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Starring in a holiday film inspired by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romance is no small feat — and Christmas in the Spotlight stars Jessica Lord and Laith Wallschleger made sure they were up for the challenge. “I watched the Eras Tour , like, so many times to get into that pop star spirit,” Lord, 26, exclusively told Us Weekly. “And I just have such a high level of respect for Taylor as an artist, as a person in the industry, the way that her dedication to her craft and her fans and her nonprofit work. Like, I can really see why we all are so passionate about her and her music.” Lord portrays Bowyn Sykes in the Lifetime film, the world’s biggest pop singer who is gearing up to release her Christmas breakup banger. Despite her career thriving more than ever before, her recent breakup — and genuinely terrible ex-boyfriend — has her battling rumors and slander about her personal life. Wallschleger, 32, plays Drew Bonville, a wide receiver for the (fictional) NFL Bombers who has a history of being both lovable and a total party animal. The two cross paths when Drew takes his niece to one of Bowyn’s concerts, and sparks begin to fly — but their relationship is put to the test under the spotlight of public scrutiny. If that all sounds familiar, it should; the story is inspired by Swift and Kelce’s real-life romance, which began in a similar fashion in summer 2023 and has been a global sensation ever since. While Lord and Wallschleger aren’t playing Swift and Kelce exactly in the movie, it’s impossible not to see the similarities — and both actors understood the responsibility that came with being likened to two American treasures. “I went to see [Swift] live when I was younger. I was obsessed with [her songs] ‘Love Story’ and ‘Our Song,’” Lord told Us . “I have some core memories with my girls when I was younger to those songs. So it’s kind of nostalgic and a full circle moment to even be part of a project like this.” Wallschleger, meanwhile, praised Swift for what she’s done for burgeoning artists over the years. “One thing I love about Taylor Swift, and I’ve seen this on a few occasions, she really steps up for other ladies in the music industry,” he told Us . “When they’re going through a tough time and she’s got their back when maybe nobody else is showing up for them. So I really respect that a lot.” The film itself works hard to highlight that aspect of Swift’s legacy through the portrayal of Bowyn, ensuring the character is seen as a strong business woman who is in control of her own life. “I think that’s a huge part of who [Bowyn] is,” Lord explained. “I think that it was important to show that she does call the shots. She is in, constant business chat with her manager. And that’s really what her life is.” Lord credits Bowyn’s career driven attitude toward her estranged relationship with her parents in the movie — a plot point that steers away from Swift’s own close bond with her family. “I think because of that family background, it’s forced [Bowyn] into being her own boss and taking the lead, being this strong woman that’s very independent and career driven,” Lord said. “Because that is really where all of her energy goes. ... For me personally, I’m really close with my family and I make so much time for them, and when she doesn’t have that time, she can put it all into herself.” Enter Drew, who becomes a “refreshing, lighthearted” — and certainly unexpected addition — to Bowyn’s life. Someone, Lord said, that’s able to bring the “fun” she’s been missing back into her world. “She admits to Drew that she has been losing that joy a little bit,” Lorde explained, “and I think that him really bringing that back for her just allows her to fall in love, not only with Drew, but with the passion for what she does again.” Fans would agree that dynamic parallels what Kelce has brought to Swift’s life, as well. Christmas in the Spotlight is filled with those type of nods to the couple, from recreating milestones in their romance to working Swift song titles into the dialogue. “The writer of this movie, [ Eirene Tran Donohue ], is a huge fan of Taylor Swift,” Wallschleger told Us . “So for those Swifties out there, she left little Easter eggs within the script that was a little nod to them.” There are plenty of tributes to Kelce in the film, too. Drew is not only an all-star football player (albeit not a tight end and not on the Kansas City Chiefs), he’s sharing the NFL space with his brother and has a close relationship with his Midwestern family — particularly his mom and niece. Lord and Wallschleger, for their parts, are slightly less well-versed in Kelce’s legacy than they are of Swift’s. Lord, being from the U.K., confessed she really doesn’t “know much” about football. And while Wallschleger’s brother-in-law is a “huge Chiefs fan,” he’s yet to attend a game. “They have season tickets, so I’m gonna have to fly my butt out there and go with them one day,” he quipped. As for Swift and Kelce’s romance, the pair were really only aware of the couple from a periphery. “I mean, I watch a lot of football just because I’m a fan and I always see [Taylor] at the games, you know, she was at the Super Bowl and you kind of see the ir dynamic a little bit. But I didn’t have any idea what the ir story was of the early beginnings because that was kind of, like, shrouded in mystery.” (Editor’s note: We didn’t tell Wallschleger that he actually quoted a Swift lyric here, but it’s worth noting!) While the actors