NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. (Nasdaq: NYMT) (the “Company”) announced today that its Board of Directors (the “Board”) declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share on shares of its common stock for the quarter ending December 31, 2024. The dividend will be payable on January 23, 2025 to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 20, 2024. In addition, the Board declared cash dividends on the Company’s 8.000% Series D Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (“Series D Preferred Stock”), 7.875% Series E Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (“Series E Preferred Stock”), 6.875% Series F Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (“Series F Preferred Stock”) and 7.000% Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (“Series G Preferred Stock”) as stated below. Quarterly Preferred Stock Dividends The Board declared cash dividends for the dividend period that began on October 15, 2024 and ends on January 14, 2025 as follows: About New York Mortgage Trust New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. is a Maryland corporation that has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for federal income tax purposes. NYMT is an internally managed REIT in the business of acquiring, investing in, financing and managing primarily mortgage-related single-family and multi-family residential assets. Forward-Looking Statements When used in this press release, in future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) or in other written or oral communications, statements which are not historical in nature, including those containing words such as “will,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “continue,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “may” or similar expressions, are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and, as such, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Statements regarding the following subject, among others, may be forward-looking: the payment of dividends. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions of management of the Company at the time of such statements and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Actual results and outcomes could differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation: changes in the Company’s business and investment strategy; inflation and changes in interest rates and the fair market value of the Company’s assets, including negative changes resulting in margin calls relating to the financing of the Company’s assets; changes in credit spreads; changes in the long-term credit ratings of the U.S., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae; general volatility of the markets in which the Company invests; changes in prepayment rates on the loans the Company owns or that underlie the Company’s investment securities; increased rates of default, delinquency or vacancy and/or decreased recovery rates on or at the Company’s assets; the Company’s ability to identify and acquire targeted assets, including assets in its investment pipeline; the Company's ability to dispose of assets from time to time on terms favorable to it, including the disposition over time of its joint venture equity investments; changes in relationships with the Company’s financing counterparties and the Company’s ability to borrow to finance its assets and the terms thereof; changes in the Company's relationships with and/or the performance of its operating partners; the Company’s ability to predict and control costs; changes in laws, regulations or policies affecting the Company’s business; the Company’s ability to make distributions to its stockholders in the future; the Company’s ability to maintain its qualification as a REIT for federal tax purposes; the Company’s ability to maintain its exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; impairments in the value of the collateral underlying the Company's investments; the Company's ability to manage or hedge credit risk, interest rate risk, and other financial and operational risks; the Company's exposure to liquidity risk, risks associated with the use of leverage, and market risks; and risks associated with investing in real estate assets, including changes in business conditions and the general economy, the availability of investment opportunities and the conditions in markets for residential loans, structured multi-family investments, mortgage-backed securities and other assets in which we invest. These and other risks, uncertainties and factors, including the risk factors and other information described in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act, could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements the Company makes. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. New risks and uncertainties arise over time and it is not possible to predict those events or how they may affect the Company. Except as required by law, the Company is not obligated to, and does not intend to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For Further Information AT THE COMPANY Investor Relations Phone: 212-792-0107 Email: InvestorRelations@nymtrust.comTikTok is challenging the federal government’s order to shut down its operations in Canada. The company filed in documents in Federal Court in Vancouver on Thursday. The government ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business in November after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform. That means TikTok must “wind down” its operations in Canada, though the app will continue to be available to Canadians. TikTok wants the court to overturn the government’s order and to place a pause on the order while the court hears the case. It is claiming the minister’s decision was “unreasonable” and “driven by improper purposes.” The review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to harm national security. