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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lopsided, shutout loss has left the beat-up New Orleans Saints limping into the final two games of a lost season — and into a rather cloudy future beyond that. Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi figured that a visit to playoff-bound Green Bay would be a tall order for his injury-riddled squad, whose prominent missing players included starters at quarterback, running back and receiver. And when New Orleans' mostly healthy defensive front struggled against a Packers ground game led by running back Josh Jacobs, the rout was on. Nothing "stuck out on film other than a lack of execution and lack of playmaking,” Rizzi said Tuesday after reviewing video of Monday night's 34-0 loss at Green Bay . “We played against a playoff team, at their place, that has very few holes on their team,” Rizzi added. “It was a little bit of a perfect storm." Rizzi, a special teams coordinator who has made no secret that he sees his eight-game interim stint as an opportunity to further his head-coaching ambitions, has two more games left in what has been an up-and-down audition. The Saints are 3-3 on his watch, which includes one of New Orleans' most lopsided losses since the turn of the century. With the playoffs unattainable, and with a lot of reserves pressed into service, the final two weeks will serve primarily as a player-evaluation period heading into the offseason, when there are bound to be myriad changes on the roster and perhaps the coaching staff. Rizzi said the Saints, realistically, have been in evaluation mode “for the last month or so,” but added that there maybe be additional young or practice-squad players getting longer looks in the final two games. “My big thing this week is to see how we can respond,” Rizzi said. “We’re going to find out a lot about a lot of people.” Of the Saints' four punts, three were inside the Green Bay 20 and New Orleans did not allow a single punt return yard. The punt team might have been the only unit that executed its job (even the kickoff unit allowed a 38-yard return). The Saints had trouble protecting the quarterback (three sacks) and protecting the football (two turnovers). They couldn't run the ball (67 yards). They couldn't stop the run (188 yards allowed). They couldn't pass the ball consistently (129 yards) or stop the pass when they needed to. As former Saints coach Jim Mora once said, they couldn't do “ diddly poo .” Although rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler largely struggled and was responsible for both New Orleans turnovers, he had enough highlights — including a jumping, first-down pass on third-and-long — to keep him penciled in as the starter if the injured Derek Carr remains unable to play, Rizzi said. “It was definitely a performance where we got to take the good with the bad,” Rizzi said. “We've got to get rid of those negative plays.” New Orleans native Foster Moreau has emerged as one of the Saints' most reliable offensive players. The sixth-year NFL tight end made two catches for a team-high 33 yards on Monday night, giving him 25 catches for 335 yards this season. His four TDs receiving entering the game remain tied for the team lead. Rizzi was riding high after two wins to start his interim term as head coach, but Monday night's ugly loss is the club's third in four games and took a lot of luster off his candidacy for a longer-term appointment. Center Erik McCoy left the game with an elbow injury, while guard Lucas Patrick hurt his knee in the closing minutes. Rizzi said McCoy won't need surgery but could miss the rest of the season. The coach said Patrick needs more tests but is not expected to play again this season. While the chances of Carr (non-throwing, left hand) or top running back Alvin Kamara (groin) playing again this season appear slim, the Saints have declined to rule that out. Rizzi said Carr is getting closer to being able to play and wants the opportunity to go against his former team, the Las Vegas Raiders. Meanwhile, Rizzi said Kamara “is working his tail off to try to come back” this season. “Alvin told me this morning, in my office, that he really would like to play again,” Rizzi said. 24 — The number of years since the Saints suffered a more lopsided shutout loss, 38-0 against San Francisco in 2002. The Saints' home finale against lowly Las Vegas will be an anticlimactic affair bound to generate a level of fan interest similar to, if not less than, a preseason game. But the game will be important to the current regime, which needs victories in each of the club's final two games to avoid the franchise's worst record since it was displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and went 3-13. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLp777 slot 。

