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Elon Musk backs Germany's far-right party ahead of upcoming electionsNorth Texas landed nine players on the opening day of the early signing period in college football Wednesday. The Mean Green hung on to highly regarded North Crowley quarterback Chris Jimerson Jr. and added Oklahoma defensive lineman Braydon Knox late. Knox is a three-star prospect who was previously committed to Tulsa, one of UNT’s rivals in the American Athletic Conference. The Mean Green also lost a few players who had been committed to continue their careers at UNT. Five players backed out in all, including highly regarded wide receiver/defensive back Jacobe Hayes, who signed with TCU. UNT coach Eric Morris was pleased with the group he and his staff landed, particularly after he hired a new defensive coordinator in the hours before national signing day. Skyler Cassity spent last season guiding the defense at Sam Houston and took over for Matt Caponi, who was fired with two games left in the regular season. “It’s a really good starting point for us,” Morris said. “We’re far from done and will continue to add pieces. Getting bigger, longer frames and body types was important, along with adding speed at wideout.” The following is a look at UNT’s class superlatives. There wasn’t a bigger question in the weeks leading up to national signing day was if UNT would hold on to Jimerson. The one quarterback prospect in the Mean Green’s class ranks among the most productive players in the state. Jimerson has threw for 2,955 yards and 44 touchdowns through the end of the regular season and has guided North Crowley to the Class 6A Division I final. The Panthers will take on traditional power Allen on Saturday. “Jimerson is as electric as any high school football player in any state,” Morris said. “A lot of people didn’t want to take a chance on him because he’s 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds. We had him in a 7-on-7 camp. To watch him spin the football was incredible.” Jimerson was committed to TCU as a wide receiver before backing out because he wanted to play quarterback on the college level. UNT has a long history with smaller quarterbacks who have excelled dating back to program legend Mason Fine. Chandler Morris, who is 6-foot, is the latest in that line and has thrown for 3,774 yards and 31 touchdowns this season. The TCU transfer is a junior and nearing the end of his college career. UNT needed another quarterback to add to the pipeline and got its man in Jimerson. There aren’t many sure bets in college football. The fact UNT will throw the ball quite a bit next season, and in every subsequent year in which Morris is the Mean Green’s coach, is one of them. UNT has had 21 players who have caught passes this season. The total was 20 heading into UNT’s regular season finale at Temple. Only two teams competing at the Football Bowl Subdivision level had more players who had caught a pass that that point. Morris said UNT wanted to add speed on the outside and believes it reached that goal by signing Tyler Brown. The former Aubrey standout won the Class 4A state championship in the 200-meter dash. Sign up to get our free daily email of the biggest stories! UNT is losing Damon Ward Jr., Nick Rempert and Blair Conwright to graduation. There will be plenty of opportunities to Brown to contribute early. Defensive tackles are tough to find for teams that compete at the lower levels of college football. UNT appears to have found a gem in Antwon Brown. Brown plays for one of the top programs in the state at Duncanville. He also has great bloodlines. His older brother, Roderick Brown, has excelled for the Mean Green for years and is a senior this year Roderick Brown is undersized for a defensive tackle at 5-foot-11 and 290 pounds and has still excelled. He has 4.5 sacks on the season while playing in the middle of a three-man front. Antwon Brown has a bigger frame at 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds. If the second of the Brown brothers is anything like the first, UNT will have an impact player on its hands. UNT looked like it had a steal on its hands when Mansfield standout Jacobe Hayes committed back in July. Hayes had offers from a host of high-profile teams, including TCU. The Mean Green sold Hayes on the idea that it would let him play both wide receiver and defensive back. The Mean Green hung on until the hours before national signing day when Hayes flipped to TCU. UNT had five players decommit late. It wasn’t a surprise considering Morris fired defensive coordinator Matt Caponi and replaced him with former Sam Houston coordinator Skyler Cassity. Players want to know who they are going to play for and have relationships with those coaches. Losing Hayes was a blow regardless. The bottom line when it comes to UNT’s class is that it’s still too early to early to make a judgement in terms of the group. The Mean Green landed some good young players. What UNT does from here is what will tell the tale when it comes to this year’s class. The Mean Green are currently sitting eighth among AAC teams in the 247Sports class rankings. UNT is set to lose a host of key players to graduation, including six starters in its front seven. Morris said UNT would be active in the transfer market and has offered a host of players who could fill key voids. The Mean Green are off to a good start. How UNT’s class looks will depend largely on what it accomplishes between now and the late signing period in February.Profound Medical Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Shares

