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I know Stan asked not to post about Gays, But I hope this is an exception. Pastor Saša Gunjević First Adventist Pastor to Maintain Credentials After Coming Out https://atoday.org/pastor-sasa-gunjevic-first-adventist-pastor-to-maintain-credentials-after-coming-out/

This is not journalism.

No, this is China propaganda. Around the buildings are netting. The law requires it to be fire-resistant netting. One building was. The one the inspector checked. The others were petrochemical plastic. Very flammable. This kind of corruption is common there. Also, the windows were covered in styrofoam, very toxic when burned. The fire alarms were turned off. Hundreds are missing. This is the worst fire in the history of Hong Kong.

2 National Guard members shot in an ambush attack just blocks from the White House WASHINGTON (AP) — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday afternoon just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence that the mayor described as a targeted attack. https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-shooting-dc-c5785dd8920d2d1ac7d71fab769faf5f?

RFK Jr.’s CDC Gives Top Job to Doctor Who Slammed Vaccines Critics have blasted Dr. Ralph Abraham for pushing bogus treatments during the pandemic and halting Louisiana’s vaccination campaign. One of the nation’s foremost authorities on vaccines has just appointed a notorious vaccine skeptic as its second-in-command. Dr. Ralph Lee Abraham’s new role as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s deputy director comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., himself no stranger to controversial and debunked claims about the perceived dangers of vaccines, continues his rampage across the healthcare sector. Neither Kennedy’s department nor the CDC announced Abraham’s appointment, The New York Times reports, and agency staff were apparently largely unaware of the posting. A former Louisiana congressman, Abraham later served as the state’s surgeon general, during which time he halted Louisiana’s mass vaccination campaign on the basis that “whether or not a vaccine is right for a specific person [is a conversation] best had with the individual’s healthcare provider.” The Louisiana health department also waited more than two months under Abraham’s leadership before alerting residents to an outbreak of whooping cough, despite such outbreaks generally being reported almost immediately. Abraham’s views on medicine have aligned with Kennedy in other ways. During the pandemic, he backed hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, drugs used to treat malaria and parasitic infections, respectively, as treatments for COVID-19 despite evidence showing both are ineffective at combating the disease. He also described health policies implemented during the crisis as “tyrannical” and “woefully out of touch with reality.” Speaking with the NYT, Abraham’s predecessor at the CDC, Dr. Nirav Shah, said his “jaw hit the ground” when he learned of the new appointment, given he believes Abraham to be wholly “unqualified” for the position. The posting comes as Kennedy continues to publicly spar with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who is a doctor and chair of the Senate’s health committee. Cassidy was a key vote in securing Kennedy’s nomination, which he gave after Kennedy agreed that he would not order the CDC to abandon its official position that vaccines do not cause autism. Kennedy has now only technically kept that pledge, after adding an addendum to the agency’s website saying its position on the matter is displayed “due to an agreement” with Cassidy. While Cassidy has since blasted Kennedy for the “irresponsible stunt,” he would appear to have met news of Abraham’s appointment with wary enthusiasm. “I am hopeful that the two of us as doctors can continue to engage in science-based conversations to protect children, including vaccinating children to prevent measles, whooping cough, and hepatitis,” Cassidy said in a statement Tuesday. The Daily Beast has reached out to HSS and CDC for comment on this story. https://www.thedailybeast.com/robert-f-kennedy-jrs-centers-for-disease-control-gives-top-job-to-vaccine-skeptic-dr-ralph-abraham/?

