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NoneM&T Bank director John Barnes sells $4.35 million in stockFinalists revealed for South Wales Health and Care Awards Carer in the Home Award
COMMUNITY CALENDAR: What's happening around the North Okanagan
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A pair of conservative groups on Friday challenged a Maine law that limits donations to political action committees that spend independently in candidate elections, arguing that money spent to support political expression is "a vital feature of our democracy.” Supporters of the referendum overwhelmingly approved on Election Day fully expected a legal showdown over caps on individual contributions to so-called super PACs. They hoped the referendum would trigger a case and ultimately prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the matter of donor limits after the court opened the floodgates to independent spending in its 2010 Citizens United decision. The lawsuit brought by Dinner Table Action and For Our Future, and supported by the Institute for Free Speech, contends the state law limiting individual super PAC donations to $5,000 and requiring disclosure of donor names runs afoul of that Citizens United legal precedent. “All Americans, not just those running for office, have a fundamental First Amendment right to talk about political campaigns,” lawyers wrote in the lawsuit in federal court. “Their ‘independent expenditures,’ payments that fund political expression by those who are not running for office but nonetheless have something to say about a campaign, are a vital feature of our democracy.” Cara McCormick, leader of the Maine Citizens to End Super PACs, which pressed for the referendum, said the lawsuit attempts to undermine the will of the people after an overwhelming majority — 74% of voters — approved the referendum last month. “Super PACs are killing the country and in Maine we decided to do something about it. We want to restore public trust in the political process,” she said. “We want to say that in Maine we are not resigned to the tide of big money. We are the tide.” But Alex Titcomb, executive director of Dinner Table Action, argued Friday that the government “cannot restrict independent political speech simply because some voters wish to limit the voices of their fellow citizens.” Named in the lawsuit are Maine’s attorney general and the state’s campaign spending watchdog, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. The ethics commission is reviewing the complaint, said Jonathan Wayne, executive director. The Maine referendum didn’t attempt to limit spending on behalf of candidates. Instead, it focused on limits on individual donations to super PACS, an area the Supreme Court has not ruled on, observers say. Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, a longtime advocate for campaign finance reform, contends the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue of individual contributions to PACs, and long-established case law supports the notion that states can limit individual contributions to PACs despite a decision to the contrary by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Lessig, whose Equal Citizens nonprofit backed the Maine referendum, previously said the cap on donations imposed by the referendum "is not asking the Supreme Court to change its jurisprudence, not asking them to overturn Citizens United.”FACT FOCUS: Vermont ruling does not say schools can vaccinate children without parental consent
NSW Premier Chris Minns visited the latest meeting of the Autism Community Network's Autistic Adults Social Club at Club Rivers last week. or signup to continue reading The ACN Autistic Adults Social Club is held the first Monday of the Month for autistic individuals aged 16 and over. The club has attendees up to the age of around 40, as well as carers, parents, siblings or support workers present for those wanting them in attendance, or requiring support. "Everyone is welcomed and we ask if there have been any birthdays throughout the month," ACN ceo Vanessa Gauci said. "We celebrate birthdays every month as many of our autistic individuals have been excluded from birthday parties, not invited, or have not had a birthday party with friends, so we make them feel special. They are then asked if they would like to share anything from their birthday, if not that's okay. "We then ask if anyone else would like to share something. It's a great way to start a conversation and build confidence." Ms Gauci said since the Autistic Adults Social Club started in March, 2023 it has met incredible demand and as a result is expanding its activities and starting more groups in the local government area. The Premier's visit caps off a year of transformation for ACN. ACN Chairperson, Frances Wade said in the organisation's annual report, "As a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing peer-to-peer support groups, activities and support to autistic individuals and their families, ACN has faced and overcome significant challenges and celebrated significant achievements. "In the past year ACN has broadened its impact, touching more lives than ever. Our programs have experienced high levels of participation and our community has become more connected and resilient through focused engagement." Covering Georges River Council, Bayside Council and general news. For news tips contact me at jgainsford@theleader.com.au Covering Georges River Council, Bayside Council and general news. For news tips contact me at jgainsford@theleader.com.au
WA news LIVE: ‘I’m not a quitter’: Mettam responds to ‘catastrophic’ polling that suggests Zempilas should be Liberal leader
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A 21-year-old man was found dead at Nanyang Technological University's Tanjong Hall. The police received a call for assistance at 64 Nanyang Crescent on Dec 3, at about 7.45am. The man was found lying motionless and was pronounced dead by a Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedic. No foul play is suspected. Helplines Mental well-being Institute of Mental Health’s Mental Health Helpline: 6389-2222 (24 hours) Samaritans of Singapore: 1-767 (24 hours) / 9151-1767 (24-hour CareText via WhatsApp) Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019 Silver Ribbon Singapore: 6386-1928 Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788 Chat, Centre of Excellence for Youth Mental Health: 6493-6500/1 Women’s Helpline (Aware): 1800-777-5555 (weekdays, 10am to 6pm) Counselling Innovating out of empathy, with a vision for the blind Touchline (Counselling): 1800-377-2252 Touch Care Line (for caregivers): 6804-6555 Care Corner Counselling Centre: 6353-1180 Counselling and Care Centre: 6536-6366 We Care Community Services: 3165-8017 Online resources mindline.sg eC2.sg tinklefriend.sg chat.mentalhealth.sg carey.carecorner.org.sg (for age 13 to 25) limitless.sg/talk (for age 12 to 25)None