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement at the time the government was taking action to address “specific national security risks,” though it didn’t specify what those risks were. TikTok’s filing says Champagne “failed to engage with TikTok Canada on the purported substance of the concerns that led to the (order.)” The company argues the government ordered “measures that bear no rational connection to the national security risks it identifies.” It says the reasons for the order “are unintelligible, fail to reveal a rational chain of analysis and are rife with logical fallacies.” The company’s law firm, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, declined to comment, while Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the order would “eliminate the jobs and livelihoods of our hundreds of dedicated local employees — who support the community of more than 14 million monthly Canadian users on TikTok, including businesses, advertisers, creators and initiatives developed especially for Canada.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024. Darryl Greer and Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian PressCMBT stock touches 52-week low at $11.73 amid market shifts
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Wedding bells rang a change in Vaclav Cerny and Rangers’ winger has opened up on his happy ever after at IbroxFirst 12-team CFP set: Oregon seeded No. 1, SMU edges Alabama for final spot
DSE turnover hits four-month lowSecurities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who was aggressive in his oversight of cryptocurrencies and other financial markets, will step down from his post on January 20. Gensler pushed changes that he said protected for investors, but the industry and many Republicans bristled at what they saw as overreach. President-elect Donald Trump had promised during his campaign that he would remove Gensler. But Gensler on Thursday announced that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated. Bitcoin has jumped 40% since Trump’s victory. It hit new highs Thursday and was nearing $100,000. Bitcoin moved notably higher still after Gensler's resignation was announced. Gensler's stance on the rise of cryptocurrencies was captured during a speech he gave during the first year of his chairmanship in 2021 where he described the market as “the Wild West.” “This asset class is rife with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications,” he said in a speech at the Aspen Security Forum. “There’s a great deal of hype and spin about how crypto assets work. In many cases, investors aren’t able to get rigorous, balanced, and complete information.” Under Gensler, the SEC brought actions against players in the crypto industry for fraud, wash trading and other violations, including as recently as last month when the commission brought fraud charges against three companies purporting to be market makers, along with nine individuals for trying to manipulate various crypto markets. Yet access to cryptocurrencies became more widespread under Gensler. In January, the SEC approved exchange-traded funds that track the spot price of bitcoin. With such ETFs, investors could get easier access to bitcoin without the huge overlays required to buy it directly. Gensler, however, acknowledged the SEC had denied earlier, similar applications for such ETFs, including Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, among the first to eventually be approved by the SEC. “Circumstances, however, have changed,” Gensler said, pointing to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that said the SEC failed to adequately explain its reasoning in rejecting Grayscale’s proposal. Even there, Gensler made sure not to endorse the merits of bitcoin. He pointed to how ETFs that hold precious metals are tracking prices of things that have “consumer and industrial users, while in contrast bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing.” Gensler was tested early in his tenure with the rise of the meme stock phenomenon that shocked the financial system in early 2021. Earlier this year, the SEC under Gensler pushed Wall Street to speed up how long it takes for trades of stocks to settle, one of the areas where the commission’s staff recommended changes following the reckoning created by GameStop, one of the first meme stocks. In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, hordes of smaller-pocketed and novice investors suddenly piled into the stock of the struggling video-game retailer. During the height of the frenzy, several brokerages barred customers from buying GameStop after the clearinghouse that settles their trades demanded more cash to cover the increased risk created by its highly volatile price. In May 2024, new rules meant broker-dealers have to fully settle their trades within one business day of the trade date, down from the previous two. Critics of the SEC under Gensler have called many of the agency's proposals overly burdensome. The investment industry, for example, is pushing against a proposal to force some advisers and companies disclose more about their environmental, social and governance practices, otherwise known as ESG. Critics say the proposal is overly complex and