First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund (NYSE:FPF) Declares Monthly Dividend of $0.14
This was one bear-y cute snowfall. Twin giant pandas were caught on camera experiencing snow falling for the first time. Rui Bao and Hui Bao, 1-year-old siblings who made history last summer as the first twin giant panda cubs born in South Korea, can be seen adorably playing together as the flakes fall around them. The female toddlers, born in July at Everland theme park and resort in Yongin, were kept indoors last winter, so are making up for lost time amid historic amounts of snow in the country. Rui and Hui’s names were chosen through a public contest — and mean “wise treasure” and “shiny treasure,” respectively, according to Korea.net . When they turned six months old , the pair, who had only made appearances on social media, was unveiled to the public for the first time. “They are even cuter in real life than they appear on screen,“ Lee Da-young told The Sun on the day the pandas made their public debut. For their first birthday, the park even threw them a party, inviting 60 of their biggest fans and streaming the event on its YouTube page, as per Korea JoongAng Daily. With Post WiresMax George ‘staying positive’ amid hospital stay due to heart issues
Two weeks after she beat a transgender candidate to return to the Utah Legislature, the Republican state lawmaker behind the majority of the state’s anti-transgender laws is advocating for policies that strip additional rights from trans people. Rep. Kera Birkeland, of Morgan, posted to X on Thursday that transgender women, specifically, should not be able to amend their birth certificates or IDs to reflect their gender. “Men should not be allowed in women’s bathrooms,” Birkeland wrote. “However, achieving this goal requires more than just signing or passing a bill that articulates this stance. We need to address the underlying issue of allowing men to change their birth certificates and driver’s licenses to reflect a female identity.” Birkeland continued, “Until we achieve that, our primary action is to run message bills, that are almost unenforceable. If a man can obtain a driver’s license identifying him as a woman, secure a birth certificate identifying him as a woman, and undergo surgical procedures to alter his appearance to look similar to women, it becomes nearly impossible for the government to distinguish between him and Representative Mace. That presents a significant challenge in enforcement.” Birkeland’s post was written in support of U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-North Carolina, who responded to the first transgender woman being elected to Congress by pushing for her and other transgender women not to be allowed in women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol. I completely agree with @RepNancyMace that men should not be allowed in women’s bathrooms. However, achieving this goal requires more than just signing or passing a bill that articulates this stance. We need to address the underlying issue of allowing men to change their birth... The post comes one day after Transgender Day of Remembrance — an annual occasion memorializing transgender people lost to violence or suicide due to attacks on their identity. The Utah Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that transgender Utahns have “a common-law right to change facets of their personal legal status, including their sex designation.” “My life was going forward day by day sometimes is not easy,” said Angie Rice, a transgender woman and one of the plaintiffs in the case, at the time. “But (this decision)... gives young people and everybody who has been suffering in silence, or victimized, it gives them a chance to believe in hope and have the courage to now live their truth.” Since she was first appointed to the House in 2020, Birkeland has led a push to bar transgender girls from high school sports. Since the Legislature passed a law she sponsored to do so in 2022, and overrode the governor’s veto , the ban has been partially blocked by a lawsuit. Meanwhile, a commission weighs the cases of young transgender athletes who want to participate in sports. This year, Birkeland successfully proposed a bill that creates legal definitions “female” and “male” to categorize Utahns by the reproductive organs of their birth, and prohibits transgender Utahns from using locker rooms or bathrooms that align with their gender in government-owned buildings. Republican lawmakers repeatedly employed misinformation about transgender Utahns while working to rally support for the bill, an investigation by The Salt Lake Tribune found . Utah, which has passed restrictions on transgender people for three consecutive years, also prohibits transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming health care . Birkeland did not respond to questions about whether she would introduce bills to enact such policy shifts in the 2025 legislative session, but told KUER earlier this month that she isn’t planning on proposing legislation impacting the transgender community. A spokesperson for the Utah House of Representatives did not respond to questions as to GOP leadership’s feelings on such policies, or whether other members of their caucus would draft bills including them. On Monday, legislative leadership and Gov. Spencer Cox urged Utah State University to join a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference over its transgender participation policy — weeks after players on the school’s volleyball team opted to forfeit a game against another team that allegedly includes a transgender athlete. The school filed a motion to join soon after. “Female athletes deserve the right to a safe playing field, fair competition and equal opportunities,” the officials said in a statement. “By intervening, Utah will send a clear message that these rights are non-negotiable.” Utah House Democrats responded with a statement of their own, writing, “Transgender athletes have participated in sports for years without facing the intense scrutiny they endure today. Targeting them harms their mental health, further isolates an already vulnerable population, and goes against the inclusive values we should all uphold. This is not the Utah way.” Birkeland’s post also follows an anti-transgender political action committee that appears to be violating campaign finance laws and aimed to influence the outcome of a state legislative race in a district bordering hers. Despite establishing a website, deploying mailers and sending texts attacking Democrats throughout the state for opposing restrictions on transgender Utahns, including the only Democrat outside of Salt Lake County , the out-of-state Preserving Utah Values PAC reports that it has raised and spent $0 during the 2024 election cycle. The United Nations recognizes transgender people’s ability to change official documents, including birth certificates, as a human right. “Failing to provide access to legal gender recognition hinders access to rights and services (e.g. education, employment, bathrooms) and puts trans people at risk of violence (e.g. when presenting documents that don’t match their appearance),” reads the website for the supranational organization’s high commissioner for human rights. “Trans people are at particular risk of violence in detention settings when their gender identity is not respected.” According to the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification , hate crimes against LGBTQ+ Utahns more than doubled from 2022 to 2023. This year, law enforcement agencies have reported 15 incidents.
