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Minnesota is focused on one final task before it sets its sights on the Big Ten Conference season. The Golden Gophers (7-5) will look to finish 2024 on a high note when they host Morgan State on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis. It will be the final nonconference game for Minnesota before it begins conference play in earnest with a home date against No. 21 Purdue on Thursday. Meanwhile, Morgan State (6-9) is hoping to break out of a skid that has included seven losses in its past 10 games. The Bears are coming off a 99-72 loss against No. 3 Iowa State on Dec. 22. The highest scorer on either team is Minnesota's Dawson Garcia, who is averaging 19.2 points to go along with a team-high 7.3 rebounds this season. Garcia is shooting 49.7 percent from the field, 85 percent from the free-throw line and 31.8 percent from 3-point range. Mike Mitchell Jr. ranks second on the Golden Gophers with 11.6 points per game. Lu'Cye Patterson is next with 10 points per contest, and Parker Fox is fourth with 6.8 points per game. "At the end of the day, we're all here for a reason," Mitchell said. "We have to produce when we're out there, but once (Garcia) gets going, it helps us all figure it out together." Minnesota coach Ben Johnson has seen opponents focus on slowing down Garcia as the season has progressed. That strategy could create opportunities for other teammates, he said. "Teams are always going to guard Dawson differently," Johnson said. "Are they not switching ball screens? Can you play through him in the post? ... When you get two on the ball, you can (kick) it out. Now you've got an advantage on the backside." For Morgan State, Wynston Tabbs leads the way with 16.1 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting from the field. Three other players are scoring in double figures: Amahrie Simpkins (12.7 points per game), Will Thomas (12.1) and Kameron Hobbs (10.7). Morgan State coach Kevin Broadus wants his players to be more disciplined on defense. "That's one of the things that we have to change," Broadus said. "We're fouling too much." This is the second meeting between the schools. Minnesota pulled away for a 94-64 win on its home court in the inaugural matchup on Dec. 8, 2009. --Field Level MediaThe Latest: Former President Jimmy Carter is Dead at age 100CSU faculty, students rally against Board of Trustees policies

Ormat Announces Public Offering of Common Stock on Behalf of Stockholder ORIX Corporation

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during his debate on 75 years of the adoption of the Constitution on Saturday, December 14, alleged that the Union government does not follow the philosophy of the Constitution of India. Quoting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader VD Savarkar, Gandhi said that the former did not believe in the Indian Constitution and preferred Manusmriti , a scripture, be codified as Indian laws. Savarkar called Manusmriti “most worshipable” for Hindus after the Vedas, according to Gandhi. The Congress leader asked the ruling party MPs, those who have recently been advocating “protecting the constitution”, whose philosophy they stood for – the RSS or the Indian constitution. “Nice that you say you are defending the Constitution, but I want to ask, do you stand by your leader’s words? Because when you speak about protecting the Constitution you are abusing, ridiculing Savarkar,” the Leader of Opposition told the BJP. “The Constitution is a document of modern India but it could never have been written without ancient India and her ideas,” Rahul Gandhi said. His speech during the Constitution debate continued the theme of “ Abhay mudra ,” symbolised by an open palm. It is also the Congress’s party symbol. In Saturday’s speech, Rahul Gandhi told the story of Hindu mythological characters of Ekalavya and Dronacharya. Ekalavya was an Adivasi warrior who was denied arms education by Dronacharya. He was later asked to cut off his thumb as a token of gratitude to the teacher. Drawing a parallel to the current Indian scenario Rahul accused the Union government of metaphorically “cutting its citizens’ finger” through its policies. “When you give Dharavi to Adani, you chop off the thumb of the small and medium businesses there...You have fired tear gas shells on farmers outside Delhi, the farmers are asking for fair prices...You are cutting the thumb of that farmer,” the Congress leader said. When the government gives the country’s ports, airports, and defence industry to Adani, fair play businesses in India are being cut off,” he continued. When the Modi-led government introduces lateral entry in the civil services and Agniveer schemes in the Indian army, lakhs of Indian youth are being cut off, Rahul Gandhi said. VIDEO | "When you give Dharavi to Adani, you cut the thumb of entrepreneurs and small and medium business. When you give India's ports, airports, defence industry to Adani, you cut the thumb of fair play