The State of Networking in 2025: An Insider PerspectiveFormer President Jimmy Carter is dead at 100. There are very few politicians who are admired for their values, their honesty, and their humanitarian deeds. Former President Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100, was among the rare exceptions; but then, he was more than a politician. He served as an epic model of what a good human being should be, especially in the later stages of his life. His post-presidency years came to be defined by humanitarian and peace advocacy efforts, and they exemplified a well-known quote that encapsulated his life’s purpose and philosophy: “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something. I’m free to choose that something. ... My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can.” As one admirer put it, “Great man, great president, probably under-appreciated by those who didn’t know much about him.” There is little doubt that Carter will be remembered more for his humanitarian efforts than for his presidency. Polls of historians and political scientists have generally ranked Carter as a below-average president. A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Carter as the 26th best president. A 2017 C-SPAN poll of historians also ranked Carter as the 26th best president. Some critics have compared Carter to Herbert Hoover, who was similarly a “hardworking but uninspiring technocrat. Robert A. Strong, Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University has written: “Jimmy Carter is much more highly regarded today than when he lost his bid for reelection in 1980. He has produced an exemplary post-presidency, and today there is an increased appreciation for the enormity of the task he took on in 1977. Carter took office just thirty months after a President had left the entire federal government in a shambles. He faced epic challenges—the energy crisis, Soviet aggression, Iran, and above all, a deep mistrust of leadership by his citizens. He was hard working and conscientious.” His critics weren’t so kind, they saw him as a fish out of water in Washington D.C. and frequently mocked him as the “peanut farmer.” Carter served a single, tumultuous term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, a landslide loss that ultimately paved the way for his decades of global advocacy for democracy, public health, and human rights via the Carter Center. Hailing from a family of farmers who had been in Georgia since the 1630’s, young Jimmy was energetic and enterprising. By the time he was ten, he stacked produce from the family farm onto a wagon, hauled it into town, and sold it. He saved his money, and by the age of thirteen, he bought five houses around Plains that the Great Depression had put on the market at rock-bottom prices. These homes were rented to families in the area. After a promising Navy career, he was called back to Georgia to save the family farm after his father’s death, a task that he accomplished brilliantly and which in a roundabout way led to a political career that eventually landed him in the Governor’s mansion. Carter became President by narrowly defeating Gerald Ford, a man who had landed there by accident when Nixon was forced to resign, and who has gone down in history as the first, and so far the only, person to become President without winning a general election for President or Vice President. Jimmy Carter’s greatest accomplishments during his tenure were to create the Department of Education, bolster the Social Security system, and appoint record numbers of women, blacks, and Hispanics to Government jobs. Additionally, he created a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. Carter pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He also confronted the stagflation that he had inherited from Ford. In foreign policy, in an effort to end the Arab–Israeli conflict, he helped arrange the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. These efforts were eventually rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prize that he received in 2002, for undertaking peace negotiations, campaigning for human rights, and working for social welfare. Nevertheless, his tenure as president will forever be associated with the failure of the Iran hostage crisis. Into its sixth month, and all diplomatic appeals to the Iranian government having ended in failure, President Jimmy Carter ordered the military mission as a last-ditch attempt to save the hostages. During the operation, three of eight helicopters failed, crippling the crucial airborne plans. The mission was then canceled at the staging area in Iran, but during the withdrawal one of the retreating helicopters collided with one of six C-130 transport planes, killing eight service members and injuring five. The next day, a somber Jimmy Carter gave a press conference in which he took full responsibility for the tragedy. The hostages were eventually released—but it took another 270 days, and by that time he was out of the White House and Reagan got the credit. This debacle had an enormous impact on the Carter presidency and is widely acknowledged as the reason for his loss in the 1980 election. As the post-presidency years passed, Jimmy Carter grew in stature, as a humanitarian and a global diplomat—a senior statesman who was respected by the entire world. His work for Habitat for Humanity was truly inspiring and was a measure of the man’s humility, as he continued to personally wield a hammer and saw planks until well into his later life, into his 90’s. At the time that he entered hospice care on February 19, 2022, Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist, tweeted: “Prize winners and truly impressive people. Few are as truly good as Jimmy Carter, who at age 98 is now entering hospice. He leaves this planet so much better than he found it. A great, great, great man.” No man or woman could wish for a more worthy epitaph. Jimmy Carter had said in recent months that he hoped to live long enough to vote for Kamala Harris. He succeeded in attaining his wish.bingo slots game 。

