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Published 08:48 IST, December 30th 2024 Nottingham Forest manager gave a harsh reality check after his team went to second in the Premier League. In a big surprise to everyone, Nottingham Forest have made a massive climb in the English Premier League standings and are now sitting in second place behind league leaders Liverpool. Liverpool currently hold a steady lead in the Premier League table and Nottingham Forest sit right behind them and ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea. Now Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has given his brutal take on Nottingham being second in the league. EPL Table Having A Vintage Feel To It The Premier League table is starting to have a 1979 kind of feel to it — with Liverpool at the top of the standings and Nottingham Forest in second place as the closest challenger. Liverpool padded its lead with a 5-0 rout of West Ham on Sunday, while upstart Nottingham Forest climbed into second place by beating Everton 2-0 to continue its surprising push for a Champions League place. Read More: Conte Has Napoli Back Atop Serie A To End 2024 After Miserable Last Year Forest was runner-up behind Liverpool in the English top tier in 1979 – the same year it won the first of two straight European Cups under Brian Clough – but hasn’t finished that high in the domestic first division since then. Nottingham Forest Being In Second Might Not Last Very Long The club’s long-suffering fans finally have reason to believe that the good times are back under Nuno Espirito Santo. Although the Portuguese manager was the first to point out that his team may not stay in second place for very long. Read More: Man City Gets Win Over Leicester To Mark Guardiola's 500th Game As Coach “It doesn’t mean anything,” Nuno said of his team’s position. “We haven’t achieved anything yet.” Forest could find itself back in fourth place by Jan. 1 as it is only one point above Arsenal and two ahead of Chelsea, with both London clubs having a game in hand. (With AP Inputs) Updated 08:48 IST, December 30th 2024
Notre Dame vs. Army live updates: Latest score, predictions, odds and news from today’s college football game
The New Orleans Pelicans (5-27) are 6.5-point underdogs as they look to break a nine-game losing streak when they host the Los Angeles Clippers (18-13) on Monday, December 30, 2024 at Smoothie King Center. The game airs at 8:00 PM ET on Gulf Coast Sports and FDSSC. Place your bets on any NBA matchup at BetMGM. Sign up today using our link. Catch NBA action all season long on Fubo. Sign up for NBA League Pass to get access to games, live and on-demand, and more for the entire season and offseason. Put your picks to the test and bet on the Clippers with BetMGM Sportsbook. Looking for officially licensed NBA gear? Fanatics has jerseys, hats, apparel, memorabilia, trading cards, collectibles and more. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .
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King scores 19 as Northeastern takes down FGCU 59-55Winning 41 out of 58 seats his party contested, Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar has emerged as one of the biggest winners in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Not too long ago, during the Lok Sabha elections, Ajit Pawar's party managed to win just one seat out of the four it contested, as opposed to NCP Sharad Pawar which won eight out of 10. Many of Ajit Pawar's critics began writing his obituary and claiming that the NCP can't exist without Sharad Pawar. However, Ajit Pawar has proven all the critics wrong. At the time of writing the story, the party had won or was leading on 71 percent of the seats it contested. How did this turnaround come about, that too in just about five months? Central to the turnaround in Ajit Pawar's fortunes was the political consultancy handling his campaign - DesignBoxed, which has till now worked mostly with senior Congress leaders like DK Shivakumar, Ashok Gehlot, TS Singh Deo and a few Congress state units. The company's co-founder Naresh Arora had stationed himself in Maharashtra for the past four months and managed every aspect of Ajit Pawar's campaign. There are broadly six aspects to their intervention. ADVERTISEMENT REMOVE AD 1. Localised Campaign Following the Lok Sabha election success for the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the sentiment seemed to be in their favour. The NCP's strategists decided to localise the election as much as possible by focusing on the work done by local leaders. Despite its below par performance at the Lok Sabha level, Ajit Pawar's NCP had the advantage of having good leaders at the Assembly constituency level, such as Chhaggan Bhujbal in Yevla, Indranil Naik in Pusad, Hasan Mushrif in Kagal, Narhari Zirwal in Dindori, Manikrao Kokate in Sinnar to name a few. The NCPSP didn't have such a strong line-up and had to import leaders from other parties. "One of Ajit Pawar's strongest points is that he has always allowed local leaders to grow and become brands in their own right. This worked to the party's advantage," Arora said. Taking this approach forward, the team pushed for constituency-specific manifestoes that helped showcase the work done by MLAs and also provide a vision of what they plan to do. Making the campaign localised helped the NCP neutralise any state-wide anti-incumbency and also overcome the impact of caste divisions. 