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Susquehanna Valley restaurants start new year under pandemic restrictions WGAL Susquehanna Valley Pa.
A targeting penalty against Clemson linebacker James Skalski in the second quarter of a College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State left fans bewildered and upset.
Skalski came like a heat-seeking missile into a scrambling Justin Fields with 5:57 remaining in the first half. On his tackle, Skalski leaned with the crown of his helmet into Fields’ back. The Ohio State quarterback was down for a few moments clutching his back while officials reviewed the play.
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Officials determined that Skalaski should be penalized for targeting, which is an automatic ejection.
Two plays later, Ohio State extended its lead to 28-14 when Fields came back into the game and fired off a touchdown pass to Chris Olave. Fields then came off the field in obvious pain.
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The play left fans a bit perturbed about the rules and whether the play should even be considered targeting.
Skalski also was ejected in the national championship game last season for a targeting penalty against LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
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The winner of the Sugar Bowl matchup between the Tigers and Buckeyes will play Alabama in the national championship game. Clemson lost in the national title game last season to LSU. Ohio State hasn’t played for the national title since the 2014 season.
All. About. The team.@jtdaniels06#GoDawgs #CFAPeachBowl pic.twitter.com/I11SxaH2fB
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) January 1, 2021
Georgia quarterback JT Daniels had the weight of the Georgia football program on his shoulders with 1:28 remaining and no timeouts left, the Bulldogs down 21-19.
Daniels, a redshirt sophomore quarterback transfer from USC, stayed cool as ever with the game on the line, methodically moving Georgia (8-2) downfield to set up the game-winning field goal in the 24-21 victory over Cincinnati (9-1).
The Bearcats’ pass defense, ranked No. 2 in the nation, proved as tricky and difficult to scheme up as expected.
Cincinnati extended its nation-long active streak of games forcing a turnover (20) with a first-quarter interception in the end zone when Daniels and George Pickens got their wires crossed.
Cincinnati’s pass rush and pressure package was a handful for Georgia’s shuffled offensive, line.
The Bearcats beat the Bulldogs in the trenches all day, holding UGA to just 45 yards rushing on 24 attempts with no runs longer than 12 yards.
By making Georgia one-dimensional, Cincinnati was able to pin its ears back and deliver several shots on Daniels, including a forced fumble as he attempted to flee a fierce pass rush on yet another empty Red Zone possession.
And yet, on the final drive, Daniels was able to complete 5 of 7 passes for 44 yards, capping off a performance that saw him go 26-of-38 passing for 392 yards and a touchdown.
Daniels moved to 4-0 as the Bulldogs’ starter with the victory, the offense looking reinvigorated with him under center.
“At this point, I feel like I’ve been here for years,” Daniels said. “Instantly, when I came in, I felt a connection with the team, a connection with the way this program is run is the way I would say it. We’re all about ball.
“It’s something you can say about pretty much the whole team, is that everyone just loves football. We’re here to do our thing and be the best players we can be.”
Daniels struck deep often on the Bearcats, connecting with George Pickens on a 51-yard strike in the first quarter, and finding Arian Smith on a 55-yard bomb, and Kearis Jackson on a 42-yard gain.
But there was also the interception in the end zone, and a fourth-and-1 pass that Daniels fired into Jackson’s arms for what appeared to be a first down until Jackson dropped it.
Daniels, as many now recognize is his nature, didn’t let it bother him and was as happy as anyone after the game.
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“Over the last two and a half months, I’ve really just enjoyed the time of being with like-minded guys that are all about work,” Daniels said, “all about ball, all about competing.”
Daniels finished the season 80-of-119 passing (67.23 percent) for 1,231 yards with 10 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a 178.49 passer rating.
For perspective, here’s the QB rating for 5 other notable quarterbacks at the time of this writing:
• Alabama QB Mac Jones, 202.35
• Florida QB Kyle Trask, 180.02
• Ohio State QB Justin Fields 174.55
• Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence 172.69
• Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler 172.56
Daniels has yet to announce his intentions for next season.