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NDP won’t support Liberal $250 rebate plan unless eligibility expanded: SinghThousands of Syrians gathered in Damascus’ main square and a historic mosque for the first Muslim Friday prayers since former President Bashar Assad was overthrown , a major symbolic moment for the country’s dramatic change of power. The rebels are now working to establish security and start a political transition after seizing the capital on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Friday, pressing ahead with efforts to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria. It’s part of Blinken’s 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year in Gaza but his first after Assad was ousted. The U.S. is also making a renewed push for an ceasefire in Gaza, where the war has plunged more than 2 million Palestinians into a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The October 2023 attack by Hamas in southern Israel that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Here's the latest: WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has transported out of Syria an American who disappeared seven months ago into former President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system and was among the thousands released this week by rebels, a U.S. official said Friday. Travis Timmerman was flown out of Syria on a U.S. military helicopter, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. Timmerman, 29, told The Associated Press he had gone to Syria on a Christian pilgrimage and was not ill-treated while in Palestine Branch, a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence. He said he was freed by “the liberators who came into the prison and knocked the door down (of his cell) with a hammer.” Timmerman said he was released Monday morning alongside a young Syrian man and 70 female prisoners, some of whom had their children with them. He had been held separately from Syrian and other Arab prisoners and said he didn’t know of any other Americans held in the facility. — By Lolita C. Baldor THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch court on Friday rejected a bid from human rights groups to block weapons exports to Israel and trading with the occupied territories, after finding there were sufficient checks already in place to comply with international law. The ten organizations told The Hague District Court last month that they thought the Netherlands was in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, drawn up following World War II, by continuing to sell weapons to Israel more than a year into the conflict in Gaza. “The government uses my own tax money, that I pay, to kill my own family. I’ve lost 18 members of my own family,” Ahmed Abofoul, a legal adviser for the pro-Palestinian organization Al-Haq, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit, told the court during a hearing in November . The court ruling said that “it is not up to the interim relief judge to order the state to reconsider government policy. That is primarily a political responsibility.” Lawyers for the government argued it wasn’t up to a judge to decide foreign policy for the Netherlands. The activist groups pointed to several emergency orders from another court, the International Court of Justice, as confirming the obligation to stop weapons sales. In January, the top U.N. court said it was plausible Palestinians were being deprived of some rights protected under the Genocide Convention. The coalition said it will review the court’s ruling and is considering an appeal. CAIRO — Israeli attacks in and around a hospital in northern Gaza wounded three medical staff overnight into Friday and caused damage to the isolated medical facility, according to its director. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said Israeli quadcopter drones carrying explosives deliberately targeted the emergency and reception area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where one doctor was wounded for a third time. Abu Safiya said “relentless” drone and artillery strikes throughout the night exploded “alarmingly close” to the hospital, heavily damaging nearby buildings and destroying most of the water tanks on the hospital’s roof and blowing out doors and windows. Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya has been hit multiple times over the past two months since Israel launched a fierce military operation against Hamas in northern Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. “We demand international protection for the hospital and its staff,” Abu Safiya said in a statement released via the U.K.-based aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians, “as well as the entry of delegations with surgical expertise, medical supplies, and essential medications to ensure we can adequately serve the people we are treating.” Abu Safiya said there were 72 wounded patients at the hospital, one of the few medical facilities left in northern Gaza. He said he expected Israeli forces would allow a World Health Organization aid convoy to bring supplies to the hospital on Friday or Saturday, as well as a team of doctors from Indonesia. Israel has allowed almost no humanitarian or medical aid to enter the three besieged communities in northern Gaza — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp — and ordered tens of thousands to flee to nearby Gaza City. Israeli officials have said the three communities are mostly deserted, but the United Nations humanitarian office said Tuesday it believes around 65,000 to 75,000 people are still there, with little access to food, water, electricity or health care. Experts have warned that the north may be experiencing famine . BAGHDAD — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in Iraq on Friday on his latest visit to the Middle East aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria to prevent further regional turmoil. Blinken met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani as part of the hastily arranged trip, his 12th to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad. Blinken has already been to Jordan and Turkey on his current tour and will return to Jordan for urgent meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers to try to unify support for an inclusive post-Assad transition that does not allow the Islamic State group to take advantage of the political vacuum in Syria and secures suspected chemical weapons stocks. In Baghdad, Blinken “will underscore U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty,” the State Department said. “He will also discuss regional security opportunities and challenges, as well as enduring U.S. support for engagement with all communities in Syria to establish an inclusive transition,” it said in a statement. His trip comes as the Biden administration winds down with just over a month left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has been highly critical of Biden’s approach to the Middle East and skeptical of the U.S. military presence in both Iraq and Syria. The U.S. and Iraq agreed in September to wrap up U.S.-led military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq next year, although Assad’s ouster and the potential for the group taking advantage of a political vacuum in Syria could complicate the timing of the withdrawal, according to American officials. DAMASCUS — The kingdom of Bahrain sent a message Friday to Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency that toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It said Bahrain is “fully prepared to consult with you continuously and to provide support in regional and international organizations to achieve what is in the interest of the brotherly Syrian people.” It added, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.” Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit. Syria was readmitted to the Arab League last year after 12 years of ostracization. It is still unclear how the international community will deal officially with the new interim government in Syria. JERUSALEM - Israel’s defense minister told troops to prepare to remain through the winter months on the peak of Mount Hermon, Syria’s highest point, located in a swath of southern Syria that Israeli troops moved into after the fall of Damascus to insurgents. The comments by Defense Minister Israel Katz signaled that the military will extend its occupation of the zone along the border, which Israel says it seized to create a buffer zone. In a statement Friday, Katz said that holding the peak was of major importance for Israel’s security and that it would be necessary to build facilities there to sustain troops through the winter. The summit of Mount Hermon, the highest peak on the eastern Mediterranean coast at 2,814 meters (9,232 feet), gives a commanding view over the plains of southern Syria. It also positions Israeli troops about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the center of Damascus. The mount is divided between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli troops would remain in the zone until another force across the border in Syria could guarantee security. Israeli troops moved into the zone -– set as a demilitarized area inside Syrian territory under truce deals that ended the 1973 Mideast war -- after the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell last weekend. ANKARA, Turkey -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the United States on what they would like to see in Syria following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. “There’s broad agreement on what we would like to see going forward, starting with the interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said in joint statements with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The insurgent groups that toppled Assad in Syria have not made clear their policy or stance on Israel, whose military in recent days has bombed sites all over the country, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands. Blinken also said it was crucial to keep the Islamic State group under control. “We also discussed the imperative of continuing the efforts to keep ISIS down. Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again,” Blinken said. The Turkish foreign minister said the two discussed ways of establishing prosperity in Syria and ending terrorism in the country. “Our priority is establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant,” Fidan said, in a reference to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party. Blinken said: “We’re very focused on Syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the Syrian people to move from out from under the shackles of Bashar al-Assad to a different and better future for the Syrian people, one that the Syrian people decide for themselves.” Blinken and Fidan said they had also discussed a ceasefire for Gaza. “We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks more encouraging signs that (a ceasefire) is possible,” Blinken said. Blinken, who is making his 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Assad, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday. The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already heightened tensions in the region, which is already wracked by multiple conflicts, and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence. Later Friday, Blinken is to return to Jordan for meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations. ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has appointed a temporary charge d’affaires to reopen its embassy in Syria, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported. The Turkish Embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security problems during the Syrian civil war and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said late Thursday that Turkey appointed Burhan Koroglu, its ambassador in Mauritania, to the post. UNITED NATIONS- – Two U.N. aid convoys were violently attacked in Gaza, making it virtually impossible for humanitarian agencies to operate without putting staff and civilians at risk, the U.N. food agency says. On Wednesday, a 70-truck convoy from Kerem Shalom was waiting for personnel to safeguard the food and other aid destined for central Gaza when there were reported attacks by Israeli forces in the nearby humanitarian zone, the U.N. World Food Program said Thursday. More than 50 people are now estimated to have died in the attacks, including civilians and local security personnel who had been expected to ensure the convoy’s safety, WFP said. The Rome-based agency said the convoy was forced to proceed from Kerem Shalom to central Gaza without any security arrangements, using the Philadelphi corridor, an Israeli-controlled route that had been recently approved and successfully utilized twice. On the way, WFP said, conflict and insecurity led to a loss of communication with the convoy for more than 12 hours. ”Eventually, the trucks were found but all food and aid supplies were looted,” the U.N. agency said. In a second incident, Israeli soldiers approached a WFP convoy moving out of the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza, fired warning shots, conducted extensive security checks, and temporarily detained drivers and staff, the agency said. “As the trucks were delayed, four out of the five trucks were lost to violent armed looting,” WFP said. UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief has a message for Israel: Stop the attacks on Syria. Secretary-General António Guterres is particularly concerned about several hundred Israeli airstrikes on several Syrian locations and stresses “the urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday. The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the previous 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists. Israel also acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following last week’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The buffer zone was established after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1973 war. Dujarric said Guterres condemns all actions violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries that remain in force. And the U.N. chief calls on the parties to uphold the agreement and end “all unauthorized presence in the area of separation” and refrain from any action undermining the ceasefire and stability in the Golan Heights, the spokesman said.

Sagittarius – (22nd November to 21st December) Daily Horoscope Prediction says, you play on the turf of life A diligent love affair requires utmost care and patience. Overcome the tremors at work and ensure you meet the expectations. Financial prosperity exists. Keep your lover happy and ensure you are romantically creative today. Be diligent at the workplace and take care of every assigned job. Handle wealth carefully and plan smart investments. No major health issue will trouble you. Sagittarius Love Horoscope Today There will be fun in the love affair today but you should also give proper space to the emotions and preferences of the lover. Do not impose your opinions and instead accept the person without biases. Be ready to meet someone new today while traveling. Those who are new in the relationship need to spend more time together to know each other. Take the love affair to the parents today to get their support. Sagittarius Career Horoscope Today Though your office life will be easier, it is good to be cautious of troubles caused by office politics. Do not be scared to experiment at the workplace as you may need that to bring in expected results. Be innovative at team meetings and your communication skills will impress clients. Interviews will be cleared easily while students will also clear competitive examinations today. Some entrepreneurs dealing with textiles, electronics, fashion accessories, food processing, and footwear will see good returns today. Sagittarius Money Horoscope Today Despite you receiving wealth from different sources, it is good to save for the rainy day as you may have unexpected expenses in the coming days. You may also incur an emergency at home which will need financial assistance. Some seniors may also require spending for a function within the family. Some entrepreneurs will sign new deals that may help take the business to the regions abroad. Sagittarius Health Horoscope Today Throat infection, migraine, and minor pain in joints will be common among Sagittarius children today. You should be careful about your diet today and also maintain a balanced office and personal life. While traveling, ensure a medical kit is always with you. If you have sleeping-related issues, opt for natural methods rather than medicines. Sagittarius Sign Attributes Strength: Wise, Practical, Audacious, Beautiful, Lively, Energetic, Lovely, Optimistic Weakness: Forgetful, Careless, Irritating Symbol: Archer Element: Fire Body Part: Thighs & Liver Sign Ruler: Jupiter Lucky Day: Thursday Lucky Color: Light Blue Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Stone: Yellow Sapphire Sagittarius Sign Compatibility Chart Natural affinity: Aries, Leo, Libra, Aquarius Good compatibility: Gemini, Sagittarius Fair compatibility: Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn Less compatibility: Virgo, Pisces By: Dr. J. N. Pandey Vedic Astrology & Vastu Expert Website: www.astrologerjnpandey.com E-mail: djnpandey@gmail.com Phone: 91-9811107060 (WhatsApp Only)