MONCTON, New Brunswick, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Major Drilling Group International Inc. (“Major Drilling” or the “Company”) (TSX: MDI), a leading provider of specialized drilling services to the mining sector, today reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, ended October 31, 2024. “For Q2 of fiscal 2025, Major Drilling’s globally diversified operations and reputation as the driller-of-choice enabled us to maintain our revenue run rate relative to fiscal Q1, despite challenging conditions in certain markets,” commented Mr. Denis Larocque, President & CEO of Major Drilling. “We were pleased once again by our Australasian and Chilean operations, which continue to offset lower activity levels in North America, primarily driven by lower junior exploration expenditures.” “The Company delivered solid financial results for the quarter, supported by an adjusted gross margin of 30.5%. This represented an increase from 28.9% in fiscal Q1 and is in line with the 31.0% achieved over the same period last year as the Company remains focused on profitable operations and our best-in-class specialized drilling services,” commented Ian Ross, CFO of Major Drilling. “As previously disclosed, our 2021 McKay acquisition successfully met all of the EBITDA milestones in the earnout period, with the final contingent payment of $9.1 million made during the quarter. We also continue to modernize our drill fleet, having spent $20.1 million in capex, which includes the addition of 5 new drills and support equipment, while disposing of 4 older, less efficient rigs, bringing Major Drilling’s total fleet to 610 drills. Given another strong operational performance, our net cash position increased to $100.4 million at quarter end, while we continue to retain an industry leading balance sheet, enabling the acquisition of Explomin in early fiscal Q3,” concluded Mr. Ross. “With McKay continuing to demonstrate strong results in Australasia since its acquisition in 2021, our focus now turns to the integration of Explomin – a leading South American driller with operations in Peru, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Spain. I am excited to welcome Explomin and its employees to the Major Drilling team. Their long-standing reputation, strong base of senior mining customers, and focus on specialized drilling, with its well-maintained fleet of rigs, complement our existing operations and offer further potential growth opportunities in South America,” said Mr. Larocque. “As Peru has been on our radar for quite some time given its status as the second largest copper producer, Explomin solidifies our South American presence, supplementing our existing operations in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and throughout the Guyana Shield.” “Looking ahead to our seasonally slower third quarter of fiscal 2025, we are expecting programs in North America to pause for the holiday period slightly earlier than in prior years, although this is expected to be partially offset by ongoing strength in Australia and Chile. While we will be adding revenue from the Explomin operations, we expect them to have the same usual seasonality as the rest of our South American operations. Demand from senior customers for calendar 2025 is expected to remain robust, while we are optimistic regarding the activity levels of juniors following a slight increase in financing activity. The combination of elevated commodity prices, translating to increased free cash flow generation for mining companies, coupled with depleted reserve bases, should lead to increases in demand for drilling services over the years to come.” “Our well-maintained fleet ensures that we retain utilization capacity which, combined with our optimal inventory levels and experienced crews, puts us in an excellent position to capitalize on these increased levels of demand for our drilling services. Our core strategy is to remain the leader in specialized drilling as new discoveries are made in increasingly challenging and remote locations. Our solid foundation, supplemented by ongoing technological innovation, puts us in an ideal position to take on these new and exciting challenges.” “I’m extremely proud to announce that our Canadian team was recently awarded the Safe Day Every Day Gold Award by the Association for Mineral Exploration, Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, and Canadian Diamond Drilling Association. Our Canadian team achieved over 1,146,000 hours without a lost time injury, an achievement that demonstrates our ongoing dedication to maintaining high safety standards across all projects around the world,” concluded Mr. Larocque. Finally, Major Drilling announces the resignation of Mr. Robert Krcmarov from the Board of Directors effective December 5, 2024, to focus on his new role as Chief Executive Officer of Hecla Mining Company. Kim Keating, Chair of the Board, commented: “On behalf of the Board and the leadership team at Major Drilling, I would like to congratulate Rob on this appointment, and thank him for his significant contributions during his tenure on the Board. Rob’s experience and insights were of great benefit to Major Drilling’s Board and leadership team. He was instrumental in the development of Major Drilling’s Decarbonization Action Plan and in strengthening the Company’s health and safety program, as well as his timely advice regarding the most recent acquisition of Explomin Perforaciones earlier this month. We thank Rob for his invaluable advice and wish him all the best in his new role leading Hecla Mining Company.” Total revenue for the quarter was $189.3 million, down 8.6% from revenue of $207.0 million recorded in the same quarter last year. The foreign exchange translation impact on revenue and earnings, when comparing to the effective rates for the previous year, was minimal. Revenue for the quarter from Canada – U.S. drilling operations decreased by 20.0% to $85.4 million, compared to the same period last year. While senior and intermediate activity levels increased slightly, this only partially offset the decline in demand from juniors relative to the same period last year as they continued to face challenging financing opportunities. South and Central American revenue decreased by 6.5% to $49.1 million for the quarter, compared to the same quarter last year. While operations in Chile remain robust, this was offset by slowdowns in other parts of the region. Australasian and African revenue increased by 14.4% to $54.7 million, compared to the same period last year as demand for specialized drilling services in Australia and Mongolia continue to drive growth in the region. Gross margin percentage for the quarter was 23.4%, compared to 25.3% for the same period last year. Depreciation expense totaling $13.4 million is included in direct costs for the current quarter, versus $11.8 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted gross margin, which excludes depreciation expense, was 30.5% for the quarter, compared to 31.0% for the same period last year. Adjusted gross margin remained relatively unchanged as the Company remains