Republican Senator Trashes Trump’s ‘Flat-Out Wrong’ Vengeance Crusade Lisa Murkowski speaks out against Pentagon probe into Democratic lawmaker wildly accused of “sedition.” Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski has condemned the Trump administration’s investigation into Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly for posting a video urging troops to “refuse illegal orders.” Sen. Murkowski lashed out at the “flat-out wrong” investigation the Pentagon launched into Kelly, which could see the former Navy commander and astronaut recalled to active duty so he can be court-martialed over the “serious allegations” of misconduct. Kelly was one of six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video on social media reminding active-duty military members that they can defy orders if they “violate the law or our Constitution.” Trump ramped up a MAGA backlash by posting on Truth Social that Kelly and the other Democrats’ actions were “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” The president also reshared a post from a supporter last week reading, “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!” Murkowski, 68, a moderate GOP senator who frequently opposes President Donald Trump, has now defended Kelly and suggested that the Department of Defense and FBI “surely have more important priorities than this frivolous investigation.” “Senator Kelly valiantly served our country as an aviator in the U.S. Navy before later completing four space shuttle missions as a NASA astronaut,” Murkowski posted on X. “To accuse him and other lawmakers of treason and sedition for rightfully pointing out that servicemembers can refuse illegal orders is reckless and flat-out wrong.” Republican Utah Sen. John Curtis also came to Kelly’s defense, though without directly attacking the Pentagon probe. “As a colleague, I respect Mark Kelly and value his friendship. I know him as someone whose career has been defined by service,” Curtis posted. “His record as a combat naval aviator and NASA astronaut reflects his example of the discipline and dedication that are important for success.” Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon, a retired military officer, backed Kelly over Hegseth, who he said was presiding over “amateur hour once again at the Department of Dense.” The other five Democrats said that the FBI has launched an investigation into them over the video. Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin accused the probe of being the latest example of the president using federal agencies to carry out a revenge tour against his adversaries. “The President directing the FBI to target us is exactly why we made this video in the first place. He believes in weaponizing the federal government against his perceived enemies and does not believe laws apply to him or his Cabinet,” Slotkin wrote on social media. “He uses legal harassment as an intimidation tactic to scare people out of speaking up.” In a joint statement, Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Houlahan added, “No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has labeled the Democrats the “Seditious Six,” calling their actions “despicable, reckless, and false.” Hegseth, a former Fox News host, added that Kelly is the only one of the six who falls under the Defense Department’s jurisdiction and will be “addressed appropriately.” During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kelly dismissed the investigation into him as “ridiculous,” while calling Hegseth “unqualified” to lead the Pentagon. “He just wants to please the president, and this is what he can do this week,” Kelly said. “You can’t make this s--t up.” The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-sen-lisa-murkowski-trashes-trumps-flat-out-wrong-vengeance-crusade/?

Trump, 79, Has Baffling Plan to Rename the Republican Party After Himself The president’s new nickname idea is not one of his best. Donald Trump has come up with a new nickname for the Republican Party. He wants to name it after himself. “There is a new word for a TRUMP REPUBLICAN,” the 79-year-old boldly declared on Truth Social media Wednesday, before asking his followers what exactly the word ought to be. Scorning the low-hanging fruit of ‘Trumpublican,’ a suggestion so obvious even his son Don Jr. thought of it, the president mused: “It is, TEPUBLICAN??? Or, TPUBLICAN???” The last of these options would require MAGA supporters to master an impressive feat of pronunciation known to language experts as the “voiceless labial-alveolar plosive.” They say that to utter a “t” and “p” sound simultaneously, without any intervening vowels, those identifying as “Tpublicans” would need to press their lips together and place their tongue against the ridge behind their teeth. It requires blocking off the flow of air through the nose and pushing the breath forcefully outward, without activating the vocal chords. This is very hard to do. Perhaps accounting for why the “voiceless labial-alveolar plosive” is ordinarily only heard in the high mountains of the North Caucasus, certain parts of rural Ghana, and on a remote island off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Trump’s further assertion that “almost everyone” is a “TRUMP REPUBLICAN” comes as his nationwide approval rating hovers at about 38 percent, and as the embattled president struggles to retain full control of his party amid a confluence of simultaneous scandals and crises. Concern has also continued to mount over the state of Trump’s cognitive health amid frequent memory lapses, difficulty articulating his thoughts and sudden bursts of aggression some experts say could represent the early stages of dementia. https://www.thedailybeast.com/tepublican-or-tpublican-trump-79-has-baffling-plan-to-rename-the-republican-party-after-himself/? ps:How much more vane can he get?????

Georgia case against Trump dropped, ending efforts to punish president over 2020 election aftermath ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who took over the case said he would not pursue the charges, ending the last effort to punish the president in the courts for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. https://apnews.com/article/georgia-trump-election-indictment-fani-willis-b9000b28e65fc8ebe57f6f9cca5cc3ef? ps:Of course he did! That's why they got Willis of the case!!

Apple Reportedly Cuts Dozens of Jobs Across Its Sales Division Some laid-off workers claim the company is just trying to offload its sales responsibilities to third-party resellers, Bloomberg reports. https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-reportedly-cuts-dozens-of-jobs-across-its-sales-division? ps:The workers can claim whatever they want, but if you look back to when all these billionaires gave extortion money of a billion dollars to trump, you will see that those companies have laid off workers by the truck load!!

Trump shedding support among Latino voters, survey finds WASHINGTON — A majority of U.S. Latinos have grown pessimistic since the 2024 presidential election and increasingly disapprove of the immigration and economic policies of the second Trump administration, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/25/repub/trump-shedding-support-among-latino-voters-survey-finds/? Trans people and people of color have been quietly erased from national caregiving plan Three years after the release of the first comprehensive roadmap to address difficulties faced by family caregivers of older adults and people with disabilities, the Trump administration has quietly erased transgender caregivers and caregivers of color from a list of underserved or hard-to-reach populations, The 19th has exclusively learned. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/25/trans-people-and-people-of-color-have-been-quietly-erased-from-national-caregiving-plan/?