Social media users described the Vermont Supreme Court’s ruling as having consequences beyond what it actually says.National chief urges MPs to send water bill to Senate before holiday breakAfter two grand final losses in the past three seasons, John Longmire is set to quit as Sydney Swans coach. Longmire, 53, is expected to confirm the news at a 1.30pm press conference, ending his 15-year coaching stint at the Swans. Senior assistant Dean Cox, who knocked back offers to join his old club West Coast after Adam Simpson was sacked, could be at the head of the queue to replace Longmire. The news comes with players back in pre-season training after the Swans were smashed by the Brisbane Lions in the AFL grand final. It was a fourth grand final loss for Longmire as coach, going down in 2014, 2016, 2022 and 2024. Longmire also tasted premiership success in 2012 among his 194 wins in 334 games in charge after taking over from Paul Roos. Longmire was contracted for the 2025 season but in the wake of the grand final humiliation, having finished the season on top of the ladder, questions were being asked about his ongoing tenure. The Swans will address the situation on Tuesday afternoon. More to comeOpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship'
Christmas Cheer Board says $100K from province will help address growing demandSpire Global CFO Leonardo sells $196,076 in stock
Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. stock underperforms Friday when compared to competitorsAlberta’s government says it will invest up to $50 million to support the creation of a first-in-Canada drilling test site to support technology development in the oil, gas, geothermal and lithium industries. The Alberta Drilling Accelerator is intended to be an open-access, industry-led site where companies can test drilling technologies at deep depths, high temperatures and varying rock types. A location for the hub site has yet to be determined. While no binding contracts have been signed, the province says several companies have expressed strong interest in serving as anchor tenants, including Calgary-based geothermal company Eavor Technologies, Tourmaline Oil Corp. and international oilfield service supermajor Halliburton. The money the province is providing will come from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program, which Alberta’s heavy emitters are required to pay into as part of the province’s industrial carbon pricing system. The provincial government says the Alberta Drilling Accelerator could start drilling in 2026.
HONG KONG: The United States Justice Department’s criminal charges against Gautam Adani pose the biggest threat yet to the Asian tycoon’s US$169 billion empire. More importantly, though, it’s also a missed opportunity for India’s opposition, an unexpected gift to president-elect Donald Trump, and an all-around embarrassment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 54-page indictment alleges that Adani Green Energy’s mega 2020 order from Solar Energy Corporation of India had a problem - there were no takers for the expensive power, which jeopardised the lucrative contract. That, the DOJ says, gave rise to a corrupt scheme “to pay over US$250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice”. The case is against group chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar, who is executive director of the green energy business, and six other individuals. The conglomerate denied the allegations as baseless and said it’s fully compliant with all laws. “All possible legal recourse will be sought,” the group said in a statement. TOO LATE TO SWAY MAHARASHTRA ELECTION The news about the court filing came hours after the end of assembly elections in the western state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi had made crony capitalism - especially Adani’s proximity to Modi - the central piece of his campaign, particularly in the Maharashtra poll. Which is what makes the timing of these charges unfortunate for him. Adani, who owns the two Mumbai airports and supplies electricity to the city, will soon start redeveloping its biggest shantytown. Gandhi and his allies have alleged that the terms of the controversial US$3 billion project were sweetened for Adani by the state government, which is controlled by Modi’s party. Neither Adani nor Modi has responded to the allegations. A change in the local administration might lead to a fresh tender. The outcome of the Maharashtra vote is already sealed. Votes will be counted Saturday (Nov 23), though exit polls suggest that Gandhi’s challenge to dislodge the government probably failed in a close contest. For Trump, though, the indictment couldn’t have come at a better time. His incoming administration will bargain with India for greater market access, especially for US tech firms, from a position of strength. GRAVE CHARGES AGAINST ASIA'S SECOND-RICHEST MAN The Adani Group is yet to comment on the charges, although an early settlement would allow the sprawling conglomerate to continue to access its most-important raw material: Debt financing. Adani’s stocks and bonds are already tumbling. For bankers to take an Adani loan file to the risk committee, the overhang of criminal charges against Gautam and Sagar, who’s part of an elaborate succession plan, must first go away. This is also what Modi will want. The indictment is the biggest blowback against him yet from the ever-expanding corporate-governance saga that has engulfed the infrastructure behemoth. Adani is the prime minister’s longtime friend, and neither Modi’s government nor the ruling party shied away when New York-based Hindenburg Research accused Asia’s second-richest man of “pulling the largest con in corporate history” in January last year. That turned out to be a manageable crisis. The group strenuously