HOW BOUT THEM MF DAWGS
— JT Daniels (@jtdaniels06) January 1, 2021
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National Review
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has re-awoken to a profound truth: Rich, secure capitalists are the natural enemies of authoritarian regimes. In a hybrid autocratic-capitalist model, capitalism is the means to generate wealth, but power is the end goal. Successful capitalists naturally begin to demand that their personal and property rights be protected from authoritarian fiat. Capital in the hands of entrepreneurs is a political resource; it poses a threat to the implementation of centralized plans.Realizing this, the CCP has begun to assert control over the private sector by “installing . . . Party officials inside private firms” and having state-backed firms invest in private enterprises. In the absence of civil rights or an independent judiciary, “private” companies have no real independence from the government in China. Dissent and demands for civil rights are a threat to the regime and will be crushed.China’s shift from encouraging external investment and internal market competition toward treating capitalism as a threat has an obvious historical precedent. From 1921–1928, the Soviet Union instituted a policy of economic liberalization, which allowed for the privatization of agriculture, retail trade, and light industry. This partial and temporary return to a controlled and limited capitalism, known as the New Economic Policy (NEP), saved the Soviet economy from collapse and enabled Russia to modernize. But, in 1928, Stalin suddenly reversed course: He collectivized agriculture and liquidated the most prosperous farmers, thereby necessitating the frequent resort to grain imports, notably from the United States.China’s own experiment with economic liberalization began in 1981, when Premier Deng Xiaoping began to decentralize and privatize economic activity while continuing to assert the ultimate authority of the CCP. With liberalization, international businesses were invited into China. The price was high: the Chinese regime demanded that they work with and train local firms. This arrangement led to widespread theft of intellectual property, and soon enough, domestic competitors displaced their international rivals in the domestic market, often with the help of government subsidies. CCP-sponsored firms leveraged domestic dominance to enter the international marketplace, undercutting their competitors worldwide. International “partners” were then subjected to asymmetric regulatory action, excluding them from China. (Uber is one recent case of this phenomenon. There are countless others.)Now that the West is waking up to this game, the inflow of capital to China is slowing. Is China’s neo-mercantilist form of capitalism about to end? That seems unlikely; it is too far entrenched to be uprooted quickly. But the freedom of action accorded to Chinese companies and executives is already being dramatically curtailed as Xi Jinping asserts explicit political control over the economy. For example, in November, the CCP unexpectedly prevented the IPO of Ant Group, a company whose business model was considered misaligned with the goals of the party.International businesses that are heavily invested in the PRC must prepare for the worst: “Offers” of the sort that can’t be refused will be made to coerce the sale of onshore facilities and operations. Given the capital controls imposed on the movement of money out of China, it is likely that many Western investments in China will be confiscated as Deng’s experiment is wound down. Western competitors in the global market should finally recognize that their Chinese competitors are both at the mercy of the CCP and backed by instruments of state power.The central conceit of Chinese relations with the West has been that while political authority is monopolized by the CCP, China has a free-market economic system, and should be treated as a free-market trading partner. This was always a convenient fiction. But whatever distance might have existed in the past between economic and political activity in China has disappeared as the party takes control of nominally independent companies.A number of Chinese state-backed companies, including some in strategically important industries, have begun to default on their debt obligations. Will international creditors be allowed to claim the assets? Will the equity holders — in many cases the CCP or regional and local governments in China — be wiped out? If these companies are bailed out by the government, will domestic and foreign debt-holders be treated equally? Or will foreign creditors find their assets wiped out, while these companies continue operating under nominally new ownership and perhaps a new corporate brand? It seems a safe bet that foreign debts will be repudiated, either explicitly or implicitly. What was previously commercial debt now has the risks that are typically associated with sovereign debt, which can be canceled by government fiat. In short, a wave of write-downs is coming for Western businesses invested in China.Western businesses are not competitors operating in a free market in the PRC. As we wrote in a recent article, the CCP consistently treats western firms as adversaries to the sovereign interests of the PRC and uses all the tools at its disposal to target them. Western business executives need to prepare themselves for the very realistic possibility of extensive confiscation of Western assets in China in the near future. Before this happens, the U.S. government should pass legislation allowing Western companies to claim compensation from CCP-controlled entities in U.S. courts for the confiscation of assets. And since the CCP is asserting control over all Chinese companies, all of these companies should be treated as part of a single, government-controlled entity for purposes of litigation and regulation. When the bill comes due for capitalism in China, the West must be ready.Michael Hochberg is a physicist who has founded four successful semiconductor and telecommunications startups. Leonard Hochberg is the Coordinator of the Mackinder Forum-U.S. and a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
(CNN) — After four years of confusion, it has finally happened.