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Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF ( NYSEARCA:IVOG – Get Free Report ) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 24,214 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the previous session’s volume of 26,987 shares.The stock last traded at $114.53 and had previously closed at $114.65. Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF Trading Down 0.9 % The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25 and a beta of 1.07. Institutional Trading of Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bristlecone Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF in the third quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF during the 2nd quarter valued at about $151,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF by 61.0% during the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF in the third quarter worth about $201,000. Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF Company Profile The Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF (IVOG) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P Mid Cap 400 Growth index, a market-cap-weighted index of growth companies curated from the S&P 400. IVOG was launched on Sep 9, 2010 and is managed by Vanguard. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .The Philadelphia Eagles are preparing to start Kenny Pickett at quarterback on Sunday against the visiting Dallas Cowboys. Head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed Friday morning that Jalen Hurts remains in the concussion protocol, adding, "It's going to be tough for him to make it this week." Hurts and Pickett (ribs) were both injured during last weekend's 36-33 loss to the Washington Commanders, but Pickett was a full participant in Thursday's practice. Pickett, who grew up as an Eagles fan in Ocean Township, N.J., will have a chance to help Philadelphia (12-3) clinch the NFC East title in his first start for the franchise. "I'm very excited. It's a big opportunity," he told reporters Thursday. "I've been working hard to stay ready and I felt like I was in a good position last game with my preparation and now having a week to practice, I'll feel even better going into the stadium. So, I'm excited. I just want to get the win." Pickett relieved Hurts in the first quarter against Washington and completed 14 of 24 passes for 143 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Prior to that, he had appeared in three games in mop-up duty. Pickett, 26, compiled a 14-10 record as the starter for the Steelers from 2022-23 after being drafted by Pittsburgh in the first round (20th overall) in 2022. After the Steelers acquired Russell Wilson in March, Pickett was traded along with a 2024 fourth-round pick to the Eagles in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick and two 2025 seventh-rounders. Pickett has completed 62.3 percent of his pass attempts for 4,622 yards with 14 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 29 career games. He has rushed for 303 yards and four scores. Hurts, 26, has completed 68.7 percent of his passes for 2,903 yards with 18 TDs and five picks in 15 starts in 2024. He has rushed for 630 yards and is tied for the NFL lead with 14 rushing touchdowns. --Field Level Media

By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES — As Joan Benoit Samuelson negotiated the hairpin turn into the Coliseum tunnel, ran past the USC locker room and onto the stadium’s red synthetic track for the final 400 meters of the 1984 Olympic marathon, her focus wasn’t only on finishing, but on finishing strong. Women never had been allowed to run farther than 1,500 meters in the Olympics because the Games’ all-male guardians long harbored antiquated views of femininity and what the female body could do. If Samuelson struggled to the line, or worse yet dropped to the ground after crossing it, that would validate those views and set back for years the fight for gender equality in the Olympics. “They might have taken the Olympic marathon off the schedule,” Samuelson said by phone two days before Thanksgiving. “This is an elite athlete struggling to finish a marathon. It never happened, thank goodness. But that could have changed the course of history for women’s marathoning.” Actually, that race did change the course of history because nothing remained the same after a joyous Samuelson, wearing a wide smile and waving her white cap to the sold-out crowd, crossed the finish line. This year marked the 40th anniversary of that victory, and when the Olympics return to Los Angeles in four years, the Games will be different in many ways because of it. Since 1984, the number of Summer Olympic events for women has nearly tripled, to 151, while last summer’s Paris Games was the first to reach gender parity, with women accounting for half of the 10,500 athletes in France. Fittingly the women’s marathon was given a place of honor on the calendar there, run as the final event of the track and field competition and one of the last medal events of the Games. None of that seemed likely — or even possible — before Samuelson’s win. “I sort of use marathoning as a way to storytell,” Samuelson said from her home in Maine. “And I tell people LA 84 and the first women’s Olympic marathon was certainly the biggest win of my life.” It was life-changing for many other women as well. Until 1960, the longest Olympic track race for women was 200 meters. The 1,500 meters was added in 1972, yet it wasn’t until the L.A. Games that the leaders of the International Olympic Committee, who had long cited rampant myths and dubious sports-medicine studies about the dangers of exercise for women, approved the addition of two distance races, the 3,000 meters and marathon. Which