increases the risk of investor confusion, while imposing unnecessary burdens and costs on funds. On Thursday, Gensler stood by the SEC's track record under his direction. “The staff and the Commission are deeply mission-driven, focused on protecting investors, facilitating capital formation, and ensuring that the markets work for investors and issuers alike," Gensler said in prepared remarks. “The staff comprises true public servants. It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.” Gensler previously served as Chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, leading the Obama Administration’s reform of the $400 trillion swaps market. He also was senior advisor to U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes in writing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) and was undersecretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance and assistant secretary of the Treasury from 1997-2001.
Photo: RNZ By Farah Hancock of RNZ More than half the government's key targets are behind track or at risk of not being met, the latest progress update shows. The number of people on the Jobseeker benefit has increased especially significantly, while a recent change to how school students' mathematics progress is measured has placed the academic achievement target at risk. RNZ has launched a series of graphics that track progress towards each of the nine targets, based on official data provided by the government agencies being measured. The graphics will be updated each quarter, with the most recent progress report covering July to September 2024. While the educational achievement and Jobseeker targets are classified as 'at risk', three other health and crime targets are considered 'feasible' - meaning they are still possible but are behind schedule and face "major risks and/or issues''. In other areas, including reducing the number of people in emergency housing and near-term greenhouse gas emissions, targets were either 'on track' or 'probable'. Photo: RNZ The nine targets were selected to focus the public sector on achieving better results in health, education, law and order, work, housing and the environment. Progress is reported quarterly, and each responsible agency assigns a status, ranging from on track to unachievable. Progress toward reaching a target can still be classed as feasible, even if there are major risks or issues in meeting it, as long as the agency in charge believes these can be resolved. In September, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon snapped at a reporter during questioning about crime rates and the national gang list, saying: "It's not about the frickin' targets, it's actually about the outcomes." The nine targets are set to be delivered by 2030, beyond the current political term. This is the second quarterly update the government has issued - so how has progress come along since the previous report? Health Photo: RNZ Achieving the goal for 95 percent of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred from an emergency department is still some way off. The latest period of reporting shows only 71.2 percent of patients were seen within that timeframe. This is a slight increase from the last quarter when 70 percent of patients were seen in that timeframe. When setting this target, officials warned there was a risk it would not be achievable in the short term. "Most ED [emergency departments] nationwide are over capacity most of the time," a briefing to ministers read. It said wait times were affected by resourcing, community services, bed availability and seasonal changes, such as increased demand during flu season. Attempting to reduce wait times would require significant system-wide change in hospitals, primary care and aged care, the briefing said. "There would be a risk the target is achieved by focusing resources intensively in ED at the expense of other areas of the health system. This may result in improved ED wait times in the short term, but - through reduction in the quality of care elsewhere - would likely result in worse health outcomes and ultimately higher ED presentations in the medium to long term." Te Whatu Ora's approach to reach the target included plans to discharge patients promptly, and encouraging patients to seek help elsewhere such as telehealth services, GPs and community care. It also wanted ambulance staff to deal with more patients without transferring them to a hospital. Growing the health workforce was also listed as a priority. Reaching the 95 percent goal by 2030 is classed as feasible, meaning there are major risks to achievement. Photo: RNZ The target for 95 percent of people to receive elective treatment within four months is a long way away from being achieved, although tacking in the right direction. At the moment 61.4 percent of people needing elective treatments, such as hip or cataract surgeries, are seen within four months. This is slightly higher than the 56.3 percent reported in June. However, the actual percentage of people waiting for elective procedures could be worse, as RNZ revealed some patients who are referred for surgery have not been added to wait lists. A June progress report noted the appointment of Health Commissioner Lester Levy was among the actions taken to speed up access to treatment. Other activities included increasing bed and theatre capacity. The private sector is also being used to plug some of the public sector gap. A minimum of 20,000 general, 2000 orthopaedic and 3000 cataract surgeries are outsourced, according to the previous quarter's update. Delivery of this target is