Smart & Safe Florida confident cannabis amendment will make 2026 ballot The latest effort to legalize marijuana in Florida encountered a legal setback but those behind a new amendment insist they still can qualify for the 2026 ballot. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/25/smart-safe-florida-confident-cannabis-amendment-will-make-2026-ballot/? Campbell’s says it uses ‘100% real chicken’ after AG Uthmeier moves to investigate A day after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said that his office is investigating allegations that the Campbell’s Soup Co. uses bioengineered meat in their soups, the company is strongly denying that claim. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/25/campbells-says-it-uses-100-real-chicken-following-ag-uthmeiers-move-to-investigate/? Florida judge’s ruling on marijuana petition signatures won’t be appealed TALLAHASSEE — The political committee behind a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational marijuana will not appeal a judge’s decision upholding state election officials’ invalidation of 200,000 petition signatures. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/25/florida-judges-ruling-on-marijuana-petition-signatures-wont-be-appealed/? Homeowner insurance cost hikes grind to near stop in September, latest data shows After a long run, home insurance price increases in Florida slowed to a near halt between August and September, raising the question: Now will prices go down? https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/26/homeowner-insurance-cost-hikes-grind-to-near-stop-for-homeowners-in-september-latest-data-shows/?

Judge: Private school accepted state vouchers for students 130 miles away A private school in Brooksville should be barred from access to state school vouchers after its operator admitted it wasn’t educating students the state paid it to teach, an administrative judge recommended Wednesday. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/25/judge-private-school-accepted-state-vouchers-for-students-130-miles-away/?