2. Change in Ajit Pawar's Image "It is well known that Ajit Pawar is an excellent administrator. But our challenge was to now make him a vote-getter," Arora disclosed. For the party and its strategists, this meant much more public interactions and media exposure than Ajit Pawar would do usually. "He is an excellent communicator and has good oratory in Marathi. These aspects hadn't gotten prominence for all these years because he was seen as the administrator and Sharad Pawar was the main vote getter," said Arora. The firm organised a Jan Sammaan Yatra as a massive public outreach programme in July-August, less than two months after the Lok Sabha defeat. The Yatra strengthened the NCP organisation greatly and helped restore confidence in the party. This is similar to the Yatra Designboxed helped organise for DK Shivakumar in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections. ADVERTISEMENT REMOVE AD 3. Pink Theme, Focus on Women There was also a clear effort to have visual consistency in the NCP's promotional material, whether on the ground or in the media and social media. The strategists chose a pink theme for Pawar's campaign - from the colour on creatives on social media to the stage at rallies, accessories given to party supporters and even the jackets and turbans worn by Ajit Pawar. The idea was to use a colour that stands out and appeals, in particular, to women voters. Culturally too, pink is one of the traditional colours for turbans in Maharashtra. This was part of an exercise to portray a softer, more accessible image for Ajit Pawar and project him as a "brother" for the women in the state. This also came on the heels of the Laadki Bahin scheme of the state government, that proved to be a political game-changer. Each of the alliance partners have claimed that Ladki Bahin as their idea. Ajit Pawar, being the finance minister, had disbursed funds for it. ADVERTISEMENT REMOVE AD 4. No Attacks on Sharad Pawar Surveys conducted by DesignBoxed revealed that there is a significant degree of sympathy for Sharad Pawar. Therefore, the strategy was to ensure that no personal attacks are made either by Ajit Pawar or any other NCP leader against Sharad Pawar. The policy was also followed to some extent towards Uddhav Thackeray and Manoj Jarange Patil. Basically, anything that took the attention away from governance issues and welfare measures was avoided. ADVERTISEMENT REMOVE AD 5. Differentiate NCP, While Maintaining Alliance Dharma NCP was in a peculiar position, being a secular party in a pro-Hindutva alliance. The hostility of sections of the BJP and Shiv Sena towards Ajit Pawar was also well known. The other challenge was that the NCP has a sizable base among Muslims and it ran the risk of alienating them due to the alliance with BJP-Sena. "Our priority was to ensure that NCP has its individual identity, while maintaining the coalition Dharma," Arora said, citing the contrarian stand taken by Ajit Pawar on the Waqf Bill and the Vishalgarh Fort communal standoff. Towards the end of the election campaign, when the BJP began raising the "Batenge toh Katenge" slogan, Ajit Pawar called it "unnecessary". ADVERTISEMENT REMOVE AD 6. Scaling Up According to Arora, key to the NCP's success was the scale at which they took their message to the voters. He says that their campaign reached 18 lakh households, that too in just the 58 constituencies they were contesting. For a non-cadre based party, this was no small achievement. Sources say, this is where the Sharad Pawar NCP underestimated the Ajit Pawar NCP. The former relied greatly on political management and caste equations rather than ensuring that their message reaches maximum people. (At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.) Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from elections Topics: NCP Ajit Pawar Maharashtra Elections