classified as feasible, indicating there are still major risks. Crime Photo: RNZ The number of serious and persistent youth offenders has decreased by 95 percent since the last quarterly report, but the total number still sits above the target number of 900. For a youth offender to be classed as a serious or persistent offender they must have committed three or more offences in the past 12 months, with at least one of them having a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment or more. Hitting the targeted 15 percent reduction by 2030 is considered probable, meaning it needs "constant attention" to ensure any risks to the target do not develop into major issues. Bootcamps are listed as one way the government is hoping to turn behaviour around, as is improving school attendance. Other initiatives aimed at addressing offending include better response systems from police and Oranga Tamariki. Photo: RNZ The goal to reduce crime is classed as "feasible" but the current number of victims is sitting at almost 40,000 more than the target. This target was kept as one of the nine government targets, despite officials suggesting it would be difficult to achieve and should be replaced with something easier to reach. The goal to reduce the number of victims of assault, robbery, and sexual assault by 20,000 by 2030 is based on data from the New Zealand Crime and Victims' Survey. Officials warned the survey data had a high margin of error and was more suitable for showing long-term trends. The survey includes crimes that victims might have experienced up to two years prior. Work to reduce the number of victims includes increasing police numbers and implementing a package of measures the government believes will increase the chance of offenders being "held to account". The September progress update notes 160 officers had been deployed to community teams and 77 officers had been assigned to target gangs. Employment Photo: RNZ The number of people receiving Jobseeker support increased by 8,800, to 204,800, since the June report, shifting the target from being 'feasible' to 'at risk'. This is nearly 14,000 above the forecast for September and almost 65,000 away from the overall goal of 140,000 or fewer people receiving support by 2030. The September progress report says economic conditions have contributed to the high number of unemployed people. A new traffic light system aimed at enforcing beneficiary obligations dramatically increased sanctions handed down to beneficiaries, with 14,400 people losing a percentage of their benefit during the June to September quarter, -133 percent higher than the same period in 2023. Most of the sanctions were for people not attending appointments which included work seminars. Education Photo: RNZ At 53.2 percent, Term 2's attendance rate is well below the target of 80 percent of students present for more than 90 percent of the term. This means students should take no more than five days off a term. The government's action plan to lift attendance rates to 80 percent includes reporting attendance daily, communications to raise awareness of the importance of attending school, issuing guidance to help parents know when an unwell child should be sent to school, and clarifying attendance expectations to school boards. It is also working on supporting the Ministry of Education to prosecute caregivers of students with low attendance. Absence is classed as either "justified" or "unjustified". Justified absences include illnesses, and other reasons which fall under school policy, such as suspensions. Unjustified absences include truancy, or taking holidays in term time. The government target of 80 percent makes no distinction between the two. Notes provided to Cabinet when the targets were being set said it would be difficult to meet the 80 percent target while Covid-19 is still circulating. The Ministry of Education said its estimated attendance levels until 2029 is not a "technical forecast" but is based on historical patterns of greater attendance drops during winter months due to illness. Since 2011, the highest percentage of students attending 90 percent of a school term was 72.8 percent, in Term 1 of 2019. The average over that time was 59.4 percent. Photo: RNZ Achievement rates for mathematics and reading are still well below the government target of 80 percent of Year 8 students being at or above the expected curriculum level. Currently 47 percent of students are at the expected level in reading and 22 percent in mathematics. Writing has not been assessed recently but the 2019 data put 35 percent of students at the expected level. A plan to raise mathematics achievement has been launched and structured literacy will be introduced for students from Year 0 to 6 in 2025. This target is measured annually, so there is no change since the last quarterly update. Housing Photo: RNZ Driving down the number of households in emergency housing is one target where progress streaked ahead of estimations. Starting from a baseline of 3141 households, the goal was to reduce the number by 75 percent, to 800 or fewer. The current number is 1179 - 1351 households ahead of forecasts and 379 away from the 2030 goal. Part of the plan to reach the target includes improving access to other forms of housing for emergency housing residents. Since a fast-track category for waitlists was created in April, 726 households have shifted from emergency housing, such as motels, to social housing. Criteria to be placed in emergency housing have also tightened despite warnings from officials that this could lead to an increase in rough sleepers. The government could not say where all households who have left emergency housing moved to, as it does not track that information. Around 200 households were unaccounted for. This target is classed as being on track to being achieved. Climate Photo: RNZ There are two targets New Zealand has committed to meeting as part of its net zero climate change goal. The first target is for total greenhouse gas emissions between 2022 and 2025 to be below 290 megatonnes. This target is on track to being achieved. Reaching the second target - for total emissions between 2026 and 2030 to be less than 309 mt - appears to be more of a challenge, though is still classified as probable. The next update on progress toward the nine targets, covering October to December 2024, will be released in 2025.Oliver’s housing report cools concerns
