aim

To continue their upward trajectory, Bemand, who has signed a new deal to stay with Ireland until the conclusion of the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup, has freshened up his squad and opted for a change of captain.

There are nine uncapped players in the 36-strong panel while winger Amee-Leigh Costigan, who captained the side throughout last year’s championship, and former co-captain Edel McMahon, are out.

The armband has been passed to returning back row Erin King, who Bemand believes is the ideal candidate to lead the green wave into a new cycle.

He said: “Erin embodies the Ireland player of the future of how she attacks training and how she is – honest, driven and a resilient player.”

The 22-year-old recently returned from the serious knee injury which forced her to miss last year’s World Cup and is relishing her new role.

King believes Ireland must target being competitive in both games against the top two and it is not an unrealistic goal.

They were well in the game at half-time in Cork last year when they trailed 7-5, only for England to blow them away in the second half to win 49-5.

At the World Cup in the summer, Ireland led 13-0 at the break before France came back with 18 unanswered points to progress to the last four.

“We know we are bridging the gap to the top two teams – France and England. They’ve been professional for a lot longer than us but the last few years of our professionalism is paying off now,” she said.

“Last year we held it to England for a good while so it would be great if we could compete for the full 80 [minutes] against them and get to get one up on France, we can definitely compete with them.

“With the squad we have, we can do things we’ve never done before. We just want to get going.”

State Sen. Lucy Killea’s decision to quit the Democratic Party and become an independent is not going to fool any Republicans in her largely GOP district.

But she may succeed in exacerbating the very cynicism toward politicians that she says prompted her to make the change.

In a scathing criticism of her colleagues, Killea said lawmakers “have lost the public’s confidence.” She’s right.

A recent Times Poll found that only 25% of San Diegans have confidence in local elected officials. She also pointed to the public’s deep dissatisfaction and resentment, and its view that the “Legislature is interested only in itself.”

Those are easy chords to strike. Too easy. The public has made its frustration known loudly and repeatedly in recent years.

Quitting the Democratic Party isn’t going to lessen the public fury, and it won’t reform the system.

Plus, Killea’s request for a change in state law to allow her to appear on the June, 1992, ballot as an independent–current law requires at least a year’s notice–smacks of the same self-serving politics of which she accuses her colleagues.

She is also guilty of some of the sins for which she castigated them. For instance, she criticized the Legislature for trying to “undo the will of the people” by going to court to overturn the initiative limiting legislative terms and cutting office budgets by 40%.

Yet, Killea is one of only two state senators who have failed to make the budget-reduction goals set by the Senate. She was supposed to cut $110,000 from her $869,000 budget, but has only cut about $65,000.

It’s hard to figure how leaving the Democratic Party will help Killea. She will lose the considerable Democratic financial support that helped her win in 1988.

And the way she is making her exit is winning her no new friends and probably earning the enmity of current allies. How can she help her constituents if she is frozen out of the system?

Her departure also weakens the already ailing Democratic Party. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the county 47.8% to 37.7%–almost 120,000 voters–and GOP registration is still on the rise.

If they lose much more strength, San Diego County Democrats run the risk of becoming an endangered species, as they already are in Orange County. And that could reduce debate on important policy issues, here and in Sacramento.

Killea’s frustrations with the current system, and the “old-boy network,” are understandable. The public may give a brief cheer to hear Killea express its sentiments on the Senate floor.

But Killea’s dramatic gesture is a hollow one that could do more damage than good.

March 27 (UPI) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance took aim at Minnesota and Somali immigrants on Friday ahead of the first meeting of the Trump administration’s anti-fraud task force.

While the meeting itself was behind closed doors, Vance gave brief remarks to reporters, touting the aims of the task force. He specifically took to task a scam in Minnesota involving a Medicaid program meant to aid children on the autism spectrum.

In September, the Trump administration announced charges against one person in a $14 million fraud scheme involving the autism program, and six additional defendants were charged in December.

“I think that the autism scam that we’ve seen in the Somalian parts of Minnesota really illustrates well what’s been going on across whole layers of our government,” Vance said.

“Now, what we’ve seen is Somali fraudsters at an industrial scale taking advantage of that program to the tune of millions and millions of dollars.”