Spreading festive joy, the Prince of Wales delivered Christmas presents to youngsters and families at a Yuletide bash for the 1st Battalion Mercian Regiment in Wiltshire. Prince William, acting as colonel-in-chief, mixed with soldiers and their kin at Bulford Camp's Picton Barracks during a merry, jovial lunch. Greeted by the regimental mascot, 18-month-old Private Derby the ram and upon learning the Swaleside ram was the 33rd since 1858, he remarked: "I can see you are holding on tightly, he looks fantastic, very smart." When informed that the mascot was headed to spend the festive period among ewes, William quipped: "So he has quite a fun Christmas . Oh good luck to him." Inside the sergeants' mess, he mingled, cracking jokes with servicemen, women, and their kids across ten tables. Ten-year-old Karson Heighway presented the 42-year-old prince with a post-it doodle of William which led the Royal to humorously comment: "Is that me? " and "Looks like I have five nostrils." Impressed, William carefully folded the picture and tucked it into his pocket. The Mercian Regiment predominantly comprises individuals from the Midlands, and the event buzzed with football banter from fans of teams like Stoke, West Brom , Wolves, and Aston Villa. Prince William , who recently met with Donald Trump in Paris for the ceremonial reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral, confessed he'll be watching Villa's Champions League match against RB Leipzig from home. He admitted: "I was trying to get to the game but have got a lot of things going on." When quizzed about his Christmas plans with the Royal Family , he shared his anticipation for long walks with the family dog in Norfolk. He confessed: "Am I ready for Christmas? No, no way am I ready." However, he told another group that he was excited for a festive gathering with 45 family members "all in one room" but "normally spread out". Prince William asked five year old Alexander Fitzgerald about his Christmas wish list. His father, Sgt Lee Fitzgerald, 39, later revealed: "He said he wanted a Nintendo Switch and when they spoke about playing Mario Kart William said he was supposed to let your dad win sometimes." All military personnel and their families donned Christmas jumpers for the occasion. Ten-year-old Isobelle McNeil and her younger brother Hunter, 5, presented William with a Santa hat gift and a Christmas card addressed to George, Charlotte and Louis. Their mother, Fiona Dewar McNeil, shared: "William asked what Father Christmas was going to bring for him and Hunter said he was going to get a big Tyrannosaurus Rex. He said 'I hope all your dreams come true'." Seven-year-old Sanganoo Kejhan presented Prince William with a hand-crafted Christmas card. The prince was left chuckling by 14-year-old Dylan Potter, who confessed to wearing two Christmas jumpers. Recalling their conversation, Dylan said: "I asked what does a prince do for fun? He said he likes watching movies and hanging out with his children but because he is over 40 finds fun hard to come by." In casual chats with families, William shared that he and Kate have been enjoying Netflix , including 'Black Doves' featuring Kiera Knightly. Despite the festive occasion, William declined to wear a Santa hat or a Christmas jumper. Pointing at himself, he quipped: "Some people don't own one." When questioned about his lack of a jumper, he humorously blamed his new equerry Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds, saying: "I didn't know, you see that guy in the jacket, it's his fault and I will be having a word." To the families present, he expressed: "I hope you have a quiet Christmas." Towards the end of the event, he joked: "Ten tables, it's like I'm speed dating." A Fijian choir, composed of soldiers from the Mercian Regiment, serenaded him with a song.Elon Musk backs AfD party in German newspaper opinion piece
ALDI Ireland is bringing back school uniforms for the new year - and prices start at €1.65. With a chunk of the school year already over, some key pieces may be worse for wear. But don't worry, Aldi has everything you need to restock before school starts again. Aldi Ireland said: "Make stocking up on the school uniform essentials a breeze." The school uniform essentials are set to hit the stores from January 2. They are expected to be available for a week only across the country. The first item in the major range is the Boy's Polo Shirt 2 Pack for €1.65. The shirts are made from 100 per cent cotton, which features CmiA cotton, Okeo Text and Bionic finish, ensuring the quality lasts for a long time. It comes in two gorgeous colours: Blue and White. The shirts are available in sizes 4/5 to 11/12 years. Next up is the Boys Cargo Shorts for €1.65. The shorts feature an adjustable waist, permanent crease, and reinforced knees. The shorts are made from recycled polyester. They come in two colours: Grey and Black and are available in ages 3/5 to 11/12 years. They are also selling Pleated Skirt for €1.65. Aldi Ireland said: "Make sure their school uniform is sorted in time for the new school year with this Lily & Dan Black Pleated Skirt! "Made with Teflon Eco Elite® for extra durability, this crease-resistant skirt with permanent pleats is practical as well stylish." Available in Grey for ages 3/4 to 11/12 years. The range has Ankle Socks 5 Pack for €2.99 in black and grey. The socks are made from BCI cotton and features an antibacterial finish and Oeko Tex. They are available for 4/5.5 to 6/8. Lastly, they are selling Sustainable trainers for €8.99. The runners are made from recycled polyester and feature a memory foam, ensuring they are comfortable