Qatar tribune Agencies Amazon.com’s cloud unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), has announced a significant new initiative: $1 billion in cloud credits for startups developing generative AI solutions in 2025. The announcement by AWS CEO Matt Garman at the annual re:Invent customer conference comes at a crucial time when access to financial resources is dwindling while cloud spending by entrepreneurs is increasing. This week’s event in Las Vegas, Nevada, was attended by 60,000 software developers and technology professionals, with 400,000 online viewers, and featured 3,500 speakers and 1,900 different sessions. It has been a platform for the latest updates in the AWS ecosystem, especially around the ever-evolving field of generative AI. Addressing the audience for the first time as chief executive, Garman said generative AI has the potential to radically transform all existing industries. “Historically, startups have always been the ones driving such change. That’s why it’s a perfect time to think about how you, as a startup, can transform industries,” he said. “In fact, we support startups so much that I’m thrilled to announce AWS will provide $1 billion in cloud credits globally to startups in 2025. In a period when access to financial resources has become increasingly challenging, such an announcement represents a significant step for startups seeking to implement their solutions. During the re:Invent event, Garman reminisced about AWS’s early days in 2006, when their first customers were startups, as he emphasized the special place he says ventures hold for the company. “What I love most about startups is their eagerness to try new technologies. They adapt quickly, provide us with great feedback, push us to innovate, and add their innovations on top of ours. They move incredibly fast, and we learn a lot from them. There has never been a more exciting time to be a startup, especially with generative AI,” he noted. AWS aims to leverage its cloud advantages to gain an edge over competitors, ensuring that the learning curve for AI happens on the AWS platform. At the event, Amazon Web Services highlighted its next-generation solutions while stressing that AI alone is not a panacea. Businesses must stay focused on current issues in digital transformation without losing sight of their main objectives. Garman’s presentation did not ignore AI but emphasized the core services that have made AWS a $100 billion-a-year business, namely computing, storage, and databases. Garman, who has been with AWS since its early days, reiterated the company’s foundational role in providing the raw materials of the modern digital economy. His presentation was divided into two parts, focusing, among others, on new developments in the core services that drive most of AWS’s revenue. Garman, who started his Amazon Web Services career managing the flagship EC2 compute service, introduced new compute instances running on NVIDIA’s Blackwell chips and AWS’s own Trainium2 chips, which are now generally available. His keynote announcements centered around EC2 cloud computing and AI workloads using Tranium and Inferentia chips, emphasizing the industry’s move away from NVIDIA dependency. Benoit Dupin, Apple’s senior director of machine learning and AI, made a noteworthy appearance, symbolizing a noteworthy endorsement of Amazon’s AI race against cloud rivals like Microsoft and Google. Dupin highlighted that Apple extensively uses Amazon services for products and services such as iPad, Apple Music, Apple TV, News, App Store and Siri. He emphasized AWS’s critical role behind Apple Intelligence. Using AWS’s Amazon Graviton and Inferentia chips for machine learning inference workloads, Apple has achieved more than 40% efficiency improvements compared to x86 instances. He noted that Apple is currently evaluating AWS’s newly announced AI training chip, Trainium2. Based on initial trials, Apple anticipates up to a 50% improvement in efficiency by pre-training its models on this chip. Lori Beer, chief information officer (CIO) of JPMorgan Chase, was another prominent guest discussing digital transformation in the financial sector. Beer outlined how JPMorgan Chase has extensively modernized its technology over the past four years, migrating hundreds of applications and rebuilding global banking and payment infrastructure using Amazon Web Services services such as Aurora, Graviton, and various compute and database solutions. Copy 09/12/2024 10