disciplined with respect to pricing. General and administrative costs were $18.4 million, an increase of $0.8 million compared to the same quarter last year. This increase primarily relates to inflationary wage adjustments. Other expenses were $2.5 million, down from $3.2 million in the same quarter last year due primarily to lower incentive compensation expenses given the decreased profitability. Foreign exchange gain was $0.5 million, compared to a loss of $0.9 million for the same quarter last year. While the Company’s reporting currency is the Canadian dollar, various jurisdictions have net monetary assets or liabilities exposed to various other currencies. The income tax provision for the quarter was an expense of $6.5 million, compared to an expense of $7.4 million for the prior year period. The decrease from the prior year was driven by reduced profitability. Net earnings were $18.2 million or $0.22 per share ($0.22 per share diluted) for the quarter, compared to net earnings of $23.7 million or $0.29 per share ($0.29 per share diluted) for the prior year quarter. The Company’s financial data has been prepared in accordance with IFRS, with the exception of certain financial measures detailed below. The measures below have been used consistently by the Company’s management team in assessing operational performance on both segmented and consolidated levels, and in assessing the Company’s financial strength. The Company believes these non-IFRS financial measures are key, for both management and investors, in evaluating performance at a consolidated level and are commonly reported and widely used by investors and lending institutions as indicators of a company’s operating performance and ability to incur and service debt, and as a valuation metric. These measures do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other publicly traded companies and should not be construed as an alternative to other financial measures determined in accordance with IFRS. This news release includes certain information that may constitute “forward-looking information” under applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this news release that address future events, developments, or performance that the Company expects to occur (including management’s expectations regarding the Company’s objectives, strategies, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and businesses) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by future or conditional verbs such as “outlook”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “project”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, and terms and expressions of similar import. All forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by this cautionary note. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon various estimates and assumptions including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management related to the factors set forth below. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by the Company as at the date of this document in light of management’s experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, these statements are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that include, but are not limited to: the level of activity in the mining industry and the demand for the Company’s services; competitive pressures; global and local political and economic environments and conditions; the level of funding for the Company’s clients (particularly for junior mining companies); the Company’s dependence on key customers; the integration of business acquisitions and the realization of the intended benefits of such acquisitions; efficient management of the Company’s growth; exposure to currency movements (which can affect the Company’s revenue in Canadian dollars); currency restrictions; safety of the Company’s workforce; risks and uncertainties relating to climate change and natural disaster; the geographic distribution of the Company’s operations; the impact of operational changes; changes in jurisdictions in which the Company operates (including changes in regulation); failure by counterparties to fulfill contractual obligations; disease outbreak; as well as other risk factors described under “General Risks and Uncertainties” in the Company’s MD&A for the year ended April 30, 2024, available on the SEDAR+ website at . Should one or more risk, uncertainty, contingency, or other factor materialize or should any factor or assumption prove incorrect, actual results could vary materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements made in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events, or for any other reasons, except as required by applicable securities laws. Major Drilling Group International Inc. is the world’s leading provider of specialized drilling services primarily serving the mining industry. Established in 1980, Major Drilling has over 1,000 years of combined experience and expertise within its management team. The Company maintains field operations and offices in North America, South America, Australia, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Major Drilling provides a complete suite of drilling services including surface and underground coring, directional, reverse circulation, sonic, geotechnical, environmental, water-well, coal-bed methane, shallow gas, underground percussive/longhole drilling, surface drill and blast, a variety of mine services, and ongoing development of data-driven, high-tech drillside solutions. Major Drilling Group International Inc. will provide a simultaneous webcast and conference call to discuss its quarterly results on Friday, December 6, 2024 at 8:00 AM (EST). To access the webcast, which includes a slide presentation, please go to the investors/webcasts section of Major Drilling’s website at www.majordrilling.com and click on the link. Please note that this is listen-only mode. To participate in the conference call, please dial 416-340-2217, participant passcode 4769038# and ask for Major Drilling’s Second Quarter Results Conference Call. To ensure your participation, please call in approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. For those unable to participate, a taped rebroadcast will be available approximately one hour after the completion of the call until Monday, January 6, 2025. To access the rebroadcast, dial 