The United Kingdom officially severed ties with the European Union last night, as the Brexit transition period ended at 11 p.m. UK time.
Brexit hasn't been an easy road politically, and the UK -- which voted 52-48 to leave the EU in 2016 -- is going into the new year more divided than ever.
But what does that mean for travel?
It all depends on whether your passport is UK, EU, or from somewhere else -- and what currency zone you're coming from.
For some travelers, the tanking pound means a trip to the UK is looking very attractive.
But for UK and EU nationals, things are going to change.
Long-term, yes. Short-term -- possibly, or probably, not. Most EU countries have borders currently closed to citizens from outside the bloc, due to Covid-19. Now that the UK has "third country" status, citizens have lost their right to travel freely within the EU. There's technically no difference now between a UK citizen wanting to visit France, and an American citizen -- who, of course, have been banned since March -- hoping to do the same.
However, since EU states remain sovereign nations, each country has control over its own borders, and will be able to make an exception for UK citizens should it so wish. It might take some time to see how this pans out, since arrivals from the UK are currently banned from most of Europe, thanks to the new variant of Covid-19, which was first identified in the south of England.
Most EU countries have placed Covid-related restrictions on entry from the UK until at least January 6. It's only after that that we might get some clarification on whether or not countries will make exemptions for Brits once the current health crisis begins to abate.
Greece is also currently allowing travelers from the UK, and has not indicated that this will change.
However, Britain's historic ally, Portugal -- which last year launched a "Brelcome" campaign, promising "Portugal will never leave you" -- has announced that UK nationals will not be permitted from January 1, except for essential travel. Belgium and Norway have said the same.
France, Italy and Spain have not yet made any announcements, though non-resident travel from the UK is currently banned to all three, due to the Covid variant.
Probably, though of course it depends what currency zone you're coming from. The pound crashed in June 2016 when the referendum was announced, and has yet to claw its way back to pre-Brexit levels against the euro and the dollar.
However, it's not as bad (or good, depending on your point of view) as it was -- following another historic crash in March, when sterling fell to a 30-year low against the dollar and an 11-year low against the euro at the start of the latest round of negotiations (compounded by the pandemic), the pound has regained slight value, and rallied again after a trade deal with the EU was announced on December 24.
If you're converting US dollars, however, that's a vast difference from the heady days of 2007, when the conversion rate was $2 to £1. For many, the drop in sterling will make a UK trip finally viable.
Post-Covid restrictions, whenever that may be, you will still be able to travel visa-free. But you'll only be allowed to spend 90 days out of every 180 days in the Schengen area (most EU nations plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein). That means spending the winter in the Med is no longer possible. If you entered the EU on January 1, for example, you would need to leave on April 1 -- you wouldn't be allowed back until June 30, and then would have to leave before October.
Those allowances are cumulative and Schengen-wide -- so you can't spend three months in one country, go home, and pop back for a weekend city break.
The EU is introducing a visa waiver scheme, called ETIAS (similar to the US ESTA scheme), by the end of 2022. It is likely that UK citizens will be included in the scheme, which will cost around €7 for three years.
Visas are not needed for EU citizens visiting the UK at the moment. Currently you can spend six months in the UK without applying for a visa.
The UK is expected to include EU citizens in its ETA visa waiver scheme by 2025.
Exchange rate aside, probably. Leaving the EU means that UK phone companies can now charge roaming fees once more while you're traveling there (they were previously abolished under EU rules). The UK's major providers have said that they won't be introducing them, but check with yours before you go.
Conversely, EU residents could be charged roaming fees when using their phones in the UK. Again, check with your provider.
UK citizens will need travel insurance, according to the government -- even though the December 24 deal says that European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) cards (which provided health coverage on a par with what locals receive) will be valid until their expiry date. Note that they will not be valid in Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland.
Regular treatment for chronic conditions -- like dialysis, or chemotherapy -- will continue cross-border, with pre-booking.