businesses who work honestly... With lateral entry in the Constitution, you... pic.twitter.com/5HvvBJSY5Q “We want to tell every poor of this country that the Constitution protects you while the BJP attacks the ethos of the Constitution all day. The Constitution states that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them,” he said. “Some days ago, youngsters from Sambhal came to see me; innocent people, who had done nothing, they were just standing nearby. Five people were shot dead. Where is this written in the Constitution? Wherever you go, you make people from one religion fight with another,” the Leader of the Opposition said. (With inputs from PTI)sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman sells $1.97 million in stock

IT’S been a hell of a year for travel. The Sun team has ventured all over the globe, hunting out the best bargain getaways that will save our readers dosh, ticking off the lesser-known attractions that are loved by locals and sailing on record-breaking ships. Advertisement 9 The Sun's travel experts reveal their favourite moments of 2024 We share our favourite moments of 2024 . . . LISA MINOT Head of Travel ICON OF THE SEAS WHILE my last trip of the year was a lazy few days in Lanzarote , the start of 2024 saw me clock up 13,000 steps in just eight hours as I explored the world’s biggest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas. Heading to the luxury liner’s home port of Miami, I was among the first to experience this leviathan of a ship. Advertisement READ MORE ON TRAVEL FOG CHAOS Dozens of flights cancelled & hundreds delayed sparking chaos at UK airports NOT BA-D British Airways launches £1 flights to Croatia, Greece and Spain with a catch 9 At full capacity cruise ship The Icon of the Seas can accommodate 7,600 guests and 2,350 crew across 20 dazzling decks Credit: Royal Carribean 9 Lisa Minot on the £2billion vessel Credit: Supplied Longer than the Shard or Eiffel Tower are tall, at full capacity it can accommodate 7,600 guests and 2,350 crew across 20 dazzling decks. The $2billion giant has seven pools — including the largest at sea — as well as 40 places to eat and drink spread across eight distinct neighbourhoods. Advertisement New is the AquaDome, sitting proud at the front of the ship. This multi-deck glass marvel is a tranquil oasis by day, with floor-to-ceiling ocean views and a 55ft waterfall tumbling into a pool that by night features aerial acrobatics and daring dives. Most read in News Travel CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE Flight attendant reveals empty middle seat rules & who gets tray table HEADING NORTH Aer Lingus flight forced to make 200-mile diversion to Edinburgh Airport HOLIDAY HIT Families face huge '£400 holiday tax' after eye-popping budget raid DRINK IT IN Why Coca-Cola always tastes worse on a plane and what to choose instead But the highlight of my visit was the Crown’s Edge — a terrifying walk-the-plank adventure where you’re strapped in and then step out 16 decks above the ocean across a series of tiny platforms, before reaching the final spot where the floor gives way and you’re flying over the sea and back on board. While the ship has been sailing the Caribbean in 2024, it will be joined by sister liner Star of the Seas in August next year, giving cruisers yet more to enjoy. Advertisement See royalcaribbean.co.uk Exploring the UK's Natural Wonderlands: Top 5 National Parks SOPHIE SWIETOCHOWSKI Assistant Travel Editor DEVON THIS may surprise some readers but my most cherished trips this year were not on my bucket list – although an oyster-fuelled adventure along Australia’s eastern coast was epic. Instead, they were the ones that didn’t involve hopping on a plane. Advertisement 9 Sophie Swietochowski enjoyed a relaxing staycation in Devon Credit: Supplied The South West of England, with its jaw-dropping coastlines, is where I can truly unwind. No airport stress. No time-strict schedule. No “where shall we go for dinner tonight?”. Just a cosy self-catered stay in a quiet seaside village where you can snuggle down with a book, potter to the local chippy or whip up a feast of fresh seafood caught by the local fishermen early that morning. Advertisement I’m in this neck of the woods at least once or twice a year (partly thanks to local friends) but hadn’t ever visited the peaceful town of Lynton on the Exmoor coast until a few months ago. It’s got buckets of charm and the dog-friendly apartments at Tors Park offer unbeatable views of a windswept bay. I took up running earlier this year and my dog Dora and I relished the chance to explore some of the most scenic coastal paths in the UK – with a few pub pit-stops along the way, too, of course. For those planning to visit Cornwall, the 18-mile Camel Trail is a must. Advertisement If you’re not a runner, walk it or hire a bike from one of the rental stores in Wade-bridge, close to the trail. CAROLINE McGUIRE Head of Travel (Digital) PARIS IT has been a few years since I paid a visit to