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MERIT — Thirty years ago, Bland basketball coach Bryan Clark started the Tigers’ annual basketball tournament. Bland observed the 30th anniversary on Thursday night by changing the tournament name from the Bland Invitational, to the Bryan Clark Invitational. Clark and his family were present for the ceremony including his wife, Norma, their children Cody and Meghan, plus Cody’s wife, Brionne, and their children Crew, Asher and Ensley, and Meghan’s husband, Rudolph, and their son Rudolph III. “Coach Clark was instrumental in creating this tournament 30 years ago,” said the master of ceremony, Rodney Godwin. “The last nine years Bland ISD and the coaching staff have continued to strive to keep this tournament something we could be proud of and a tournament other schools would want to be a part of.” Godwin said naming the tournament after Clark will “forever keep his legacy.” Clark served 29 years at the Bland ISD as a coach, principal and then superintendent. He coached the Tigers to 302 victory in 15 years as a head coach and served as superintended for 14 years before retiring in 2015. Both of Bland’s teams opened the tournament on Thursday with victories. The Tigers beat Boles 76-44 and the Community junior varsity 49-43. Weston Wigington pumped in 34 points to lead Bland to the win over Boles and Ashton Stepp fired in 15. Wigington led Bland against the Community JV with 22 points and Stepp banked in 15 points. Bland’s Lady Tigers beat Quinlan Ford 52-33 and then Como-Pickton 68-38. Sadie Soto fired in 14 points to lead Bland over Ford and Nicole Spencer added 11. Jaden Smith and Ashley Valderrama both tossed in nine points for Ford. Soto shot in 24 points to lead Bland over Como-Pickton, while Marley Frazier tossed in 12 points Spencer and Makila Watson both added 10. The tournament, which started with pool play on Thursday, is to wrap up on Saturday with the girls championship game at 4:30 p.m. and the boys finals at 5:45 p.m. 30th annual Bryan Clark Invitational Thursday’s results Boys games Bland 76, Boles 44 B: Efren Aguirre 6, Weston Wigington 34, Eli Ferrufino 4, Mateo Alvarez 6, Teagen Hurst 8, Isaac Oleru 6, Ashton Stepp 15. Bland 49, Community JV 43 B: Dakota Blankenship 2, Weston Wigington 22, Mateo Alvarez 5, Teagen Hurst 3, Isaac Oleru 4, Ashton Stepp 15. C: Andre Bragg 17, Chase Williams 10, Alex Kresska 10. Saltillo 67, Ector 40 S: Heston Peeples 13, Mason Stillwagoner 15, Colby Cook 12. E: Jayce Adams 17, Keithlen Miller 12. Yantis 66, Community JV 32 Y: C.J. Madison 19, Anthony Lopez 10. C: Chase Willliams 10 Joshua Summer 8. Yantis 63, Miller Grove 43 Y: C.J. Madison 36.Alex Lopez 11. MG: Ryker Haivala 12, Christian 11. Girls games Bland 68, Como-Pickton 38 B: Cami Fernandez 9, Nicole Spencer 10, Sadie Soto 24, Zoey Lawson 3, Makila Watson 10, Marley Frazier 12. CP: Shyann Wetzel 11, Kati Calvillo 9. Bland 52, Quinlan Ford 33 B: Nicole Spencer 11, Sadie Soto 14, Marley Frazier 8. QF: Jaden Smith 9, Ashley Valderrama 9. Blue Ridge 45, Boles 44 BR: Avery Wood 15, JoJo Liescheski 8, Kenzie Baker 8. B: Avery Gatson 9, Mia Nowlin 10, Olivia Neely 12.The morning of Sept. 5, 1972, began like any other for producer Geoffrey Mason and his ABC Sports team in Munich: another day of capturing the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" at the Summer Olympic Games. But as dawn broke, the control room received word that something was terribly wrong. Details emerged. Members of the Palestinian militant group Black September had taken 11 Israeli athletes hostage, demanding the release of hundreds of prisoners held in their country's jails. Inside the cramped ABC control room, instead of covering athletic triumphs, members of the ABC Sports team suddenly found themselves reporting on a life-or-death crisis playing out in real time a few hundred meters away, as the world watched in horror. "At one point, the doors of the control room busted open and the German police came in, armed with machine guns, and told us to turn the camera off," Mason, now 84 and the only surviving member of the core ABC team, recalled on a recent afternoon over Zoom from his home in Naples, Florida. "That was a seminal moment because we realized what we were doing was having real impact." Hours later, the situation reached a tragic climax when a failed rescue attempt at a nearby airfield led to the deaths of all the hostages , along with five of the attackers and a West German police officer. Now, more than 50 years later, the gripping period thriller "September 5" (in limited release Dec. 13, nationwide Jan. 17) brings these tense moments — the first time a terrorist attack had ever been covered on live TV around the world — back to life. While earlier films like the Oscar-winning 1999 documentary "One Day in September" and Steven Spielberg's 2005 "Munich" have chronicled the events from a broader perspective, director Tim Fehlbaum confines the entire story to the claustrophobic control room, with John Magaro and Peter Sarsgaard heading up the ensemble cast as Mason and ABC Sports president Roone Arledge, respectively, as the ABC team grapples with unprecedented ethical dilemmas and technical hurdles under intense pressure. "I liked the challenge of telling the story just from that room with the cameras as the only eye to the outside world," says the Swiss-born Fehlbaum, who previously helmed the 2021 sci-fi thriller "Tides." "I would never compare myself with Hitchcock, but it's almost like 'Rear Window.' Ultimately, it became a movie about the power of images." "September 5," which has earned strong buzz since its back-to-back premieres at the Venice and Telluride film festivals, has only become more timely in the wake of last year's Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. But the film itself steers clear of overt politics, focusing instead on the media's role in covering real-time crises and shaping public perception. "That [Israeli-Palestinian] situation has been going on since 1948 and, you could argue, for thousands of years before that," says Magaro. "This is a story about the media and our responsibility as citizens in how we consume it. Is showing violence on TV helping us make better decisions as voters? I don't know the answer to that, but maybe the film can open up discussions with people who are in different camps." Amid escalating conflict in the Middle East and heightened political sensitivities, it remains to be seen how audiences will receive a film that revisits a tragedy that still haunts many today. (Families of the slain Israeli athletes reached a deal in 2022 for $28 million in compensation from the German government, which acknowledged its failures in handling the crisis.) Some might welcome the film's nuanced look at the responsibilities of the media, while others may find it difficult to separate its historical focus from the emotionally charged realities of the current moment. While "September 5" has assumed new, and not entirely welcome, resonance since Oct. 7, its meticulous production was years in the making. Fehlbaum, who co-wrote the script with Moritz Binder and Alex David, relied heavily on the insights and recollections of Mason, who played a crucial role as a consultant. "As we began to re-create the story, I would be reminded of things that I hadn't thought of in years," says Mason, who arranged for Fehlbaum and Magaro to spend time in a CBS control room for research. "At the time, there were so many things happening at once out of nowhere, we didn't really have time to think, 'I wonder how we're doing with this?' We knew the trust we had in each other and we knew how to cover events live. We were just doing what we were hired to do: Tell stories not about ice skates or about baseball bats but about human beings." Shooting in Munich near where the actual events took place, Fehlbaum, inspired by claustrophobic films like Wolfgang Petersen's 1981 submarine drama "Das Boot," sought to maintain an atmosphere of gritty verisimilitude on the set. "A lot of times in period movies, the clothes look pressed and everything is very clean," says Sarsgaard. "We were drenched in sweat the entire time. There was never enough sweat for Tim. The lived-in clothing, the ashtrays — it all creates a physical reality." In their dedication to authenticity, Fehlbaum and his production team sourced period-accurate equipment from old television stations and collectors, much of it still working, to re-create the analog control-room setup as faithfully as possible. Adding to the documentary-style realism, the film weaves in actual footage from the ABC broadcast that day, to which Mason helped secure the rights shortly before filming began. "I had always said to the producers, 'I'm not going to do the movie if you can't license the footage,'" Fehlbaum says. As "September 5" was in postproduction, the Oct. 7 attacks reignited the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding an unexpected relevance to the film. Though the events it depicts took place more than a half-century ago, Sarsgaard anticipates that some moviegoers will bring their own feelings about the current situation in the Middle East to the theater. "You can't control how people are going to react to things," he says. "I can't anticipate how the audience will feel about this tragic situation," Fehlbaum says. "On the other hand, the conflict was never solved. It has just tragically escalated again. But we chose to focus on the media's perspective, and the film is a reflection on how we consume these stories." For Mason, it took time to fully grasp the significance of what his team had accomplished that day. "Whether it was on a mountainside in Innsbruck or in a figure skating hall in Hungary, we knew how to tell stories about people, good and bad, and that's what we did — and as it turns out, we did it well," he says. "Since that day, I have been filled with an immense pride about how well we used the resources we had, under Arledge's guidance, and what positive impact it had on the level of coverage of live events, sports or news, in our industry." In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, after nearly 21 hours of nonstop, adrenaline-fueled broadcasting, Mason and his ABC colleague Don Ohlmeyer returned to the Sheraton Munich hotel, where they were staying in adjoining rooms. "We built ourselves a giant cocktail, sat on the side of the bed and cried like babies," Mason remembers. "It was the first time we were able to touch that emotion. We'd been too busy telling the story to feel it." ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC Copyright 2024 Tribune Content Agency. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Donald Trump is returning to the world stage. So is his trolling

