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What began as a connection via a gaming platform then became a years-long obsession led to a confrontation and stabbing in the Bolsa Knolls neighborhood north of Salinas, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office. Multiple calls came in just before 10pm on Sunday, Nov. 25, reporting a stabbing. Deputies responded to a home on Bollenbacher Drive and discovered three people had been stabbed, including one of two suspects. According to the Sheriff's Office, 25-year-old Devin Wolfgang Vandorhoef connected with one of the victims, a woman in Salinas. He eventually decided to board a plane to travel from where he lives in Canada to Salinas, accompanied by 25-year-old Darius Avery Whyte (also from Canada). Vandorhoef allegedly knocked on the woman's front door on Sunday night, holding a package and posing as a delivery driver. The woman's boyfriend answered the door, when a sheriff's office spokesperson reports Vandorhoef forced his way in and began stabbing the boyfriend with a knife. The woman responded with a sharp object, stabbing the suspect—in defending her boyfriend, she was also stabbed and strangled by the intruder. All three people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Deputies discovered the package Vandorhoef was holding contained handcuffs, duct tape and knives. When deputies contacted Whyte near the scene, he claimed he had no knowledge of the incident; further investigation led deputies to believe he was aware of the plan. He was arrested on Monday morning, Nov. 26, while sitting on a plane at San Jose Mineta International Airport, preparing to return to Canada. Both men are in custody at Monterey County Jail on charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit attempted murder, respectively. Information on attorneys representing them was not immediately available.
By JILL COLVIN and STEPHEN GROVES WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump’s picks. Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, and Vice President-elect JD Vance, left, walk out of a meeting with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, departs the chamber at the Capitol in Washington, March 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, center speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, right, speaks with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, before testifying at a hearing, March 9, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a classified briefing on China, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a vote on Capitol Hill, Sept. 12, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance R-Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It’s a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time “with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump’s “border czar.” In another sign of Vance’s influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump’s first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships,” he said. “But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he’s not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.Qatar’s accessibility legacy continued in Intercontinental Cup
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NoneFounded as a family business in 1985, the expanding Surrey-based firm has increased year-on-year revenue thanks to a successful ‘quick and able’ approach to customer orders worldwide. ‘Quick and able’ is designed to meet the needs of global markets through continuous improvements in manufacturing capacity coupled with a fast 24/7 distribution model based on direct supply from the UK. The strategy has seen exports grow by more than 70% in the last five years, taking the level of international sales to 73% of revenues overall. Amazon Filters is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of high-quality liquid and gas filters. These are essential for removing contamination across process industries including municipal water, food and beverage, pharma, healthcare, chemicals and coatings, oil and gas, and green hydrogen production. The product range includes membrane and depth filter cartridges and capsules, stainless steel filters and carbon and pleated filters, and filter housings. On bespoke engineering projects, such as emergency action to tackle outages in the public water supply or wear and tear on filtration systems on offshore oil production platforms, the company works with customers to develop unique filter formats that address specific requirements in-situ. Managing Director Neil Pizzey, a chartered manufacturing engineer, says the firm has grown organically. “The recipe for success remains the same today as it was when my father Mike founded the company,” Neil explains. “It’s all about being close to customers and showing we are more in tune with their needs than larger multinationals.” The core business boils down to knowledge in the form of a physical product, says Neil. “Nobody buys a filter because it looks nice on the mantelpiece. It’s there to solve a problem. So, recognising what that is, and helping people to overcome it, is how we operate. My father understood this, and we have always made sure we have the expertise and knowledge to help customers solve their issue.” Amazon Filters has made a series of strategic appointments and promotions to strengthen its global reach this year. These have added expertise in areas such as product design, fabrication, quality management and the marketing of solutions to the healthcare and pharma sectors. In a specific drive towards further export growth, a dedicated business head for central Europe has been appointed through the firm’s German subsidiary. The new hires and promotions complement and reinforce the ‘quick and able’ programme of capital investment under way at the main Camberley production centre. This has included innovations such as a motorised welding platform, an expanded floor area for cartridge production, a range of automated assembly equipment, a new metalwork facility and a storage and stock control platform. Thanks to the investment programme, Amazon Filters can now make and deliver a typical annual volume of more than three million meltblown cartridges and one million pleated cartridges, demonstrating a significant increase in capacity, flexibility and speed of response to bespoke orders. Forty years on from its founding, Amazon Filters can today list key sales regions in Europe, Brazil, North America, Southeast Asia, South Africa and Australia. As well as a dedicated production, research and development and sales hub in Poland, the firm employs in-region territory managers in France, Italy and Malaysia with support from the UK based team. Neil believes Amazon Filters has a ‘strong story to tell’ about the benefits of robust filtration solutions for sustainability. “A good quality filter lasts longer, reduces waste and minimises system contamination,” he says. “This directly helps industries under pressure to make better use of resources, for example because of regulatory regimes that drive environmental standards and actions.” Reflecting the same environmental focus, Amazon Filters this year became the first UK filter maker to use polypropylene made from renewable resources to produce meltblown filter media. Effectively lowering the carbon footprint of each filter, the firm launched sustainable polypropylene versions of four ranges widely used in critical liquid filtration processes. Guiding all activity is a range of ISO-accredited and other international quality standards that demonstrate safety, reliability and excellence in customer service. Among objectives for future growth, the firm is targeting more work in the global hydrogen production industry. “It’s an ongoing journey,” says Neil. “By investing in people and process and being the best we can be, we improve our customer offering and develop key markets.” For more information, visit www.amazonfilters.co.uk
Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy celebrates after the match. LEICESTER, England - Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy got off to a winning start in his first game in charge as they beat West Ham United 3-1 in the Premier League on Dec 3. Veteran striker Jamie Vardy, 20-year-old Bilal El Khannouss and substitute Patson Daka scored as Leicester took their chances while a dominant West Ham were guilty of spurning several good opportunities, only getting a late consolation goal from Niclas Fuellkrug. Van Nistelrooy was appointed on Nov 29 to replace Steve Cooper after the Foxes made a poor start to the season and although he did not have much time with his new charges, his arrival injected some much-needed good fortune into the club. The win moved Leicester, who last won six weeks ago, from a point above the relegation places to 15th, while West Ham are one place above them in the standings. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel now
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