👋 Good morning! Happy almost Thanksgiving, everybody. There are hundreds of thousands of you reading this right now (which blows my mind). Thankful for each and every one of you! Programming note: We'll be off the rest of the week. See you back here bright and early Monday morning! In today's edition: Thanksgiving Weekend Watchlist, why the 12-team CFP feels broken, NBA power rankings, the Patriots are very much back, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ Boston lands Gray: The Red Sox have acquired three-time All-Star Sonny Gray in a trade with the Cardinals, sending two young pitchers to St. Louis for the 36-year-old right-hander with a career 3.58 ERA. 🏈 OK State hires Morris: Oklahoma State is hiring North Texas' Eric Morris as its next head coach. Morris, who's led the Mean Green (10-1) to a potential CFP berth, will be tasked with reviving a program that has gone 4-19 over the past two seasons. ⚽️ Final sets viewership record: The NWSL Championship between Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit drew 1.184 million viewers on CBS, making it the most-watched match in league history. 🏈 Canton semifinalists: Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald and Frank Gore are among the first-year eligible players moving on to the semifinal round of voting for the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of 2026. That group of 26 will next be cut to 15 finalists. ⚽️ Estêvão joins elite club: Chelsea's Estêvão, 18, scored in the Blues' 3-0 win over Barcelona, making him the third teenager ever to score in each of his first three Champions League starts. The other two? Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE THANKSGIVING WEEKEND WATCHLIST (Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 NFL, Week 13 The action begins with tomorrow's Thanksgiving Day tripleheader, followed by the third annual Black Friday game ahead of Sunday's slate. Thanksgiving: The Lions host the Packers (1pm ET, Fox) in an NFC North clash, the Cowboys host the Chiefs (4:30pm, CBS) in a matchup of playoff hopefuls, and the Ravens host the Bengals (8:20pm, NBC) in Joe Burrow's return. Black Friday: The 8-3 Eagles, who should probably reexamine how they're using Saquon Barkley, host the 8-3 Bears (3pm, Prime), who have already matched their best win total since 2018. Sunday: 49ers at Browns (1pm, CBS); Jaguars at Titans (1pm, CBS); Texans at Colts (1pm, CBS); Saints at Dolphins (1pm, Fox); Falcons at Jets (1pm, Fox); Cardinals at Buccaneers (1pm, Fox); Rams at Panthers (1pm, Fox); Vikings at Seahawks (4pm, Fox); Bills at Steelers (4:25pm, CBS); Raiders at Chargers (4:25pm, CBS); Broncos at Commanders (8:20pm, NBC) 🏈 Rivalry Week Some of the best college football games of the year are, appropriately, saved for the final week of the regular season as bitter rivals take the field with conference championship and playoff spots on the line. Ranked matchups: No. 4 Georgia at No. 23 Georgia Tech* (Fri. 3:30pm, ABC); No. 3 Texas A&M at No. 16 Texas (Fri. 7:30pm, ABC); No. 25 Arizona at No. 20 Arizona State (Fri. 9pm, Fox); No. 1 Ohio State at No. 15 Michigan* (Sat. 12pm, Fox); No. 12 Miami at No. 22 Pitt (Sat. 12pm, ABC); No. 14 Vanderbilt at No. 19 Tennessee (Sat. 3:30pm, ESPN) Best of the rest: No. 7 Ole Miss at Mississippi State (Fri. 12pm, ABC); No. 10 Alabama at Auburn* (Sat. 7:30pm, ABC); No. 6 Oregon at Washington (Sat. 3:30pm, CBS); LSU at No. 8 Oklahoma (Sat. 3:30pm, ABC) *Going streaking: Georgia has won seven straight against Georgia Tech in their "Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate" rivalry; Michigan has beaten Ohio State in four straight editions of "The Game"; Alabama has beaten Auburn in five straight Iron Bowls. ⚽️ MLS Conference Finals The Final Four kicks off on Saturday evening, with third-seeded Inter Miami hosting fifth-seeded NYC FC (6pm, Apple) and top-seeded San Diego hosting second-seeded Vancouver (9pm, Apple). 🏀 Feast Week College basketball's answer to Rivalry Week is loaded with neutral-site tournaments in Las Vegas, Maui, the Bahamas and other locations. Here are the week's best games: Men: No. 14 St. John's vs. No. 21 Auburn (Wed. 8pm, truTV); No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 12 Gonzaga (Wed. 9:30pm, TNT); No. 10 Florida vs. TCU (Thu. 3pm, FS1); No. 11 Michigan State vs. No. 16 UNC (Thu. 4:30pm, Fox); No. 9 BYU vs. Miami (Thu. 5pm, ESPN); No. 4 Duke vs. No. 22 Arkansas (Thu. 8pm, CBS); No. 5 UConn vs. No. 13 Illinois (Fri. 12:30pm, Fox) Women: No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 4 Texas (Wed. 2pm, truTV); No. 2 South Carolina vs. Duke (Wed. 4pm, truTV); No. 7 Maryland vs. No. 16 Kentucky (Wed. 5:30pm, FloHoops); No. 1 UConn at Xavier (Sun. 2:30pm, FS1); No. 14 Tennessee at No. 3 UCLA (Sun. 4:30pm, FS1) ⚽️ NCAA Championships The NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament has reached the Sweet 16 and the women's tourney has reached the Elite Eight, with all games streaming on ESPN+. Men: No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 UConn (Sat. 1pm); No. 7 Georgetown vs. No. 10 High Point (Sat. 5pm); No. 8 Portland vs. Grand Canyon (Sat. 10pm); No. 16 Furman vs. Hofstra (Sun. 1pm); No. 14 Akron vs. Duke (Sun. 4pm); No. 11 Bryant vs. Saint Louis (Sun. 6pm); No. 15 NC State vs. UNCG (Sun. 6pm); No. 12 Stanford vs. Washington (Sun. 8pm) Women: No. 2 Duke vs. No. 4 Washington (Fri. 4pm); No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 2 Michigan State (Fri. 5pm); No. 3 FSU vs. Ohio State (Fri. 5pm); No. 1 Vanderbilt vs. No. 2 TCU (Sat. 7:30pm) 🏀 NBA Cup The in-season tournament's group stage action concludes this week, with nine games today and 11 on Friday. That includes a tripleheader tonight on ESPN: Pistons at Celtics (5pm), Timberwolves at Thunder (7:30pm) and Rockets at Warriors (10pm). More to watch: ⚽️ Premier League: Chelsea vs. Arsenal (Sun. 11:30am, USA) … The first-place Gunners visit the second-place Blues. 🏒 NHL: Lightning at Rangers (Sat. 2pm, NHL); Capitals at Islanders (Sun. 1pm, NHL) … Tampa Bay has won four straight games to climb to the top of the Atlantic. 🏎️ F1: Qatar Grand Prix (Sun. 11am, ESPN2) … The penultimate race of the season. ⚽️ Friendly: USWNT vs. Italy (Fri. 7pm, TNT) … In Orlando. ⚽️ Champions League: PSG vs. Tottenham (Wed. 3pm, Paramount+); Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich (Wed. 3pm, Paramount+) … Two of nine games to close out Matchday 5. 🏒 PWHL: Minnesota at Seattle (Fri. 4pm, YouTube); Vancouver at New York (Sat. 12pm, YouTube); Boston at Toronto (Sat. 2pm, YouTube)   🏈 12-TEAM PLAYOFF WHY THE CFP FORMAT FEELS BROKEN The latest CFP rankings, released Tuesday. (Davis Long/Yahoo Sports) The current College Football Playoff model was designed before the last round of realignment, which has created some problems in the new "Power 4" world. One big one to emerge this season? The 12-team playoff is really a 10-team playoff. From Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken: When this format was first publicized as a concept in the spring of 2021, there were still five somewhat balanced power conferences. Texas and Oklahoma hadn't announced their departure for the SEC. The Pac-12 still existed (in a respectable form). UCF, Houston, SMU and Cincinnati were in the American. The ACC had won three of the previous eight national championships. It was a completely different world. As a result, it made sense to incentivize conference championships. But the original idea of giving automatic bids to the six highest-ranked conference champions (five now, after the Pac-12 exodus) has revealed an unintended consequence. This year, the Group of Five representative will probably be a team ranked in the 20s — whether it's Tulane, North Texas, Navy or perhaps James Madison out of the Sun Belt. Meanwhile, the ACC champion is likely to emerge from Virginia, Pittsburgh or SMU — none of which are going to finish in the top 12 of the rankings. That means two spots out of 12 will go to teams that wouldn't qualify if the playoff was simply chosen by ranking. That's too many. It weakens the first-round matchups and inherently excludes teams ranked Nos. 11 and 12 whose résumés look nearly identical to Nos. 8, 9 and 10. Again, just consider that 6-5 Duke is still technically alive for the ACC title. Imagine a world where the 8-5 ACC champion Blue Devils get into the playoff while 10-2 Miami — the highest-ranked ACC team — gets left out. Not to mention bubble teams like BYU, Utah and Vanderbilt, all of which had much better seasons and would be more likely to compete in a playoff game. Yes, in that scenario Duke would be the champion of a power conference, but only because unbalanced schedules and quirky tiebreakers got it to the ACC title game in the first place. Keep reading: The CFP has several problems (especially this season), but there's no quick fix   🏀 1-30 NBA POWER RANKINGS (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) The Thunder sit atop our NBA power rankings one month into the season, which is hardly a surprising place for the red-hot defending champs to land. But the rest of the top 10, courtesy of Ben Rohrbach, is peppered with unexpected entrants. Top 10: Thunder (17-1): Last year, OKC broke the single-season record for point differential (+12.87) en route to the title. This year, they're at +16.94. Pistons (15-2): Detroit has won a franchise record-tying 13 straight games and already eclipsed their win total from just two seasons ago (14-68). Nuggets (13-4): Another year, another masterpiece from three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, who is again averaging a 30-point triple-double on a league-high 72.9% true shooting percentage. Rockets (11-4): Their +11.2 scoring differential trails only the Thunder as Alperen Şengün continues his ascent to stardom and Kevin Durant continues being, well, Kevin Durant. Lakers (13-4): The good: They started 10-4 with Luka Dončić playing like an MVP and Austin Reaves leveling up in a big way. The better: They've since added literally LeBron James to the mix and are 3-0 since his return. Cavaliers (12-7): Donovan Mitchell leads the way, but it may be time to learn the name Nae'Qwan Tomlin. "I can't take him off the floor," head coach Kenny Atkinson said of the undrafted sparkplug who's playing on a two-way contract. Suns (11-7): How has Phoenix moved past its misbegotten "Big Three" era? By embracing a new identity fueled by full-court pressure and a roster that's better than the sum of its parts, rather than vice versa. Spurs (11-5): Victor Wembanyama's supernova start was halted due to injury, but San Antonio is holding down the Alamo in his absence, jelling quickly despite "playing lineups that we hadn't even gone through training camp with." Raptors (13-5): Something special is happening in the Six, where Toronto has won eight straight games and 12 of 13 after finishing well under .500 in each of the last two seasons. Heat (12-6): In a season where teams are playing at their fastest pace since the 1980's, no team is playing faster than the Heat.   🏈 DYNASTY REBORN THE PATRIOTS ARE VERY MUCH BACK Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel. (Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) Be afraid, America. After a brief hiatus, the Patriots are right back in the Super Bowl conversation. From Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee: In "The Usual Suspects," the stone-cold-classic 1995 crime thriller, the bad guys seem pretty obvious — blindingly so, really, loud and in your face and claiming all of your attention every time they're onscreen. But the real villain is lurking right there in plain sight, an apparently broken wretch who's been pulling the strings all along without anyone noticing. Why do I lead an NFL column with a reference to a 30-year-old movie about a villain hiding in plain sight? Oh, I don't know … have you checked the AFC East standings lately? The New England Patriots are back, friends. Winners of nine straight, led by an old-school lead-with-the-forehead head coach, quarterbacked by the best signal-caller to join the NFL since the pandemic, held together by one of the top scoring defenses in the league, the Patriots are now officially a legitimate capital-P Problem for the rest of the league. Again. You can understand why the NFL universe might be troubled by this development. After Tom Brady left the Greater Boston area for Florida and Bill Belichick decided to go re-enact the plot of Old School, the NFL thought it was done with the Pats for a decade or so. The Chiefs took up the "new dynasty" mantle, and everyone safely relegated the Pats to the six-win bin along with the Jets and Titans. Nightmares are never as scary in the daylight, and the Patriots' two-decade run through the NFL faded into memory. Until this season.   🏒 ON THIS DAY NHL TRIVIA NHL picture day circa 1920. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images) 108 years ago today (Nov. 26, 1917), the NHL was officially formed in Montreal and began play later that year with four teams. Question: Which of the following teams was NOT among those four? Montreal Canadiens Montreal Wanderers Ottawa Senators Toronto Hockey Club Vancouver Maroons Answer at the bottom.   ⚽️ FIFA WORLD CUP WHO WILL U.S. FACE IN '26 OPENER? (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) The USMNT will not learn its 2026 World Cup opponents until next Friday's draw in Washington, D.C. But on Tuesday, the Americans (No. 14 in the world) found out their June 12 opener at SoFi Stadium will be against one of the following countries: 🇳🇴 Norway (29) 🇪🇬 Egypt (34) 🇩🇿 Algeria (35) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland (36) 🇵🇾 Paraguay (39) 🇹🇳 Tunisia (40) 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast (42) 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan (50) 🇶🇦 Qatar (51) 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia (60) 🇿🇦 South Africa (61) That opening match is just 198 days away. Start the countdown clock!   Trivia answer: Vancouver Maroons

