NPR’s Leila Fadel speaks with Rob Kelner of the law firm Covington and Burling about the vetting process for presidential nominees.
15 luxury gifts under $200
While gift giving should be all about the thought that goes into a curated selection of presents under a Christmas tree, some gifts are certainly more jaw-dropping to a person than others.
If you’re stumped for ideas, and budgeting isn’t the first thing on your mind, trendsetters will ogle over these fancy gifts that are sure to make this holiday season a holly jolly one at worst.
20 LUXURY GIFT IDEAS UNDER $50 FOR THE HAUTE-LIVING RECIPIENT IN YOUR LIFE
Check out this list of premium items from Chanel No. 5 for the leading lady in your life to Polo Ralph Lauren sweaters for any posh man you love.
If you’re not too worried about budgeting this holiday season, consider shopping luxuriously for your loved ones. (iStock)
Woman’s faux suede tote bag
If you’re shopping for a woman with style, gifting her a new bag is never a bad idea.
While black is a neutral, easy-to-match color option, the faux suede bag comes in brown, olive and off-white, too.
While faux, the velvety texture of the purse is luxurious in look and feel.
Battery operated wall sconces
Recessed lighting is in – almost to the point that it’s no longer unique to homes.
No matter how overused, sconce lighting will never feel anything but high-end.
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Provide your gift recipient with a comfortable glow for any room with battery-operated wall sconces with a very modern look.
Entryway table
Gold, silver or glass entryway tables can often look out of place in the foyer of a home as the materials are better suited for a bedroom.
Greet guests with a chunky wooden entryway table that is warm in tone and invites people into a space.
The top’s surface is spacious and can be decorated with a wide variety of items, like coffee table books, lamps and picture frames, among other items.
Mackenzie-Childs platter
If the woman in your life who loves to host doesn’t yet have a Mackenzie-Childs piece, now may be the perfect time to gift her one.
Mackenzie-Childs designs are hand-glazed, hand-painted and made to be collectible. The black and white checkered design is timeless and, though eye-catching, adds dimension to a kitchen or table versus looking out of place.
Give a luxurious gift this season with the suggestions in this handy guide. (iStock)
Faux fur dog bed
Dog beds are available at major box retail locations but are often sold in color palettes that clash with the esthetics of a home.
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR THE SHOPAHOLIC IN YOUR LIFE WHO NEEDS EVERYTHING
A faux fur dog bed, while on the floor, will break up a room and add a simple piece of furniture.
Plus, dogs are everyone’s best friend and deserve a plush place to sleep, too.
LED light dimmer
Lighting, lighting and more lighting.
One of the most inexpensive ways to make a room more inviting is lighting.
If your walls have no space for sconce lighting and your tabletops are crowded with everything but lamps, LED light dimmers are a great and unexpected gift to set the mood in any room.
Cocktail smoking box
Out with the boring shaken or stirred drinks this holiday season and in with the smoked cocktails.
Nothing is more made-to-order than a smoked cocktail.
A HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR THE FITNESS LOVER IN YOUR LIFE, INCLUDING WORKOUT EQUIPMENT, ATHLETIC GEAR
Bring the opulent bourbon bar experience home and craft your own homemade cocktails with a smoking box.
Men’s Polo Ralph Lauren sweater
Growing a man’s wardrobe often feels like a tedious job.
Most of the basics are colorless and common. Add a new piece to your man’s closet with a classic Polo Ralph Lauren sweater that can be dressed up or down with a collared shirt or T-shirt.
Purchase a faux fur dog bed for your best friend this holiday season. (iStock )
Lenox dinnerware set
Fewer homeowners are collecting Chinaware today, which makes owning collectible pieces even more grand.
China sets are a gift your recipient may not even know they want.
Lenox is a classic and trusted Chinaware seller that offers simplistic designs that will last more than a lifetime.
Brooklinen luxury sheet set
Luxury sheet sets are not typically at the top of a wishlist, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth the price or the gesture.
Brooklinen sheets are long-lasting due to their fabric strength, next to no shrinkage and a deluxe look and feel.
Give your recipient the gift of an upscale sleep experience every night with Brooklinen sheets.
Cocktail maker machine
Provide the machine with the booze and watch your cocktails come to life with the push of a button.
GIFT GUIDE FOR AT-HOME CHEFS WHO LOVE TO COOK HOMEMADE MEALS
Allow the recipient of your holiday gifts to spend more time with guests and present a special person with a cocktail maker machine. The product can be left on its own device, and your hostess can get back to the party quickly.