Economists at two Southern California universities see new reasons to worry ahead, namely policies from the nation’s next president. They warn in new forecasts released this week that the economy may stumble in 2025 because of controversial policies promised by President-elect Donald Trump. Economist James Doti, president emeritus at Chapman University, said the economy “still appears to be strong,” even though a long period of declining inflation could reverse course under Trump. A year ago, Doti’s reading of the tea leaves showed “very slow growth” and no recession in 2024. Today, he’s sticking to a similar tale of “slow growth” that now extends through 2025. New to the mix is “some upward pressure” on inflation due to proposed tariffs and mass deportations Trump has vowed to launch after his inauguration in January. Economist Jerry Nickelsburg at UCLA agreed with Doti’s analysis. “The underlying fundamentals of the economy are strong. They have been for some time, which is why we did not say that we were going to have a recession in 2023 or 2022,” said the director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast. “Now, that doesn’t mean that geopolitical events or different policies from Washington that are not in our forecast couldn’t generate a recession. It’s just not in the data right now.” Both economists said Trump is inheriting a strong economy that will grow more slowly than previously forecast while it adjusts to new national economic policies. The clarity of post-presidential election forecasts at Chapman and UCLA are clouded by Trump’s plans to implement several economic policies promised during his 2024 campaign. Among the most controversial policies are new or increased tariffs on the nation’s largest trading partners – including Canada, China and Mexico. Policies also include mass deportations, tax cuts and deregulation. Doti believes Trump’s vow to deport of 500,000 to 1 million undocumented immigrants and 10%-25% tariffs on imported goods could push inflation closer to 3% than the Fed’s desired 2% level. How these policies manifest is not necessarily clear, considering practical, legal and political constraints on implementation, according to Nickelsburg. The UCLA professor of economics said this month’s forecast was one of the most difficult ones he’s ever written, with the exception of a recession prediction four years ago as the COVID-19 pandemic began. “When we did our March forecast in 2020, we had no idea how the pandemic was going to play out, and so there was a great deal of uncertainty then as well as now,” he said. “Economic policy in Washington is changing in a pretty fundamental way, so that increases uncertainty until we get some clarity as to what policies are going to be implemented.” Meanwhile, UCLA predicts a slowdown in interest rate cuts as the federal government grapples with those new policies. Nickelsburg sees the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 basis points at its board of governors meeting Dec. 18. He expects a pause on cuts until 2026 when the economy has absorbed the impacts of tariffs. The Fed could end up with interest rates hovering between 4% and 4.25% in 2026, he said. Doti has a different take, saying the Fed won’t cut rates in December and will instead take a wait-and-see approach. He expects the central bank will make only two, 25 basis-point cuts in 2025. “The reason we don’t think there’ll be a cut in rates next week is because we still have high inflation (2.7% for the year ended in November 2024), and it’s above the Fed’s target range of 2%, and GDP growth is at 2.8%, and job growth has still been very strong,” Doti said. “Given the Fed’s cautious approach, it’ll hold back on making further cuts.” Growth in gross domestic product, used to measure the nation’s economic health, is expected to fall to 1.4% by the end of 2025 from 2.8% in the 2024’s third quarter, he said. Both economists said the state of housing in California is showing financial strain. On the construction front, residential permits in California are forecast to rise by 12.9% in 2025, despite continuing high mortgage rates, Doti said. He argued that high mortgage rates may indirectly spur new construction. “There is a paucity of resale homes on the market because homeowners don’t want to sell and lose their sweetheart locked-in mortgages,” he said. “That has led to a sharp drop in resale home sales. The dearth of resale homes on the market is buttressing demand for new homes, often available for sale at heavily subsidized financing rates.” Nickelsburg said normalization is slowly returning to the California housing market, but potential construction cost increases due to tariffs and labor shortages could slow that process. “Builders should be responding with new development given existing homes sales are at depression levels,” said Nickelsburg. Both forecasts raised concerns about the jobs picture. Doti sees economic growth in California hampered by population losses, which he blames on the state’s regulatory and tax burdens, which have led people and businesses to leave for cheaper states like Florida and Texas. California’s job growth is forecast to rise 4.6% to 18.2 million in 2025, up from 17.4 million in 2019, but trailing U.S. job growth of 5.9% over the same period. The flight of people from the state also has lowered retail sales tax revenue, prompting some cities to raise sales tax rates in order to replenish budgets left with financial gaps. Data from Chapman showed fewer people are shopping, which translates to less tax revenue for cities. For the year-period that ended June 30, 2024, retail sales fell 4% in Orange County, 2.3% in Los Angeles County, 1.2% in the Inland Empire and 0.8% in San Diego County. For Nickelsburg, the big unknown on jobs will be the mass deportation and tariff policies of the incoming president, and their impact on a wide of industries including agriculture, construction, leisure and hospitality, retail trade and transportation and warehousing industries. Taken together, the deportations and tariffs will raise the prices for many goods and services, and potentially cause product shortages and higher labor costs as jobs go unfilled, he argued. “The uncertainty regarding the future path of unemployment is more elevated than usual because the impact of mass deportations on unemployment is not well understood due to limited empirical research on the subject,” according to Nickelsburg. Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast, using various graphs and charts to explain his predictions and projections, at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer) Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast, using various graphs and charts to explain his predictions and projections, at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer) Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast, using various graphs and charts to explain his predictions and projections, at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer) Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast for the U.S., California and Orange County at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer) Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast for the U.S., California and Orange County at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer) Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast for the U.S., California and Orange County at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer) Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast for the U.S., California and Orange County at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer) Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast for the U.S., California and Orange County at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer) Economist James Doti, the President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University, delivers his annual economic forecast, using various graphs and charts to explain his predictions and projections, at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
If there was one thing No. 14 Gonzaga failed to do in nonconference play, it was learn how to finish. And the Bulldogs may not get many chances to play close games in West Coast Conference play, which they'll open Monday against Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. Sure, the Bulldogs (9-4) trounced then-No. 8 Baylor 101-63 and then-No. 14 Indiana 89-73. But they also lost in overtime to West Virginia (86-78) and No. 4 Kentucky (90-89), dropped a 77-71 decision to two-time defending NCAA champion UConn at Madison Square Garden and are coming off a 65-62 defeat to No. 22 UCLA on Saturday. "Obviously we feel like we've been in a bunch of close games that we felt like we should have won all of them," said Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard, who had 16 points and eight assists against a Bruins defense that is one of the best in the country. "We've got to close out these games and learn to win these close games." Graham Ike led the Bulldogs with 24 points as they rallied from an 11-point deficit and led for most of the final 12 1/2 minutes before stumbling. It didn't help Gonzaga that guard Khalif Battle, who is tied for third on the team with 11.8 points per game, was ejected with 4:13 remaining in the first half for a Flagrant-2 foul against UCLA's Eric Dailey Jr. "We're playing a great schedule and great teams," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "And you're in position to win and in college basketball, you hope you can make a play, make a shot and get a stop at the end." Ike leads Gonzaga with 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Nembhard averages 12.1 points per game and leads the country with 10.0 assists per game. The Bulldogs have won 47 consecutive games against Pepperdine (6-8, 0-1 WCC) dating to Jan. 18, 2002. It's the third-longest run against an opponent in NCAA Division I history and the longest active streak. The Waves have won four of their past six games, but are coming off a 91-80 loss Saturday at Santa Clara to open their conference slate. Stefan Todorovic led the Waves with 25 points, three rebounds, four assists and a steal. Todorovic tops the WCC with 19.7 points per game. Dovydas Butka added 16 points with eight rebounds and three assists and Moe Odum contributed 14 points, six rebounds, nine assists and two steals. Odum is third nationally with 105 assists, with Gonzaga's Nembhard (130) the leader in that category. "The system that Coach (Ed) Schilling puts us in opens the (court) for everybody," Todorovic said. "Not just me, we can be a threat at all positions on the floor." Schilling is in his first season with the Waves after 13 years as an assistant at UMass, Memphis, UCLA, Indiana and, most recently, Grand Canyon. He also spent 1997-2003 as the head coach of Wright State. Schilling replaced Lorenzo Romar at Pepperdine. --Field Level MediaPresident-elect Donald Trump vowed on Friday to get rid of daylight saving time, calling the practice of semiannual clock-switching “inconvenient” and “costly.” “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social . It’s not clear whether Trump meant that he supports making daylight saving time permanent, or simply that he supports