may not be die-hard Swifties crowning members of Chiefs Kingdom, having space from Kelce and Swift actually worked in their favor. While Lord and Wallschleger were aware of the film’s inspiration when taking on their roles, they were also set on creating something new. “I felt like with our movie we had an opportunity to kind of create our own path and, and discover what that could be.” Wallschleger said. “I feel like in general we made it our own. We especially tried to put ourselves into the character as well. Like, Jessica and Laith into Drew and Bow. So I think we mostly were just focused on Bowyn and Drew’s story as we were filming and every day on the way to set, we were going through our lines, making sure we were on the same page.” Despite wanting to make their own mark on the character, it’s impossible not to see the parallels between the two couples; what makes Bowyn and Drew so great together is similar to why Kelce and Swift are so beloved. “I think the foundation of every really great relationship is you have to be best friends, and you have to be able to play with one another,” Wallschleger noted. “We’re just people at the end of the day. So when [Bowyn and Drew] get to escape together and kind of just be who they are, they can be stupid and playful.” Lord echoed Wallschleger’s sentiments, adding that Drew provides a “sense of normality” that Bowyn typically “never gets to experience.” You have successfully subscribed. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from Us Weekly Check our latest news in Google News Check our latest news in Apple News “It’s comfortable, it’s vulnerable,” she said. “Honestly, the keyword for me with Bowyn and Drew is, like, refreshing; it’s authentic. And I think in a world of that high level of fame, it’s really hard to find people and things and anything like that.” There are two very famous people who probably couldn’t agree more. Christmas in the Spotlight premieres on Lifetime Saturday, November 23, at 8 p.m. ET.Prof. Toyin Falola of the University of Texas , USA, has stated that corruption is a major factor contributing to ineffective governance and institutional weaknesses in Nigeria. He made this remark on Friday while delivering a convocation lecture at the Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi, on the topic “Power, Politics, and Policies.” Falola lamented the detrimental effects of corruption on key public sectors, particularly healthcare and education, and urged for a comprehensive analysis of existing policies like whistleblower programs and anti-corruption agencies to mitigate these issues. “To reduce corruption and promote a functional government, Nigerians must actively participate in the electoral process and hold leaders accountable,” Falola emphasized. “This requires rejecting money for votes and advocating for transparency and integrity.” The renowned scholar also proposed that the Power, Politics, and Policies (PPP) course in the Department of Political Science at BSU should be upgraded to a full degree program. He explained that this would equip students with the necessary skills in technologies, statistics, economics, and data analysis, while exposing them to key theoretical frameworks such as dependency theory, post-colonialism, clientelism, and federalism. ALSO READ : NUJ Enugu honors Governor Peter Mbah with icon of democracy award Falola further stressed the importance of continuous education for civil servants on power, politics, and policies, recognizing the current gap in their understanding of these critical issues. He argued that this knowledge is essential in addressing the power dynamics fueling insurgency, terrorism, and conflicts between herders and settlers. He concluded by noting that addressing Nigeria’s structural challenges could pave the way for the country to reach its potential as a stable, prosperous, and equitable nation.Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is in the NFL’s concussion protocol. His status for Sunday is uncertainElectric skepticism

By Stephanie Lai and Hadriana Lowenkron, Bloomberg News Donald Trump says he is selecting venture capitalist David Sacks of Craft Ventures LLC to serve as his artificial intelligence and crypto czar, a newly created position that underscores the president-elect’s intent to boost two rapidly developing industries. “David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness. David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas,” Trump said Thursday in a post on his Truth Social network. Trump said that Sacks would also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. In Sacks, Trump is tapping one of his most prominent Silicon Valley supporters and fundraisers for a prime position in his administration. Sacks played a key role in bolstering Trump’s fundraising among technology industry donors, including co-hosting an event at his San Francisco home in June, with tickets at $300,000 a head. He is also closely associated with Vice President-elect JD Vance, the investor-turned-Ohio senator. Sacks is a venture capitalist and part of Silicon Valley’s “PayPal Mafia.” He first made his name in the technology industry during a stint as the chief operating officer of PayPal, the payments company whose founders in the late 1990s included billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and investor Peter Thiel. After it was sold to eBay, Sacks turned to Hollywood, where he produced the 2005 satire Thank You for Smoking. Back in Silicon Valley, he founded workplace communications