BETHEL — The SAD 44 School Board is wrestling with how to update its policy on the use of cell phones in schools. Directors held a lengthy, informal discussion at last week’s board meeting as they considered the policy, adopted in 2017. School officials said it no longer matches the current practice in the school and needs to be revised. They have been getting input from staff, and the board’s Policy Committee is tasked with eventually making a recommendation. The written policy currently prohibits cell phone use except when a teacher or principal approves it for “a specific educational, health or safety purpose.” Supt. Mark Kenney explained that while phones are generally not used at the elementary level and are mostly left in lockers or backpacks at the middle school, the high school now allows limited use at specified times. Those include at breakfast, lunch and during time passing between classes. In specific classrooms it is up to the teacher, he said, noting some let the students use them as calculators. Typically kids are asked to put them in a storage slot during class. Overall, any school use is by permission of parents, said Kenney. The goal, he said, is to find the right balance between restricting phones and using them appropriately. Teaching technology Telstar High School Principal John Eliot offered more insight into the philosophy of use at the that level. “Our job is to teach the use of technology appropriately,” he said, and cell phones fall under that. Kenney added that the schools have heard from employers who say young employees struggle with phone use, and learning to balance it before getting a job is a good skill. Eliot said he recently attended a meeting of the Maine Principals Association, and he learned only a couple of high schools ban the use of phones. Those schools, he said, had had some problems, with “a lot of office referrals.” Most principals are hesitant to ban them and, said Eliot, Telstar’s approach “is working here.” He said there is little abuse, and “it’s not getting to the disciplinary level.” At lunchtime at Telstar, Eliot said, many students play basketball in the gym, and he estimated only about a dozen phones can be seen in use during lunch. Director Scott Cole of Bethel was skeptical, questioning whether the school is obligated to teach kids the use of smart phones. He saw that as a distinction from the laptop computers students have. Cole noted the schools have kids seven hours a day, paid for by taxpayers. “Why introduce anything that could be disruptive?” he asked, potentially undermining the quality of education. He speculated that with phones nearby in backpacks, students might spend more time wondering what they were missing online than paying attention in class. Another director mused that having to wait seven hours to check messages might weigh more on students’ minds than being able to check periodically during the day. Director Stephanie Cayer of Bethel noted kids can also get on social media via their laptops. A couple of directors said that while they might otherwise personally lean toward a day-long ban, they were inclined to take the recommendation of teachers and staff. Dave Bartlett of Newry, chairman of the Policy Committee, said that if the teachers don’t think the phone use undermines education, he could go along with limited use. TMS Principal Lindsay Luetje said some parents want students to have their phones with them at all times so they can reach them, making it difficult to be consistent with the rules. Greenwood Director Destiny Hughes said that many parents worry if their kids are safe and secure in school as a result of increased levels of school violence in recent years. “There’s more to it than them just being on social media,” she said. In response to a question about the frequency of complaints related to online bullying, Luetje and Kenney said most of it happens outside of school. But, said Kenney, “We have to deal with what happens outside. It affects school.” The Policy Committee planned to take the input of the board members under consideration as they work to craft an updated policy. We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use . More information is found on our FAQs . You can modify your screen name here . Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve. Please sign into your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe . Questions? Please see our FAQs . Your commenting screen name has been updated. Send questions/comments to the editors. « PreviousThe most fulfilling jobs in America may not be the ones you expect

online game na pwede pagkakitaan High School Girls 52nd Annual Windber Area Athletic Boosters Tournament Bishop McCort Catholic 64, Everett 19: In Windber, Elle Berkebile netted 11 points, and Cami Beppler added 10 as 11 different Crimson Crushers scored in a victory over the Warriors Friday. Everett’s Jade Colledge and Addison Wood each produced six points. Windber 43, United 33: In Windber, Kaylie Gaye and Autumn Walz each supplied 10 points as the Ramblers conquered the Lions. Gaye and Maggie Manippo each totaled five steals. Angel James snared 11 rebounds. Windber outscored United 16-7 in the third quarter to break away. United received eight points each from Brooke Esposito and Maddison McGinnis. Bishop Carroll Tip-Off Tournament Marion Center 48, Cambria Heights 24: In Ebensburg, Macie Miller supplied 14 points as the Stingers used a 33-12 advantage over the two middle quarters to swat the Highlanders. Natalie Black chipped in 11 points. Sienna Kirsch led Cambria Heights with 17 points. Forest Hills Tip-Off Tournament Forest Hills 50, Juniata Valley 18: In Sidman, Aivah Maul poured in a game-high 21 points to lead the Rangers over the Green Hornets. Forest Hills, which will play Williamsburg Saturday, led 19-1 after the first quarter. Morgan Gdula and Ana Spangler each tallied nine points. Juniata Valley’s Aubrey Anderson netted 10 points. King of the Jungle Tournament At Chestnut Ridge Bedford 47, Conemaugh Township 35: In New Paris, Katie McDevitt supplied a game-high 21 points, including 10 in the first quarter, as the Bisons beat the Indians. Rebekah Costal added 11 points for Bedford, which led 22-9 at halftime. Ava Byer led Conemaugh Township with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ashlyn Fetterman came up with five steals. Jefferson-Morgan Tip-Off Tournament Ligonier Valley 41, Carmichaels 20: In Jefferson, Sydnee Foust totaled 15 points and eight rebounds to propel the Rams over the Mighty Mikes. Ligonier Valley’s Adleigh Myers chipped in nine points, and Jada Pope snared 11 rebounds. Ali Jacobs led Carmichaels with 10 points. High School Boys Greater Latrobe Tip-Off Tournament Richland 51, Windber 48: In Latrobe, Henry Lavander supplied 13 points, and Noah Lushko added 11 as the Rams beat the Ramblers. Richland outscored Windber 15-4 in a pivotal second quarter. Windber’s Grady Klosky produced 12 points, and Evan Brady added 11. The Ramblers scored 15 points each in the third and fourth quarter to fall by three. (c)2024 The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.) Visit The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.) at www.tribune-democrat.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Antetokounmpo sat out the Bucks' 106-103 NBA Cup victory at Miami on Tuesday. The two-time MVP had been listed as probable with tendinopathy in his right patellar tendon. “He's good,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said before the game. Antetokounmpo entered Saturday as the league's leading scorer at 32.4 points per game. He ranked fifth in rebounds (11.9) and 20th in assists (6.4). AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