denied the short seller’s allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, and the storm appeared to blow over. The conglomerate’s market value doubled from the low it hit in February 2023 , following a US$150 billion-plus selloff. By comparison, the DOJ’s charges are grave. The indictment alleges that Indian state governments weren’t too keen to buy 12 gigawatts - eight from Adani and four from US-listed Azure Power - of what they perceived to be expensive power. According to the court filing, Gautam and Sagar Adani and Ranjit Gupta, the then chief executive of Azure, among others, “devised a scheme to offer, authorise, make and promise to make bribe payments” to government officials in India so they would be persuaded to purchase the electricity. The two groups worked out their respective shares of the bribes, the DOJ noted. Adani and its officers allegedly “relied on the US financial system to perpetuate this fraudulent scheme”. They did this by seeking and securing investors and potential investors physically located in the US and causing wires to be sent and received that passed through New York, the indictment said. POTENTIAL FOR A FULL-BLOWN DOMESTIC SCANDAL The echoes of the case will reverberate through India. So far it’s mostly Gandhi pounding the tables. For regional opposition leaders, Adani’s link with Modi hasn’t exactly been a hot-button issue. That was also the case when in a fresh report in August, Hindenburg alleged that Madhabi Puri Buch, head of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), had a potential conflict of interest, raising doubts about the objectivity of SEBI’s ongoing probe into Adani. Buch and the regulator denied the accusations, and the SEBI chief skipped a scheduled appearance before a lawmakers’ committee in October. But the fresh US charges change everything. The indictment alleges that Adani has concealed the “bribery scheme” from investors and financial investors since at least March last year, when Federal Bureau of Investigation agents served Sagar with a search warrant in the US. While concepts like conflicts of interest - or alleged breaches of securities law - require a modicum of financial training, bribery is something every politician understands. Almost US$228 million, the DOJ says, was offered to just one person, identified in the court filing as Foreign Official #1 from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. There’s plenty here for a full-blown domestic scandal. If this affair drags out, Modi’s own Bharatiya Janata Party may wonder how long it should support a prime minister who at 74 is unlikely to lead it to the 2029 election. In other words, Gandhi’s intuition to stick to the alleged Modi-Adani nexus as a talking point in election campaigns may have been vindicated. In a press conference Thursday, the Congress Party leader called for Buch’s removal and Adani’s arrest. While the DOJ indictment came too late to sway the vote in Maharashtra, it may yet cast a long shadow - both on India’s national politics, and relations with Washington next year.
‘People got to be safe:’ Manitoba premier responds to fatal police shooting
WA’s Liberal party leader has thrown down the gauntlet to challengers after polling predicted the “immediate appointment” of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas as leader would allow the flailing party to gain back five seats at the election. Libby Mettam has labelled the polling, commissioned by a mystery Perth business person with links to the party, as ‘flawed and clearly biased’, and has challenged anyone who wishes to be leader to move a no confidence motion against her during a meeting today. “Constant undermining of leaders, especially from the shadows within, is a sad reality in politics today,” she said. “But rather than weaken me it has made me stronger and more determined to succeed - not for myself - but for the people of Western Australia who deserve better. “I’m not a quitter, I’m a fighter.” The polling, published in today, suggested another catastrophic election for the Liberals come election day in March. The party currently holds just three out of 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly, with the polling predicting the party has gone backwards since the 2021 election bloodbath, losing ground in 14 key metropolitan seats. Under Mettam, the party is predicted to suffer a 4 per cent drop, with the Liberal primary vote falling to 31 per cent in blue-ribbon seats like Churchlands and Nedlands. On the flip-side, the polling suggests a 3 per cent swing towards the Liberal party under Zempilas’ leadership, and a 38 per cent primary vote. The research, carried out by Sodali and Co, said Zempilas’ leadership could deliver wins in Churchlands, Nedlands, Carine, Bateman and Scarborough. Here’s what’s making news this morning. Mostly sunny today with a top of 25 degrees. Good morning readers, and welcome to our live news blog for Tuesday, November 26. Making headlines this morning, Perth is tipped to outperform the rest of the country in property price growth with forecasts in 2025. Meanwhile, cast your mind back to your school days – or, rather, the very end of your school days and the next step you took. Did you get a high score to enrol in the university degree of your choice? Did you decide to bypass the ATAR exams – or the equivalent of the era, for those older readers – and go straight into an apprenticeship? What about if you got a high ATAR score, but decided to go down the vocational pathway? That’s the situation Ellie Wotherspoon found herself in, having graduated from school with an impressive ATAR of 91. With an ATAR like that, Wotherspoon could have studied law, or medicine, or molecular science. But currently, she’s an electrician working on one of oil and gas giant Woodside’s offshore rigs. And regular readers of this blog – and more broadly – would know we’ve got our fingers on the pulse of this great state’s dining scene. And today, food writer Max Veenhuyzen fills you in on the latest happenings in the world of pastry cases with, er, fillings. From creative fillings to stocking choc milk and ginger beer in the fridge, a cosy nostalgia-fuelled takeaway in Leederville celebrates both the past and the future. Always on the lookout for a great pie? Thanks again for joining us today, stay with us as we bring you all the news you need to know.