sticking with standard time, which began on Nov. 3 this year and will end on March 9, 2025. In 2022, the Senate unanimously passed legislation making daylight saving time permanent for the entire United States. The bill, titled the Sunshine Protection Act, was co-sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). The senators cited increased heart attacks and car accidents during standard time as reasons the country should do away with clock-switching. However, the GOP-controlled House never took up the bill. “It’s time to lock the clock and stop enduring the ridiculous and antiquated practice of switching our clocks back and forth. Let’s finally pass my Sunshine Protection Act and end the need to ‘fall back’ and ‘spring forward’ for good,” Rubio said in a statement this October. Opponents of the move have argued that early-morning darkness would be dangerous for children going to school, and would make life harder for shift workers. The U.S. tried permanent daylight saving time in the 1970s, but Congress reversed it after one year due to complaints about no sunlight in some parts of the country until 9 a.m. Don't let this be the end of the free press. The free press is under attack — and America's future hangs in the balance. As other newsrooms bow to political pressure, HuffPost is not backing down. Would you help us keep our news free for all? We can't do it without you. Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read. You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you. Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all. You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you. Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all. Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages. Republicans could have a hard time ending daylight savings in the next Congress. Although they will have a larger 53-47 majority in the Senate, their razor-thin edge in the House ― just a single vote early next year ― will make passing any controversial bill extremely difficult. Related From Our Partner
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker.” Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former senior Trump adviser who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka. by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations. that after Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation, he hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation. Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have the encounter in a New Jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to his own sister, the man’s wife, prosecutors said. Kushner eventually pleaded guilty to 18 counts including tax evasion and witness tampering. He was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison — the most he could receive under a plea deal, but less than what Chris Christie, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey at the time and later governor and Republican presidential candidate, had sought. Christie has blamed Jared Kushner for his firing from Trump’s transition team in 2016, and has called Charles Kushner’s offenses “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was U.S. attorney.” Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009. ___ Tucker reported from Newtown, Pennsylvania.Disinformation at peak, aim to defame farmers’ stir: Pandher
Three Injured in Head-On Collision on FM 969 in East Austin, Authorities Urge Caution in Accident-Prone Area
Jenkins throws for 3 TDs to carry FIU to 35-24 win over Middle TennesseeA role reversal doomed the No. 22 Xavier Musketeers in their only loss of the season, against Michigan at the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Wednesday. Normally a team that avoids committing turnovers and pressures its opponent into making them, Xavier (6-1) will try to recapture its early-season winning form when it hosts South Carolina State on Sunday in Cincinnati. Through their six wins, the Musketeers had just 58 turnovers while forcing 82 by their opponents. But against the Wolverines, they lost the turnover battle 19-10 and the game 78-53. The Musketeers committed 14 turnovers in the first half and fell behind 41-30. Xavier head coach Sean Miller credited his team for typically playing an up-tempo style while avoiding mistakes, while also acknowledging that the turnover bug really bit them against the Wolverines. "We lost to a really good team; no shame in that," Miller said. "We, on top of that, didn't play well." "And that (avoiding turnovers) is something you (usually) do well? That's going to be hard to overcome against a quality team like Michigan." Leading scorer Ryan Conwell (17.6 points per game) gave the Musketeers a boost with 19 points. Zach Freemantle, second on the team at 15.4 ppg, added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Problematically, however, they also contributed to the turnover problem with three apiece. "We didn't play well enough to win the game," Miller said. "The game got out of hand. It's not like our guys quit. Their depth just continued to wear on us." The Musketeers also get 11 points and a team-high 4.4 assists per game from Dayvion McKnight. The guard had just one turnover against Michigan, but he also made just one of his eight shot attempts. Xavier may have an opportunity get right in the turnover area against the Bulldogs (4-4), who are No. 207 in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.11. South Carolina State is fresh off an 82-53 road loss to Marshall on Wednesday, in a game in which turnovers weren't a huge problem. But assists and made shots were hard to come by for the Bulldogs. Leading scorer Drayton Jones (12.0 ppg) again paced his team in points with 10 vs. Marshall, but the Bulldogs as a team managed just six assists and shot terribly at the 3-point (18.8 percent) and the free-throw (47.1 percent) lines. Jones is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.1 a game, but no Bulldogs player is averaging more than two assists. It's all part of the learning process for coach Erik Martin, whose first team went 5-26 in 2022-23. The Bulldogs improved to 14-18 last season, including 9-5 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. "The only way you can grow sometimes is by failure or by struggling," Martin said this offseason. "You have to fail in order to learn how to deal with failure and move on and become the person you're supposed to be." --Field Level Media