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(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) , (THE CONVERSATION) In whether President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for is fit for the job, it’s easy to lose sight of why it matters. It matters a lot. To speak of telling truth to power seems terribly old-fashioned these days, but as , I know that is the essence of the job. The director of national intelligence is the , though the CIA director has remained somewhat co-equal in that role. The director of national intelligence is responsible for both the , where the most crucial and sophisticated intelligence is presented, and for the work of . Most of the President’s Daily Brief items are still done by the CIA, but the , daily in most administrations but one or two times a week in the . The issues in those briefings lean toward the immediate and tactical: What is the situation on the ground in the Ukraine war? If action X is taken, how will Russian President Vladimir Putin respond? But intelligence strives to push presidents and their colleagues to think more strategically: What are the implications of hypersonic missiles? What is the trajectory of the relationship between Russia and China? What are China’s geostrategic objectives, and what is the role of the in that vision? The , who is my friend and former colleague from when she was the deputy national security adviser in charge of the National Security Council policy committees and , providing the intelligence support to those committees. As director of national intelligence, Haines sits atop the 17 agencies that make up what is called . She does not run those agencies. Nor does she have full control of their budgets. Rather, the director of national intelligence coordinates them, which sometimes seems like the proverbial herding of cats. She assembles a combined budget for intelligence, but many of the big agencies, such as the National Security Agency, which , belong to the Pentagon. The creation of the director of national intelligence position was a direct result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The was vividly damning between agencies in the run-up to 9/11. In meetings in New York that summer, CIA and FBI officers were literally unsure what they could tell each other: The former wondered whether the FBI people were really cleared to hear this, while the latter feared that talking might blow a case they were working on. That lack of coordination played a role in letting the plotters slip through intelligence, often in plain sight. The result of the commission’s work was the , which created the director of national intelligence position. Before that, the director of central intelligence wore two hats, as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and loose coordinator of the broader intelligence community. Hardly surprisingly, directors of central intelligence spent most of their time running the CIA, for that was the source of their troops – and their troubles when they arose. A had recommended breaking the director of central intelligence’s conflict of interest – coordinating agencies and their budgets while running one of them – and creating a director of national intelligence position. for whom I worked as chair of the National Intelligence Council, constantly emphasized “integration.” Across agencies, integration mostly means talking to each other and sharing information. This works against the natural tendency to scoop your colleagues. Across disciplines, integration means better aligning what information intelligence agencies collect with what analysts need. If presidents want to know what the CIA thinks about a particular issue, they can simply ask. Usually, though, the question is what does the intelligence community think, and then the question goes to the , the director of national intelligence’s interagency group for intelligence analysis. The National Intelligence Council is organized like the State Department, with officers for regions and functions. Once a question has been presented, the relevant national intelligence officer will convene his or her council colleagues from the other agencies. They will argue about the answer to the question, a process sweetly called “coordination,” then agree on the answer. If need be, the process can be done in a few hours. Major strategic analyses – national intelligence estimates – like one done in 2022 on the implications of the , may take months. In all cases, though, the analysis carefully records where there are differences of view in the intelligence community. In my last year chairing the National Intelligence Council, of the 700 or so analyses we did, about 400 were responses to questions – called “taskings” in governmentese – from the national security adviser or one of the deputies. National intelligence officers are national experts from inside or outside federal government, and their deputies – the heart and soul of the NIC – are all assigned from intelligence agencies. The largest number come from the CIA, but I worked with a cyber analyst from the Secret Service and a wonderful analyst from the New York Police Department. What was striking then and has struck me both times I’ve had the privilege of running a U.S. intelligence agency is the dedication of the officers. They work for the nation, not for a political party or ideology. As chair of the NIC, I had no idea of the politics of my people, save for the several closest to me. For them, telling truth to power is not a slogan. It is what they do. They are always worried about “politicizing” – producing an assessment to suit a policymaker’s preference or, worse, being pressured to do so. , for instance, give up a year of their lives to come to work at 4 a.m., learn their briefs and then fan out across Washington to brief senior officials. They like being “on the team” of the person they brief, but they become uncomfortable if the conversation turns political. The director of national intelligence sets the tone for that resolutely nonpolitical stance and through principles articulated in the agency’s . As chair of the NIC, for instance, I’d receive regular assessments of both the quality of our analyses and whether we risked becoming “politicized.” For their part, do politicians and agency leaders like it when their pet projects are assessed by intelligence as unwise or infeasible? Of course not. I’ve been on that side of the intelligence-policy divide as well. But the United States is much the better for it. This story is part of a of Cabinet and high-level administration positions. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: .