Paris and after a weekend break this August, I’m delighted to say the city is more exciting than it has been in years. Yes, the traditional hotels and brasseries are still there, but so are many cool and innovative new bars, shops and more. Advertisement 9 Caroline McGuire says Paris is more exciting than it has been in years Credit: Getty 9 Caroline with a delicious array of small plates Credit: PR HANDOUT Staying in the Molitor on the outskirts of town was a prime example — it’s a posh place but not old-school-Paris stuffy, with an amazing art deco pool and a lively rooftop bar and restaurant. We were there to attend the annual summer music festival Rock En Seine, with the UK producer Fred Again headlining on the night we attended, and the buzz of the twenty and thirty-something Parisians was that of a city that knows it has its mojo back. Advertisement Following some of their recommendations, we headed into the previously overlooked 11th and 18th arrondissements on our second night — the cool, Shoreditch-like parts of the city. We dined on fusion tapas at Pantobaguette where the DJ is as good as the food, and Bambino, a chic restaurant-cocktail bar where records line the walls. We topped off our trip with a visit to one of Paris’s legendary flea markets on the edge of the city, Marche aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves, for extremely affordable vintage jewellery and homeware, that, thanks to the Eurostar, we could lug back home without extra baggage charges. HOPE BROTHERTON Travel Reporter THAILAND Advertisement I SPENT most of 2024 stomping through European cities such as Stockholm , Vienna , Ljubljana and Florence . But while Europe has my heart, I also left a slice in Khao Sok National Park after a dream trip to Thailand with TUI in March. 9 Hope Brotherton greets an elephant in Thailand Credit: supplied Specifically, I’ll never forget the moment I came face to face with an elephant at Elephant Hills. Advertisement The luxury tented jungle camp has its own elephant sanctuary where holidaymakers can meet these magnificent creatures in a safe and protected environment. Visitors prepare a medley of snacks such as bananas, sugar canes and pineapple wedges for the elephants to eat before watching them bathe and lounge in the safety of the sanctuary. The whole experience feels almost otherworldly. Elephant Hills puts on other activities, too, such as a jungle trek, a kayak tour along the Sok River and an excursion to Cheow Lan Lake to visit the Lake Camp, where you can paddleboard, kayak and swim. Advertisement And nothing felt strenuous because I spent my free time relaxing in a rather bougie glamping tent. It had an outside porch with a hammock and wicker rocking chairs as well as an en-suite bathroom. There was also a huge dining area where guests gathered to eat meals and a small pool to cool off in the heat. Put simply, my trip was heaven on earth and I don’t think it will be topped for a long while. Advertisement KARA GODFREY Deputy Travel Editor AMSTERDAM FOR me, 2024 was a mix of long-awaited bucket-list destinations — and revisiting old favourites. In South Korea, I stocked up on skincare and make-up by Renowned brand K-beauty, while on safari in Kenya I got up close with lion cubs, and in Hawaii I marvelled at the beaches. 9 Kara Godfrey was reminded how fantastic Amsterdam is Credit: Getty Advertisement 9 Kara in the Dutch capital Credit: supplied But one destination where I was reminded of how fantastic the place is was Amsterdam. Returning to the Dutch city after ten years, I escaped the crowds by checking out its Noord district, which is a quick, free ferry ride from the main train station. It’s here that I found a fantastic bar scene — set to be the next big thing, or so I’m told — as well as a thriving art community and even the neighbourhood’s own “beach” behind a trendy warehouse restaurant. Advertisement Dubbed the Brooklyn of Amsterdam, this is a place that makes you feel cooler than you really are, while surrounded by red-brick galleries and giant murals. Read more on the Scottish Sun 'DISGUSTING' Festive fly-tippers slammed for dumping mountains of rubbish at Scots Asda GHOST TOWN Former Scots shopping hotspot 'decaying' as multimillion pound revamp ‘failing’ And you don’t even have to brave the airport in order to get there. It has become my favourite lesser-known place to suggest friends visit.The Dolphins ruled out LT Terron Armstead from Sunday’s game against the Browns due to a knee injury. Armstead, 33, is a former third-round pick of the Saints back in 2013. He finished the final year of his five-year, $65 million contract and made a base salary of just over $1 million in 2021 following a restructuring. He then tested the open market as a free agent in 2022 and signed a five-year deal worth $75 million with the Dolphins. Armstead is slated to make base salaries of $13.25 million and $13.3 million over the next two seasons. In 2024, Armstead appeared in and started 14 games for the Dolphins