Unpaid wages: Tea workers rally in SylhetNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher after flipping between gains and losses several times during the day. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 461 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1%. Nvidia rose just 0.5% after beating analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue yet again, but it was still the strongest force pulling the S&P 500 upward. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that topped most analysts’ expectations due to voracious demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Its stock initially sank in afterhours trading Wednesday following the release of the results. Some investors said the market might have been looking for Nvidia’s revenue forecast to surpass expectations by even more. But its stock recovered in premarket trading Thursday, and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it was another “flawless” profit report provided by Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang, whom Ives calls “the Godfather of AI.” The stock meandered through Thursday as well, dragging the S&P 500 and other indexes back and forth. How Nvidia’s stock performs has more impact than any other because it’s grown into Wall Street’s most valuable company at roughly $3.6 trillion. The frenzy around AI is sweeping up other stocks, and Snowflake jumped 32.7% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, whose platform helps customers get a better view of all their silos of data and use AI, also reported stronger revenue growth than expected. BJ’S Wholesale Club rose 8.3% after likewise delivering a bigger profit than expected. That may help calm worries about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain, given high prices across the economy and still-high interest rates. A day earlier, Target tumbled after reporting sluggish sales in the latest quarter and giving a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season. It followed Walmart , which gave a much more encouraging outlook. Nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 ended up rising Thursday, and the gains were even bigger among smaller companies. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 1.7%. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, helped keep indexes in check. It fell 4.7% after U.S. regulators asked a judge to break up the tech giant by forcing it to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser. In a 23-page document filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice called for sweeping punishments that would include restrictions preventing Android from favoring its own search engine. Regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android but left the door open to it if the company’s oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. All told, the S&P 500 rose 31.60 points to 5,948.71. The Dow jumped 461.88 to 43,870.35, and the Nasdaq composite added 6.28 to 18,972.42. In the crypto market, bitcoin eclipsed $99,000 for the first time before pulling back toward $98,000, according to CoinDesk. It’s more than doubled so far this year, and its climb has accelerated since Election Day. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Bitcoin got a further boost after Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Thursday he would step down in January . Gensler has pushed for more protections for crypto investors. Bitcoin and related investment have a notorious history of big price swings in both directions. MicroStrategy, a company that’s been raising cash expressly to buy bitcoin, saw an early Thursday gain of 14.6% for its stock quickly disappear. It finished the day with a loss of 16.2%. In the oil market, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2% to bring its gain for the week to 4.8%. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8%. Oil has been rising amid escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war. In stock markets abroad, shares of India’s Adani Enterprises plunged 22.6% Thursday after the U.S. charged founder Gautam Adani in a federal indictment with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The businessman and one of the world’s richest people is accused of concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme. Stock indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were mixed. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 4.43% from 4.41% late Wednesday following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal that the job market remains solid. Another report, though, said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank. Sales of previously occupied homes, meanwhile, strengthened last month by more than expected. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed.