RECELL GO mini AVITA Medical receives FDA approval of RECELL GO mini, a new addition to the RECELL Spray-On SkinTM technology platform. RECELL GO mini addresses a critical need in the full-thickness skin defect market, which includes a high volume of smaller wounds. As part of the RECELL GO platform, RECELL GO mini uses the same multi-use processing device as the standard disposable cartridge but features a modified cartridge optimized for smaller skin samples that reduces resource use and minimizes waste. This design provides an entry point for clinicians who may not have previously used the RECELL GO platform for smaller wounds, enabling broader accessibility and use in trauma and burn centers. "The FDA approval of RECELL GO mini strengthens our ability to provide clinicians with fit-for-purpose solutions that meet the diverse needs of patients with full-thickness wounds,” said Jim Corbett, Chief Executive Officer of AVITA Medical. "By introducing a treatment option specifically for smaller wounds, we are expanding the accessibility of RECELL to a wider range of patients. We believe this addition will drive greater adoption across trauma centers, where smaller wounds are common, and support our broader growth strategy.” The company expects RECELL GO mini to serve as a growth driver within the broader RECELL GO platform, further advancing AVITA Medical's strategy to expand its impact on patient care. Rollout will begin with trauma and burn centers that currently treat smaller wounds during the first quarter of 2025. The PMA supplement follows the original PMA of RECELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device and subsequent PMA supplements. About AVITA Medical, Inc. AVITA Medical is a commercial-stage regenerative medicine company transforming the standard of care in wound care management and skin restoration with innovative devices. At the forefront of our platform is the RECELL System, approved by the FDA for the treatment of thermal burn wounds and full-thickness skin defects, and for repigmentation of stable depigmented vitiligo lesions. RECELL harnesses the regenerative properties of a patient's own skin to create Spray-On Skin TM Cells, delivering a transformative solution at the point-of-care. This breakthrough technology serves as the catalyst for a new treatment paradigm enabling improved clinical outcomes. In the United States, AVITA Medical also holds the exclusive rights to market, sell, and distribute PermeaDerm ® , a biosynthetic wound matrix, and Cohealyx, an AVITA Medical-branded collagen-based dermal matrix. In international markets, the RECELL System is approved to promote skin healing in a wide range of applications including burns, full-thickness skin defects, and vitiligo. The RECELL System, excluding RECELL GO TM , is TGA-registered in Australia, has received CE mark approval in Europe, and has PMDA approval in Japan. To learn more, visit www.avitamedical.com . Forward-Looking Statements Th is press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements generally may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate,” "expect,” "intend,” "could,” "would,” "may,” "will,” "believe,” "continue,” "estimate,” "look forward,” "forecast,” "goal,” "target,” "project,” "outlook,” "guidance,” "future,” and similar words or expressions, and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the timing and realization of regulatory approvals of our products; physician acceptance, endorsement, and use of our products; anticipated market share growth and revenue generation from certain products; failure to achieve the anticipated benefits from approval of our products; the effect of regulatory actions; product liability claims; risks associated with international operations and expansion; and other business effects, including the effects of industry, as well as other economic or political conditions outside of the Company's control. These statements are made as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of these statements, except as required by law. For additional information and other important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements, please see the "Risk Factors” section of the Company's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and other publicly available filings for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. Authorized for release by the Chief Financial Officer of AVITA Medical, Inc. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b6b7df71-e67c-4a6e-847c-bdcca54fad27 CONTACT: Investor & Media Contact: Jessica Ekeberg Phone +1-661-904-9269 [email protected] [email protected]SAN ANTONIO — Colorado secured what it said was record insurance coverage for quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter as the star duo opted to complete their college careers in the Alamo Bowl rather than sit out and prepare for the NFL draft. Colorado would not disclose the amount of insurance coverage each received, citing privacy laws. Coach Deion Sanders and athletic director Rick George both said it was the largest in college football history. "We happen to have two players that are probably going to be the first two picks of the NFL draft," Sanders said Monday. "We all know who those two are and they have received, I think, the highest number of coverage that has ever been covered in college football. It far exceeds anyone that has ever played this game of college football." While college programs maintain insurance policies for their athletes in case of injury, Colorado increased disability coverage for its entire roster in the Alamo Bowl. Sanders, the coach of the No. 20 Buffaloes, ensured his QB son and two-way star Hunter received larger policies since both are expected to be among the top 10 selections in the upcoming NFL draft. "It was his idea we should get disability insurance for our athletes for this game to ensure that they played and if there was some kind of injury that they would be well taken care of," George said. "So, we worked together on that. We're excited about it. We think it's great that all our players are playing in the game. That's what all bowl games should be like." Colorado (9-3, No. 23 CFP) will face the 17th-ranked BYU Cougars (10-2, No. 17 CFP) in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday. While most teams are scrambling with starters opting out of bowl games this year to enter the transfer portal or NFL draft, the Buffaloes did not lose any player on their two-deep roster. "It's more than what I got (when he played at Kansas State)," Colorado linebackers coach Andre' Hart said. "They gave us a helmet and said pop this on your leg and get out there and play. For them to get that (increased insurance coverage), I just think it's beneficial. To talk about where the game is, where it's going and how leadership is taking care of the players, I thought that's excellent." Shedeur Sanders completed 337 of 454 passes for 3,926 yards and 35 touchdowns this season. Many scouting services have Sanders rated as the top quarterback in this year's draft. Hunter received the Heisman Trophy as a two-way standout at cornerback and wide receiver. He had 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns and as a cornerback had four interceptions, broke up 11 passes and limited the opposition to 22 receptions on 688 defensive snaps. "They've taken care of us, everybody," Colorado running back Micah Welch said. "It really means a lot to have every teammate up here. That's a big thing. What I like about Coach Prime, they're taking care of us." Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Doughty scores 17 in Indiana State's 83-80 win against IonaAutomotive Aftermarket M&A will Continue to Attract High Investor Interest in 2025JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister has confirmed that Israel assassinated Hamas’ top leader last summer and is threatening to take similar action against the leadership of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. The comments by Israel Katz appeared to mark the first time that Israel has acknowledged killing Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an explosion in Iran in July. Israel was widely believed to be behind the blast and leaders have previously hinted at its involvement. In a speech Monday, Katz said the Houthis would meet a similar fate as the other members of an Iranian-led alliance in the region, including Haniyeh. He also noted that Israel has killed other leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, helped topple Syria’s Bashar Assad and destroyed Iran’s anti-aircraft systems. “We will strike (the Houthis’) strategic infrastructure and cut off the head of the leadership,” he said. “Just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon, we will do in Hodeida and Sanaa,” he said, referring to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders killed in previous Israeli attacks. The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched scores of missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war, including a missile that landed in Tel Aviv on Saturday and wounded at least 16 people. Israel has carried out three sets of airstrikes in Yemen during the war and vowed to step up the pressure on the rebel group until the missile attacks stop. Here’s the latest: DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials say an aid truck carrying flour has been looted in central Gaza after an Israeli airstrike killed four policemen inside a car securing the delivery. An Associated Press journalist saw people walking away with flour bags, some stained with blood, after the blast. AP footage showed dozens of people gathered at the scene as emergency workers checked the burnt vehicle, which had spilled flour next to it. U.N. officials and international aid organizations have said they are struggling to deliver aid, including much-needed winter supplies, into Gaza, in part because of looting and a lack of security protecting the convoys. Israel often strikes armed men guarding the deliveries, saying they are Hamas militants. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on Monday’s strike. Earlier this month, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said it would halt aid deliveries through the main cargo crossing into the Gaza Strip because of the threat of armed gangs who have looted convoys. It blamed the breakdown of law and order in large part on Israeli policies. WASHINGTON — The Pentagon acknowledged Monday that there are more than 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq, the total routinely touted publicly. It also said the number of forces in Syria has grown over the past “several years” due to increasing threats, but was not openly disclosed. Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that there are “at least 2,500” U.S. military personnel in Iraq “plus some additional, temporary enablers” that are on rotational deployments. He said that due to diplomatic considerations, the department will not provide more specifics. The U.S. concluded sensitive negotiations with the government of Iraq in September that called for troops to begin leaving after the November election. The presence of U.S. troops there has long been a political liability for Iraqi leaders who are under increased pressure and influence from Iran. U.S. officials have not provided details about the withdrawal agreement, but it calls for the mission against the Islamic State group to end by September 2025, and that some U.S. troops will remain through 2026 to support the anti-IS mission in Syria. Some troops may stay in the Kurdistan region after that because the regional government would like them to stay. Ryder announced last week that there are about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria – more than double the 900 that the U.S. had acknowledged publicly until now. On Monday he said the extra 1,100 deploy for shorter times to do force protection, transportation, maintenance and other missions. He said the number has fluctuated for the past several years and increased “over time.” JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister has confirmed that Israel assassinated Hamas’ top leader last summer and is threatening to take similar action against the leadership of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. The comments by Israel Katz appeared to mark the first time that Israel has acknowledged killing Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an explosion in Iran in July. Israel was widely believed to be behind the blast and leaders have previously hinted at its involvement. In a speech Monday, Katz said the Houthis would meet a similar fate as the other members of an Iranian-led alliance in the region, including Haniyeh. He also noted that Israel has killed other leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, helped topple Syria’s Bashar Assad and destroyed Iran’s anti-aircraft systems. BEIRUT — The United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon on Monday said it has observed recent “concerning actions” by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, including the destruction of residential areas and road blockages. A spokesperson for the peacekeeping mission, Kandice Ardiel, told The Associated Press that peacekeepers also observed on Monday an Israeli flag flying in Lebanese territory near Naqoura. The town hosts the headquarters of the peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL. Under the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli army is required to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon within 60 days of the agreement’s signing on Nov. 27. Since the ceasefire went into effect, the Israeli army has conducted near-daily military operations in southern villages, including firing gunshots, house demolitions, excavations, tank shelling and strikes. These actions have killed at least 27 people, wounded more than 30, destroyed residential buildings and, in one case, a mosque. “Peacekeepers continue to monitor the situation on the ground and report violations of Resolution 1701,” Ardiel said. “We reiterate our call for all actors to cease and refrain from violations of Resolution 1701 and any actions that may upset the current delicate balance.” On Monday, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati visited the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern town of Khiam as part of a tour of front-line areas alongside army chief Joseph Aoun and UNIFIL Head of Mission Aroldo Lazaro. Mikati and Lazaro urged the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory to allow the army to fully assume its duties. JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says three soldiers were killed Monday in combat in northern Gaza. The military did not provide details of the circumstances. According to a statement released Sunday, the brigade in which the three were serving completed its operational activities in the northern town of Beit Lahiya on Sunday. It then began operating in the nearby town of Beit Hanoun following intelligence suggesting the presence of militants there. Since the start of the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, 389 Israeli soldiers have been killed. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday there is “some progress” in efforts to reach a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza, although he added he could not give a time frame for a possible agreement. Of the roughly 250 people who were taken hostage in the Hamas-led raid on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that sparked the war, around 100 are still inside the Gaza Strip, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Speaking in the Knesset, Netanyahu said “we are taking significant actions through all channels to return our loved ones. I would like to tell you cautiously that there is some progress.” Netanyahu said he could not reveal details of what was being done to secure the return of hostages. He said the main reasons for the progress were the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israel’s military actions against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants who had been firing rockets into Israel from neighboring Lebanon in support of Hamas. “Hamas hoped that Iran and Hezbollah would come to its aid but they are busy licking the wounds from the blows we inflicted on them,” he said, adding that Israel was also putting “relentless military pressure” on Hamas in Gaza. “There is progress. I don’t know how long it will take,” Netanyahu said. JERUSALEM — Israel's military said Monday it intercepted a drone launched from Yemen before it entered Israeli territory, days after a long-range rocket attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels hit Tel Aviv, injuring 16 people from shattered glass. The military said no air raid warning sirens were sounded Monday. Israel says the Iran-backed Houthis have fired more than 200 missiles and UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — attacks they say won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. The attacks on shipping and Israel are taking place despite U.S. and European warships patrolling the area. On Saturday night and early Sunday, the U.S. conducted airstrikes on Yemen. Last week, Israel launched its own airstrikes on Yemen, killing at least nine people, and a Houthi missile damaged a school in Israel. DAMASCUS, Syria — A Qatari delegation visited the Syrian capital on Monday for the first time in more than a decade and met with the country's top insurgent commander, who said strategic cooperation between Damascus and Doha will begin soon. Qatar, along with Turkey, has long backed the rebels who now control Damascus, and the two countries are looking to protect their interests in Syria now that former President Bashar Assad has been overthrown. The Qatari delegation was headed by the minister of state for foreign affairs, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, who met with Ahmad al-Sharaa, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the insurgent group that overthrew Assad on Dec. 8. Al-Sharaa was quoted as saying by Syrian media that they have invited the emir of Qatar to visit Damascus adding that relations will return to normal soon. Al-Sharaa said Qatar will back Syria during the transitional period and the two countries will soon start “wide strategic cooperation.” Al-Sharaa also met Monday with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi as well as a Saudi official. Unlike Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan had relations with Assad’s government until he was removed from power. JENIN, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority says a second member of its security forces has been killed in the West Bank town of Jenin during clashes with Palestinian militants . Brig. Gen. Anwar Rajab, the spokesman for PA security forces, said 1st Sgt. Mehran Qadoos was killed on Monday by “outlaws” in the volatile northern town, where the security forces launched a rare crackdown earlier this month. A member of security forces also was killed on Sunday. An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard heavy gunfire and explosions, apparently from a battle between the security forces and Palestinian militants. There was no sign of Israeli forces in the area. Militant groups had earlier called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory. The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians , in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups. The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there. JENIN, West Bank — Palestinians in the volatile northern West Bank town of Jenin are observing a general strike called by militant groups to protest a rare crackdown by Palestinian security forces. An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard gunfire and explosions, apparently from clashes between militants and Palestinian security forces. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded. There was no sign of Israeli troops in the area. Shops were closed in the city on Monday, the day after militants killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others. Militant groups called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory. The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians , in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups. The Palestinian Authority blamed Sunday’s attack on “outlaws.” It says it is committed to maintaining law and order but will not police the occupation. The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there. BEIRUT — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has begun a tour of military positions in the country’s south, almost a month after a ceasefire deal that ended the war between Israel and the Hezbollah group that battered the country. Najib Mikati on Monday was on his first visit to the southern frontlines, where Lebanese soldiers under the U.S.-brokered deal are expected to gradually deploy, with Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops both expected to withdraw by the end of next month. Mikati’s tour comes after the Lebanese government expressed its frustration over ongoing Israeli strikes and overflights in the country. “We have many tasks ahead of us, the most important being the enemy's (Israel's) withdrawal from all the lands it encroached on during its recent aggression,” he said after meeting with army chief Joseph Aoun in a Lebanese military barracks in the southeastern town of Marjayoun. “Then the army can carry out its tasks in full.” The Lebanese military for years has relied on financial aid to stay functional, primarily from the United States and other Western countries. Lebanon’s cash-strapped government is hoping that the war’s end and ceasefire deal will bring about more funding to increase the military’s capacity to deploy in the south, where Hezbollah’s armed units were notably present. Though they were not active combatants, the Lebanese military said that dozens of its soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes on their premises or patrolling convoys in the south. The Israeli army acknowledged some of these attacks.