Chanel No. 5 is a timeless perfume that many women would love. (iStock)
Chanel No. 5 perfume
Warm, soft fragrances are associated with luxury, and they’ve rightfully earned their place in history as such.
Chanel No. 5 is still one of the most desired scents, though it was revealed to consumers by Coco Chanel in Paris over 100 years ago.
While it is exceptionally popular, the scent is well-recognized by consumers as both symbolic and luxurious.
Upholstered end-of-bed bench
Decor can truly tie a room together, but charming pieces of furniture delve deeper into the structure of the room and can make unnoticed or awkward corners pop.
An upholstered end-of-bed bench is both a thoughtful addition to the end of a bed and a luxurious staple that will never go out of style.
A leather Holy Bible is a stunning addition to any bookshelf, coffee table or end table.
Genuine leather Bible
Lovable coffee and end table books are easy conversation pieces that leave guests with both unique discussions and factoids from any round table gathering.
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A genuine leather Bible inspires religious exchanges for partygoers or intimate guest gatherings who don’t often speak of parables and teachings.
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Gift the recipient in your life who loves Jesus with a leather Bible and watch the room come to life.
Faux mink fur throw blanket
This faux mink fur throw blanket is a stunning centerpiece for any couch.
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A naked sectional or loveseat can swiftly turn into a maximal luxury lounge area with a faux fur throw blanket.
Help the recipient on your holiday shopping list turn a space into art with this gorgeous throw blanket.
The War in Syria Has a New Map. Again.
Sources: Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project (areas of control as of Dec. 5); Janes (rebel control as of November)
In just over a week, Syrian rebel forces have seized much of Syria’s northwest from the government in a fast-moving attack, upending the once-stagnant civil war. After capturing most of the major city of Aleppo, its airport, military bases and many towns and villages, on Thursday they drove government troops from the western city of Hama, which had never before fallen into rebel hands.
The offensive comes after a period of relative, if brittle, calm. Since 2020, the territorial map had stayed largely frozen: President Bashar al-Assad’s government dominated much of the country, while an array of other factions held different fragments of the rest.
Here’s who is fighting whom in Syria’s nearly 14-year-old civil war:
Opposition forces
Source: The Carter Center. Note: Opposition forces include both extremist Islamic and moderate factions.
The war erupted in 2011 after Mr. al-Assad brutally crushed antigovernment protests. In the early stages, rebels — who included both extremist Islamist and moderate factions — managed to take most of the country’s northwest and expanded into other territory. By 2014, they controlled not only their stronghold in the northwest, but also areas north of Hama, east of Damascus and in the southeast, near the Israeli border, as well as villages along the Euphrates and in al-Hasakah province, in Syria’s far northeast.
Then came the rise of the Islamic State in 2014 and Russia’s decision the following year to give Mr. al-Assad military support. The Islamic State expanded its so-called caliphate into northeastern Syria, while overpowering Russian airstrikes forced the rebel groups that had been battling Mr. al-Assad since 2011 to retreat. By this year, those opposition forces held nothing but a patch of the northwest until their latest offensive began last week.
Government forces and allies
Source: The Carter Center
Despite initial rebel successes, pro-Assad forces — including not only Syria’s military but also fighters sent by Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah — were able to retake more territory over the last decade after a series of events shifted the conflict in their favor. Pro-government troops recaptured Aleppo with the help of Russian airstrikes after a four-year battle ending in 2016. The next year, a government offensive against the Islamic State put Mr. al-Assad back in control of many towns along the Euphrates River. And his forces’ advance on northwestern Syria in 2019 and 2020 cornered opposition forces in Idlib Province, bringing the conflict to an impasse that lasted until a week ago.
Islamic State
Source: The Carter Center
Syria’s civil war, along with growing instability in Iraq, allowed an ambitious Al Qaeda offshoot called the Islamic State to mushroom rapidly across both countries in 2013 and 2014. Fueled by a bloody, ultra-extremist interpretation of Islam, it conquered an expanse of territory in Syria and Iraq that it ruled as a so-called caliphate. At its height in 2015, the group held a third of Syria and about 40 percent of Iraq, with the northern Syrian city of Raqqa as its capital.