Trump Gives Jaw-Dropping Defense for Envoy Busted Aiding Putin The president was unfazed by his special envoy coaching the Russians. President Donald Trump thinks his special envoy coaching a henchman of Russia’s Vladimir Putin is “standard” practice. Trump brushed off a Bloomberg bombshell detailing Steve Witkoff’s chummy five-minute phone call with Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy aide, in October. The American official taught the Russians how to get into Trump’s good graces before they uncork the touchy topic of a Russia-Ukraine peace plan “That’s a standard thing, you know, because he’s got to sell this to Ukraine, he’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia,” Trump, 79, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. “That’s what a dealmaker does. You got to say, ‘Look, they want this. You’ve got to convince him of this.’ You know, that’s a very standard form of negotiation.” “I haven’t heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation, and I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take,” he went on. According to a transcript of the phone call, Witkoff had several pieces of advice for the Russians. “I would make the call and just reiterate that you congratulate the president on this achievement, that you supported it, you supported it, that you respect that he is a man of peace, and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen,” he said. “So I would say that. I think from that, it’s going to be a really good call.” Ushakov replied: “OK, OK, my friend. I think that very point our leaders could discuss. Hey Steve, I agree with you that he will congratulate, he will say that Mr. Trump is a real peace man and so and so. That he will say.” It’s a strategy that Witkoff himself has employed in the past. During a televised Cabinet meeting in August, the special envoy talked up Trump as the “single finest candidate” to ever seek the Nobel Peace Prize, which eluded the U.S. president this year despite his aggressive lobbying. “Your success is game-changing, out in the world today, and I hope everybody wakes up one day and realizes that,” Witkoff said, as the room broke out into applause. Witkoff’s advice didn’t stop at praise for Trump. The envoy also laid down a script for Putin when it comes to peace talks. “Maybe he says to President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri discussed a very similar 20-point plan to peace and that could be something that we think might move the needle a little bit, we’re open to those sorts of things—to explore what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done,” he told Ushakov. “Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere,” he went on. “But I’m saying instead of talking like that, let’s talk more hopefully because I think we’re going to get to a deal here. And I think Yuri, the president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal.” Just before the two officials hopped off the call, Witkoff advised Ushakov that it would be best if Putin spoke to Trump ahead of the White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. That meeting ended in yet another fiery shouting match behind closed doors, according to the Financial Times. “OK, OK. I got your advice,” Ushakov responded. “So I discuss that with my boss and then I come back to you, ok?” Two weeks later, Ushakov got back on the phone. This time it was with Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s economic adviser, who has emerged as a key player in efforts to shape a peace deal with Ukraine. A second transcript reported by Bloomberg showed the two Russian officials discussing how to move forward after the call with Witkoff. “I think we’ll just make this paper from our position, and I’ll informally pass it along, making it clear that it’s all informal. And let them do like their own. But, I don’t think they’ll take exactly our version, but at least it’ll be as close to it as possible,” Dmitriev said. “They might twist it later, that’s all. There is that risk. There is,” Ushakov replied. “Well, alright, never mind. We’ll see.” It turned out Ushakov had no reason to worry. When Trump released the latest iteration of his peace proposal, U.S. lawmakers blasted it as a “wish list” drawn up by the Kremlin. The proposal would see Ukraine ceding its occupied territories to the Russians, halve the size of its military, and rule out future NATO membership—all of which were demands Putin had been making since 2022. The fierce backlash to the proposed peace plan forced Trump to back away. “Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine??? Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. “GOD BLESS AMERICA!” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-gives-jaw-dropping-defense-for-envoy-busted-aiding-putin/? ps:Putin doesn't need anyone coaching him! These were his plans!!