isn’t to say women had never run long distances in the Olympics. At the first modern Games in Athens in 1896, a Greek woman named Stamata Revithi, denied a place on the starting line on race day, ran the course alone a day later, finishing in 5 hours and 30 minutes, an accomplishment witnesses confirmed in writing. Her performance was better than at least seven of the 17 male runners, who didn’t complete the race. But she was barred from entering Panathenaic Stadium and her achievement was never recognized. Eighty-eight years passed before a woman was allowed to run the Olympic marathon. “There are men that are raised with resentment for women, except for their own mothers. That’s just a part of their nature,” Hall of Fame track coach Bob Larsen said. “A lot of good things have happened in the last couple of decades. Old men are passing away and opening doors [for] people who have a more modern understanding of what women are capable of.” In between Revithi and Samuelson, women routinely were banned even from public races like the Boston Marathon, which didn’t allow females to run officially until 1972. Even then, women had to bring a doctor’s note declaring them fit to run, said Maggie Mertens, author of “Better, Faster, Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women.” Seven years later Norway’s Grete Waitz became the first woman to break 2:30 in the marathon, running 2:27.32 in New York, a time that would have been good for second in the elite men’s race in Chicago that same day. Because of that, Samuelson said she hardly was blazing a trail in L.A. Instead she was running in the wake of pioneers such as Kathrine Switzer, Bobbi Gibb and Waitz. “I ran because there was an opportunity, not because I wanted to prove that women could run marathons,” said Samuelson, who still is running at 67. “Women had been proving themselves long before the ’84 Games. “If anything, maybe my win inspired women to realize that if marathoning were a metaphor for life, anything in life is possible.” Still, when Samuelson beat Waitz in Los Angeles, running in prime time during a race that was beamed to television viewers around the world, “that was the game-changer,” Switzer, the first woman to run Boston as an official competitor, told Mertens. “When people saw it on television ... they said, ‘Oh my God, women can do anything.’ “ A barrier had fallen and there was no going back. “You could make the argument that in women’s sports in general, we had to see, we had to have these women prove on the biggest stage possible that they were capable so that these gatekeepers would let women come in and play sports and be part of this world,” Mertens said. “I think it really did help burst open those ideas about what we could do and what we could see.” As a result, the elite runners who have followed in Samuelson’s footsteps never have known a world in which women were barred from long-distance races. “I grew up believing that women ran the marathon and that it wasn’t a big deal,” said Kara Goucher, a two-time Olympian and a world championship silver medalist who was 6 when Samuelson won in L.A. “I grew up seeing women run the marathon as the norm. That 100 percent is a credit to Joanie going out there on the world’s biggest stage and normalizing it.” Paige Wood, a former U.S. marathon champion, said her high school coach was inspired to run marathons by Samuelson’s story and passed that inspiration on to her runners. “She used her as an example of why we shouldn’t put any mental limitations on ourselves or shouldn’t let others tell us what we are capable of,” Wood said. Wood was born in 1996 and remembers her mom, who was very athletic, saying that cheerleading was the only sport available to her in high school in the pre-Samuelson days. “It’s undeniable, right? The courage she gave other women to start running and start competing,” Wood continued. “The trickle-down effect, it’s not even limited to running. It affected all sports and just made women less afraid to be athletic and try all different sports.” A year after Samuelson’s victory, the U.S. women’s soccer team played its first game, although it was more than a decade before the WNBA, the country’s first professional women’s league. There are now leagues in six other sports, from ice hockey and lacrosse to rugby and volleyball, and female athletes like Caitlin Clark, Alex Morgan, Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky are household names. Last summer in Paris, Sifan Hassan won the women’s marathon in an Olympic-record 2:22.55 after taking bronze in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, events that weren’t even on the Olympic calendar when Samuelson won her race. Two months later Kenyan Ruth Chepng’etich became the first woman to run under 2:10 when she won the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:56, averaging 4:57 a mile. Until 1970, two years before the Boston Marathon was opened to women, only one man had broken 2:10 in the race. “It says so much about sport and the way that humans don’t quite know what we’re capable of until we do it,” Mertens said. “We’re going to keep pushing those goalposts back. We’ve come so far, and I think that’s more to do with just having the opportunities and know that there aren’t really limits. “That’s the power of sports. These people are inspiring us; [they] help us see women as powerful athletes but also powerful in politics, as leaders.” Did Samuelson make that happen? Or did she simply make it happen faster? “You’d have to decide whether it was a huge defining moment or just a general wave of athletic events that made this possible,” Larsen said. “You know, the more times you put someone up at the plate, sooner or later somebody’s going to hit it out. “Now it’s acceptable to have a woman running for president. So things are happening and it’s more acceptable to the general public. Was Joanie a big part of it? I would think so.” ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. More articles from the BDNFrance announces aid to back global fight against polio in Pakistan