But a Western coalition led by the United States targeted the group with thousands of airstrikes, and U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces eventually routed the Islamic State in much of northeastern Syria. Pro-Assad forces also pushed the group back in other areas, while the Iraqi army battled it in Iraq. By 2018, it had lost all but tiny shreds of its territory.
Kurdish-led forces
Source: The Carter Center
Forces from Syria’s Kurdish ethnic minority became the United States’ main local partner in the fight against the Islamic State. After the extremist group was defeated in large parts of the country, the Kurdish-led forces consolidated control over towns in the northeast, expanding an autonomous region they had built there, and along the Euphrates. But despite routing the Islamic State, Kurdish fighters still had to contend with their longtime enemy across the border, Turkey, which regards them as linked to a Kurdish separatist insurgency.
In 2019, President Donald J. Trump pulled American troops away from northern Syria, abandoning the Kurdish-led forces and opening the door for Turkish forces to oust them from areas along the northern border. Looking for protection against Turkey, the Kurdish-led forces turned to Damascus, allowing Mr. al-Assad’s forces to return to parts of northern Syria, where they have co-existed since. The Kurds still control much of northeastern Syria.
Turkish military operations
Source: The Carter Center
Since the beginning of the civil war, the Turkish military has launched several military interventions across the border into Syria, mostly against Syrian Kurdish-led forces, whom Turkey views as linked to what it calls a terrorist separatist movement in Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K. Three Turkish operations – in 2016-2017, 2018 and 2019 – were aimed at taking control of towns and villages the Kurdish-led fighters had previously held along the northern border. Turkey now effectively controls that zone, where it provides public services and where its currency is routinely used.
Task force investigating assassination attempt against Trump holds final hearing
NPR’s Leila Fadel speaks to Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, about the work of a congressional task force that investigated an attempt on President-elect Trump’s life.
South Korea lawmakers support suspending president’s powers after martial law
South Korean lawmakers are calling for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol after his short-lived martial law declaration earlier this week, raising the prospects of impeachment.
Opposition parties are pushing for a parliamentary vote on Yoon’s impeachment on Saturday, calling his martial law declaration an “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.”
President Yoon shocked democratic allies by declaring martial law late Tuesday night, sending the East Asian country into chaos. South Korea’s parliament voted to cancel martial law just six hours later, but the episode has effectively frozen the country’s politics. Thousands of protesters have marched in the streets of Seoul since Wednesday, calling for Yoon to resign and be investigated.
Still, passing an impeachment motion would need support from some members of the president’s People Power Party to get the required two-thirds majority. The opposition parties who jointly brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats combined. PPP has 108 lawmakers.
South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, bottom center, shouts slogans during a joint press conference with members of civil society and the five opposition parties to condemn the ruling People Power Party at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (Park Dong-ju/Yonhap via AP)
During a party meeting, PPP leader Han Dong-hun said it was important to suspend Yoon’s presidential duties and power quickly, saying he poses a “significant risk of extreme actions, like reattempting to impose martial law, which could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger.”
Han said he had received intelligence that the president had ordered the arrests of unspecified politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities” during martial law.
South Korea’s ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hun, right, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (Jo Sung-bong/Newsis via AP)
Han leads a minority faction within the ruling party, and 18 lawmakers in his faction voted with opposition lawmakers to overturn Yoon’s martial law decree.
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If Yoon is impeached, he would be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential power.
The main liberal opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said in a televised speech Friday that it was crucial to suspend Yoon as “quickly as possible.”
Protesters march to the presidential office after a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Lee said Yoon’s martial law enforcement amounted to “rebellion and also a self-coup.” He said Yoon’s move caused serious damage to the country’s image and paralyzed foreign policy, pointing to criticism from the Biden administration and foreign leaders canceling their visits to South Korea.
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President Yoon has issued no response to Han’s comments. Nor has he made any public appearances since he made a televised announcement that his martial law was lifted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Inside the Faithful Restoration of Notre-Dame
After Notre Dame caught fire in 2019, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, promised to reopen the cathedral in five years. The timeline seemed a Hail Mary. Yet here we are. Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, brings us a behind-the-scenes look at the faithful restoration of Notre Dame, which opens to the public on Dec. 8.
State voting rights acts are advocates’ renewed focus : NPR
A visitor looks at an exhibition on voting rights in the U.S. at the International African American Museum in Charleston, S.C., in January.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
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Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
With Republicans set to control Congress and the White House starting next year, some voting rights advocates are renewing their focus on protections against racial discrimination in elections that don’t rely on the federal government.