Karoline Leavitt’s Family Member Captured by ICE Goons America’s brutal immigration raids just got personal for Trump’s press secretary. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been personally linked to the brutal ICE raids sweeping America. Her 11-year-old nephew’s mother, Bruna Ferreira, is now in custody at an ICE facility at Louisiana, facing deportation to Brazil. Ferreira is the former fiancée of Michael Leavitt, the press secretary’s New Hampshire-based brother. They had a son whom they raised together before they split. Ferreira’s sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to fight the ICE charges and allow Bruna to remain in Boston. It has now raised over $14,000 of a $30,000 target. A source familiar with the matter told the Daily Beast that, “This individual is the mother of Karoline’s nephew and they have not spoken in many years. The child has lived full-time in New Hampshire with his father since he was born. He has never resided with his mother.” The Daily Beast has reached out for additional information on discrepancies in the couple’s living arrangements after a 2014 article on Leavitt winning $1 million referenced an engagement to Ferreira. The couple was living together with their son, who was 8 months old, according to the report. The family is also pictured together. A DHS spokesperson told the Daily Beast that Ferreira was “a criminal illegal alien from Brazil” who is currently at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and is in removal proceedings. “She has a previous arrest for battery. She entered the U.S. on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the U.S. by June 6, 1999,” the spokesperson said. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.” WBUR could not find details of battery charges against Bruna Ferreira in Massachusetts’ online court records. The Daily Beast has contacted the DHS for comment. The station could also not confirm whether the son had only lived with his father after the couple separated, but a family member said the split occurred around 10 years ago. “I need the lights fixed on the back of my car,” Ferreira told The North Andover Eagle-Tribune at the time. “And we need a lamp for my son’s room. Other than that we don’t really need much. We have our health. We have a nice condo. We really are blessed.” In a statement to WBUR, Michael Leavitt said, “My only concern has always been the safety, wellbeing, and privacy of my son.” The Daily Beast has contacted Michael Leavitt for comment. The press secretary’s brother appears to have met the president earlier this year. A photo posted to his Facebook page on April 28 shows him alongside Trump in the Oval Office. Leavitt posted the photo with a “Go America” caption. Comments on the post include, “What a special day for the Leavitt family,” and “Your sister is an inspiration.” Leavitt has also married a new partner, Kara. She posted a photo in October last year with the caption, “Forever wedding date.” On the GoFundMe page, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues says her sister is “now fighting to stay in the country she has called home for nearly her entire life.” Rodrigues says Bruna entered the U.S. with their parents in December 1998 on a visa, and that she has maintained her legal status through a program for people who entered the country as children called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. “Since then, she has done everything in her power to build a stable, honest life here... followed every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing.” She added, “Bruna’s absence has been especially painful for her 11-year-old son... who needs his mother and hopes every single day that she’ll be home in time for the holidays.” Rodrigues said the campaign would cover the costs “to give Bruna the best possible chance to return home to her family,” and added, “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support, your prayers, and your kindness during this incredibly painful time.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/karoline-leavitts-family-member-captured-by-ice-goons/?