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( ) is the as it sprints past a buy point to a new buy amid robust earnings and a positive analyst initiation. Maker Of Hoka Shoes Started At Buy On Friday, analysts at Needham initiated coverage of Deckers Outdoor stock with a buy rating and 218 price target. That suggests more upside for DECK stock, which already sits on a nearly 72% rally so far in 2024. In late October, the Hoka shoe maker and Ugg shoe maker cleared an early entry after smashing earnings expectations for its second quarter. Though Deckers is a shoe manufacturer, its fortunes are tied to retail. Retail earnings and holiday outlook have been generally solid, with ( ) . On Friday, ( ) and ( ) made powerful earnings gap-ups, before trimming gains. Deckers Stock Gaps Up Shares of Deckers Outdoor gapped up 5.9% to 192.57 on the , hitting an all-time high. Deckers stock topped a 182.26 from a cup-with-handle base, according to . The buy zone runs to 191.37. The for DECK stock is rising fast but remains below the peak of the base for now. An RS line moving to new highs along with the Hoka sneaker maker's shares would send a positive sign. A rising RS line means that a stock is outperforming the S&P 500 index. It is the blue line in the chart provided. The current base shows symmetry and hints of institutional accumulation, according to the IBD markets team. The up/down volume ratio is highly favorable at 1.7. IBD added DECK stock to as it gapped up above the 10-week line on earnings to seize an early entry. That move came as and helped to set up Friday's breakout. The Hoka shoe maker is also on . ( ), the Swiss manufacturer of the popular On Cloud shoes, can be found on the of top growth stocks. ONON stock popped 3.1% midday Friday to a new high. Shares rebounded from their 50-day line this week and ran back through a buy zone. Deckers Outdoor Earnings The tool shows that DECK stock is currently the No. 2 shoe and apparel manufacturer, behind only ONON stock, in terms of its , which rolls various fundamental and technical metric into one easy-to-use score. In terms of key IBD ratings, Deckers Outdoor earns a Composite Rating of 91, RS Rating of 86 and EPS Rating of 99, all out of a best-possible 99. Further, Deckers boasts eight quarters of rising fund ownership. And earnings growth averaged 57% over the past three quarters, above the three-year rate of 33%. On Oct. 25, Deckers posted a 39% earnings per share jump for the fiscal second quarter, far outpacing views, as revenue rose 20%. Though robust, growth on both the top and bottom lines slowed from the prior quarter. Hoka shoe sales continued to drive growth, soaring 35%. UGG sales rose 13%. For the full year ending in March 2025, analysts project Deckers earnings will grow 14% per share. That would compare to a 50.5% jump last fiscal year. Analysts expect Deckers to see earnings weakness in the second half of this year. Why Analyst Thinks DECK Stock Is A Buy But on Friday, equity research firm Needham initiated coverage of Deckers stock with a buy rating, saying that second-half guidance "looks extremely conservative." Deckers is "one of the highest-quality companies in our coverage," the Needham analysts told investors, according to TheFly.com. They cited a strong, multiyear performance record, two of the strongest shoe brands in Hoka and Ugg, a stellar management team, and a fortress balance sheet. Finally, the analysts said they see the potential for shares of DECK stock to "continue grinding higher." Meanwhile, investors continue to watch the state of consumer financial health amid inflation. Retailers are bracing for President-elect Donald Trump's tax and tariffs policies, which could boost consumer spending and fuel inflationary pressures.

online game real money Downing throws for 2 TDs, runs for another, Elon tops North Carolina A&T 31-21TikTok shock: ‘Scary’ content pushed to social media feed set up for 13-year-oldJavon Small scored 31 points to rally West Virginia to an 86-78 overtime upset of No. 3 Gonzaga in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Wednesday in Nassau, Bahamas. The Mountaineers (4-1) trailed by 10 points early in the second half and by five in the final minute. But over the final 19 seconds of regulation, Tucker DeVries scored five straight points to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, Small scored five points and West Virginia held Gonzaga to a single field goal, which came after the outcome was decided with 19 seconds left. Amani Hansberry added a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds for West Virginia, which advances to the semifinals Thursday against another surprise first-round winner, Louisville, which stunned No. 15 Indiana. Braden Huff scored 19 points and Khalif Battle added 16 points for Gonzaga (5-1) which settles for a consolation-round game Thursday against Indiana. Nolan Hickman tallied 13 points. Ryan Nembhard delivered seven points and 12 assists for the Bulldogs. Huff put Gonzaga in position to win when he made three hook shots in the final 2:34 of regulation as the Bulldogs turned a one-point deficit into a 69-66 lead. Two free throws by Nembhard expanded the lead to 71-66 with 25 seconds left. But DeVries followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then made a mid-court steal and drew a foul with 5.9 seconds left. His two free throws sent it to overtime. The Mountaineers never trailed in overtime. Sencire Harris wrapped it up with a steal and a breakaway slam that put West Virginia up 84-76 with 26 seconds left. Battle, a transfer from Arkansas, scored eight points in a span of 90 seconds late in the first half as the Bulldogs took control on their way to a 39-31 lead at the break. Gonzaga earned its biggest lead early in the second half when Graham Ike scored inside with an assist from Nembhard to make it 43-33. But West Virginia responded with a 17-2 run, fueled by Small as he hit two 3-pointers and two layups. Hansberry drained a trey and DeVries grinded for a putback layup to give the Mountaineers a 50-45 lead with 12:26 left. DeVries finished the game with 16 points and four blocks. --Field Level Media