Meanwhile, the UK has stated that it will create a "global health insurance card" for its citizens, although details (and timing) have yet to be released.
Expect there to be a lot of confusion over the coming months -- when CNN called the EHIC inquiries line on December 31, a call handler advised that the cards would no longer be valid from January 1, and we should call back in two weeks to find out if the government had arranged an alternative.
UK citizens will now need six months' validity left on their passports to enter the EU (technically the EU requires three months' validity but the UK is advising its citizens to have six months remaining). EU residents can use identity cards to enter the UK until October 1, 2021. After that you will need a passport, unless you're a UK resident.
If taking a British car into the EU, it must have a GB sticker on display, and you must have a "Green Card" detailing your insurance in multiple languages.
Officially, UK nationals are no longer entitled to use the EU passport gates at border control. However each EU country will be able to decide whether or not to grant an exception. With the UK banned from most countries at the moment because of Covid, the situation will probably become clearer in a few months.
Taking your dog on your summer holiday is a rite of passage for many Brits. Now that the UK is no longer part of the EU pet passport scheme, you'll need to get an animal health certificate at least 10 days before traveling. These are obtainable from your vet. Note that you'll also need a certificate when traveling from England, Wales or Scotland to Northern Ireland.
There is no longer freedom of movement between the EU and the UK. Anyone wanting to move between the two will now need to apply for a visa.
In an 11th hour deal on December 31, it was announced that Gibraltar -- the UK territory on the southern tip of Spain -- will become part of the Schengen area, as an entry point to Spain. However, the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, has confirmed that only the territory will be part of the Schengen area -- not the people. In other words, UK nationals will not be able to use it as a back-door way into Spain.
There will be two entry points: one for Gibraltar, and one for Schengen. The airport will be in the Schengen area, so there will be no immigration checks for intra-Schengen flights.
The Republic of Ireland is exempt from the 90/180 rule for British citizens. And there is no limit on items you can take across the border with Northern Ireland, as long as they are for personal use or for gifts.
There will be no border checks between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; however, you cannot take meat or dairy products from England, Scotland or Wales into Northern Ireland, and if traveling with a pet, it must have a certificate -- even if you are not planning to cross into the Republic of Ireland.
Duty free shopping will now return for journeys between the EU and UK, although the UK has ended duty free on non-excise goods -- electronics and cosmetics, for example.
By Francois Murphy
VIENNA (Reuters) -Iran has told the United Nations nuclear watchdog it plans to enrich uranium to up to 20% purity, a level it achieved before its 2015 accord, at its Fordow site buried inside a mountain, the agency said on Friday.
The move is the latest of several recent announcements by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency that it plans to further breach the deal, which it started violating in 2019 in retaliation for Washington's withdrawal from the agreement and the reimposition of U.S. sanctions against Tehran.
This step was one of many mentioned in a law passed by Iran's parliament last month in response to the killing of the country's top nuclear scientist, which Tehran has blamed on Israel. Such moves by Iran could complicate efforts by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to rejoin the deal.
"Iran has informed the Agency that in order to comply with a legal act recently passed by the country's parliament, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran intends to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU) up to 20 percent at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant," the IAEA said in a statement.
An IAEA report to member states earlier on Friday obtained by Reuters used similar wording in describing a letter by Iran to the IAEA dated Dec. 31.
"Iran's letter to the Agency ... did not say when this enrichment activity would take place," the IAEA statement said.
Fordow was built inside a mountain, apparently to protect it from aerial bombardment, and the 2015 deal does not allow enrichment there. Iran is already enriching at Fordow with first-generation IR-1 centrifuges.
Iran has breached the deal's 3.67% limit on the purity to which it can enrich uranium, but it has only gone up to 4.5% so far, well short of the 20% it achieved before the deal and the 90% that is weapons-grade.
The deal's main aim was to extend the time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb, if it chose to, to at least a year from roughly two to three months. It also lifted international sanctions against Tehran.
U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons programme that it halted in 2003. Iran denies ever having had one.
(Reporting by Francois MurphyEditing by Frances Kerry)
By David Gritten BBC News Reuters Qatar's foreign ministry said the Israeli prime minister's reported remarks were ...