A timeline of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the search for his killer NEW YORK (AP) — The search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer has stretched into a fifth day — and beyond New York City. Police say it appears the man left the city on a bus soon after Wednesday's shooting outside the New York Hilton Midtown. The suspect is seen on video at an uptown bus station about 45 minutes later. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Police believe that words found written on ammunition at the shooting scene, including “deny," “defend” and "depose,” suggest a motive driven by anger toward the healthcare company. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics. Trump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise US prices and won't rule out revenge prosecutions WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says he can’t guarantee his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won’t raise prices for American consumers. And he's suggesting once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. He also touched on monetary policy, immigration, abortion and health care, and U.S. involvement in Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere. Trump often mixed declarative statements with caveats, at one point cautioning “things do change.” Europe's economy needs help. Political chaos in France and Germany means it may be slower in coming BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe's economy has enough difficulties, from tepid growth to trade tensions with the U.S. Dealing with those woes is only getting harder due to the political chaos in the two biggest European countries, France and Germany. Neither has a government backed by a functioning majority, and France could take a while yet to sort things out. But some problems aren't going to wait, such as what to do about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's America First stance on trade and how to fund stronger defense against Putin's Russia. ‘Moana 2’ cruises to another record weekend and $600 million globally “Moana 2” remains at the top of the box office in its second weekend in theaters as it pulled in another record haul. According to studio estimates Sunday, the animated Disney film added $52 million, bringing its domestic total to $300 million. That surpasses the take for the original “Moana” and brings the sequel's global tally to a staggering $600 million. It also puts the film in this year's top five at the box office. “Wicked” came in second place for the weekend with $34.9 million and “Gladiator II” was third with $12.5 million. The 10th anniversary re-release of Christopher Nolan's “Interstellar” also earned an impressive $4.4 million even though it played in only 165 theaters. Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok as soon as next month, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law - which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — is constitutional, rebuffing TikTok’s challenge that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and unfairly targeted the platform. TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Executive of Tyler Perry Studios dies when plane he was piloting crashes in Florida ATLANTA (AP) — The president of Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios has died when the small plane he was piloting crashed on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The studio confirmed on Saturday that Steve Mensch, its 62-year-old president and general manager, had died Friday. The crash happened in Homosassa, about 60 miles north of Tampa. Photos from the scene show the plane having come to rest upside down on a road. Mensch helped advocate for Georgia’s film tax credit of more than $1 billion a year. Perry hired Mensch to run his namesake studio in 2016. Mensch died as Perry released his war drama, “The Six Triple Eight." The film was shot at the Atlanta studio. US added a strong 227,000 jobs in November in bounce-back from October slowdown WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from the previous month, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes had sharply diminished employers’ payrolls. Last month’s hiring growth was up considerably from a meager gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The government also revised up its estimate of job growth in September and October by a combined 56,000. Friday’s report also showed that the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.1% in October to a still-low 4.2%. The November data provided the latest evidence that the U.S. job market remains durable even though it has lost significant momentum from the 2021-2023 hiring boom, when the economy was rebounding from the pandemic recession. Stock market today: Wall Street hits more records following a just-right jobs report NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to set its own record. Treasury yields eased after the jobs report showed stronger hiring than expected but also an uptick in the unemployment rate. Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass NEW YORK (AP) — In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the businesses consumers count on, Meta last year spent $24.4 million to surround CEO Mark Zuckerberg with security. But the fatal shooting this week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats. And experts say the task of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them is getting more difficult. One of the primary worries are loners whose rantings online are fed by others who are like-minded. It’s up to corporate security analysts to decide what represents a real threat. Days after gunman killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO, police push to ID him and FBI offers reward NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly four days after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, police still do not know the gunman’s name or whereabouts or have a motive for the killing. But they have made some progress in their investigation into Wednesday's killing of the leader of the largest U.S. health insurer, including that the gunman likely left New York City on a bus soon after fleeing the scene. The also found that the gunman left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Police are working with the FBI, which on Friday night announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.NVIDIA Corp. stock falls Tuesday, underperforms marketMeet the 12 CFP Title Contenders: No. 12 Clemson