Baby formula recall At least 31 infants in the US have developed botulism after consuming powdered formula from the company ByHeart. Investigators are racing to determine the cause of the outbreak, which has affected infants in multiple regions of the country, the FDA said. One affected family told CNN how they discovered their baby girl had been sickened by the formula, which was poisoning her nerves and gradually paralyzing her. Health experts warn the number of illnesses in this outbreak could rise as officials reopen investigations into cases of infant botulism from earlier in the year.

Hong Kong fire At least four people were killed in a raging fire at a Hong Kong housing complex today, authorities said. Police received multiple reports of people trapped in high-rise buildings, prompting urgent rescue operations. The fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread on bamboo scaffolding that had been set up around the exterior of the complex in the city's Tai Po district. Tai Po is a suburban area in the northern part of Hong Kong in the New Territories and near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen. The cause of the blaze remains unknown. (Tommy Wang/AFP/Getty Images)

Ukraine peace talks President Donald Trump says negotiators are making progress to end the war in Ukraine after several days of talks with European leaders. A "consensus" had been reached on most points, a source told CNN, but there are at least three crucial areas where differences remain. Notably, the source said that no decision had yet been reached on the sensitive issue of whether Ukraine will surrender territory that has been annexed but not yet conquered by Russia. President Trump said the next step will be sending his special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump's Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will also meet with the Ukrainians in the coming days.

Thanksgiving forecast A potent winter storm could impact travel across much of the northern US just as millions hit the roads and skies for Thanksgiving. A cold plunge is already gripping the Upper Midwest and northern Great Lakes, accompanied by strong winds. Winter storm and blizzard warnings are in effect for more than 5 million people in the region, including Minneapolis-St. Paul. While this cold blast isn't the season's most extreme, it marks a sharp change from the sweater weather much of the country has enjoyed heading into the holiday week. Temperatures are also expected to run as much as 20 degrees below average for much of the central and eastern US by Thanksgiving.