Several states have enacted state-level voting rights acts over the past two decades, and Democratic-led Michigan may be next. This week a state House committee voted to refer a set of state Senate-approved bills to the House floor.
Supporters of this emerging type of law see it as a bulwark at a time when Democratic-led efforts to bolster the federal Voting Rights Act are likely to remain stalled under a GOP trifecta of power in Washington, D.C.
That landmark 1965 law is also under scrutiny in a federal lawsuit out of North Dakota. An appeal by Republican state officials in the case could end up making it harder to enforce the law’s key remaining provisions that the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority has not struck down.
“We can expect attacks rather than progress at the federal level, and states must take up the mantle to protect their own voters,” says Adam Lioz, a senior policy counsel for the Legal Defense Fund, who leads the organization’s campaign for more states to pass their own voting rights acts.
So far, it’s a small club of eight mostly blue states with these laws, which offer racial minority groups protections beyond those under the federal Voting Rights Act — California (the first to enact one in 2002), Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.
A controversial ruling by a state judge in New York last month has resurrected the specter of all state voting rights acts potentially being found to violate the U.S. Constitution.
Still, voting rights advocates say they see an opportunity during the second Trump administration to enshrine more state laws that outlaw race-based discrimination in voting, redistricting and other parts of the electoral process.
Why state voting rights acts are challenging to enact, even in blue states
While each act is different, their legal protections for voters of color generally focus on state and local elections, bringing attention to a level of democracy that advocates say often gets overlooked.
“It allows voters to challenge laws that have a discriminatory impact. It gives voters the power to enforce their own right to equally participate in elections,” says Lata Nott, senior legal counsel for voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center.
In Connecticut, New York and Virginia, state voting rights acts also set up a process for certain local officials to get approval from their state attorney general’s office or a court before they can make certain changes to election rules — similar to the federal Voting Rights Act’s preclearance process that the U.S. Supreme Court effectively dismantled in 2013.
These kinds of legal tools can be empowering for voters of color in all states, voting rights advocates contend.
“In a blue state, people often think that voter suppression is a red-state thing and not a blue-state thing. But it’s not that simple,” Nott says, pointing to the Democratic-led states of Maryland and New Jersey, where state voting rights acts have been introduced. “They’re two of the most diverse states on the East Coast. And they both have communities of historically disenfranchised voters who could use these protections.”
Nuzhat Chowdhury, senior counsel for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice’s democracy and justice program, has been pushing for lawmakers to advance a proposed state voting rights act since 2023.
“The biggest struggle that we have faced over the past two years of this campaign has been getting any sort of urgent buy-in from the legislature,” Chowdhury says. “We hope and anticipate that the [2024 election] results really light a fire under them and really stress to them the urgency with which we need a state voting rights act, because it seems more and more likely that the federal VRA will continue to be quite gutted in the next four years.”
It’s a potential scenario that Aly Belknap has been preparing for in Colorado. The executive director of Common Cause’s affiliate in that blue state says she expects a Colorado voting rights act bill to be introduced during the legislative session that starts in January.
“A challenge that we face in Colorado is a pretty depleted state budget. The cost-bearing pieces of this bill, we need to figure out how our state is going to make it happen in a very difficult budget environment,” Belknap adds, pointing, as examples, to the costs of proposals for the state attorney general’s office to enforce the law and expanding access to multilingual ballots.
In Michigan, Lioz of the Legal Defense Fund sees a fast-closing window to enact a law before Democrats lose control of the state House to Republicans next year.
If lawmakers don’t act soon, “the chances go very substantially down that we could see a Michigan voting rights act in the near future,” Lioz says. “Of course, we would continue to fight it and we would look for further openings down the line. But right now, the iron is hot.”
State voting rights acts are facing challenges in court
Back on the East Coast, legal challenges against New York’s voting rights act are heating up with potential implications for similar state laws around the country.
A group of Black and Latino voters is appealing last month’s ruling by Orange County state court Justice Maria Vazquez-Doles, who struck down New York’s law after finding that it violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Oral arguments before an appeals panel are scheduled for Dec. 18.
The controversial ruling comes out of a New York voting rights act lawsuit challenging the election system for the town board of Newburgh, N.Y. In the suburb north of New York City, the plaintiffs argue, voting is racially polarized between Black and Hispanic voters and white voters who do not identify as Hispanic.