905-694-9451 and enter the passcode 1708283#. The webcast will also be archived for one year and can be accessed on the Major Drilling website at www.majordrilling.com. Ryan Hanley Director, Corporate Development & Investor Relations Tel: (506) 857-8636 Fax: (506) 857-9211 (in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share information) Major Drilling Group International Inc. (the “Company”) is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and has its head office at 111 St. George Street, Moncton, NB, Canada. The Company’s common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”). The principal source of revenue consists of contract drilling for companies primarily involved in mining and mineral exploration. The Company has operations in North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Africa. These Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting (“IAS 34”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) and using the accounting policies as outlined in the Company’s annual Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2024. On December 5, 2024, the Board of Directors authorized the financial statements for issue. These Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and entities controlled by the Company. Control is achieved when the Company is exposed or has rights to variable returns from its involvement with the investee and has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the investee. The results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the period are included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations from the effective date of acquisition or up to the effective date of disposal, as appropriate. Intercompany transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation, where appropriate. These Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared based on the historical cost basis, except for certain financial instruments that are measured at fair value, using the same accounting policies and methods of computation, with the exception of those detailed in note 4 below, as presented in the Company’s annual Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2024. The Company has not applied the following IASB standard amendment and standard that have been issued, but are not yet effective: The Company is currently in the process of assessing the impact the adoption of the above amendment and standard will have on the Consolidated Financial Statements. With the exception of the policy detailed below, all accounting policies and methods of computation remain the same as those presented in the Company’s annual Consolidation Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2024. Associates are companies that the Company has significant influence over and are accounted for under the equity method. Significant influence is the power to participate in the financial and operating policy decisions of the investee, but is not control or joint control over those policies. Significant influence is presumed when the Company has an ownership interest greater than 20%, unless certain qualitative factors overcome this assumption. In assessing significant influence and the ownership interest, potential voting or other rights that are currently exercisable are taken into consideration. Investments in associates are accounted for using the equity method and are initially recognized at cost, inclusive of transaction costs. The Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the Company’s share of the income or loss and equity movement of equity accounted associates. The Company does not recognize losses exceeding the carrying value of its interest in the associate. The preparation of financial statements, in conformity with IFRS, requires management to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that are not readily apparent from other sources, which affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expenses. Actual results may differ from these estimates. The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognized in the period in which the estimate is revised, if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods, if the revision affects both current and future periods. Significant areas requiring the use of management estimates relate to the useful lives of property, plant and equipment for depreciation purposes, inventory valuation, determination of income and other taxes, recoverability of deferred income tax assets, assumptions used in compilation of share-based payments, provisions, contingent considerations, impairment testing of goodwill and intangible assets and long-lived assets. The Company applied judgment in determining the functional currency of the Company and its subsidiaries, the determination of cash-generating units (“CGUs”), the degree of componentization of property, plant and equipment, the recognition of provisions, the determination of the probability that deferred income tax assets will be realized from future taxable earnings, and the determination of whether the Company exerts significant influence with respect to its investment in associate under the equity accounting method. The third quarter (November to January) is normally the Company’s weakest quarter due to the shutdown of mining and exploration activities, often for extended periods over the holiday season. Capital expenditures for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024 were $20,073 (2023 – $17,443) and $41,324 (2023 – $33,717). The Company did not obtain direct financing for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024 or 2023. On July 22, 2024, the Company purchased shares in DGI Geoscience Inc. (“DGI”) for $15,000 in cash consideration, a 39.8% equity interest (that provides the Company with 42.3% of the voting rights). DGI and its subsidiaries are privately held entities, headquartered in Canada, focused on downhole survey and imaging services as well as using artificial intelligence for logging scanned rock samples. In addition to the equity interest, Major Drilling’s representation on the DGI Board of Directors gives the Company significant influence over DGI. While there are special approval rights granted to the Company as part of the investment, these are more protective in nature and therefore, would not result in control, or joint control of DGI. As a