company Yammer, which was bought by Microsoft Corp. in 2012 for $1.2 billion. He founded his own venture capital firm, Craft Ventures, in 2017 and has invested in Musk-owned businesses, including SpaceX. Sacks said on a recent episode of his All-In podcast that a “key man” clause in the agreements of his venture firm’s legal documents would likely prevent him from taking a full-time position, but he might consider an advisory role in the new administration. A Craft spokeswoman said Sacks would not be leaving Craft. In his post, Trump said Sacks “will safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship.” Protecting free speech is a keen interest of Sacks. He regularly speaks about “woke” interests that try to muzzle unpopular opinions and positions. Crypto czar The new post is expected to help spearhead the crypto industry deregulation Trump promised on the campaign trail. The role is expected to provide cryptocurrency advocates a direct line to the White House and serve as a liaison between Trump, Congress and the federal agencies that interface with digital assets, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Trump heavily campaigned on supporting crypto, after previously disparaging digital assets during his first White House term, saying their “value is highly volatile and based on thin air.” The president-elect on Thursday said Sacks would “work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S.” During the campaign, Trump spoke at a Bitcoin conference, accepted crypto campaign donations and met with executives from Bitcoin mining companies and crypto exchanges multiple times. Trump’s desire to give priority to the digital asset industry is also reflected in his close allies and cabinet selections, including his Commerce secretary pick, Howard Lutnick, and Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent. AI tech On the AI front, Sacks would help Trump put his imprint on an emerging technology whose popular use has exploded in recent years. Sacks is poised to be at the front lines in determining how the federal government both adopts AI and regulates its use as advances in the technology and adoption by consumers pose a wide array of benefits as well as risks touching on national security, privacy, jobs and other areas. The president-elect has expressed both awe at the power of AI technology as well as concern over the potential harms from its use. During his first term, he signed executive orders that sought to maintain US leadership in the field and directed the federal government to prioritize AI in research and development spending. As AI has become more mainstream in recent years and with Congress slow to act, President Joe Biden has sought to fill that void. Biden signed an executive order in 2023 that establishes security and privacy protections and requires developers to safety-test new models, casting the sweeping regulatory order as necessary to safeguard consumers. A number of technology giants have also agreed to adopt a set of voluntary safeguards which call for them to test AI systems for discriminatory tendencies or security flaws and to share those results. Trump has vowed to repeal Biden’s order. The Republican Party’s 2024 platform dismissed Biden’s executive order as one that “hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology.” Musk ties Sacks can be expected to work closely with Musk, the world’s richest person and one of the president-elect’s most prominent supporters. Musk is also a player in the AI space with his company xAI and a chatbot named Grok — efforts which pit him against Silicon Valley’s giants — and he stands to wield significant influence within the incoming administration. The appointment won’t require Sacks to divest or publicly disclose his assets. Like Musk, Sacks will be a special government employee. He can serve a maximum of 130 days per year, with or without compensation. However, conflict of interest rules apply to special government employees, meaning Sacks will have to recuse himself from matters that could impact his holdings. Strong opinions Sacks’s Craft Ventures is known more for enterprise software investing than for crypto, but it has made a few crypto investments, including BitGo and Bitwise. Still, Sacks has firm opinions on the sector. Speaking last month on All-In, Sacks praised a bill on crypto regulation that had passed in the U.S. House but not the Senate earlier this year. The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act would regulate certain types of digital assets as a commodity, regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “The crypto industry basically wants a really clear line for knowing when they’re a commodity and they want commodities to be governed, like all other commodities, by the CFTC,” he said on the November podcast. He also disparaged some of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s positions on crypto under its chair, Gary Gensler. “The days of Gensler terrifying crypto companies,” he said. “Those days are about to be over.” Earlier this week, Trump nominated crypto advocate Paul Atkins to lead the SEC. With assistance from Zoe Ma, Bill Allison, Sarah McBride, Anne VanderMey and stacy-marie ishmael. ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.CVB Financial approves new stock repurchase programCOLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) — Victims' families and others affected by crimes that resulted in federal death row convictions shared a range of emotions on Monday, from relief to anger, after President Joe Biden commuted dozens of the sentences . Biden converted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The inmates include people convicted in the slayings of police and military officers, as well as federal prisoners and guards. Others were involved in deadly robberies and drug deals. Three inmates will remain on federal death row: Dylann Roof , convicted of the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; the 2013 Boston Marathon Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018 , the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. Opponents of the death penalty lauded Biden for a decision they'd long sought. Supporters of Donald Trump , a vocal advocate of expanding capital punishment, criticized the move weeks before the president-elect takes office. Donnie Oliverio, a retired Ohio police officer whose partner, Bryan Hurst, was killed by an inmate whose death sentence was commuted, said the killer's execution "would have brought me no peace.” “The president has done what is right here,” Oliverio said in a statement also issued by the White House. But Hurst’s widow, Marissa Gibson, called Biden's move distressing and a "complete dismissal and undermining of the federal justice system,” in a statement to The Columbus Dispatch . Tim Timmerman, whose daughter, Rachel, was thrown into a Michigan lake in 1997 to keep her from testifying in a rape trial, said Biden's decision to commute the killer's sentence offered families “only pain.” "Where’s the justice in just giving him a prison bed to die comfortably in?” Timmerman said on WOOD-TV. Heather Turner, whose mother, Donna Major, was killed in a 2017 South Carolina bank robbery, called the commutation of the killer's sentence a “clear gross abuse of power” in a Facebook post. “At no point did the president consider the victims,” Turner wrote. “He, and his supporters, have blood on their hands.” Corey Groves, whose mother, Kim Groves, was murdered in a 1994 plot by a New Orleans police officer after she filed a complaint against him, said the family has been living with the “nightmare” of her killer for three decades. “I have always wanted him to spend the rest of his life in prison and have to wake up every morning and think about what he did when he took our mother from us," Groves said in a statement through his attorney. Families of the nine people killed and the survivors of the massacre at the Mother Emanuel AME Church have long had a broad range of opinions on Roof's punishment. Many forgave him, but some say they can’t forget and their forgiveness doesn’t mean they don’t want to see him put to death for what he did. Felicia Sanders survived the shooting shielding her granddaughter while watching Roof kill her son, Tywanza, and her aunt, Susie Jackson. Sanders brought her bullet-torn bloodstained Bible to his sentencing. In a text message to her lawyer, Andy Savage, Sanders called Biden’s decision to not spare Roof’s life a wonderful Christmas gift. Michael Graham, whose sister, Cynthia Hurd, was killed, told The Associated Press that Roof’s lack of remorse and simmering white nationalism in the country means he is the kind of dangerous and evil person the death penalty is intended for. “This was a crime against a race of people," Graham said. “It didn’t matter who was there, only that they were Black.” But the Rev. Sharon Risher, who was Tywanza Sanders’ cousin and whose mother, Ethel Lance, was killed, criticized Biden for not sparing Roof and clearing out federal death row. “I need the President to understand that when you put a killer on death row, you also put their victims' families in limbo with the false promise that we must wait until there is an execution before we can begin to heal,” Risher said in a statement. Risher, a board member of Death Penalty Action, which seeks to abolish capital punishment, said during a Zoom news conference that families “are left to be hostages for the years and years of appeals that are to come.” Abraham Bonowitz, Death Penalty Action’s executive director, said Biden was giving more attention to the three inmates he chose not to spare, something they all wanted as a part of their political motivations to kill. “When Donald Trump gets to execute them what will really be happening is they will be given a global platform for their agenda of hatred,” Bonowitz said. Biden had faced pressure from advocacy organizations to commute federal death sentences, and several praised him for taking action in his final month in office. Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement that Biden has shown "the brutal and inhumane policies of our past do not belong in our future.” Republicans, including Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, criticized the move — and argued its moral ground was shaky given the three exceptions. “Once again, Democrats side with depraved criminals over their victims, public order, and common decency,” Cotton wrote on X. “Democrats can’t even defend Biden’s outrageous decision as some kind of principled, across-the-board opposition to the death penalty since he didn’t commute the three most politically toxic cases.” Two men whose sentences were commuted were Norris Holder and Billie Jerome Allen, on death row for opening fire during a 1997 bank robbery in St. Louis, killing a guard, 46-year-old Richard Heflin. Holder’s attorney, Madeline Cohen, said in an email that Holder, who is Black, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury. “Norris’ case exemplifies the racial bias and