all day. They are available to purchase in pink or blue in sizes 4 to 10. The German discount supermarket chain came to Ireland in 1999. Aldi’s first few shops opened in November 1999, with locations in Sandyford, Dublin, and Ballincollig, Cork. By the mid-2000s, Aldi bosses had opened numerous stores, focusing on providing high-quality products at low prices. As the recession hit 2008-2012, Aldi's popularity grew as consumers became more price-conscious. The supermarket giant continued it’s expansion in Ireland between 2013-2018, while refurbishing existing stores. By 2018, Aldi had over 130 shops throughout the country. The chain began to focus on expanding its range of Irish-made products and supporting local producers. In 2023, Aldi had over 140 stores in Ireland. The store invested in sustainability initiatives, such as reducing plastic packaging and increasing the availability of organic and eco-friendly products. Aldi chiefs said: “At Aldi we are committed to supporting Irish suppliers. Developed in partnership with Bord Bia, Grow with Aldi is designed to help the very best Irish suppliers develop their brand. “To date, we’ve invested €10 million in our Grow with Aldi development programme in a bid to find the very best Irish suppliers. “As a result, for a limited time only there are over 47 new products, from 27 Irish suppliers available in store.” Aldi have introduced technological advancements with self-checkout systems and contactless payment options.DYK Hrithik Roshan jumped on Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan's car bonnet on Karan Arjun sets? Here's what happenedNew Canadians, non-traditional demographics boost minor hockey uptake in B.C.Cam Akers reached down in front of him to scoop a sinking pass from Sam Darnold, bringing it into his body as he tumbled backwards. As he did, two words ran through his mind: game over. Akers’ late catch, which came with less than two minutes left in the game on a third-and-2 pass, sealed a 27-25 win for the Vikings over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon in a game at U.S. Bank Stadium that got tight late. ADVERTISEMENT “I’m blessed,” Akers said. “On my journey from where I’ve come from, to be able to be in there, crunch time, fourth quarter, the coaches trust me, the team trusts me,” Akers said. “I’m blessed.” It’s been a long journey for the running back, who has dealt with two serious Achilles injuries in previous seasons. But Akers, now in his second stint with the Vikings, has rewarded the coaching staff for its faith in him. He also caught a 9-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter, one which ended up proving the difference in the win. His opportunities on Sunday came in part because Aaron Jones took a shot to the quad earlier in the game, which he played through before watching the end of the game from the sidelines. His last carry in the game came near the end of the third quarter. “Coach was like, ‘Hey, we’re going to hold you for a little bit,’ but I was good,” Jones said. “I kept warm just in case they needed me. Kept my helmet on.” They didn’t wind up needing him, thanks in large part to Akers. “Cam has something inside him that allowed him to push through the adversity of what’s happened to him over the course of his career,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “His teammates were probably the most excited all season when Cam scored on that screen and then obviously the catch late. He just brings something. He brings physicality. He brings a level of mental and physical toughness that I think makes us all better.” ADVERTISEMENT Darnold aired it out and found his receiver, on the run, open in the end zone. It wasn’t Justin Jefferson, nor Jordan Addison, but Jalen Nailor, who hauled in the 31-yard pass for the Vikings’ first touchdown of the game. “I just had a post route. I’ve seen the far safety. He wasn’t there,” Nailor said. “I just took off running as fast as I could and Sam found me.” Darnold found Nailor a season-high five times on Sunday. He finished the day with 81 yards, also a season-high, and his touchdown was his first in more than a month, with the last one coming in the Vikings’ Nov. 24 win over the Bears. “It just felt good to be out there, just help the team win,” Nailor said. “That’s all I’m trying to do.” Will Reichard’s first field goal attempt Sunday hit the crossbar. The rookie kicker missed a 55-yard attempt near the end of the first half, but a Green Bay penalty negated his miss and a subsequent Packers’ timeout took away a 50-yard make. He then connected from 50 yards to send the Vikings into halftime up 10. His last field goal attempt of the day went off the left upright from 43 yards. But despite a shaky day, O’Connell’s confidence in the 23-year-old, who also converted on a short kick in the second quarter, hasn’t wavered. ADVERTISEMENT “I just told him, ‘Hey, next one’s going to be the best one.’ My confidence in Will is sky high,” O’Connell said of Reichard. “If we think we’re anywhere near the range, I’m going to give him the swing. He’s a phenomenal kid, great makeup. The next kick’s going to be his best kick.” ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here .