Death of Florida teenager on Carnival cruise ship ruled a homicide The death of a Florida teenager on a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month has been ruled a homicide, the latest development in a case that has drawn international attention and sparked intense speculation on social media. https://apnews.com/article/miami-florida-carnival-cruise-ship-death-kepner-d5e655acb00e00a3ff7e7c5ba32e8842? Prosecutors will retry man in death of Etan Patz, whose 1979 disappearance spotlighted missing kids NEW YORK (AP) — A notorious 1979 missing-child case is headed to trial a third time after New York prosecutors vowed Tuesday to retry the man whose murder conviction was recently overturned in the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz. https://apnews.com/article/etan-patz-1979-missing-child-hernandez-retrial-d773b414acdac401a1ef55e2393e22ef?

Japan’s leader says Trump called her as dispute with China rumbles on Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who recently triggered China’s fury with a comment suggesting a Chinese move against Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response, said Tuesday that she received a call from President Donald Trump right after he spoke with China’s leader. Read more. What to know: Takaichi, a hard-line conservative, said Trump expressed his friendship to her in a call he made to her Tuesday after a phone conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “President Trump told me that he and I are extremely good friends and that I should call him any time,” Takaichi said. She did not say whether they discussed her Taiwan comment. Only weeks into the job, Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, infuriated China by suggesting Japan could respond militarily if China were to try to seize control of Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its rule. China responded with anger and by putting economic pressure on Japan. On Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Takaichi “crossed a red line.” He said China would “resolutely respond” to Japan’s actions and that all countries have the responsibility to “prevent the resurgence of Japanese militarism.” RELATED COVERAGE ➤ China’s pressure on Japan is a familiar tactic that could last for some time Taiwan puts $40 billion toward building a defense dome and buying US weapons WATCH: Japan’s tourism industry could face losses from China travel boycott

Pope Leo XIV visits Turkey and Lebanon on first foreign trip Pope Leo XIV is embarking on a pilgrimage to Turkey and Lebanon that would be delicate under any circumstances but is even more fraught given Mideast tensions and the media glare that will document history’s first American pope on the road. Read more. What to know: Leo is fulfilling a trip the late Pope Francis planned to make, to mark an important anniversary with the Orthodox church in Turkey. In Lebanon, he’ll try to boost a long-suffering Christian community as well as Lebanese of all faiths who are still demanding justice over the 2020 Beirut port blast. The main impetus for traveling to Turkey, the first stop in the Nov. 27-Dec. 2 trip, is to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council. On Leo’s last day, Dec. 2, he will spend time in silent prayer at the site of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port blast. The explosion tore through the Lebanese capital, killing at least 218 people, wounding more than 6,000 and devastating large swaths of Beirut. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Pope says Thanksgiving is a ‘beautiful feast’ that unites all WATCH: Popemobile used by Pope Francis is transformed into Gaza mobile emergency health clinic

Trump’s Ukraine peace plan ignites diplomatic flurry but major hurdles lie ahead The Russia-Ukraine war has seen almost four years of failed peace plans, blueprints and high-level summits. A new U.S. push to end the fighting has set off the latest flurry of diplomacy. Read more. What to know: Tilted heavily toward Russia’s aims, the U.S.-backed proposal presented to Ukraine last week set off alarm bells in Kyiv and other European capitals. Ukraine and its allies offered a set of counterproposals that revamped the plan’s points. Ukrainian and European leaders expressed optimism about the talks’ momentum, but awaited responses from Washington and Moscow that are crucial. “I think we’re getting very close to a deal,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday. He said the proposals had been “fine-tuned” and announced he was sending his envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next week. U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met Russian and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, but Putin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, said the new peace plan was not discussed in detail. The fragility of the process was underscored by a leaked transcript of a call in which Witkoff appeared to coach Ushakov on how to win Trump’s support for a peace plan. Moscow denied leaking the conversation, details of which were first published by Bloomberg News. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Report: US envoy coached Putin aide on how Russian leader should pitch Trump on Ukraine peace plan US Army secretary takes unlikely role as key negotiator in push to end Russia-Ukraine war Judge gives Justice Department a day to detail Ghislaine Maxwell trial materials to be released Health care plan circulated by the White House runs into familiar GOP divisions X’s new feature raises questions about the foreign origins of some popular US political accounts Court official dismisses Justice Department’s misconduct complaint against a federal judge in DC DC Mayor Bowser announces she won’t seek fourth term, as Trump’s federal intervention continues FACT FOCUS: Trump gets it wrong claiming no murders in DC for the last six months Top US military officials are visiting Caribbean leaders as Trump weighs next steps Wisconsin Supreme Court says 3-judge panels must decide congressional redistricting cases Judge’s footnote on immigration agents using AI raises accuracy and privacy concerns Trump administration plan to review Biden-era refugees sparks worry and uncertainty Man charged in Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting dies in federal custody Judge sets $60K bond for Florida congresswoman accused of stealing $5M in COVID-19 funds Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, begins 27-year prison sentence Political consultant defies court order in lawsuit over AI robocalls that mimicked Biden