arbitrariness that led the President to commute federal death sentences,” Cohen said. “Norris has always been deeply remorseful for the pain his actions caused, and we hope this decision brings some measure of closure to Richard Heflin’s family.” But Ed Dowd Jr., the U.S. attorney in St. Louis at the time of the robbery and now a private attorney, criticized Biden's move. “This case was a message to people who wanted to go out and shoot people for the hell of it, that you’re going to get the death penalty,” Dowd said. Now, "Biden is sending a message that you can do whatever you want and you won’t get the death penalty.” This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Rev. Sharon Risher's name. Swenson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jim Salter in O'Fallon, Missouri; Stephen Smith in New Orleans, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed.Faruqi & Faruqi Reminds Marqeta Investors of the Pending Class Action Lawsuit with a Lead Plaintiff Deadline of February 7, 2025 – MQ

When it comes to incorrigible racists, one can only pray that someday they discover the error of their ways. Until then, since nearly all American racists have always voted Democrat, Republicans should encourage their wayward opponents to keep talking. In a clip posted to the social media platform X, Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, one of the most unrepentant racists to sit in Congress since the century-long era of segregation, bitterly complained about two new white Republican congressmen winning elections on the backs of “black and brown and Asian bodies.” According to , Crockett’s comments came Thursday during a House Oversight Committee hearing on the Census Bureau. During an exchange with bureau director Robert Santos, Crockett complained that Texas’s 2020 -related demographics did not produce proper racial outcomes. “We know that specifically, Texas added four million people,” Crockett said of the state’s 2020 census results. “Of those four million people, do you want to take a guess at how many were Anglos?” She emphasized the word “guess” in a way that interrogators generally do when the answer to their question displeases them. Meanwhile, Santos incorrectly guessed that “Anglos” — apparently Crockett’s blanket term for light-skinned people everywhere — made up more than half of Texas’s four million new people. But Crockett countered that the vast majority of new Texans actually qualified as non-white: 95 percent of them, she said. By the congresswoman’s logic, that should mean more dark-skinned colleagues for her. But it did not, so that must prove something sinister. “So they took those black and brown and Asian bodies, and guess what? Do you think that we got a new black, brown or Asian seat? Somehow, the way that they do their Republican math in the state of Texas, that amounted to two new white seats,” she said. Imagine a mind so repellent that it generates phrases such as “white seats.” Rep. ⁦ ⁩: Since 2020 Texas added 4 million people — only 180k of whom were “anglos” — and Republicans took these “black, brown & Asian Bodies” & added 2 “new white seats” to Congress — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) Crockett’s worldview reduces to the following assertion: black, brown and Asian residents should elect black, brown and Asian representatives. If that does not fit the textbook definition of “racism,” then nothing does. Moreover, the congresswoman has a recent history of similarly reprehensible remarks. Last month, for instance, she a bill to dismantle federal DEI programs because white men have never known oppression. “You tell me which white men were dragged out of their homes. You tell me which one of them was dragged across an ocean and told they were going to work, have their wives stolen, and have their wives raped. That didn’t happen. is oppression,” she said, referring to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which no one in nearly two centuries has experienced. In May, and Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia had a testy exchange that nearly came to blows. After Greene mocked Crockett’s “fake eyelashes,” the Texas congresswoman called out Greene’s “bleach blonde, bad-built, butch body.” Aside from her insulting assertions that voters should vote according to skin color, that modern-day black women somehow inherit the oppressed condition of their ancestors, and that white men cannot experience injustice because some light-skinned men who lived centuries ago did terrible things, perhaps Crockett’s most head-scratching failure involved her inability (or refusal) to understand recent history. For instance, in the 2024 election, President-elect doubled his support among young black men, according to the . Approximately 30 percent of black men under 45 chose the 78-year-old white man over mixed-race Vice President Kamala Harris. Likewise, according to , Trump’s share of the Hispanic vote surged from 32 percent in 2020 to 46 percent in 2024. Furthermore, Asian Americans backed Trump at a 39 percent clip, up 12 points since 2016, according to the . In short, black and brown and Asian voters have increasingly rejected Crockett’s dismal, of the world. One hopes that the congresswoman may someday repent, or — in lieu of repentance — keep talking. Republicans in Texas and elsewhere will thank her for it. We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. .Oura Ring’s Symptom Radar: A Game-Changer in Health Monitoring?

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