The Hemp Market Size Is Predicted To See Exponential Growth Reaching $15.08 Billion By 2028, A CAGR Of 20.6%The world has agreed to a new climate deal at COP29, with wealthy countries pledging to provide $US300 ($461 billion) billion annually by 2035 to poorer countries to help them cope with the increasingly catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis – a figure many developing countries criticised as vastly insufficient. The agreement in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday came after more than two weeks of bitter divisions and fractious negotiations, thrown into chaos by boycotts, political spats and open celebrations of fossil fuels. At points there was fear the talks would implode, as groups representing vulnerable small island states and the least-developed countries walked out of negotiations on Saturday. But at 2.40am on Sunday (8.30am AEDT), more than 30 hours after deadline, the gavel finally went down on the agreement between nearly 200 countries. READ MORE: Police arrest 170 at Australian port climate change protest Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) "People doubted that Azerbaijan could deliver. They doubted that everyone could agree. They were wrong on both," said Mukhtar Babayev, the Azerbaijani state-oil company veteran and president of COP29. The $US300 billion will go to vulnerable, poorer nations to help them cope with increasingly devastating extreme weather and to transition their economies toward clean energy. "It has been a difficult journey, but we've delivered a deal," said Simon Stiell, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country." The amount pledged, however, falls far short of the $US1.3 trillion ($2 trillion) economists say is needed to help developing countries cope with a climate crisis they have done least to cause — and there has been a furious reaction from many developing countries. In a fiery speech... CNN

Pakistani police Monday fired tear gas canisters at supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan to stop them from entering the capital, where they hoped to stage a sit-in to demand his release, officials said. The firing of tear gas came shortly after demonstrators — who traveled 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the restive northwest — began arriving and gathering near Islamabad. They defied a lockdown, previous tear gas and widespread arrests despite a ban on rallies in the city. The development came a day after the leadership of Khan’s party went ahead with the “long march” even as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived for a three-day visit. He was received at an airport near the capital by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday evening. Authorities said at least one police officer was killed and several officers and demonstrators were injured in clashes. The marchers appeared determined to enter Islamabad, where the lockdown, which has been in place for two days, has disrupted daily life. The government was in talks with Khan’s party to avoid any further violence, officials said. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters after midnight that the government is willing to allow Khan supporters to rally on the outskirts of Islamabad but he threatened extreme measures if they entered the city to protest. Khan, who has been in jail for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, remains popular. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, says the cases are politically motivated. A convoy of vehicles carrying protesters was expected to enter the capital Monday night. Security officials say they expect between 9,000 and 11,000 demonstrators, while the PTI says the number will be much higher. Video on social media showed Khan supporters donning gas masks and protective goggles. Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible. Ambulances and cars were seen turning back from areas along the key Grand Trunk Road highway in Punjab province, where shipping containers were used to block roads. Video circulating online showed some protesters operating heavy machinery to remove the containers. “We are determined, and we will reach Islamabad, though police are using tear gas to stop our march,” PTI senior leader Kamran Bangash told The Associated Press. “We will overcome all hurdles one by one, and our supporters are removing shipping containers from roads.” Bangash also said Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was recently released on bail in a graft case, will lead the march along with Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party remains in power. Earlier, almost 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Islamabad, Bibi, wearing a white head-to-toe burqa, addressed protesters while sitting in a truck, urging them to remain determined to achieve their goal and free Khan. She then chanted, “God is great” and left. Khan’s main political opponent, Sharif, heads the current government. Sharif’s spokesperson, Attaullah Tarar, said on Sunday that whenever any high-profile foreign delegation comes to Pakistan, the PTI “begins the politics of long marches and onslaught on Islamabad to harm the economy.” Some economists say protests cause billions of rupees in damages to the country’s fragile economy. Protesters on Sunday night burned trees as police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. Khan supporters retaliated by using slingshots and pelting security personnel with rocks. In a bid to foil the protest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services “in areas with security concerns,” which the PTI said affected its call on social media for a protest. On Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested. Authorities say only courts can order the release of Khan, who was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament. He has been imprisoned since his first conviction in a graft case, in August 2023. Khan has been sentenced in several cases. His convictions were later overturned on appeal but he cannot be freed due to other pending cases against him.

Far-right parties form National Alliance in bid to win general election seats

Every movie and show coming to Netflix in DecemberHoliday Books: Our 2024 Guide to the Best GiftsPDP governors call for unity, economic reforms, justice

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Celebrity-inspired Thanksgiving recipes, plus last-minute holiday meal ideasBack in April, Billboard magazine, the music industry’s recordkeeper for chart success, took the chance to try to predict what would be the song of the summer. At the time the publication considered Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” and Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends” to be front-runners, as well as “Like That,” the collaboration by rappers Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar. Two weeks after Billboard asked what would be the song of 2024’s summer, Drake released “Push Ups.” The track insulted a number of people in the rap industry, but Drake took particular aim at Lamar, going so far as to mock his height and shoe size. Drake came at Lamar directly the following week with “Taylor Made Freestyle.” And on the last day of April, Lamar responded with the six-minute dissertation “Euphoria.” Eventually Billboard selected Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help” featuring Morgan Wallen as the “song of the summer.” Lamar’s chart topper “Not Like Us” — the fourth track in his back and forth with Drake — was somehow ranked third. I was a little shocked. To be honest, I thought the “song of summer” conversation was over in June after Lamar performed “Not Like Us” five times at his Pop Out concert at the Forum. Two Americas, I guess. Then again, “Not Like Us” is not a song, it’s a revelation as Lamar would say. A rather prescient one, considering how much racial tension and identity politics shaped the general election, particularly after Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee. On “Like That” and “Euphoria,” Lamar threw haymakers at Drake. However, by the time we heard “Us,” Lamar was simply using Drake as a symbol to provoke a larger conversation about authenticity, accountability and manhood. Through that lens, including “Us” on a best-of-summer list is akin to referring to the locs on my head as a hairstyle — technically true, yet culturally tone-deaf. “Let me tell you what that record did do. It united the West,” Snoop Dogg said recently on the podcast “The Champs,” adding it made “everybody out here start looking at each other like how much love we got for each other ... so we should speak on that.” Absolutely. We certainly don’t have a problem talking about conflicts in hip-hop — whether a beef between two stars or a clash between Bloods and Crips. So why can’t we acknowledge the love? While other forms of music are routinely acknowledged for their healing power, the vulnerability embedded in the lyrics of hip-hop is often overlooked. And because of that, the humanity of the artist rapping those lyrics is easily overlooked. Lamar’s seven Grammy nominations this year, the Super Bowl gig lined up for next year and the streaming records are all outstanding. And none of that would have been possible without the social commentary that accompanies the music. This includes “GNX,” the surprise album Lamar released Friday. While he does continue to hammer away at Drake personally, the power of Lamar was always his ability to make a single story about an individual feel like an analogy about all of us. Where “Not Like Us” left off, “TV Off” and “Man at the Garden” picked up in terms of production value and searing observations. It’s funny to think that back in April, Lamar was somewhere minding his own business before Drake came for his crown — and missed. Since then, the culture has gone back and forth between headlines about something outlandish from the election and social media going crazy about another Kendrick Lamar surprise. Song of the summer? Record of the year? Those monikers couldn’t begin to encapsulate just how brilliant and bright Lamar has been in a year full of dark moments. Think of it this way: In 2012, LeBron James won the regular season MVP, an NBA title, Finals MVP and Olympic gold in London. Only one other player had accomplished all of that in a single year — Michael Jordan. That’s when the debate over who is better began in earnest. After cementing his legacy with a historic summer, James started the following season wearing a pair of gold gym shoes in honor of his Olympic achievement and officially announcing his arrival among the game’s greatest. As life would have it, the week before that game, Lamar announced his arrival among the greats as well, dropping “Good Kid, m.A.A.d City.” And like James he’s been breaking records ever since. However unlike for James, the debate over the greatest in Lamar’s game is over. @LZGranderson

Penn State wins trademark case over retailer's use of vintage logos, imagesWhy Donald Trump is imposing tariff on US' close ally Canada; Elon Musk's 'Fentanyl reaction' and more ...GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Matthew Downing threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to lead Elon to a 31-21 season-ending win over North Carolina A&T on Saturday. The game was tied at 7 in the second quarter when the Phoenix turned a fumble recovery into a field goal. That started a string of four-straight scoring possessions. Downing was 16 of 21 for 203 yards. Chandler Brayboy had 12 receptions for 118 yards with a score. Rushawn Baker ran for 106 yards for the Phoenix (6-6, 5-3 Coastal Athletic Association). Julian Bumper also had a 10-yard rushing touchdown on his only carry and Jamarien Dalton had a 30-yard receiving touchdown on his only catch. Freshman Cortez Lane returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown for the Aggies (1-11, 0-8), who lost their 11th straight. Justin Fomby threw for 190 yards and a touchdown pass to Daniel Cole and Shimique Blizzard ran for 87 yards and a TD. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football . Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25Knicks Numbers Reveal Why Nikola Jokic Is No. 1 Nightmare Matchup

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How Trump's bet on voters electing him managed to silence some of his legal woes

Hope Adebayo, Tak Tateoka help St. Thomas-Minnesota end season with 32-9 victory over DaytonKNOXVILLE — Nico Iamaleava threw for 209 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 10 Tennessee to a 56-0 victory over UTEP on Saturday. The Volunteers (9-2) overcame a sluggish start to roll up the impressive win. Both teams were scoreless in the first quarter, but Tennessee found its rhythm. Grad student receiver Bru McCoy, who hadn't caught a touchdown pass this season, had two. Peyton Lewis also ran for two scores. Tennessee's defensive line, which had no sacks in last week's loss to Georgia, had three against the Miners. UTEP (2-9) struggled with two missed field goals and three turnovers. Tennessee's offense came alive with 28 points in the second quarter. In the final four drives of the quarter, Iamaleava completed 11 of 12 passes for 146 yards and touchdowns to Squirrel White, Ethan Davis and McCoy. UTEP was the dominant team in the first quarter. Tennessee managed just 37 offensive yards and, thanks to an interception near the end zone and a missed field goal by the Miners, both teams were scoreless after 15 minutes. -- Poll implications Tennessee's convincing victory, coupled with losses by Ole Miss and Indiana, should put the Volunteers in a good position when the next College Football Playoff poll is released. The Vols were ranked No. 11 going into this week's games. -- The takeaway UTEP: The Miners will head into a very winnable game against New Mexico State having won two of their last five games. First-year coach Scotty Walden will try to build on that success in the offseason to help enhance his roster. Tennessee: Even a lopsided win won't carry much weight where it means the most — in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Vols will have to rely on a convincing win against Vanderbilt next week, a team that has shown a lot of improvement this season, to help their standing for those coveted spots. -- Next The Miners will finish their season at New Mexico State, and the Vols will end their regular season at Vanderbilt next Saturday.