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Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president who inherited power in 2000 with promises of reform, only to brutally suppress his opponents in a war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, has been toppled in a lightning rebel advance. Assad fled Damascus as Islamist-led opposition forces entered the capital and put an end to more than half-a-century of his family’s rule. Assad and his family arrived in Moscow, where they were granted asylum by the Russian government, Russian state agency TASS reported Sunday. Once courted by European governments, Assad’s transformation from a potential Western ally to a ruler who responded ruthlessly to peaceful protests against his rule took many by surprise. From using chemical weapons against civilians to widespread torture, Assad faced grave accusations during the Syrian war, but managed to survive the unrest thanks to strong support from Moscow and Tehran. During his last days in power, Assad’s backers were unwilling or unable to support him in the face of a shock military advance Syrian rebels embarked on just about 10 days earlier. Unlikely ruler Bashar Hafez Al-Assad was born on Sept. 11, 1965, in Damascus, the third child and second son of Hafez al-Assad and Aniseh Makhlouf. The family’s roots were in the minority Alawite sect, a small part of the Shiite school of Islam. Assad’s father was an air force officer who helped lead the 1963 takeover of government by the socialist Baath Party before seizing power himself in a bloodless military coup in 1970. Assad grew up in the capital and graduated from medical school at Damascus University in 1988, according to his official biography. Fluent in English, he was getting advanced training as an ophthalmologist in London in 1994 when Bassel, his father’s first choice for president, died. Assad went back home to be groomed to lead Syria. Taking over the authoritarian government at age 34, the tall and soft-spoken Assad pledged to pursue a path of reform and economic liberalization. Youthful image Many Syrians, and Arab and Western leaders, were willing to give him a chance partly because he projected a youthful image willing to loosen the government’s grip. Assad crossed sectarian lines to marry Asma al-Akhras, a Sunni Muslim and the daughter of Syrian expatriates who grew up in Britain. They had two sons, Hafez, born in 2001, and Kareem, born in 2004, and a daughter, Zein, born in 2003. The couple’s populist touch contrasted with Hafez’s remote and austere approach. At home, Asma, a graduate of King’s College London who worked for New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. for three years, championed women’s rights and education. Abroad, the Assads were given red-carpet welcomes on official visits to Arab and European countries. In his first months as president in 2000, Assad ordered the release of 600 political prisoners, some of whom were members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist group. Assad said Syria needed constructive criticism, a radical notion at the time in a country that jailed political opponents. Intellectuals openly called for greater civil liberties and democratic reform. The first months of Assad’s rule were optimistically dubbed the Damascus Spring. Changing tone About a year into his presidency, however, the government snuffed out the pro-democracy movement, throwing its leaders in jail. Charges ranged from attempting to change the constitution to inciting sectarian conflicts. In 2005, opposition groups came together to issue a declaration demanding free parliamentary elections, a national conference on democracy and an end to emergency laws and other forms of political repression. Assad responded by imprisoning its leading signatories. Then began the street protests of early 2011 at the onset of the Arab Spring. Around that time, Arab heads of state in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen succumbed to uprisings that swept through North Africa and the Middle East. Assad’s violent reaction to the demonstrators escalated the conflict into a prolonged civil war and emboldened radical groups, including the Islamic State, or ISIS. Determined not to join the list of deposed Arab rulers, Assad opted to use brutal force including barrel bombs, torture and chemical weapons, to quash dissent, according to the U.S. and other Western nations. He benefited from the fact that the opposition was fragmented into hundreds of mainly Islamist groups, which the U.S. and its allies supported only warily. Former President Barack Obama and his successor, Donald Trump, ordered waves of airstrikes against Assad strongholds but had little appetite for deeper intervention. Chemical weapons In 2013, the U.S. blamed Assad for the death of more than 1,400 people near Damascus in an attack using the nerve agent sarin. The Assad government blamed the assault on Islamic extremists, but agreed to a U.S.