The 26-year-old man charged in last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO appeared in a Pennsylvania courtroom Tuesday, where he was denied bail and his lawyer said he'd fight extradition to New York City, where the attack happened. Luigi Nicholas Mangione was arrested Monday in the Dec. 4 attack on Brian Thompson after police say a worker at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, alerted them to a customer who resembled the suspected gunman. When arrested, Mangione had on him a gun that investigators believe was used in the attack and writings expressing anger at corporate America, police said. As Mangione was led into the Hollidaysburg courthouse Tuesday, he struggled with officers and shouted something that was partly unintelligible but referred to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people.” He left hours later without saying anything and was driven away. Mangione is being held on Pennsylvania charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Manhattan prosecutors have charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. What's the latest? Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Mangione mostly stared straight ahead during the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair, or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion but was quieted by his lawyer. Judge David Consiglio denied bail to Mangione, whose attorney, Thomas Dickey, told the court that his client did not agree to extradition and wants a hearing on the matter. Blair County (Pennsylvania) District Attorney Peter Weeks said that although Mangione will create “extra hoops” for law enforcement to jump through by fighting extradition, it won’t be a substantial barrier to sending him to New York. What evidence has been gathered? In addition to a three-page, handwritten document that suggests he harbored “ill will toward corporate America,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Monday that Mangione also had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home and is difficult to trace. Officers questioned Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Officers also found a sound suppressor, or silencer, “consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” she said. He had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, the commissioner said. What do we know about Mangione? Mangione, who comes from a prominent Maryland family, was valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and had degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania. Mangione's grandfather Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. One of his best-known projects was Turf Valley Resort, a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978. One of Luigi Mangione’s cousins is Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, a spokesman for the lawmaker’s office confirmed. From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu. Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin, said that Martin had learned that Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life. Friends in Hawaii widely considered Mangione a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit and smiling young man on beaches and at parties. Mangione likely was motivated by his anger at what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s handwritten notes and social media posts. The shooting and a quick escape Police said the person who killed Thompson left a hostel on Manhattan's Upper West Side at 5:41 a.m. last Wednesday. Eleven minutes later, he was seen on surveillance video walking back and forth in front of the New York Hilton Midtown, wearing a distinctive backpack. At 6:44 a.m., he shot Thompson at a side entrance to the hotel, fled on foot, then climbed aboard a bicycle and within four minutes had entered Central Park, according to police. Another security camera recorded the gunman leaving the park near the American Museum of Natural History at 6:56 a.m. still on the bicycle but without the backpack, police said. After getting in a taxi, he headed north to a bus terminal near the George Washington Bridge, arriving at around 7:30 a.m. From there, the trail of video evidence runs cold. Police have not located video of the suspect exiting the building, leading them to believe he likely took a bus out of town. Police said they are still investigating the path the suspect took to Pennsylvania. “This just happened this morning," Kenny said. "We’ll be working, backtracking his steps from New York to Altoona, Pennsylvania,” Kenny said. Associated Press reporters Jamie Stengle, Lea Skene, Matt O'Brien, Sean Murphy and Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report.Val McCullough: Who’s got the Dreamers’ backs?