The town’s system of electing candidates as at-large representatives of one voting district dilutes the collective voting power of Black and Hispanic voters, they contend, taking away their ability to elect their preferred candidate. The current town board members are all white Republicans.
“We feel we don’t have a voice. We don’t have someone at the table,” says Ernie Tirado, one of the Latino voters who brought the lawsuit and serves as treasurer of the Town of Newburgh Democratic Committee. “That’s not for lack of trying because we’ve had candidates run.”
Vazquez-Doles, however, dismissed the case and struck down New York’s voting rights act, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against race-based affirmative action. The U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause, the state judge wrote, “prohibits discrimination against all people, not just those classes who have experienced historic discrimination or who experienced such morally repugnant treatment to a degree greater than other people.”
Advocates of state voting rights acts, however, say they have seen similar challenges to the constitutionality of California and Washington’s laws ultimately fail in court and expect the judge’s ruling to be overturned in the end.
Still, another ongoing New York voting rights act case is treading new legal ground that could be the basis of another constitutional challenge to these state laws. The Nassau County-based case is the first-ever lawsuit challenging a redistricting map by using a state voting rights act. Oral arguments are set for Friday over the county’s request for a state judge to rule without moving forward with a trial that’s scheduled to start Dec. 17.
No matter what the courts decide, however, state voting rights acts have shown to be a limited solution, notes Spencer Overton, a professor who directs George Washington University Law School’s Multiracial Democracy Project.
“Over 50% of Black Americans live in the South, and only Virginia currently has a state voting rights act,” Overton says. “The South has had some of the most racially polarized voting in the past, and that increases incentives for incumbent local politicians to enact voting laws that contain the voting strength of voters of color.”
Bills have been introduced in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, all GOP-controlled southern states. And so far, no state with a unified Republican government or a divided government has passed a voting rights act.
“If you are in a state without state voting protections, where you have incumbents who utilize discriminatory practices, you really do need federal protections,” Overton says.
Edited by Benjamin Swasey
California shooter who injured 2 kindergartners had mental health problems
Shooting at California Christian school
Law enforcement and first responders arrive at the Feather River Adventist School in Oroville, where a suspected gunman shot two students Wednesday. (Credit: Fallon Ortiz / TMX)
The California gunman who shot and gravely injured two kindergartners had a long criminal history and significant mental health issues, authorities said Thursday.
Roman Mendez, 6, and Elias Wolford, 5, were identified by Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea as the two children injured in the Wednesday shooting at the Feather River Adventist School in Oroville, which has an enrollment of 35 students.
Mendez was shot twice and Wolford sustained one gunshot wound in the abdomen and will likely need several surgeries, the sheriff said.
“”They have a long road ahead of them,” Honea said.
Glenn Litton had a long history of run-ins with the law and severe mental health issues, authorities said. (Butte County Police Deparment)
CALIFORNIA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL SHOOTING WOUNDS 2 BOYS, 5 AND 6; SUSPECTED GUNMAN DEAD
Authorities identified the shooter as Glenn Litton, 56, who died most likely from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Litton used the alias Michael Sanders to set up an appointment with the school principal to inquire about enrolling his grandson just before the shooting, investigators said.
Authorities believe the appointment was a ruse so Litton could gain access to the school’s campus. After the meeting, Litton fired a handgun several times before fatally shooting himself, Honea said.
“Shortly after concluding that meeting, the principal heard shots being fired, heard screams, and that’s when they determined or found that the two students had been shot,” Honea said.
The Feather River Adventist School, where two students were shot Wednesday. (Google Maps)
Litton had no connection with the school, but attended a school in nearby Paradise run by the same church when he was a child.
After the shooting, investigators found disturbing writings believed to be from Litton that provided insight into a possible motive.
L-R: Roman Mendez and Elias Wolford are in critical condition, police say. (Butte County Sheriff’s Office)
One said: “Countermeasure involving child executions has now been imposed at the Seventh Day Adventist school in California, United States by The International Alliance. I, Lieutenant Glenn Litton of the Alliance carried out countermeasure in necessitated response to America’s involvement with Genocide and Oppression of Palestinians along with attacks towards Yemen.”
Video footage shows Glenn Litton outside the school on December 4. (AP)
Honea described Litton as homeless and said he had some mental health issues going back to age 16. He went on to express that he believes the writings resulted from the issues, saying he “pulled information from various sources, and it all came together in his mind to create a reality that is false.”