NoneBy CHRISTINE FERNANDO CHICAGO (AP) — As Donald Trump’s Cabinet begins to take shape, those on both sides of the abortion debate are watching closely for clues about how his picks might affect reproductive rights policy in the president-elect’s second term . Trump’s cabinet picks offer a preview of how his administration could handle abortion after he repeatedly flip-flopped on the issue on the campaign trail. He attempted to distance himself from anti-abortion allies by deferring to states on abortion policy, even while boasting about nominating three Supreme Court justices who helped strike down the constitutional protections for abortion that had stood for half a century. In an NBC News interview that aired Sunday, Trump said he doesn’t plan to restrict medication abortion but also seemed to leave the door open, saying “things change.” “Things do change, but I don’t think it’s going to change at all,” he said. The early lineup of his new administration , including nominations to lead health agencies, the Justice Department and event the Department of Veterans Affairs, has garnered mixed — but generally positive — reactions from anti-abortion groups. Abortion law experts said Trump’s decision to include fewer candidates with deep ties to the anti-abortion movement could indicate that abortion will not be a priority for Trump’s administration. “It almost seems to suggest that President Trump might be focusing his administration in other directions,” said Greer Donley, an associate law professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Karen Stone, vice president of public policy at Planned Parenthood Action Fund , said while many of the nominees have “extensive records against reproductive health care,” some do not. She cautioned against making assumptions based on Trump’s initial cabinet selections. Still, many abortion rights groups are wary, in part because many of the nominees hold strong anti-abortion views even if they do not have direct ties to anti-abortion activists. They’re concerned that an administration filled with top-level officials who are personally opposed to abortion could take steps to restrict access to the procedure and funding. After Trump’s ambiguity about abortion during his campaign, “there’s still a lot we don’t know about what policy is going to look like,” said Mary Ruth Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law. That approach may be revealed as the staffs within key departments are announced. Trump announced he would nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department, which anti-abortion forces have long targeted as central to curtailing abortion rights nationwide. Yet Kennedy shifted on the issue during his own presidential campaign. In campaign videos, Kennedy said he supports abortion access until viability , which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks, although there is no defined timeframe. But he also said “every abortion is a tragedy” and argued for a national ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a stance he quickly walked back. The head of Health and Human Services oversees Title X funding for a host of family planning services and has sweeping authority over agencies that directly affect abortion access, including the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The role is especially vital amid legal battles over a federal law known as EMTALA, which President Joe Biden’s administration has argued requires emergency abortion access nationwide, and FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. Mini Timmaraju, president of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, called Kennedy an “unfit, unqualified extremist who cannot be trusted to protect the health, safety and reproductive freedom of American families.” His potential nomination also has caused waves in the anti-abortion movement. Former Vice President Mike Pence , a staunch abortion opponent, urged the Senate to reject Kennedy’s nomination. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said the group had its own concerns about Kennedy. “There’s no question that we need a pro-life HHS secretary,” she said. Fox News correspondent Marty Makary is Trump’s pick to lead the FDA, which plays a critical role in access to medication abortion and contraception. Abortion rights groups have accused him of sharing misinformation about abortion on air. Russell Vought , a staunch anti-abortion conservative, has been nominated for director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought was a key architect of Project 2025 , a right-wing blueprint for running the federal government. Among other actions to limit reproductive rights, it calls for eliminating access to medication abortion nationwide, cutting Medicaid funding for abortion and restricting access to contraceptive care, especially long-acting reversible contraceptives such as IUD’s. Despite distancing himself from the conservative manifesto on the campaign trail, Trump is stocking his administration with people who played central roles in developing Project 2025. Trump acknowledged that drafters of the report would be part of his incoming administration during the Sunday interview with NBC News, saying “Many of those things I happen to agree with.” “These cabinet appointments all confirm that Project 2025 was in fact the blueprint all along, and the alarm we saw about it was warranted,” said Amy Williams Navarro, director of government relations for Reproductive Freedom for All. Dr. Mehmet Oz , Trump’s choice to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is a former television talk show host who has been accused of hawking dubious medical treatments and products. He voiced contradictory abortion views during his failed Senate run in 2022. Oz has described himself as “strongly pro-life, praised the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade , claimed “life starts at conception” and referred to abortion as “murder.” But he also has echoed Trump’s states-rights approach, arguing the federal government should not be involved in abortion decisions. “I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves,” he said during a Senate debate two years ago. An array of reproductive rights groups opposed his Senate run. As CMS administrator, Oz would be in a key position to determine Medicaid coverage for family planning services and investigate potential EMTALA violations. Related Articles National Politics | In promising to shake up Washington, Trump is in a class of his own National Politics | Election Day has long passed. In some states, legislatures are working to undermine the results National Politics | Trump taps his attorney Alina Habba to serve as counselor to the president National Politics | With Trump on the way, advocates look to states to pick up medical debt fight National Politics | Trump taps forceful ally of hard-line immigration policies to head Customs and Border Protection As Florida’s attorney general, Pam Bondi defended abortion restrictions, including a 24-hour waiting period. Now she’s Trump’s choice for attorney general . Her nomination is being celebrated by abortion opponents but denounced by abortion rights groups concerned she may revive the Comstock Act , an anti-vice law passed by Congress in 1873 that, among other things, bans mailing of medication or instruments used in abortion. An anti-abortion and anti-vaccine former Florida congressman, David Weldon, has been chosen to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which collects and monitors abortion data across the country. Former Republican congressman Doug Collins is Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs amid a political battle over abortion access and funding for troops and veterans. Collins voted consistently to restrict funding and access to abortion and celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade. “This is a team that the pro-life movement can work with,” said Kristin Hawkins, president of the national anti-abortion organization Students for Life.

MAI Capital Management Sells 808 Shares of UFP Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI)None

The latest episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati 16 started with host Amitabh Bachchan making a smashing entry and playing the fastest finger first round. Twinkle Bhati Rathore from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh make it to the hot seat after winning the FFF. He asks Twinkle who do women cover their faces when they get extremely happy? This makes the studio audience laugh out loud. Twinkle talks about herself and reveals she is housewife and is preparing for civil services. She also shared that she pregnant and is will soon be embracing motherhood. Big B congratulated Twinkle and her husband and says that whenever she feels uncomfortable she can inform him and he will stop the game. Mr Bachchan says, "Jab Kabhi bhi aapko apatti ho humko boliyega, khela band kar denge hum, Inke swaasth ke liye ye karna hoga.' The host reads the first question for Rs 1000. Fill in the blanks with the same word to get an electric appliance and a cosmetic: air______, hair ____________. Twinkle selects Option A) Conditioner. While talking about banks, Twinkle Bhati Rathore shared a humorous story from her early days in Bhopal after marriage. She recounted how her father-in-law handed her a credit card for emergencies, but unaware of the repayment concept, she went on a shopping spree. It was only later that her father-in-law explained its purpose, leaving everyone amused. Twinkle also revealed that her husband gets jealous because his family, having no daughters, dotes on her immensely. She added a funny twist, sharing how her father-in-law once scolded and even disciplined her husband for a similar incident before their marriage. Big B asks Twinkle's husband and he revealed that after seeing his father politely explaining his wife. he felt very jealous. The incident made the host and everyone else in fits of laughter, Twinkle further reveals that her father-in-law cooks mutton curry for her and it is her favourite dish. Big B turns to her husband and says he has a tough competition at home and praises her father-in-law. Big B presents Super Sawaal for Twinkle. Bagheera, Shere Khan, and Mowgli are characters from which book set in India? The contestant answers 'Jungle Book' and wins herself the super power 'Dugnastraa'. Twinkle made a heartfelt request to Amitabh Bachchan, expressing her special wish for his autograph. She brought out a baby onesie, which she had kept with her husband, and asked the megastar to sign it. Twinkle revealed that this onesie would be the first outfit her baby would wear after birth. Big B admired the adorable outfit, signed it, and sweetly said, "Baby Rathore, hello" to the onesie, leaving everyone touched by the moment. For the question of Rs 20,000, Twinkle takes the help of 'Double Dip' lifeline. An artistic depiction of which Hindu god is seen in this image? She selects Option B) Lord Agni and wins the amount. Host Amitabh Bachchan inquired how Twinkle manages her time, balancing her preparation for civil service exams while also expecting a baby. He asks her now that she is pregnant how she takes care of her health, sleep and food. Twinkle credits her joint family for it. She says that her mother-in-law looks after her and takes care of her food. They make everything available for her even before she mentions them. They take good care of her and her husband must be getting jealous. Big B gives her his best wishes. For the Rs 1,60,000 question, Twinkle enables the super power, 'Dugnastraa' Fill in the blank in the name if the SDG India index released by NITI Aayog: ______ Developed Goals. She selects Options A) Sustainable and wins bonus of Rs 1,60,000. Moving ahead in the game, Mr Bachchan reads out the question for Rs 3,20,000. Which of these players scored two consecutive hundreds in the T20 series against South Africe in November 2024? She takes the help of 'Audience Poll' lifeline and goes with the majority. She selects Option C) Tilak Varma and wins the amount. Twinkle next plays the 'Super Sandook' round and answers 8 questions correctly. She wins Rs 80,000 and revives her 'Ask the expert' lifeline. Big B presents the question for Rs 12,50,000. What is the most volcanically active body in solar system? She takes the help of two lifelines 'Audience Poll' and 'Video Call A Friend'. As she is not confident with her friend's answer, she decides to go with 'Audience Poll' and selects Option C) A natural satellite and wins the amount. Twinkle faces a question for Rs 25,00,000. Which country decided to add a crown to their flag after it was found to be similar to Haiti's during the 1936 Olympics? As she is not confident about the answer, she decides to quit the show. She takes a guess before quitting the show and selects Option C) Luxembourg but it is the wrong answer, the correct answer is Option B) Liechtenstein Twinkle takes home Rs 12,50,000. 'Kaun Banega Crorepati 12' comes with a few changes relevant to the current timesArgentina’s Racing wins its first Copa Sudamericana championship by beating Brazil’s Cruzeiro 3-1Walmart Black Friday 2024 deals: The 30+ best sales from Apple, Ninja, Dyson and more