R ugby union still produces some fascinating individuals and John Dobson, the head honcho at the DHL Stormers, is very much one of them. To say “Dobbo” is not your average coach is self-evident from his CV. In addition to degrees in law and business administration from the University of Cape Town there is surely no other top-level director of rugby with a creative writing degree. As he wryly puts it: “I was the only person on the course who didn’t wear a tweed skirt.” As a player he was also, for two seasons, the only white guy in an otherwise exclusively black working-class club side. “What did I learn? How privileged us white people were.” He was conscripted into the South African army during the apartheid era, has had two novels published and is the son of a noted South African rugby writer, referee and historian. He describes himself as “an accidental coach” having started out as coach of his local university fourth XV, but has subsequently guided the Stormers, then in administration, to the inaugural 2022 URC title, the franchise’s first piece of silverware. Stitch together all these disparate strands – he also loves The Cure and the poetry of Dylan Thomas – and you have someone well worth consulting on subjects such as the soul of rugby and the sport’s current health. And once he has retrieved Norman the family dog from the garden – “He’s a lazy, obese beagle” – some nagging concerns are soon evident on the eve of the Stormers’ Champions Cup tie against Harlequins at the Stoop on Saturday. For starters the Stormers are set to field a weakened team, partly because of injuries and logistics but also because of upcoming games against their local rivals the Lions and the Sharks either side of Christmas. While Dobson’s side will be competitive – “We’ll put up a fight in Harlequins , we’re not coming to get our tummies tickled” – he would love, one day, to send up his first-choice XV. “I think we’ve got to sort out the Champions Cup. Maybe because of our presence it’s a bit unwieldy at the moment. People are a bit confused by it and it’s certainly not what it was – to my mind as an outsider – a couple of years ago. That’s what I worry about: if it becomes really vanilla with teams just going through the motions.” He cites last weekend’s pool game against Toulon in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) as a cautionary case study. “We played a Champions Cup game in a beautiful city and I didn’t speak to one Frenchman. Dan Biggar came to our changing room afterwards but we didn’t do anything for them. How is it possible that guys can come from another continent and we don’t even say hello to them? It’s really odd but it’s across the board now. “It feels to me like we’re in a curious space with some of rugby’s values. I’m sounding very old fashioned now but lying down [feigning injury] to try and get the TMO involved? Not speaking to the opposition? I think we’ve all, South Africa included, trampled over rugby’s values a little bit over the last little while. It just feels like [the sport] is a little bit lost.” It is clearly a subject close to the thoughtful Dobson’s heart. “I’m old school. I like that side of the game. When I started with the Stormers some guys weren’t showering after matches. They were just getting into their tracksuits and going home. I said: ‘Jeepers, if we don’t like people here enough to have a cold drink with them afterwards we’re in trouble’. A lot of those old values ... I reckon that’s where the future of rugby could be.” In the meantime he wants his players to appreciate what they have, rather than grumbling about commuting north to play in the freezing British gloom. “I remember last year we were playing London Irish at Brentford and we were training at the Lensbury Club. The guys were complaining having just come down on a long bus ride from Glasgow. I said: ‘Listen, you fuckers. If I’d said a year ago that you could play Champions Cup rugby in London you’d have canoed up the west coast of Africa. Don’t take all this for granted.’” A return to more parochial fixtures, he warns, would be ruinous. “Are we going to go back to playing against the Griquas and Free State like in the 1980s? We’d better behave ourselves; it would be absolutely insane. We’re playing in competitions that are absolutely suited to our DNA. Every breakdown and scrum is a contest, every lineout maul is a fight. That’s actually what winning Test rugby and World Cups are all about.” Once upon a time Dobson played hooker for Western Province and has lived through all kinds of social upheaval in his homeland. Winning World Cups cannot solve every political problem – “The country isn’t united like that for the other three years and 10 months” – but he believes rugby has helped to ease some divisions. “Remember when we had the quota system with a certain number of black players in the team? Now rugby in South Africa has realised how much the so-called disadvantaged communities of the country could bring. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion “Players are there on merit and that is where the real transformation is coming. Before there was this stigma surrounding the quota and some of the guys weren’t good enough. I’m not sure about a unified country but in rugby it’s really bedding in deep. And that does help the country, of course it does.” It is another reason why Dobson has chosen the mission statement “Make Cape Town Smile” as his team’s mantra. “What we’ve got in Cape Town is an amazing project. Rugby is so big among all races in the Western Cape so we’ve got this connection with the city. It’s almost a day-by-day version of the Springbok project. “One or two people overseas have approached me to go and coach them, especially after we won the URC. But when the Stormers fire me I’m done in coaching. Panasonic v Mitsubishi would mean nothing to me. If the Stormers win the police say that gender-based violence drops in our poorer suburbs. That makes it a bit more than a game. South African teams always draw on a little extra edge compared to some countries because you’re playing for so much. “Our players get that. If you look at our crowd these people are making amazing sacrifices. It’s not like rugby in the 1980s here when it was all smart people of my background. This team went into administration and was bankrupt. To reconnect it and give it back to the people of Cape Town is my project.” More power to Dobbo and the cause he holds so dear.CM Omar Abdullah urges officials to take swift action to restore essential services in J&K

Teck Resources Ltd. Cl B stock rises Wednesday, outperforms marketPublished 22:02 IST, December 28th 2024 BJP leader and grandson of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, NV Subhash said the Congress disrespected Rao after his demise. Hyderabad: On the issue of allocating space for a memorial for former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, BJP leader and grandson of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, NV Subhash, on Saturday, said, “The Congress disrespected Narasimha Rao after his demise. It persuaded us to move his mortal remains to Hyderabad and assured us that a memorial site would be built for him in Hyderabad even though he had spent most of his life in Delhi.” Criticising the Congress for its duplicity in honouring its own leaders, he added, “Today, the Congress party's hypocrisy has been exposed. They ill-treated their leaders. The cabinet has clearly approved Congress' demand. They are playing petty politics on the whims and fancies of the dynastic rule of the Congress party.” The BJP accused the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi of indulging in politics over the funeral of Singh. Addressing a press conference here, BJP national spokesperson and MP Sambit Patra came down heavily on Gandhi for stating that the Narendra Modi government disrespected Singh by conducting his funeral at Nigambodh Ghat, whereas for other former prime ministers the last rites were performed at sites where memorials were authorised to be built later. "It is unfortunate that the BJP has to address a press conference on the subject relating to the funeral of Dr Singh... since his death, the Centre has been preparing to construct a memorial for him," Patra said. "A cabinet meeting was called and a condolence message was issued. It was also decided to pay proper respects to the former PM befitting to his stature. The cabinet has informed both Dr Singh's family and the Congress that a memorial will be built so that everyone can remember his positive contribution. However, time is needed for land acquisition, forming a trust and other formalities. At the same time, cremation should be done as it cannot wait," Patra said. The BJP leader also alleged that the grand old party had "insulted" its leaders - former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao and ex-President Pranab Mukherjee - in the past. (with PTI inputs) Get Current Updates on India News , Entertainment News along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world. Updated 22:03 IST, December 28th 2024