at left tackle. We will have more news on Armstead as it becomes available. This article first appeared on NFLTradeRumors.co and was syndicated with permission.Closing marks second significant acquisition from RA Capital's Raven incubator in 2024, and first acquisition of a company built by Raven from a technology platform in-licensed from a large pharmaceutical company BOSTON , Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RA Capital Management, LP (RA Capital), a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare, life sciences, and planetary health companies, today announced that AbbVie has closed its $1.4 billion acquisition of RA Capital's portfolio company Aliada Therapeutics. Aliada's lead investigational asset is ALIA-1758, an anti-pyroglutamate amyloid beta (3pE-Aβ) antibody, which is in development for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial. ALIA-1758 utilizes a novel blood-brain barrier-crossing technology that enhances delivery of targeted drugs into the central nervous system. Johnson & Johnson (through its venture capital arm, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc.), RA Capital, and Raven (RA Capital's healthcare incubator) co-founded Aliada and co-led the series seed financing in 2021 to advance the MODELTM platform created by Johnson & Johnson scientists that was licensed to Aliada at its inception. "Congratulations to the Aliada and AbbVie teams and our fellow investors on the close of this transaction," said Joshua Resnick , MD, Senior Managing Director at RA Capital Management and former board director at Aliada. "The acquisition of Aliada is the second significant acquisition of a Raven-grown company this year, joining Novartis' $1 billion upfront acquisition of radiopharmaceutical developer Mariana Oncology in May." "Delivering therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier with a low-volume, subcutaneous injection would be revolutionary for treating Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders, and has long been a dream in the field," said Laura Tadvalkar , PhD, Managing Director at RA Capital Management and former board chair at Aliada. "We look forward to following ALIA-1758's progress through the clinic, as AbbVie advances this important medicine for Alzheimer's disease patients." About Raven Raven is RA Capital Management's healthcare incubator. Raven's experienced team of scientists, operators, and innovators bring deep sector expertise, insight and executional capabilities across therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, and services. Raven builds companies: from originating and incubating new ideas to accelerating compelling innovations and rejuvenating promising assets. About RA Capital Founded in 2004, RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare, life sciences, and planetary health companies. RA Capital creates and funds innovative companies, from private seed rounds to public follow-on financings, allowing management teams to drive value creation from inception through commercialization and beyond. RA Capital's knowledge engine is guided by our TechAtlas internal research division, and Raven, RA Capital's company creation team, offers entrepreneurs and innovators a collaborative and comprehensive platform to explore the novel and the re-imagined. RA Capital has more than 175 employees and over $10 billion in assets under management. The companies presented herein were selected to demonstrate a potential successful outcome of a company being incubated within our Raven incubator. They are not intended to represent a complete picture of RA Capital's portfolio, its exposures, risks or potential for positive or negative returns. Past performance is not indicative of future results. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ra-capital-management-announces-close-of-1-4-billion-acquisition-of-aliada-therapeutics-by-abbvie-302329567.html SOURCE RA Capital Management, LPDemocracy tested in Eastern Europe amid accusations of Russian meddling

Recap - While New Zealand might be leaving 2024 with fewer reporters than it started , no one told the news - so it just kept happening. Rude. Luckily, RNZ was there to cover it all - whether it was about brain worms , brain computer chips or brain rot , we were there. Or at least somewhere with access to a computer where we could stick it online. Here are some of the strangest, oddest and most brain-tickling stories RNZ covered in 2024. January Mysterious 'Big Ring' found in space 'must surely be telling us something' - astronomer The 'Big Ring' of "galaxies and galaxy clusters" is apparently "by no means the first likely violation of the cosmological principle", RNZ partner BBC News reported , definitely an inauspicious start to the year. Just send us an obelisk next time, ET. Mystery envelope containing $5000 cash handed to Auckland pensioner by young man who runs away "He knows of no debt that was ever to be repaid, favour not recognised or betrayal to be made