Fearne Cotton and Jesse Wood's shock split: After celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary and a family summer holiday - all the signs their marriage was secretly on the rocks Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.com READ MORE: Fearne Cotton SPLITS from husband Jesse Wood By LILY JOBSON FOR MAILONLINE and CAROLINE PEACOCK Published: 17:44 EST, 13 December 2024 | Updated: 18:16 EST, 13 December 2024 e-mail 2 View comments Fearne Cotton shocked fans when she announced she and husband Jesse Wood ended their marriage on Friday. Their unexpected split comes after the pair celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in July with a fun Beckham-inspired photoshoot, looking more than loved-up. It also comes as a surprise as they spent the summer on holiday with their children Rex, 11, and Honey, eight. Fearne, 43, is also step-mum to Jesse's, 48, children Arthur, 21, and Lola, 18, from his first marriage. However in recent months, their marriage was hit with hardship with Fearne only having surgery last week two remove two tumours on her jawline . The presenter took to her Instagram stories on Friday evening to announce their split and tell fans their priority is on their children. Fearne wrote: 'It is with a heavy heart that I let you all know that Jesse and I are ending our marriage . 'Our priority has been and always will be our children. We please ask that you respect the privacy of our family at this time.' Jesse, who is the son of Rolling Stone rocker Ronnie Wood and model Krissy Findlay, is yet to speak out on their split. MailOnline takes a look back through the final months of Fearne and Jesse's marriage to highlight the signs that they were cruising towards their split ... Fearne Cotton, 43, shocked fans when she announced she and husband Jesse Wood, 48, ended their marriage on Friday Their unexpected split comes after the pair celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in July with a fun Beckham-inspired photoshoot, looking more than loved-up The presenter took to her Instagram stories on Friday evening to issue the statement and tell fans their priority is on their children Fearne's health scare Ahead of the surgery last week, the presenter gave no indication her marriage lay in tatters. She said: 'Hey gang I'm going to be out of action for a bit due to a surgery. I felt a lump under my ear on my jawline a while ago now but this year noticed it was growing. 'Turns out it's a benign tumour and another small one above it on the saliva gland. I'm feeling positive about it all and will take the opportunity to rest and slow right down. 'If you feel a lump or bump or feel like something is a bit off, always go get it checked. I'm so glad I did as the longer you leave these things the more complicated things become. 'It's obviously so weird that only a couple of months ago Davina told me about her tumour and then weeks later I was calling her having discovered mine. I'm not only lucky she's a bloody good mate but also a beacon of light and positivity when it comes to this stuff. 'Sending you all loads of love and I'll see you soon.' She later issued an update: 'Operation went really well. Recovering and resting. Thanks so much for all the kind messages.' Social media absence The pair haven't posted each other in weeks Despite both being active social media users, the former couple haven't mentioned each other on Instagram for weeks. Jesse last posted a snap with Fearne in September when he wished her a happy birthday. Alongside a sweet snap of them embracing each other, he penned: 'Happy birthday to the one I love.' And Fearne mentioned Jesse a month later when she marked his birthday. Haven't been pictured in months Fearne and Jesse have not been pictured together at an event since February (pictured) The pair were often seen attending events together where they would happily pose for the cameras. However, the last time they were both spotted at the same event was back in February. Fearne and Jesse attended The Prince's Trust Invest In Futures Gala Dinner at The Peninsula Hotel in London. In the photo from the evening, the couple appeared in high spirits as they posed together. Struggles on being a blended family Fearne and Jesse with their children and Jesse's children from his marriage to Tilly Wood Before giving birth their two children, Fearne had a swift introduction to parenthood as step-mum to husband Jesse's children. Speaking to GoodtoKnow in 2018, she said: 'It doesn't necessarily prepare you for having your own kids, but it prepares you for an element of parenthood which is about time management and learning how to keep your relationship afloat within family life.' Fearne continued: 'It is important you keep things rolling and you stay on-board with your partner - and that you still have fun as a couple, and that you feel comfortable and treat each other kindly. 'Step-parenthood was a good initiation into that because you know you've got lunches to make for school or school uniforms to wash, or car journeys to take them on to clubs at the weekends, and that was a real swift introduction.' Rough patch in 2019 Fearne revealed they had a rough patch in 2019 (pictured 2015) Fearne previously spoke of how a 'rough patch' with her husband Jesse left them desperately 'clinging onto their marriage' in an unearthed interview. The cracks were beginning to show in 2019, when the presenter lifted the lid on how their marriage was 'suffering'. She admitted her marriage had got more difficult due to Jesse's packed schedule which led the pair to have a screaming row in the park. The presenter candidly told readers in her column for Red Magazine: 'Love takes hard work - and no one wants to hear that'. She continued: 'This year, Jesse and I hit a rough patch - he was away, touring relentlessly, [with his band, Reef]. 