result, the Company concluded that the equity method of accounting is appropriate for its investment in DGI. During the prior quarter, the Company incurred costs of $205 for this investment, relating to external legal fees and due diligence costs. These amounts have been recorded as part of the cost of the investment in associate in the Interim Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. In the current quarter, the Company’s earnings from investment in associate is $27. During the prior year, for the three and six months ended October 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 875,268 and 1,020,568 common shares, respectively, at an average price of $8.31 and $8.40, respectively, under its Normal Course Issuer Bid. Direct costs by nature are as follows: General and administrative expenses by nature are as follows: The income tax provision for the periods can be reconciled to accounting earnings before income tax as follows: The Company periodically assesses its liabilities and contingencies for all tax years open to audit based upon the latest information available. For those matters where it is probable that an adjustment will be made, the Company records its best estimate of these tax liabilities, including related interest charges. Inherent uncertainties exist in estimates of tax contingencies due to changes in tax laws. While management believes they have adequately provided for the probable outcome of these matters, future results may include favourable or unfavourable adjustments to these estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are made, or resolved, or when the statutes of limitations lapse. All of the Company’s earnings are attributable to common shares, therefore, net earnings are used in determining earnings per share. The calculation of diluted earnings per share for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024 excludes the effect of 200,000 options for both periods (2023 – 297,000 and 205,000, respectively) as they were not in-the-money. The total number of shares outstanding on October 31, 2024 was 81,842,086 (2023 – 82,093,486). The Company’s operations are divided into the following three geographic segments, corresponding to its management structure: Canada – U.S.; South and Central America; and Australasia and Africa. The services provided in each of the reportable segments are essentially the same. The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in the Company’s annual Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2024. Management evaluates performance based on earnings from operations in these three geographic segments before finance costs, general corporate expenses and income taxes. Data relating to each of the Company’s reportable segments is presented as follows: *Canada – U.S. includes revenue of $25,695 and $34,074 for Canadian operations for the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively and $57,543 and $70,762 for the six months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. **General and corporate expenses include expenses for corporate offices and stock-based compensation. *Canada – U.S. includes property, plant and equipment as at October 31, 2024 of $64,041 (April 30, 2024 – $62,991) for Canadian operations. The carrying values of cash, trade and other receivables, demand credit facilities and trade and other payables approximate their fair value due to the relatively short period to maturity of the instruments. The carrying value of contingent consideration and long-term debt approximates their fair value as the interest applicable is reflective of fair market rates. Financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value are classified and disclosed in one of the following categories: The Company enters into certain derivative financial instruments to manage its exposure to market risks, comprised of share-price forward contracts with a combined notional amount of $8,654, maturing at varying dates through June 2027. The fair value hierarchy requires the use of observable market inputs whenever such inputs exist. A financial instrument is classified to the lowest level of the hierarchy for which a significant input has been considered in measuring fair value. The Company’s derivatives, with fair values as follows, are classified as level 2 financial instruments and recorded in trade and other receivables (payables) in the Interim Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. There were no transfers of amounts between level 1, level 2 and level 3 financial instruments for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024. As at October 31, 2024, 96.1% (April 30, 2024 – 95.9%) of the Company’s trade receivables were aged as current and 3.5% (April 30, 2024 – 3.5%) of the trade receivables were impaired. The movements in the allowance for impairment of trade receivables during the periods were as follows: As at October 31, 2024, the most significant carrying amounts of net monetary assets and/or liabilities (which may include intercompany balances with other subsidiaries) that: (i) are denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of the respective Company subsidiary; and (ii) cause foreign exchange rate exposure, including the impact on earnings before income taxes (“EBIT”), if the corresponding rate changes by 10%, are as follows (in $000s CAD): The following table details contractual maturities for the Company’s financial liabilities: On November 5, 2024, the Company completed the purchase of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Explomin Perforaciones (“Explomin”), a leading specialty drilling contractor based in Lima, Peru. This acquisition provides Major Drilling with increased exposure to the copper market as Explomin is one of the largest South American drilling contractors, with the majority of their operations in Peru, while also servicing markets in Colombia, Dominican Republic, and Spain. The purchase price for the acquisition is valued at an amount up to US$85 million, consisting of: (i) a cash payment of US$63 million payable on closing, subject to working capital adjustments; and (ii) an earnout of up to US$22 million payable in cash over the next three years, based on the achievement of certain milestones. The cash portion of the purchase price has been funded from Major Drilling’s cash and existing debt facilities.