Litton had a lengthy criminal history consisting of identity theft, fraud and forgery. He served time in California State Prison in the 1990s and early 2000s for theft-related crimes. In 2015, he was sentenced to two years in prison for aggravated identity theft in Sacramento.
Litton’s first prison sentence was in 1991 for theft. Since then, he has had convictions for various crimes consisting of theft, identity theft, and some drug charges, according to Butte County officials.
“His criminal behavior and prison stints continued over the following years, all the way up until Nov. 12 when he was arrested near San Francisco for stealing a moving truck and was booked into the San Mateo County jail,” officials said.
Video footage shows Glenn Litton outside the school December 4. (AP)
He pleaded not guilty and was released on November 21, after which he made his way to the Oroville area to carry out the shooting on December 4.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In addition to local law enforcement, the FBI is involved in the investigation.
In response to the tragedy, Nicole Hockley, co-founder and co-CEO of Sandy Hook Promise and mother to Dylan Hockley, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, said that this attack is shocking and senseless.
“An attack such as this goes against everything we stand for as a nation. No one should ever experience shootings in the places where children should be safest. Every single one of us – especially children so young – has a right to be free from gun violence. This abhorrent act deserves no place in our society.”
Feather River Adventist School made a statement on their website thanking the officers involved.
“We are grateful for the brave officers of the Butte County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol who acted quickly to protect our students. We will continue to work closely with Sheriff Kory Honea and his team during this investigation,” the statement read.
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Butte County Officials are asking that the family are given privacy at this time explaining that they are focusing on the recovery of their children.
“Please recognize that the most important thing for them is to make sure that their children are being taken care of. And so I would ask on their behalf, based on what they told me, is that you respect their privacy and do not make an effort to to contact the parents,” said officials.
Lions clinch playoff spot with walk-off field goal in epic high-scoring affair against Packers
Dan Campbell sure knows how to keep things interesting – but it worked out on Thursday night.
Campbell’s aggressive coaching gave the Detroit Lions a 34-31 walk-off victory over the Green Bay Packers.
The Lions took a 17-7 lead into the half, but the Packers cut the deficit with their first drive out of the locker room after Tucker Kraft scored. On the ensuing drive, Jared Goff threw a rough interception in his own end, and the Packers took advantage by ending the next drive with Josh Jacobs’ second touchdown of the night to take a 21-17 lead at the snap of a finger. Goff, though, marched down the field, and he found Tim Patrick in the painted area to regain a three-point lead.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) talks to teammates before a snap against Green Bay Packers during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (IMAGN)
Late in the third, the Lions did what they usually do – be aggressive. But going for it on 4th and 1 from their own 31 didn’t work out, and the Packers were inside the 10 to kick off the fourth quarter. Jacobs quickly had his third touchdown of the night, and the Packers led, 28-24.
But it’s hard to quit on the Lions, and Tim Patrick had his second touchdown of the night to get Detroit back up three points.
The Packers kicked a field goal with just under four minutes left to tie the game, but the Lions offense did what they normally do and got inside the 20. However, Dan Campbell did Dan Campbell things, going for it on 4th and inches in what was a huge risk. This time, it worked out, and with Green Bay out of timeouts, Jake Bates was able to walk it off from 35 yards out.
Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) runs for a touchdown against Green Bay Packers during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (IMAGN)
PACKERS HEAD COACH, LIONS FAN SEPARATED ON FIELD BEFORE RIVALRY GAME
It’s now an 11-game winning streak for the Lions, the longest in team history – they are now back in the playoffs for a second consecutive year. It’s the first time making the playoffs in back-to-back years since they did so from 1993 to 1995.
Goff was 32-for-41 for 283 yards and three touchdowns, and Jameson Williams led the way with 80 receiving yards. Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 94 yards on the ground, with each finding the end zone once.
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) scores a touchdown against the Detroit Lions in the second quarter at Ford Field. (Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images)
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Green Bay is now 9-4 on the season.
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Black Eyed Peas star predicts which jobs may go extinct thanks to AI
will.i.am doesn’t think true artists should worry about artificial intelligence.
“The only thing to be worried about is if you’re making music to chase an algorithm,” he told Fox News Digital. “If you’re making music to trend on TikTok. And to do that, you have to really unlock the codes to that matrix. If that’s your whole [hustle], then AI is going to do a better job than that.”