-Russian plan for international monitors to take control of Syria’s chemical weapons. Meanwhile, Iran and Russia propped Assad up with money, personnel and weapons. A turning point in the war came in 2015, when Russia joined on Assad’s behalf and, along with Iranian forces, helped Assad halt the advance of opposition troops and begin to recapture territory. Forces loyal to Assad, with the help of Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, had managed by 2020 to confine the territory held by militant groups to less than half of the country, replacing all-out war with sporadic fighting. In 2021, Assad secured a fourth term as president in an election that international observers considered neither free nor fair. The insurgent threat to Assad’s rule erupted again suddenly at the end of last month, starting with a surprise advance by opposition fighters on the city of Aleppo. The rebellion was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former affiliate of al-Qaeda that’s designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and others. “Our goal is to liberate Syria from this oppressive regime,” Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of the group also known as HTS, told the New York Times. He occasionally goes by his real name, Ahmed Al-Sharaa. During his last days in power, Assad ordered his army to fall back to defend Damascus, essentially ceding much of the country to the insurgents. His last-ditch attempts to remain in power included indirect diplomatic overtures to the U.S. and President-elect Trump. Iran and Hezbollah, which had reinforced the regime earlier in the civil war, were now significantly weakened by strikes carried out by Israel in its conflict with Iran. Assad’s downfall ultimately eliminates one of Iran’s main allies in the Middle East and represents a big blow to Tehran’s influence in the region. Many in neighboring Lebanon blamed Assad for his support of Hezbollah and alleged him of playing a role in the killing of top officials, including former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005. A displaced society More than 600,000 people had been killed in Syria’s civil war as of March 2024, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based group that closely monitors the conflict. More than half of the prewar population of 23 million had been displaced, either to other regions inside Syria or to other countries, according to the United Nations. That made it one of the gravest refugee crises since World War II. “Assad is the man who presided over the end of modern Syria,” said Paul Salem, president of the Washington-based Middle East Institute. “The ferocious attacks on the protesters forced it from a discussion about political reform into a shooting war, forcing people to pick up arms and giving advantage to the radicals who have vast experience in warfare,” he said. (With assistance from Dana Khraiche, Dan Williams, Mike Cohen, Chris Miller, Laurence Arnold and Donna Abu-Nasr.) ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Justice Shoats had 18 points in Siena's 66-53 victory against Canisius on Sunday. Shoats shot 6 of 15 from the field, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 6 from the free-throw line for the Saints (5-5, 1-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). Brendan Coyle scored 17 points and added nine rebounds. Major Freeman had 14 points and shot 5 for 9 (2 for 6 from 3-point range) and 2 of 3 from the free-throw line. Paul McMillan IV led the Golden Griffins (0-10, 0-2) in scoring, finishing with 22 points and four assists. Jasman Sangha added 11 points and two steals for Canisius. Tana Kopa finished with six points. The Golden Griffins have lost 11 consecutive games, dating to a 72-56 defeat at the hands of Quinnipiac in the 2024 MAAC Tournament. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he is appointing one of his defense attorneys in the New York hush money case as counselor to the president. Alina Habba, 40, defended Trump earlier this year, also serving as his legal spokesperson. Habba has been spending time with the president-elect since the election at his Florida club Mar-a-Lago. “She has been unwavering in her loyalty and unmatched in her resolve — standing with me through numerous ‘trials,’ battles and countless days in Court," Trump posted on his social network Truth Social. “Few understand the Weaponization of the ‘Injustice’ System better than Alina.” Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes when a New York jury in May found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. In Trump's first term, the position of counselor was held by Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway. Habba has Iraqi ancestry and is Chaldean, which is Iraq’s largest Christian denomination and one of the Catholic Church’s Eastern rites. Get the latest breaking news as it happens. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy . Habba frequently accompanied Trump on the campaign trail and was one of the speakers at the late October rally in New York's Madison Square Garden. On Sunday, Trump also announced he is bringing back former staffer Michael Anton to serve as director of policy planning at the State Department. Anton served as the National Security Council spokesman from 2017 to 2018. Trump said he also will be appointing Michael Needham, a former chief of staff for Sen. Marco Rubio, as counselor of the State Department. The Florida senator was chosen by Trump to be his next secretary of state.