good," RNZ's friends at the NZ Herald reported . Must have been a landlord? Mystery of disappearing gnomes in Hastings appears to be solved Officers discovered an array of animals, gnomes, fairies and other creatures in the garden of a suspect they were visiting after receiving a tip-off . Elon Musk's Neuralink implants brain chip in first human While many people who valued their brains fled X (formerly Twitter, I'm obliged to add) in 2024, one brave person in January let Elon Musk stick a computer chip in his brain - which they then used to play Civilization VI . Achievement unlocked. February Rogue digital billboard pokes fun at Waka Kotahi A digital billboard poking fun at Waka Kotahi appeared near an intersection in New Plymouth in February, featuring several tongue-in-cheek jibes at the transport operator. March Winston Peters told to stop using Chumbawamba hit 'Tubthumping' at rallies It sounds like a headline written via Madlibs or by ChatGPT, but this really happened . "Is he just being antagonistic about it now? Is that his thing?" Chumbawamba singer and sweet summer child Dunstan Bruce told First Up . US says UFO sightings likely secret military tests Of course that's what THEY would say. This could be a case for Mulder and Scully. Rare 'UFO cloud' has Aucklanders' eyes on the skies Ditto . April Swipe card found in Antarctica years after being lost in Wellington RNZ Concert senior music producer David McCaw lost his Wellington Town Hall swipe card in 2003 when his car was broken into, and somehow it ended up in Antarctica . Scientists found it in 2016, but progress from there was glacial - get it? Snow joke. Military horses break free, rampage through London It's time to play real life or Blackadder ? Not only was this real life , it happened again just a couple of months later . An American journalist read her own obituary online, and soon discovered the strange world of obit pirates RNZ partner ABC News explains : "Anonymous internet fraudsters use search engine optimisation (SEO) to identify people looking up the name of someone who has recently died." So just normal sickening internet stuff then. Carry on. May Mystery Roman artefact sparks wild speculation Found during a dig in the place where Walt Disney's ancestors hailed from , the 12-sided object was likened to a dog treat dispenser, a spaghetti measure and even a measuring gauge for slingshot. Expect it to appear in the next Indiana Jones film. June Photo box mystery: 'Massive' collection of family snaps found in sewing machine case The photos covered a century, up to the early 2000s, with the only clue being the name 'McDonald', which didn't really narrow it down . July Vegan cafe turns to meat to stay afloat No, a mostly vegan café in Auckland did not literally turn to meat - but started selling "ethical" meat to pay the bills . "I think if we didn't do this, we wouldn't survive," the owner said, immediately nailing the vibe of a true red-blooded meat-eater. Woman calls police after mistaking 'realistic' sex doll for body "When it was on its back, it had everything... it was very realistic," Taranaki woman Alice Cowdrey told RNZ , not worried that going on the record would forever tie her name in search engines to the phrase "headless sex doll". Mystery milk bottles confound Alexandra residents A contender for best opening line of the year goes to reporter Soumya Bhamidipati: "As Alexandra residents wake to another cold morning, a silent figure slips into the mist. They leave no trace - except for another bottle of flavoured milk dumped at a local petrol station." And a contender for quote of the year too from fuel stop operator Poppy Prendergast: "Look, I hate to say it but I think it's got to be a man. I've never met any woman that drinks that much flavoured milk." The mystery only deepened when CCTV footage was obtained . August Nothing funny happened in August. September Aussie breakdancer Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn ranked world No. 1 When Paris was awarded the 2024 games back in 2017, no one could have predicted the breakout star would be an Australian who could not dance, especially as she was competing in a dance competition. Despite getting a zero score at the Games , 'Raygun' somehow ended up the sport's top-ranked competitor . Have you seen a blue ute with a bright pink door in Wellington? Karen O'Leary wants it back Not sure this counts as weird news, but it's certainly a weird headline if - like me - you weren't immediately aware who Karen O'Leary was. New 'ghost shark' discovered in New Zealand waters No, you can't touch it . Seriously, they live more than 2500m below the surface of the ocean. Spacehead. Mystery flower rearrangement at Upper Hutt cemetery outrages families It's never a good sign when real life imitates a Curb Your Enthusiasm plotline, but this is 2024. Government to launch AI chatbot called Gov-GPT Having solved every other problem, in September the government launched its own AI chatbot - the announcement arriving