Founder of the Economic Fighters League, Ernesto Yeboah Founder of the Economic Fighters League, Ernesto Yeboah says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) does not feel punished in the 2024 general elections. In an opinion piece, he stated that the outgoing government feels relieved in losing the elections because it will help them enjoy the resources they have looted from the state. He opined that the NPP government and its appointees and assigns were looking for an opportunity to get out of office so they would have the opportunity to enjoy what they stole from the state. “Yes, people were angry, and they voted. But don’t mistake that anger for punishment. The NPP doesn’t feel punished. On the contrary, they feel relieved. You’ve given them the holiday they desperately needed to sit back and enjoy their loot. This is why recovering the loot is so so so so important. But will it ever be recovered? We don’t have a democracy. This is a system rigged against you, where the political elite plays chess while you remain the pawn. I hope we all wake up one day.” Read the full opinion piece below Archive: When I first heard comments like “we punished the NPP,” I assumed they were made in a moment of excitement—that deep down, we all understood the reality. But many days later, I realise this perception has fossilized into fact for some. So, let me ask: did we really punish the NPP by voting them out? I don’t think so. If you truly believe that, then you still don’t understand what has happened to your country. At the beginning of Akufo Addo’s second term, the NPP was already bored with power. They had stolen enough and were simply looking for the right time and way to hand over to the NDC so they could go and enjoy their loot. Some of them, as I speak to you, are very unwell—so sick, in fact, that they have dialysis machines installed in their homes and need time off to care for themselves. This isn’t a punishment for them; ...it’s an escape. And if the recently reported story of the National Service payroll loot has any truth to it, what makes you think its beneficiaries could have had the time to focus on their work in the office? They definitely needed time and space to enjoy their haul. Now consider this: the National Service loot is probably among the smallest on the league table of corruption. This is where some of the decisions the NPP made during their tenure start to make sense when viewed as deliberate mischief or disengagement. It’s a game, and we—ordinary citizens—are the pawns. Now, let’s turn to the NDC. Ask yourself: did they really look like a hungry opposition throughout the eight years? I understand your excitement, so I won’t spoil your fun just yet. But when the dust settles, take a step back and analyse things more closely. Look at the resources the NDC poured into their campaign: the quality of their T-shirts, the scale of their media marketing, the high-profile exotic consultants they hired years before the election. Did you notice the money flowing in the constituencies? Some households reportedly received up to GH¢10,000, while individuals were handed over GH¢1,000 or more on voting day. If you know anyone in the police force who worked during the election, ask them how much they were paid. The truth is, both sides—the NPP and the NDC—spent heavily because they are two sides of the same coin. The duopoly controls the game. What else explains the sudden drop in the dollar from GH¢17 to GH¢14? Yes, people were angry, and they voted. But don’t mistake that anger for punishment. The NPP doesn’t feel punished. On the contrary, they feel relieved. You’ve given them the holiday they desperately needed to sit back and enjoy their loot. This is why recovering the loot is so so so so important. But will it ever be recovered? We don’t have a democracy. This is a system rigged against you, where the political elite plays chess while you remain the pawn. I hope we all wake up one day. Watch a compilation of the latest Twi news below:While some of these are well-known and will be no surprise, such as the Grade I-listed Sankey Viaduct reflecting the area's integral part of railway history, and several pub and church buildings across the borough, others are more obscure. The telephone boxes near St Helens town hall, village stocks in Rainford and parish stocks in Newton-le-Willows are also among those listed. What are Listed Buildings? According to Historic England, listing marks and celebrates a building's special architectural and historic interest, and also brings it under the consideration of the planning system, so that it can be protected for future generations. The older a building is, and the fewer the surviving examples of its kind, the more likely it is to be listed. The general principles are that all buildings built before 1700 which survive in anything like their original condition are likely to be listed, as are most buildings built between 1700 and 1850. Particularly careful selection is required for buildings from the period after 1945. Buildings less than 30 years old are not normally considered to be of special architectural or historic interest because they have yet to stand the test of time. What do the Grades mean? Grade I buildings are of exceptional interest, only 2.5% of listed buildings are Grade I. In the borough of St Helens, the Sankey Viaduct in Newton-le-Willows is the only Grade I listed structure. Also known as the 'Nine Arches', this is the world's first major crossing of its kind, was built by George Stephenson between 1828 and 1830, and is the borough's only Grade I-listed structure. Meanwhile, Grade II* buildings are particularly important buildings of more than special interest; 5.8% of listed buildings are Grade II. Grade II buildings are of special interest; 91.7% of all listed buildings are in this class and it is the most likely grade of listing for a home owner. How does the listing process work? There are two main routes to listing. Anyone... Simon Mulligan

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