The Black Eyed Peas singer does think people not involved in the creative process in the music industry are the ones who should worry about AI taking away their jobs.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
will.i.am said people trying to “chase an algorithm” in the music industry will lose out to artificial intelligence. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
“The people that are at risk of AI in the music [industry] are managers, label execs, finance auditors, attorneys. If you look at the money that’s being put [in]to make these systems more advanced, Microsoft is giving you a copilot [the company’s AI assistant]. And there’s nothing slowing down how freaking awesome that’s going to be in 2025 version eight. And that’s going to be used for all types of industries,” he said.
“There’s not an army or a fleet of AI music do[ing] everything to the level of copilots or sales force agents. So musicians and hyper-creatives are okay. We’re going to use AI and reinvent and create a whole new industry because of it.”
He added, “Right now, AI does a good job of everything that we’ve created and can mimic it. But AI is not making things that don’t exist exist. We do that. We created AI. So AI is a mirror. It shows you exactly what’s in front of it.”
BLACK EYED PEAS STAR TAPS AI BOT AS RADIO SHOW CO-HOST: ‘DIDN’T WANT TO JUST DO A TRADITIONAL SHOW’
The Black Eyed Peas singer said that the people who will lose their jobs to AI in the music industry will be, “managers, label execs, finance auditors, attorneys.” (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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will.i.am has been involved with AI-related platforms and tech for several years now, including his app FYI, an AI-powered app designed to help creatives with productivity through messaging and file management tools, as well as content publishing “to create an all-in-one experience,” per their website.
Now they’re launching “CONVOS,” a content series featuring artists and creatives having on-on-one conversations with the AI person in the FYI.AI app.
“Musicians and hyper creatives are okay. We’re going to use AI and reinvent and create a whole new industry because of it.”
The inspiration came from a French series that will.i.am saw called “Colors” that reminded him of his own experiences promoting music there and improvising material, and he made the connection with his app’s own AI personas to do something unique.
In the new series “CONVOS,” artists like Hit Boy have a one-on-one conversation with FYI.AI, demonstrating its capabilities. (FYI.AI)
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“[I thought] what if there was a way to have a different type of performance that’s conversation-based? And then after the conversation, the principal, the artist, the creative jams out, does poetry or a song. Because that’s really what a song or some creative endeavors [are] about. It’s about, like, this discovery process,” he said.
will.i.am continued, saying the goal was to create more of a “banter with AI.”
“A lot is happening when you’re talking to yourself. But this is like a different version of that,” he said. “You’re not talking to yourself, but you’re talking to some type of chalkboard or banter board or mirror that’s able to give you real time reflection without having to be weird speaking out loud.”
will.i.am explained the FYI.AI’s artificial intelligence persona helps people “banter” and be creative. (Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)
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will.i.am added, “It’s a different way to digest what’s on your mind. There’s people that are conversationalists for a living, they like to talk. And a lot of times these people can exhaust the other person on the other end, you know? And in this case, it’s not an interview. It’s like a banter with yourself and some slice of intelligence on the other end to give you what you’re saying back at you without judgment.”
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“CONVOS” episodes feature musicians and artists also working out lyrics and new material with the FYI.AI, receiving feedback and suggestions to complete the song.
And while will.i.am, of course, likes what his AI app has to offer, saying, “You can engage and discover things that the world of information has for you to learn,” he encourages people to question what answers and comments it provides.
“Right now, AI does a good job of everything that we’ve created and can mimic it. But AI is not making things that don’t exist exist. We do that.”
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“But then, at the same time, push it. Push the AI… It’s not holy,” he said.
He continued, “It’s not some precious wall that whatever it says is. There’s a lot of people that what they read on social media, on Twitter, or they see on a post [and think] ‘It’s got to be real. Well, it has to [have] been real. Look. It’s trending.’ No, bro. Those are motherf—ing bots. You just think you’re talking to a f—ing human.”
While will.i.am is excited about what AI has to offer, he encourages everyone to “push it” and question what it’s saying or showing. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for Clinton Global Initiative)
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With FYI.AI, “you know you’re talking to a f—ing A.I… You know it. No one’s lying to you. So push it. Push it. Push it to get the information. But don’t bubble yourself. Be mindful that you know what it will be. Know what you’re talking to. And use it for research. But don’t get lost in the sauce is [what I] caution as they have fun with it,” said will.i.am.
“It’s somebody’s art. You’re going to find some truth there. But if it’s too good to be true, push that s—.”