with an AI-created image of Judith Collins as an astronaut. I swear this is true. October Donald Trump rally turns into bizarre dance-a-thon We all know this list could have just been a Trump campaign diary, but sticking to just one incident, it had to be the "GREAT EVENING" (his words) in October which saw him gyrate on stage to the Village People and Guns n' Roses instead of doing whatever it is US presidential candidates are supposed to do. We can mock, and Kamala Harris certainly got stuck in, but he did end up winning. Covfefe. Pranksters rename New Zealand schools on Google Maps Nelson College for Girls was dubbed Yoza highschool (I have no idea what this means), while Rathkeale College in Masterton was renamed the Huak Tuah College of rizzcraft and sigmatry (unfortunately - sigh - I do know what those mean). Quasi leaving Wellington after five years perched on city's art gallery The job market has gotten so bad in the capital, there's no longer any place for a gigantic terrifying hand-man . Decision to remove Luxon artwork from Trade Me 'weird' - artist Kiwi artist Josh Drummond painted a rather terrifying portrait of Christopher Luxon for charity, which was removed from sale on Trade Me for being "material of a suggestive nature and/or graphic iconography". Drummond was not impressed . "The original idea was to have Luxon's head popping out from a wall of flesh, which was the meaning a lot of people got from that King Charles portrait ... I found that the photo reference I used for Luxon wasn't working with that wall of flesh idea so I was like: 'Oh I'll make it more of a tunnel.'" Christopher Luxon responds to attention on Wellington apartment sale Well-off businessman sells property to make a tidy, possibly tax-free profit? Not really a headline. But when that man is the prime minister and immediately afterwards boasts that he's wealthy ? What I say to you is... yikes. At least he might get an award - of sorts - out of it . November Aotearoa has multiple clouds so unique they have names Unique names aren't really New Zealand's forte, so when it was discovered we'd put more effort into naming clouds than our main islands' colonial names, of course it made headlines . Stowaway seal makes surprise visit to offshore gas platform A Department of Conservation expert said it topped her list of bizarre places where seals have turned up . Her only other example was one that got through a cat door, so yes, she was probably right. Gang member charged after walking into police station wearing Mongrel Mob hat Well, that was a freebie . Russia fines Google $20,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 The first time RNZ ran this story , it literally broke the homepage. Police vehicle crashes into limo carrying Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis Ram-raids were down over 2024 , but ram-raids by police officers on ministers of the Crown were up infinity percent . School ditches traditional bell for AC/DC and Muppets Locals signed a petition calling it "noise pollution" , perhaps entirely unaware one of AC/DC's biggest songs states definitively that it is not . Plan to relocate Westport To paraphrase an earlier paragraph, it's never a good sign when real-life imitates The Simpsons (President Trump, anyone?). In November a draft master plan proposed relocating the entire South Island town of Westport a bit to the southwest - in the long-term, not "next month", master planning project lead Paul Zaanen helpfully noted. 'Close to McDonald's': Auckland real estate agent lures buyers with cheesy sell In November, our friends at Stuff reported a real estate agent using a property's proximity to McDonald's as a selling point . He talked up its distance in terms of how long it would take to walk there however, perhaps losing those eyeballs just as quickly. December New Zealand man wins Spanish Scrabble championships despite not speaking Spanish If this headline sounds familiar , it's because you've read it before - except last time it was French . But don't get despondent if you suck at Scrabble, because Mattel this year released a non-competitive version just for you - yes, you with the letters K, W, Y, J, I, B and O. Woman arrested with 10kg of meth wrapped as Christmas presents at Auckland Airport With another one of his mules captured, authorities in December got a step closer to bringing down Santa . Rawiri Waititi says Luxon may be 'drop-nuts' if he doesn't attend Waitangi Day No further comment. British political stoush over sandwiches In an interview Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch suggested sandwiches were not real food and lunch was "for wimps" . In response, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said sandwiches were a "great British institution", particularly cheese toasties. Since this is RNZ I did the research (well, I read the Google search AI summary) and it seems both sandwiches and cheese toasties are indeed British. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday .