping turn the medical device maker into one of the state’s most valuable companies. This might be surprising considering the damage caused by its bet-the-farm, $27 billion deal in 2006 for pacemaker company Guidant, which sealed a victory in its bidding war against the larger Johnson & Johnson. That infamous merger saddled Boston Scientific with billions in debt and liabilities related to problems with Guidant’s devices. Boston Scientific’s once-powerful mergers and acquisitions machine essentially ground to a halt, tanking the stock, prompting layoffs, and putting many other jobs at risk. By the time Mahoney, who was recruited by the Boston Scientific board from J&J, became chief executive in November 2012, the stock was at $5. The company was only worth about $8 billion — less than one-third of what it paid for Guidant six years earlier. Flash forward to today: Boston Scientific shares trade at around $90, and the stock market value has hit $130 billion. Only two companies in Massachusetts — Thermo Fisher Scientific and TJX — are worth more. Rivals, of course, are trying to catch up. Boston Scientific faces intense competition from J&J, Medtronic, and Abbott Laboratories, particularly in the fields of electrophysiology (treating heart rhythm disorders) and interventional cardiology. However, perhaps the biggest challenge for Boston Scientific, which now employs about 50,000 people, could come from its own deal-making: As it gets bigger, more modest deals like the Silk Road acquisition often provide less of a boost proportionately to revenue and earnings because of the company’s increasing size. For now, though, the story out of Marlborough remains focused on relentless growth: Revenue is expected to rise this year by 16.5 percent, clearing $16 billion. And with surging demand for two of its devices to treat atrial fibrillation, Boston Scientific’s stock has been on fire — posting a 50-plus percent increase this year alone. “I’ve been here for 28 years,” said Arthur Butcher, an executive vice president who oversees the company’s Asian operations and its urology, endoscopy, and neuromodulation businesses. “There’s never been a better time to be here than now, with the momentum that we have.” For over a decade before the Guidant bidding war, Boston Scientific had been an aggressive deal-maker. The pacemakers and defibrillators from that acquisition made Boston Scientific one of the biggest players in the cardiovascular sector. But victory came at a big cost: heavy debt and lawsuits over defective devices, not to mention a protracted legal battle with J&J . “They extended themselves a little too far with Guidant, not only in terms of the price tag, but they ended up getting a closet full of skeletons,” said Debbie Wang, a Morningstar analyst. “Once they were able to stabilize things and bring that debt down, that put them in a good position to be able to make acquisitions again.” Boston Scientific endured another ordeal for much of the 2000s, over surgical mesh products used for pelvic repair in women. The company, along with several others, resolved lawsuits filed by thousands of injured patients. Eventually, in 2021, it reached a $189 million settlement with multiple state attorneys general to change the labeling on its incontinence products, in part to clarify their potential risks. Before Mahoney’s arrival, the company focused on dominating cardiology, Butcher said. But when Mahoney became chief executive after a year as president, he made it clear he wanted all eight company divisions to grow faster than their respective markets, and he was willing to invest in them all. Boston Scientific developed a system: Set aside 10 percent of revenue for research and development, including to advance already acquired technologies, and devote much of its profits to new deals. “Pretty much every dollar that the company earns, we reinvest back into internal R&D and technology acquisition,” Butcher said. “That’s a differentiator.” The key was how to pick those acquisition targets. Mahoney implores his team to find ways to reduce costs for hospital clients, and to work with physicians to help solve their problems. In the case of atrial fibrillation, or “AFib,” doctors traditionally applied extreme heat or cold in a process called ablation to treat irregular heartbeats. The resulting scar buildup would block faulty heart signals, restoring the heart’s regular cadence. But physicians wanted a less damaging approach, with fewer side effects. For that reason, they embraced the company’s Farapulse device , which uses electromagnetic waves instead. Boston Scientific plucked Farapulse from its own venture capital portfolio. With its venture capital arm, the firm makes small bets on younger companies — it has about 40 investments today — by buying minority stakes in them. That allows executives to closely track the startups, learn about their technologies, and often gain a presence on their boards, without putting too much money at risk, said analyst Rick Wise of investment bank Stifel. (With Farapulse, Boston Scientific held a minority stake until 2021, when it bought the rest amid promising trial results.) David Rescott, a senior research analyst at the Robert W. Baird & Co. investment bank, said the firm’s deal-makers in recent years trained their sights on higher-growth markets. Before 2012, nearly half of Boston Scientific’s business grew by less than 4 percent a year. Now, nearly half of the company grows at more than 7 percent, he said. That meant moving beyond drug-coated stents and pacemakers, product lines responsible for roughly half the company’s revenue before Mahoney became chief executive. Those lines are still important and growing, Mahoney said in an interview, but Boston Scientific is identifying faster-growing businesses in areas such as endoscopy, urology, and interventional cardiology therapies. The acquisition strategy now focuses on landing smaller purchases that augment existing business lines, instead of another big fish like Guidant. “In hindsight, now, others are copying that strategy,” Bank of America analyst Travis Steed said. “They made a lot of small bets on things, a lot of them didn’t necessarily pan out, but some did and they’ve become huge growth drivers.” Analysts also point to a shift in culture and mindset driven by Mahoney. Mahoney said that change came about by recruiting new leaders and thinning out the bureaucracy to speed up decision making and simplify managers’ compensation incentives. “It’s been a brick by brick, constant improvement, strengthening the company,” Mahoney said. Can Boston Scientific keep this going? Analysts who track the company remain hopeful. But they also say rivals are not going to easily cede acquisition targets or markets to their competitor from Massachusetts. Boston Scientific executives need to be cautious about not overpaying, now that they can do big deals again. Investors’ expectations are high. Mahoney remains confident. Employees are driven, he said, by more than quarterly earnings numbers. Boston Scientific regularly hosts patients at company facilities around the world to talk about how their lives benefited from its devices. “We bring these patients’ stories that are very powerful right to our employees, [and] they see what we do every day eventually helps a patient,” Mahoney said. “Most employees don’t care about Boston Scientific’s stock price. They want to be proud of where they work.” Be civil. Be kind.

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Patna: The NDA's victory in all four assembly seats in the Bihar byelections on Saturday dealt a major blow to Prashant Kishor (PK), who launched his political party, Jan Suraaj, on October 2. Despite fielding candidates in all four seats, Jan Suraaj finished third in three constituencies and fourth in Ramgarh. For PK, who earlier said the 2025 Bihar assembly poll results would be settled in the byelection itself, the results may be a learning lesson, metaphorically, as a political outfit as the poll panel had allotted him ‘schoolbag' as the election symbol. Assembly Election Results Spot the difference: Shinde, Fadnavis and 'kissa kursi ka' How BJP bounced back from LS setback to achieve historic assembly wins 'Maha' saffron wave, spectacular Soren show: 10 key takeaways After the declaration of results on Saturday, PK said, "No new political party has ever secured over 10% votes within a month of its formation in a state like Bihar. We are committed to reform. I own the outcome and will focus on strengthening the party organization in the next six months. We will contest all 243 seats in 2025. In democracy, six months is a long time. I am not backing out." Jan Suraaj faced criticism for strategic missteps, such as announcing the candidature of Lt Gen (retd) S K Singh in Tarari without verifying his voter eligibility and last-minute candidate changes in Belaganj. In Tarari, Jan Suraaj's Kiran Singh managed only 5,622 votes while BJP's Vishal Prashant defeated CPI(ML)'s Raju Yadav by over 10,500 votes. Maharashtra Jharkhand Maharashtra Alliance View i Party View Seats: 288 L + W Majority: 145 BJP+ 227 MVA 49 OTH 12 Leads + Wins : 288 / 288 BJP+ WON Jharkhand Alliance View i Party View Seats: 81 L + W Majority: 41 INDIA 56 NDA 24 OTH 1 Leads + Wins : 81 / 81 INDIA WON Source: PValue Commenting on the results, senior JD(U) functionary and minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said, "It is for PK to analyse and assess the political scenario in Bihar." JD(U) spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad added, "PK is a great poll strategist for leaders like PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar, but strategizing for oneself is a different game. The results reaffirm people's trust in Nitish's leadership and pave the way for our 2025 goal of 225+ seats." Senior BJP leader Devesh Kumar echoed the sentiment. "The results reflect people's support for the developmental road map of PM Narendra Modi and CM Nitish. The claim that Jan Suraaj would cut into NDA votes has been proven wrong," he said. The results were also a setback for RJD as Jan Suraaj's Amjad in Belaganj indirectly contributed to JD(U)'s Manorama Devi defeating RJD's Vishwanath Singh Yadav by over 21,000 votes. However, RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan dismissed PK's impact. "His candidates received votes based on their personalities, not policies," he said. While Jan Suraaj's Jitendra Paswan garnered 37,103 votes in Imamganj, the highest among PK's candidates, he failed to overcome the dynasty politics of HAM(S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose daughter-in-law Deepa Kumari secured the seat.

History Says the Nasdaq Will Surge in 2025. 1 Stock-Split Stock to Buy Before It Does.Lucknow, November 23: The 7-2 result in the bypolls to nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh in favour of the BJP reasserted Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's political authority in the state's politics, especially after the recent reverses in Lok Sabha polls. At the same time, the Congress not contesting and the BSP's yet another below-par show meant that despite losing ground, the Samajwadi Party continues to dominate the opposition space in the most populous state. UP By-Election Results 2024: CM Yogi Adityanath Credits PM Narendra Modi for BJP’s Win in Uttar Pradesh, Says INDIA Bloc’s ‘Loot and Lies Politics Coming To End’. The results were immaterial from the issue of the UP BJP government's stability and yet much pride was at stake, especially for the ruling party as the bypolls were the first electoral test of the BJP-led-NDA and INDIA bloc after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in which the opposition had limited the BJP to its worst show in UP since 2014. The saffron party had won 33 seats, while the SP had emerged on top with 37 seats out of 80. In each of the seven assembly seats that the BJP won on Saturday, all the winning candidates were unanimous that Adityanath and his call for unity were a "big factor" in their victory. That's why even before the Election Commission officially confirmed the byelection results, a confident Adityanath arrived at the UP BJP office in Lucknow around 3.30 pm on Saturday to reiterate the importance of “ek hain toh safe hain" and "batenge toh katenge" (united we are safe, divided we perish)' – slogans that virtually became a call for Hindu unity to counter's the opposition's "caste politics" in the mini-polls. PM Modi Address to BJP Workers Live Streaming: Watch Video of PM Narendra Modi Addressing ‘Karyakartas’ After Maharashtra, Jharkhand Assembly Elections Results 2024. Through his "batenge toh katenge' slogan that Adityanath first raised in August and which set the narrative for the bypolls, the BJP upped the ante with its cadres explaining the slogan's underlying “Hindu unity” content during its door-to-door contact campaigns. “During our interactions, we urged the masses to not get divided on caste lines and vote as one. The ‘batenge toh katenge' and ‘ek rahenge toh safe rahenge' slogans raised by our leaders helped in driving the message home quickly,” a BJP leader told PTI. The Muslim-dominated Kundarki assembly seat in west UP's Moradabad was a test case for BJP's Hindu unity plank, mainly because it had not won the seat since 1993. The BJP's campaign pitch in the bypolls largely revolved around “Ram aur Rashtra (religious unity and nationalism)” – the twin poll planks tailored to blunt the opposition Samajwadi Party's hope of consolidating its OBC-Dalit-Muslim voter push. Not surprisingly then, Adityanath during his brief media interaction at the UP BJP office chose to describe BJP's Kundarki win as a success of "rashtrawaad (nationalism)". “On this seat, the BJP's first win since 1993 was possible as people unitedly backed BJP while the opposition's caste ploy fell flat,” a senior BJP leader said. “The presence of 11 Muslim candidates in the fray there didn't help the opposition SP either. So while their vote was divided we could secure our vote and in this cleverly crafted unity slogans by our leaders played a big role in setting the narrative,” this BJP leader from Kundarki told PTI. Kundarki winner Ramvir Singh claimed that Muslims also voted for the BJP. “Muslims trust me and that showed in the massive vote I received from them. I will keep their trust intact,” he said. Another seat with an impressive Muslim presence that the SP lost was the Meerapur assembly seat. Here, SP's Sumbul Rana, daughter-in-law of former MP Kadir Rana, lost to RLD's Mithilesh. Here also the split in Muslim votes cost the SP as two Muslim candidates including one from AIMIM polled 41,000 votes, more than the victory margin of BJP. In the Katehari assembly seat of Ambedkarnagar, it was BJP's first win since 1991. This was a seat whose responsibility Adityanath had assumed and thus this win too has its own importance. The confidence from the byelection win showed in Adityanath's interaction as he pointedly referred to SP's reduced win margins in Sisamau seat in Kanpur Dehat and Karhal assembly segment of Mainpuri since the 2022 UP polls when SP had won both the seats. “If you look, in Sisamau the SP's win margin was around 8000 votes, markedly less than 12000 vote win in 2022 while in Karhal seat the SP won by 67000 odd votes in 2022, the victory margin was 14000 odd votes. Next time as Keshav ji (deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya) said, we will win Karhal too,” Adityanath said. The reference to Karhal was important as it is a SP bastion from where SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had won. The BJP had put up Akhilesh's relative Anujesh Yadav in the bypolls and was successful in reducing the victory margin of Akhilesh's nephew Tej Pratap by making it a ‘Yadav vs Yadav' election. However the fact that in almost all the seats it was a straight BJP vs SP contest meant that SP will continue to dominate the opposition space in Uttar Pradesh. More so, as in the absence of Congress and a lacklustre BSP campaign, this election was reduced to a virtual bipolar contest. While Adityanath has stressed on ‘batenge toh katenge and ek rahenge toh safe rahenge', SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's first post-result assertion to cadre ‘judenge toh jeetenge (united we win)' only meant that in the run up to 2027 UP polls, both sides would hold on to their respective strategies. “The BJP knew it was losing all nine seats, that is why all the official machinery was deployed to win the polls any which way. The force had orders to prevent Muslims from casting their vote,” SP chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged. The BJP also retained Khair, Phulpur, Ghaziabad and Majhawan seats. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

The 2008 global economic crisis was not only economically disruptive but also affected the socio-economic and political dynamics of the world. In fact, this crisis paved the way for many Global South countries to emerge as new economic powerhouses on the world stage. According to various projections, by 2030, three out of the four largest economies in the world will be from the Global South, including China, India, and Indonesia. While China’s miraculous journey to becoming an economic powerhouse is well-known, the stories of India and Indonesia hold greater relevance for Pakistan and its society. India’s GDP in 2014 was $2.03 trillion, with a per capita GDP of $1,487. Pakistan’s GDP, by comparison, was approximately $271.39 billion, with a per capita GDP of $1,303. At that time, Pakistan was only marginally behind India in terms of per capita GDP. Indonesia’s economy stood at around $870 billion, with a per capita GDP of $3,533. By 2024, however, the growth rates and GDP figures tell a different story. For India and Indonesia, the progress has been encouraging; for Pakistan, it has been disappointing. China to cut import tariffs on some recycled copper and aluminium raw materials Between 2014 and 2024, India’s GDP doubled, currently hovering around $3.6 trillion. The gap in per capita GDP between Pakistan and India, which was roughly $100 in 2014, has now widened to $1,000. India’s per capita GDP is now approximately $2,600, while Pakistan’s has only inched up to $1,600. Indonesia also witnessed significant growth, with its GDP increasing from $870 billion to $1.3 trillion. Its per capita GDP has risen by $1,200, currently standing at about $4,600. Economists and scholars of international relations often view political stability as directly linked to economic development, and the political and economic trajectories of Pakistan, India, and Indonesia provide empirical evidence of this. Following the 2013 and 2014 election cycles, Nawaz Sharif became Prime Minister of Pakistan, Narendra Modi was elected Prime Minister of India, and Joko Widodo was chosen as President of Indonesia. By 2024, Modi and Widodo have served their countries uninterruptedly for a decade, with Modi receiving a mandate to continue leading India until 2029. Pakistani food exporters return from Kuala Lumpur Pakistan, however, opted for a different path, characterised by political instability. Since 2014, the country has seen seven prime ministers come and go. This instability has had a profound impact on the country’s economic and developmental sectors. On average, Pakistan’s prime ministers have not had enough time to implement their visions for socio-economic development. The two major political parties, PML-N and PTI, attempted to introduce starkly different economic models during their short tenures, but the lack of continuity hindered meaningful progress. In contrast, Modi and Widodo had the political stability and time to introduce and implement their respective economic visions with vigour. For instance, India launched the Smart Cities Mission in June 2015, aiming to develop 100 smart cities across the country. As of July 2024, 7,202 out of 8,018 tendered projects have been completed, utilising ₹144,530 crores of the total tendered amount of ₹164,163 crores. Similarly, Indonesia initiated the “100 Smart Cities Movement” in 2017, aiming to develop 100 smart cities by 2045. By December 2024, Indonesia has developed 25 smart cities and continues to work towards its goal. PFC calls for urgent measures to save Murree forests from timber mafia, wildfires Many developing countries in the Global South have taken significant economic leaps over the past decade, increasing their economic, political, and strategic relevance in international relations. Pakistan, however, has lost an opportunity to establish itself in the global economic sphere during 2014–2024. That said, international relations is a long race, with opportunities arising at the completion of every lap. As a nation, Pakistan must now decide the course of the next decade (2024–2034). Will it strive to become a country with a thriving economy rooted in political stability, or will it continue playing the game of musical chairs? The choice is Pakistan’s to make. Dr Khurram Abbas The writer is a Director at the India Study Centre, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad. He tweets @itskhurramabbas Tags: lost decadeAmazon invests $4 billion in Anthropic, deepening its AI ties

A woman who snuck onto a Delta Air Lines flight from New York City to Paris earlier this week without a boarding pass was removed from a return flight Saturday after creating a disturbance prior to takeoff. CBS News has confirmed that the stowaway, whose name has not been released, created a disruption Saturday on Delta Flight No. 265, bound from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport. She was removed by French law enforcement, causing a delay of more than two hours before the flight's eventual departure. She will not be returned to the U.S. on Saturday and will remain in French custody for the time being, CBS News learned. French authorities had escorted her to the plane but were not traveling with her. She became disruptive while on board and police were called to remove her. The situation initially unfolded Tuesday, when the woman boarded Delta Flight No. 265 from JFK Airport to Paris without a boarding pass. The flight was not sold out, and she was discovered when a flight attendant became concerned that the woman was making frequent and lengthy visits to various lavatories aboard the Boeing 767-400ER, according to a source familiar with the incident. French police came aboard the plane after it landed and took her into custody. The French Ministry of the Interior only identified her as a Russian national. Passenger Rob Jackson, who shot video of French authorities coming onto the plane after it landed in Paris, told CBS News he noticed the flight attendants behaving oddly as the flight was descending. "I heard them saying, like, we have a passenger who we think was hiding in the lavatory during takeoff," Jackson said. "She does not have a seat. She did not have a boarding pass. And basically, she's a stowaway." A Transportation Security Administration source told CBS News that the woman went through an advanced imaging technology body scanner at a checkpoint in JFK Airport after somehow appearing to evade the document and ID check portion of the TSA process. Her bags were also scanned for prohibited items before she went to the gate and snuck onto the flight, the source said. A TSA spokesperson confirmed in a statement that the woman "without a boarding pass was physically screened without any prohibited items" and then "bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded the aircraft." After getting through TSA security, it's unclear how exactly the woman boarded the plane without showing a boarding pass or passport to Delta staff. French law enforcement and the TSA are separately investigating. The woman could be subject to a civil penalty or fine for bypassing the document check process. Paris John F. Kennedy International Airport Delta Air Lines Emmy Award-winning journalist Kris Van Cleave is the senior transportation correspondent for CBS News based in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also serves as a national correspondent reporting for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms.

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