In February, the Trump administration announced it was pausing more than $250 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota over the alleged fraud.

President Donald Trump announced the formation of the panel during his State of the Union address earlier this year. He, too, took aim at at Minnesota and immigration in his announcement of the task force, which he said will help balance the federal judge “overnight.”

“The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception,” Trump said.

“Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings us problems right here to the USA. And it is the American people who pay the price in higher medical bills, car insurance rates, rent, taxes and, perhaps most importantly, crime.”

Gov. Tim Walz has lashed out at the Trump administration for targeting Minnesota, saying the withholding of funds “has nothing to do with fraud.”

“This is a campaign of retribution. Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota,” he said in a statement.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and other officials from the executive branch joined Vance for the inaugural meeting of the White House Task Force on Eliminating Fraud.

California’s economy might see a boost from the state’s expanded film tax credits, but local lawmakers say it’s not enough.

Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom authorizing a $750-million film and TV tax credit program last summer, the impending merger between Paramount and Warner Bros., and the projected budget cuts that are expected to follow, has reignited fears about Hollywood jobs and U.S.-based productions.

“State programs cannot simply substitute for the kind of global, federal and competitive tax incentives that are needed to bring production back to American soil and stop its offshoring,” U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said during a news conference Friday morning.

“We must act, and the urgency could not be greater,” he said. He revealed he is working on a bipartisan federal film incentive proposal that would be competitive with what other countries are offering for film productions.

He said the program isn’t about Hollywood’s stars; it’s about the jobs that productions create, including roles for set designers, carpenters and lighting crews.

“These are the people who make that magic happen. We want to keep those jobs here, and many of us are deeply concerned about what this potential merger will do to those jobs,” Schiff said.

Earlier this week, the California Film Commission revealed that 16 shows had recently received tax credits for filming in the state. The projects represent $871 million in qualified in-state spending and are expected to generate $1.3 billion in economic activity in California. Schiff said the state tax credit has generated more than $29.1 billion in motion picture production wages and supported more than 220,000 jobs.

Even as shows start to see gains in Southern California, Los Angeles film activity was still down 13.2% from July through September when compared with the same period in 2024. The downward trend extends the loss of 42,000 jobs in L.A. between 2022 and 2024, the continued suffering of local sound stages and the offshoring of productions internationally.

“Federal policymakers must act to level the playing field and make the U.S. film and television industry more competitive on the global stage,” said Matthew Loeb, the president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. “A globally competitive labor-based and tax incentive is. For us, production that supplements state incentives is essential to return and maintain film and television jobs in America.”

HBO Max’s medical drama “The Pitt” is filmed at one of Warner Bros. soundstages in Burbank and it’s one of the shows benefiting from California’s tax incentive.

Noah Wyle, the star and executive producer of the show, said during the news conference that “it’s really hard to shoot a TV show in Los Angeles, and it’s really expensive, prohibitively” — so adopting an economic model that allows productions to take full advantage of the California tax incentive was essential to “The Pitt” filming in L.A.

“As an Angeleno with generational roots to this city and as a seasoned member of its creative community, advocacy for Los Angeles-based production is something that is very close to my heart,” Wyle said.

“‘The Pitt’ has blessedly become proof of that speculative concept. I’m happy to report we’ll commence shooting season three this summer, and that a rising tide has indeed lifted all boats in season one under the 3.0 tax program,” he added.

The show received a 20% tax rebate on many above-the-line costs. The budget for one episode was approximately $6.6 million, so the show received a rebate of about $760,000 per episode. By the end of season one, the production was able to save over $11 million. Wyle estimated that the first season of “The Pitt” contributed around $125 million toward California’s gross domestic product.

Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who is working with Schiff on production tax incentives, said that because California is already seeing benefits from the current program, there’s no reason it wouldn’t work nationally. Friedman added that tax incentives are a common practice among many industries in the U.S.

“Hollywood is not asking for special treatment. Whether it is computer chips, the energy sector or pharmaceuticals, this is something that is standard in the United States,” said Friedman. “In terms of our nation, Hollywood and its ability to tell the story of America, it is something worth saving.”