Progressing through Palworld and coming into contact with higher-level Pals and enemies means only one thing – you need weapons. Whether you’re a fan of Melee combat or want to cause high damage from afar, here’s how you unlock every weapon currently in Palworld. With each update to Palworld , more weapons are added, allowing you to expand your armory and do huge amounts of damage to new high-level Pals. Each new weapon recipe is unlocked via the Technology Ladder , with the levels for each noted below. It goes without saying that the higher level you need to be to unlock a weapon, the more damage it will do, but the harder it will be to make. Melee Weapons If you want to get up close and personal in order to see the life drain from the eyes of your enemies, Melee weapons are the way to go. As you progress further through the game and your level increases, they might be the only chance you have of inflicting just enough damage to a Pal in order to catch it without outright killing them with one shot. Ranged Weapons All the way from a Bow and Arrow to the massively powerful Rocket Launcher, these weapons do a large amount of damage and are perfect for defeating the Tower bosses or higher-level Pals. Here’s how to get them and what Ammunition you need in order to use them. Grenades It’s always a good idea to stock up on grenades, which now come in a range of different varieties as of the Feybreak update of December 2024. They do a high amount of damage of the same type as their name, making them really strong if a certain Pal has a weakness to any of the Grenades you’re carrying, and can be very useful if you’re low on ammo for your chosen main weapons.
Did Pam Bondi Go to Law School? Her Education Explained
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, has announced that the Presidential Initiative to Unlock the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) is set to boost Nigeria’s pharmaceutical market share in Africa, with a target of at least 15% by 2030. He also disclosed that the initiative targets increasing local manufacturing of pharmaceutical products to meet at least 70% of our domestic demand by 2030. Pate shared this on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Friday. Related Stories Malaria vaccine rollout to begin in Kebbi, Bayelsa states on December 2 – NPHCDA Nigeria to host 5th global antimicrobial resistance ministerial conference in 2026 Providing updates on the Presidential Initiative to Unlock the Healthcare Value Chain, Prof. Pate emphasized the administration’s resolve to turn the health sector into a hub for manufacturing and job creation. “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to transforming the health sector involves shifting from a consumption-driven model to one that creates jobs, enhances economic value, and strengthens domestic manufacturing capacity while improving the overall productivity of our economy,” Pate wrote. Launched in October 2023, the PVAC was established by President Tinubu, with Dr. Abdul Mukhtar appointed as its national coordinator. The initiative aims to increase local pharmaceutical production to at least 70% of Nigeria’s consumption by 2030. It also targets expanding the life sciences manufacturing workforce from approximately 20,000 to 50,000 full-time employees setting up at least two commercially viable facilities for producing biologicals, including vaccines and establishing at least five medical manufacturing plants in the country “This plan aims to double Nigeria’s pharmaceutical market share in Africa to at least 15% over time. I am very pleased to report that since the historic establishment of this initiative, we have achieved critical milestones,”Pate stated. “We are witnessing tangible outcomes from this effort. For too long, Nigeria relied heavily on imports for even the most basic healthcare commodities,” Pate continued. “This government is committed to industrialization, job creation, and economic growth while ensuring that we remain competitive in global trade.” Pate also shared details of the policy’s early successes, including the signing of a $1 billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the African Exim Bank, aimed at supporting domestic manufacturers and attracting foreign investments. “Over 70 new healthcare manufacturing companies with strong projects backed by impressive business cases have already lined up with 22 large-scale projects currently in active discussions with international financiers. “More than 10 value chain verticals have been established in the country, including manufacturing of rapid diagnostic cascades, which is exemplified by our signing of MOU South Africa-based herbal diagnostics. Furthermore, Pate emphasized the importance of local manufacturing in reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imports for essential medicines and healthcare supplies, such as vaccines, medical oxygen, and diagnostic kits. Dr. Pate highlighted several key projects including: A cryogenic air separation plant for medical oxygen. A rapid diagnostic kit manufacturing facility in partnership with global firms. A facility in Lagos produces active pharmaceutical ingredients like clavulanic acid, which has already created over 700 jobs. Agreements with Siemens Healthineers to establish an ultrasound assembly plant in Nigeria. He emphasized the role of regulators like NAFDAC and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria in creating a robust environment that fosters local industry growth.TORONTO — Bruce Brown intercepted a pass and streaked down the court, driving past some token defence from Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson for a one-handed slam dunk. Brown’s Toronto Raptors teammates burst off the home team’s bench, cheering for the veteran forward. “It’s just because they didn’t think I can jump, because I haven’t jumped really, or they haven’t seen it, and then they didn’t see it the last year,” Brown said, adding he knew he would dunk as soon as he crossed half-court. “I told them I could do it and I was like, ‘if I get the chance to, I’mma dunk it.'” It was Brown’s first dunk in eight months as he scored 12 points and had three rebounds off the bench in his season debut on Sunday as Toronto lost to Atlanta 136-107. He’d missed the first 31 games of the Raptors season as he recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery on Sept. 20, a process that took longer than he expected. “I thought I was gonna be out like six to eight weeks but some things didn’t go my way,” said Brown. “There was a lot of swelling in there for a while. “Things happened, and then I was supposed to come back, like, three, four weeks ago, but there was still swelling there, so they told me to take my time.” Brown averaged 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks over 34 games with the Raptors last season. He was traded from the Indiana Pacers to Toronto on Jan. 18 as part of a package for all-star forward Pascal Siakam. He’s averaged 8.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists over his career in 416 games with the Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana and Toronto. Brown’s return doesn’t just add depth to the Raptors’ lineup, but brings some much-needed energy to a struggling team that has lost 10 in a row. “You see him get out there and put his body on the line after being out for so long,” said Scottie Barnes, who led Toronto with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists but eight turnovers in the loss. “He’s making himself so tired out there just guarding, pushing himself. That’s what the team needs. “We’ve all got to match that energy every single night. That’s the effort we’re going to need in order to win games.” Head coach Darko Rajakovic said that fatigue is a major factor in the NBA’s longest active losing skid. He said that a lack of focus played a role in Toronto’s season-high 31 turnovers on Sunday. “We hit a wall. We look tired. We look drained,” said Rajakovic. “Guys are not in a rhythm. That’s the reality that we’re in right now. We’ve got to find a way to get out of it.” It was the third consecutive game where the Raptors had given up over 130 points, and second 29-point blowout in a row. “Getting beat by 30, man, at home — that’s unacceptable,” said Barnes. “We can’t be doing that. We got to go out there and play harder, be smarter. “We had a lot of turnovers today. We can’t allow this to happen.” Brown was more optimistic. “We just need some rest, and we’ll push through it,” he said, noting that a stomach flu had spread through Toronto’s locker room. “I mean, all teams have this at some point, even championship teams, so we’ll push through it. We’ll be fine.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2024. John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press8 Things to Remember About Dexter’s Childhood Before ‘Original Sin’
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