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Next time Iowa State plays football, it will be in Dublin, Ireland. Saturday’s 42-41 Pop-Tarts Bowl win against Miami signaled the end of Iowa State’s first 11-win season. And at the rate modern college football moves with the transfer portal and NIL, the smart teams have already been thinking about the 2025 season. Here are the three biggest questions facing Iowa State ahead of that Aug. 3, 2025 game against Kansas State in Ireland. 5 takeaways from Iowa State vs Miami: Carson Hansen positions himself to be lead back in 2025 Iowa State woke up Sunday with a massive hole in its production. Senior receivers Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins combined for 2,377 receiving yards this season. The other 17 players who caught a pass this season combined for 1,203. Iowa State wide receiver Jaylin Noel (13) runs after a reception before he is tackled by Miami defensive back Zaquan Patterson (20) during the the Pop Tarts Bowl Saturday in Orlando. We know how the Cyclones will try to replace the duo. On Dec. 14, ISU landed a commitment from sophomore Eastern Carolina receiver Chase Sowell and three days later one from former UCF receiver Xavier Townsend. A funny coincidence is Sowell stands 6-foot-4, the same height as Higgins, while Townsend is listed at 5-foot-11, identical to Noel. Next season, Iowa State should also look to the tight end position to fill some lost production. Ben Brahmer’s sophomore season essentially ended in November after he suffered a leg injury against UCF. He caught 10 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. How Iowa State orchestrated a comeback against Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl Sophomore tight end Gabe Burkle saw a leap in his production after Brahmer got hurt. Burkle finished the season with five catches against Arizona State in the Big 12 Championship and four against Miami, including a leaping touchdown catch in the first quarter. Burkle and Brahmer finished as the third and fourth leading receivers behind Noel and Higgins. Although the winter transfer portal window for underclassmen closed Saturday, there could still be Cyclones who enter. Every player on a team in the postseason has an additional five days after the season ends to enter the portal. No Iowa State opt-outs were reported leading up to the Pop-Tarts Bowl, but NFL Draft prospects Higgins and defensive back Darien Porter both chose not to play. Don’t be surprised if there are some Cyclones who enter the portal between now and the Thursday deadline. That’s not particularly an indictment on ISU’s program or culture, just the reality of modern college football. Derek Hoodjer is ISU’s assistant AD for player personnel. He is in charge of building ISU’s roster and navigating the portal. After the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Hoodjer celebrated with players on the field and made sure Noel got to lift the bowl trophy after his postgame press conference. Hoodjer is going to be the busiest person in Ames for the next couple weeks. Beau Freyler's Iowa State teammates made sure he celebrated last game from the Pop-Tarts Bowl stage Iowa State rode its defense until wheels fell off. The tires might still be discarded in a corner of AT&T Stadium after Arizona State ran all over the Cyclones in a 45-19 win. Iowa State defensive lineman J.R. Singleton (58) and wide receiver Jaylin Noel hold up the championship trophy after winning the Pop Tarts Bowl on Saturday against Miami in Orlando. Miami quarterback Cam Ward threw for three touchdowns in the first half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl before sitting out the second half to preserve his NFL Draft stock. Credit to the ISU defense, it forced a punt and interception on Miami’s final two possessions to lead to a win. Rampant injuries made every defensive effort this season a patchwork attempt. Through the first 10 games, ISU averaged 6.4 key defensive players sidelined . The Cyclones injury luck can't be worse next season, right? That’s probably true, but graduation is still going to cost ISU several key pieces. Safety Beau Freyler is the “nucleus” of Iowa State’s team and played his last game Saturday. Darien Porter is a veteran in ISU’s secondary and top special teams contributor who opted out of the Miami game with NFL Draft hopes. redshirt senior J.R. Singleton led the team with four sacks and finished his career Saturday. Ben Hutchens is an Iowa State University beat writer for the Lee Enterprises network. Follow him on X or send him an email at Ben.Hutchens@lee.net . Get local news delivered to your inbox!