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If confirmed, it would be the latest data point in a growing trend of FCS football teams hiring well-known former players -- with little to no prior coaching experience -- in an effort to stand out. Jackson, 38, has no connection to Delaware State but according to ESPN, "it has always been a dream" of his to coach at an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities). Earlier this month, Norfolk State hired Michael Vick to take over the Spartans' program. Vick, who also reportedly heard from Sacramento State, hails from the Norfolk, Va., area. Norfolk State is one of Delaware State's rivals in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Colorado coach Deion Sanders spent three seasons (2020-22) as the head coach of Jackson State before moving up to the FBS level. His only prior coaching experience came at the high school level, including at his own short-lived charter school in Texas, "Prime Prep Academy." Jackson last played for the Baltimore Ravens in 2022. He is best known for two stints with the Philadelphia Eagles (2008-13, 2019-20) and played for a total of six teams in a 15-year NFL career. Jackson caught 641 passes for 11,263 yards and 58 touchdowns, adding four rushing touchdowns and four punt return touchdowns in 183 career games. Delaware State went 1-11 in 2024 (0-5 MEAC) and fired coach Lee Hull after the season. The Hornets have not had a winning season since going 6-5 in 2012. --Field Level Media

Goold's chat: If Cardinals trade closer Ryan Helsley, when's best time to maximize offer?One of the key highlights of the Ideal L6's safety performance is its innovative active safety features, which are designed to help prevent accidents from occurring in the first place. The vehicle is equipped with a comprehensive suite of driver assistance technologies, such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and automatic emergency braking, all of which work together to enhance the driver's ability to avoid potential hazards on the road. These advanced systems not only improve safety for the occupants of the Ideal L6 but also contribute to the overall safety of all road users.

'We're snake-bitten': Unconvincing Canada gets past Germany 3-0 at world juniors

FBI informants were at Capitol riot but no agents, watchdog finds

Medical Anesthesia Machines Market Size and ForecastIn recent political discussions, the term "Trump 2.0" has been used to describe certain rising figures in politics who exhibit similar characteristics to former U.S. President Donald Trump. One of the leading experts in political science, Professor Ouyang Hui, sheds light on this phenomenon by highlighting four common misconceptions surrounding the notion of "Trump 2.0".

This isn't the first time Yang Shize has used poetry as a form of expression. The actor has previously shared snippets of his writing on social media, showcasing his deep appreciation for the arts and his ability to convey complex emotions through verse. However, this latest poem has undoubtedly cemented his reputation as a master of wordplay and symbolism, capturing the hearts of fans and admirers around the world.Zelensky's refusal to participate in peace talks with Trump can be attributed to several factors, one of the primary reasons being the lack of consensus on the terms and conditions of a ceasefire. While Trump may have been eager to mediate a dialogue between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky is wary of any agreements that may compromise Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Ukrainian government has consistently asserted its stance on upholding Ukraine's unity and independence, and any negotiations must align with these principles.

The importance of maintaining a high standard of security within the Guangzhou Metro cannot be understated. As one of the busiest subway systems in China, the Guangzhou Metro serves millions of passengers each day, making it a critical transportation artery for the city. Ensuring the safety of passengers and staff is a top priority for Guangzhou Metro, and the implementation of enhanced security measures is a reflection of this commitment.

Shares of JSW Energy surged as much as 8 per cent at the opening tick on Monday after the company announced its foray into the renewable energy space. The JSW Group company has been able to garner positive reports from the brokerage firms post the announcement of this acquisition. JSW Neo Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JSW Energy, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire O2 Power, a renewable energy platform jointly established by Swedish asset manager EQT Partners and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, said the company in an exchange filing. O2 entities have a consolidated operational and under construction/development renewable energy portfolio of 4.7 GW. The transaction values the platform at an enterprise valuation of Rs 12,468 crore ($1.47 billion), after adjusting for net current assets, it added. Following the announcement, shares of JSW Energy jumped more than 7.67 per cent to Rs 673.05 on Monday, commanding a total market capitalization of more than Rs 1.17 lakh crore. The stock had settled at Rs 625.05 in the previous trading session on Friday. The transaction entails acquisition of O2 Power Midco Holdings and O2 Energy SG and is subject to approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and other customary approvals standard to a transaction of this size, said JSW Energy. O2 entities reported a cumulative revenue from operations at Rs 538 crore for FY24. Shares of JSW Energy have surged about 67 per cent from its 52-week low at Rs 404 hit in January 2024. However, the stock has corrected nearly 17 per cent from its 52-week high at Rs 804.95 hit in September 2024. The stock has remained majorly flat in the last one month, while it is down 13 per cent in six months. Motilal Oswal Financial Services likes the overall quality of assets. It values JSW Energy's core business at 15 times FY27 EBITDA, reflecting its strong operational performance and market position. The stake in JSW Steel is valued at a 25 per cent discount to the current market price, it said. The total equity value of JSW Energy was determined by aggregating the values from these different components, leading to a target price of Rs 810 per share, added Motilal. "Additionally, note that we see an option value of Rs 60 per share from KSK Mahanadi, which should materialize once the deal is approved."