Mizzou gets second flip in two days as four-star WR Fowlkes chooses Tigers over Pitt

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter's in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter's path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That's a very narrow way of assessing them," Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn't suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he'd be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter's tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter's lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor's race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival's endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King's daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters' early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan's presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan's Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.

How a GoPro camera has helped the Vikings keep rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy on trackShares of GoviEx Uranium Inc. ( CVE:GXU – Get Free Report ) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as C$0.05 and last traded at C$0.05, with a volume of 926180 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$0.05. GoviEx Uranium Stock Performance The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$0.06 and a 200-day moving average of C$0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of C$36.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.32 and a beta of 1.50. About GoviEx Uranium ( Get Free Report ) GoviEx Uranium Inc, a mineral resources company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of uranium properties in Africa. The company's principal asset is the Madaouela project which holds 80% interest located in north-central Niger. It also owns 100% interest in the Muntanga project that consists of 3 mining licenses situated to the south of Lusaka, Zambia; and the Falea project, which consists of three exploration licenses located in Mali. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for GoviEx Uranium Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for GoviEx Uranium and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

Notable quotes by Jimmy Carter

Supporters of the former prime minister are marching to the capital, Islamabad, demanding his release from jail. At least one police officer has been killed and dozens of people injured in Pakistan as supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan have clashed with security forces outside the capital, Islamabad, officials and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party say. Authorities enforced a security lockdown for the past two days in the country after Khan called for the march on parliament and a sit-in to demand his release. On Monday, one police officer was shot and killed, at least 119 others were injured and 22 police vehicles were torched in clashes just outside Islamabad and elsewhere in Punjab province, provincial police chief Usman Anwar said. Two officers were in critical condition, he added. The PTI said scores of its workers have also been injured in the rally so far. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said those responsible for the death of the police officer would face justice. Speaking at the funeral of Constable Muhammad Mubashir in Rawalpindi, Naqvi said it’s not the first time police officers have been killed during political protests. “Last time too they assaulted ... our personnel who were martyred, and today we had to have another funeral again,” Naqvi told the media. “Those who called the protesters, they will be held responsible for this death. We will not spare anybody, and there will be cases registered against all of them.” The protest march, which Khan has described as the “final call”, is one of many his party has held to seek his release since he was jailed in August last year. His party said the jailed leader’s third wife, Bushra Bibi, and a key aide, Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, led the march that arrived just outside Islamabad on Monday night. “Physically, it has been very challenging to constantly travel in this cold, but our spirits are high, and we look forward to reach our destination later tonight,” PTI leader Asim Arbab told Al Jazeera on arriving at the entry point to Islamabad. Islamabad shut down In response to the PTI’s calls for protests in Islamabad, the government imposed measures such as shutting down the city’s entry and exit points and enforcing internet blackouts. Shipping containers were used to block major roads and streets in the city, and police and paramilitary personnel patrolled in riot gear. Officials and witnesses said all public transport between cities and terminals had also been shut down in the eastern province to keep away the protesters, and gatherings in Islamabad have been banned. All schools in the capital and the adjacent city of Rawalpindi, which were closed on Monday, will also remain closed on Tuesday, authorities said. Naqvi said security forces showed “extreme restraint” in confronting the protesters, some of whom he said had fired live rounds while police used rubber bullets and fired tear gas canisters. “It is easy to respond a bullet with a bullet,” he said. But Khan’s party accused the government of using excessive violence to block the protesters and said hundreds of its workers and leaders had been arrested. “They are even firing live bullets,” one of Khan’s aides, Shaukat Yousafzai, told Geo News. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Geo News TV that the government had held talks with PTI leaders to calm down the situation, “but it didn’t yield any results.” Sayed Zulfi Bukhari, a senior PTI leader and close aide to Khan, categorically rejected Asif’s assertion and said no kind of negotiations had occurred with the government. “We have entered Islamabad, and there is no need for us to talk to the government,” he told Al Jazeera. “Our demands are not unreasonable at all, and it is something that every citizen of Pakistan should ask for.”