'I was trying to keep my own career going while looking after our kids and we were both desperately clinging on to our marriage.' The couple's problems eventually came to a head with a two-hour 'screaming match' where they worried their 'love had gone'. After the lengthy row, which took place in a local park, the pair broke down crying but the former Top Of The Pops host credited her husband's emotional side for them being so honest with each other. She added: 'In the midst of this gargantuan row, I think we both wondered where the love had gone and worried that it might not come back.' Surgery recovery- no mention of Jesse Fearne did not mention spending time with Jesse as she recovers from surgery, despite her reference to spending time with friends and Christmas shopping During her latest podcast episode of Happy Place, featuring Olly Alexander, Fearne welcomed listeners by informing them that, by the time the episode was released, she would be recovering from surgery. However, there was no mention of spending time with Jesse, despite her reference to spending time with friends during her recovery. She said: 'I found a little lump, and it's a benign tumour. It's just below my ear, and there's a smaller one above it on my jaw. 'So, the beginning of December means surgery and then rest, which, for me and many of you, is an alien concept. I can't quite imagine how I'm going to rest or how that's going to feel. Hopefully, right now, I'll be watching Wolf Hall because that's my plan, along with loads of other good TV, and hopefully seeing some friends. 'I'll be doing a bit of resting, which is why I had to scramble and get all my Christmas prep done in November, quite frankly. 'So, if you're going through something similar, or dealing with injury or whatever it is, we're in this together. 'I'm hopefully going to be under a blanket, and I hope you are too if you're listening during some kind of recovery. And hopefully, I'll be back at it very, very soon.' Frank confession Fearne once said that the Covid-19 pandemic killed their sex lives In 2021 Fearne opened up about her marriage and confessed the pandemic had killed their sex life. Speaking on Alan Carr's Life's A beach podcast, Fearne said: 'Sexy time hasn't happened for so long in terms of me going anywhere. 'I think for me and my husband, booking into the local Travelodge would make us feel sexy at the moment.' 10-year wedding anniversary In July, Fearne marked their 10 year wedding anniversary on Instagram by re-wearing her wedding dress But the split has come as a surprise to fans as in July, Fearne marked their 10 year wedding anniversary on Instagram by re-wearing her wedding dress. Fearne explained they had been inspired by Victoria and David Beckham, who sent the internet wild on Wednesday by marking their own wedding anniversary by slipping into their iconic purple outfits from the reception. The presenter poked fun at the viral snap and wrote: 'If its good enough for the Beckhams. 'It's our wedding anniversary too. 10 years today. And we are back in our wedding outfits (not purple) and @jessejameswood can't locate the shoes'. She also shared many more snippets from their nuptials to her Stories, including a photo of her and Jesse kissing on the dancefloor. She captioned the snap: 'Happy 10 years @jessejameswood. Wish we could do it all over again.' Fearne and Jesse began dating in 2011 after meeting while partying in Ibiza, the year that the guitarist split from his first wife Tilly Wood following eight years of marriage. According to Fearne their first date consisted of a meal of vodka and cigarettes, and said they 'did not eat a thing'. However, their lifestyles have changed since and Jesse is now sober, while the pair turned vegan together in 2021. Romantic summer holiday Fearne gave fans a glimpse into her summer of fun as she shared a carousel of images on Instagram in August In one striking snap, the presenter showed off her incredible figure in a striped bikini as she cosied up to Jesse on the beach Fearne also gave fans a glimpse into her summer of fun as she shared a carousel of images on Instagram in August. In one striking snap, the presenter showed off her incredible figure in a striped bikini as she cosied up to Jesse on the beach. She also shared a rare photo of daughter Honey, eight, at her brother-in-law Tyrone Wood's wedding - which took place in July when Tyrone married his fiancée of seven months Faye Harris. In another shot, Fearne took a selfie of herself sitting on a blanket on the beach, not too far from the water's edge. He and Fearne smiled for a photo in which they wrapped their arms around each other on an ancient road. Fearne Cotton Instagram Celebrity Separation Share or comment on this article: Fearne Cotton and Jesse Wood's shock split: After celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary and a family summer holiday - all the signs their marriage was secretly on the rocks e-mail Add commentHoping for allies among Trump’s health picks, pharma faces hostility
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