After Arsenal ’s 5-1 Champions League win over Sporting CP in Lisbon last month, a special visitor joined them in the dressing room. Former right-back Cedric Soares, back living in the city he spent 17 years in as a Sporting academy graduate, is a free agent after his four-and-a-half-year stint at Arsenal came to an end in the summer. Advertisement The 33-year-old is training with a club in Portugal to stay fit as he waits on the right offer to resume his career, but he was not going to miss the chance to watch his two former teams compete — or catch up with Oleksandr Zinchenko , the successor to his vacated No 17 shirt. “It was funny,” Cedric tells The Athletic. “Zinny called me at the beginning of the season and said, ‘Brother, can I take your number?’. “I said, ‘Obviously, but be careful because this number weighs heavy!’ “He hadn’t been playing so much because of injuries so when I saw him I said, ‘I told you it was heavy!’. Zinny is a really good guy so he loves to joke around.” Mikel Arteta presented Cedric and Mohamed Elneny with signed jerseys as a memento of their time at the club after the final game of last season. Cedric has been back in the inner sanctum twice already, having also been invited to spend some time with his former team-mates when they hosted another of his previous clubs Southampton in October. Being an honorary member of the squad is something he grew used to in his final two years at Arsenal. The Portuguese defender played just 244 minutes in that time but he was a senior figure in a young dressing room in which only Elneny, Jorginho and Thomas Partey were also over the age of 30. Even though his contributions on the pitch had come to a virtual halt, he still had a leadership role to play as one of the team captains, something that was voted for by his team-mates. “It means they trust you and trust your opinion,” says Cedric. “I really had to fight for my space at Arsenal but I think I got my recognition and my space inside the club. Obviously, there was the last two seasons where I didn’t play as much. My job was to keep myself fit and to work as hard as possible in training. Then the rest is the rest. I can’t really control if I play or not play. But it was good because I saw the project and I was still involved in a way. Advertisement “It was hard because I left a lot of friendships and I worked so hard to build the image (of who I was). It’s not something that you build in one day. You can easily come, work for a month and then stop but if you work over the years people go, ‘This guy is always there, on time, working hard and when he’s called to perform he’s helping the group. Over five years you can’t fake it.” Cedric was Arteta’s second signing as manager in January 2020, joining on a six-month loan from Southampton that was made permanent later that summer. He joined eight games into the Arteta era, which passed its fifth anniversary earlier this month , meaning he is one of only a handful to have witnessed the evolution of this Arsenal team and Arteta himself. “Mikel was young too when he arrived at the club,” Cedric says. “He had his idea but he had to teach a completely new squad about that idea. I think, over time, he improved in how he passed over the idea and he also got more experience and adapted the game. It’s not exactly the same idea as five years ago. “Over time he improved on the man-management as well. I think he has a much closer relationship with the players now. He chose most of them. That helps because he believes more in the players and I think the players feel that, so they give it back as well.” Cedric says he was already very tactically minded when he arrived at Arsenal and rarely stopped giving commands and information, but he has a better understanding of the bigger picture for his time at Arsenal. “Mikel changed the way I see football. I would say it’s on another level tactically,” says Cedric. “You really have to see the (numerical) advantage. When it is there and when it is not there, it means it is somewhere else on the pitch. In that way, I really improved my tactical view of the game and because I worked so long with Mikel I watch the game through his eyes a bit. Obviously, I have my ideas, but he teaches you to see it automatically and instinctively because you have to decide quickly on the pitch. He teaches everything. Advertisement “Now, when I’m watching a game, I say, ‘Don’t go there because of this or that on the other side’. I’m thinking to myself, ‘That’s Mikel’.” Cedric lived through Arteta’s difficult start when Arsenal finished eighth in his first two seasons and then missed out on the Champions League late on in his third year. Arteta was pragmatic early on, switching to a back three to try to stem the flow of goals, but there were growing pains, severe ones, when he tried to adapt to a brand of possession football. It was only in 2022-23 that Arsenal made the leap to being an elite team, vindication of the decision to afford him time for his vision to embed in the minds of the players. “I remember speaking with Declan (Rice) when he arrived and after training he came to talk to me,” says Cedric. “I was putting on my boots and he came to me and said, ‘Brother, I don’t know how to do it. It is just too many things to think. He wants me to receive with this foot and move there at the same time. It’s hard’. “I told him I remember because we all have been there. My advice was to just try to flow. Mikel doesn’t expect you to understand everything in one session or two sessions. Don’t forget what brought you here. It means you already have your quality, now you just have to adapt your quality to Mikel’s idea. “It will take time, but he will tell you if a player cannot go here or there. If it’s wrong, he will correct you again and with time you will understand. Correct, correct, correct. Then suddenly it becomes your habits.” Being immersed in such an environment led to a group of five players, including Cedric, starting their coaching journey with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) in 2022. He completed his UEFA A licence course in the summer. Granit Xhaka , a close friend of his, was part of that cohort and the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder is someone who Cedric may cross paths with in the future. Advertisement “Me and Granit are both coaching once a week to make sure we keep the rhythm and don’t forget what we were told,” he says. “Granit is very direct, like me. There is no fuss when you speak to him. I was joking with him who would be the first coach and the assistant out of the two of us but he said he couldn’t listen to me!” Cedric has a clear passion for coaching and hopes to stay in football when he retires. It gives him a different perspective on how Arteta’s coaching staff have combined to develop the team. “ Carlos Cuesta does the work on the defensive organisation and I think the idea has got a lot stronger,” says Cedric. “He is not doing the same role as Steve Round (ex-assistant who left last summer). Steve was an experienced guy who knew the game and when he said certain things you could tell he had the experience of being a player. Carlos is someone who works with the players and if someone says to do something another way, then he will listen but make sure what he still wants is there. “The team is different now. There were a few more experienced players (in 2022-23) but we pressed even more in that season. We pressed constantly. “I think they can play in any context now. Now there is not just one plan, they are able to switch it in the game and the players know exactly if a player goes here then the space is there or if the press isn’t working then we do this. It doesn’t need to come from the manager as much and I think this is what he wanted from the start. That was his vision.” It was the second half of the 2020-21 season when things started to click for Arteta. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stripped of the captaincy, while Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka both became regulars. “And I started to play,” says Cedric, laughing, but it is true that his re-entry into the team did coincide with a surge in form. It helped him win over some fans who had written him off after making only 22 starts in all competitions during his first 18 months. He started 14 of the final 17 league games during the 2021-22 season and scored on the final day against Everton . It was his most consistent run of his 64 appearances for Arsenal but it proved to be short-lived. Advertisement “I was playing good and finished on a high with my goal against Everton,” he says. “I had a couple of offers that summer but I was happy and started the pre-season well. At the end of it, the manager decided to try Ben (White) there. It was difficult as it was me, him and (Takehiro) Tomiyasu. If there are two of you then you can play some games. Mikel explained it to me but it was still hard.” Cedric made just two Premier League appearances from the bench in the first half of that season as Arsenal racked up 50 points from a possible 57. They were five points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand as the January transfer window shut, but Cedric made a deadline-day loan move to Fulham . Arsenal’s late-season collapse is widely attributed to the injuries suffered by William Saliba and Tomiyasu, with Rob Holding failing to replicate the Frenchman’s level. Had Cedric remained in the building, White may well have moved inside to centre back, with Cedric coming in at right back. “I was going to Fulham as Marco Silva knew me and wanted to buy me but they couldn’t agree the financials,” he says. “We were first in the league and Mikel said to me I was going at the best moment but I am not someone who is happy to sit on their money and not play so I decided to still go on loan. “I was thinking that in March and April time they would need players with experience, so when they got injured just after I left it was frustrating, as I think I would have played. There was no way to bring me back.” Cedric was around for the duration of last season’s title push, however, and he sought to use his experience to support his team-mates when things threatened to implode. “In tough moments after a bad game, I tried to make sure the players did the simple things well, even with the ones who didn’t play,” he says. “He may be upset with the manager but is he pushing in training or is he relaxing? Can I give him a word before training? Suddenly the guy’s training well and the manager is like, ‘Wow, I thought this guy would be walking today’.” Advertisement “In December when we lost a few games I could see Bukayo (Saka) being a little shy. I said to him this is not the time, you need to keep going and playing with courage. “He is a great boy who listens a lot but I was behind him after every game saying, ‘Don’t just do it this game, do it the next, and the next’. He is so consistent for a young winger and that is not easy to do. “I don’t think this team relies on one player, which is a good thing to me. If Bukayo is not producing his magic then (Gabriel) Martinelli can or someone else does.” Saka, like many of his team-mates returned from the mid-season break with a new lease of life. Arsenal recovered from a run of just one win in five at the end of 2023 to produce 16 victories in their final 18 games, scoring 54 goals and conceding only nine times. It left many wondering what magic Arteta had worked. “In Dubai, the training is always more relaxed,” says Cedric. “We still train and do stuff like some set pieces but it wasn’t always about football. “All the families being there together having dinner really brought the team together. One dinner, he gave everyone a piece of paper and asked them to write down what value and attribute they were bringing to the team every single day. What was the value they added? We got to read them all and that was special.” It has been six months without a club for Cedric but he still looks in peak condition. “Obviously, my idea is to try to finish the badges while I’m playing, but my main target is still to play. I think it’s too early now to retire. I’m fit and, thank God, I have had no serious injuries. “When you have not played, the other teams have doubts. How is he? Is he playing good? Why didn’t he play? “I wanted to immediately find a good project. I had some stuff in the beginning of the market which I didn’t take and then I had some things I was not really excited about. Now I had this break, I want to start as soon as possible.” (Top photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

In conclusion, the year-end bank deposit war has intensified, with banks vying for customers' deposits through aggressive marketing, enticing interest rates, and innovative product offerings. As the competition heats up, customers can expect to see more attractive offers and benefits from banks, making it an opportune time to consider where to park their savings. Ultimately, the winner of this battle will be the customer, who will have the power to choose the bank that offers the best combination of rates, features, and customer service.

In a move that surprised and delighted fans, Yang Shize released a poem on his social media accounts, seemingly innocuous at first glance but containing a hidden message that revealed his true relationship status. The poem, titled "Solitude in Springtime," described the beauty of nature and the tranquility of being alone. However, upon closer inspection, the first letter of each line spelled out the words "I AM SINGLE," effectively putting an end to the rumors and confirming that Yang Shize is indeed not in a relationship.

Kansas once required voters to prove citizenship. That didn’t work out so well

An Israeli airstrike flattened a multistory building in central Gaza, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens more, according to Palestinian medical officials, after strikes Thursday across the Gaza Strip killed at least 28 others. The latest deadly strike hit the urban Nuseirat refugee camp just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Jerusalem that the recent ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for a potential deal to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the deadly strike in Nuseirat. Israel says it is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza . The Israeli military says Hamas militants hide among Gaza’s civilian population. The fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine in some of the hardest-hit parts of the territory. Israel’s offensive 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 Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, 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: DAMASCUS, Syria — Mohammad Salim Alkhateb, an official with the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces — an internationally backed group of the opposition in exile — said his group wants to see a transitional government formed via a United Nations-backed process in the wake of Bashar Assad ouster. It is not yet clear if Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main rebel group now in control of Syria, will pursue such a process. The insurgents have said an interim government headed by Mohammad al-Bashir, who is also the head of the “salvation government” of HTS in its former stronghold in northern Syria, will oversee the country until March but have not made clear how the transition to a new, fully empowered government would take place. “The transitional governing body should be formed in Geneva to have international legitimacy,” said Alkhateb, who is now in Damascus. “The transitional governing body, whatever its form, whether it is the ‘salvation government’ or any other, what matters is that it has international recognition.” Alkhateb said that the unexpectedly rapid fall of Damascus and departure of Assad after opposition forces launched their offensive had created confusion and a governance vacuum. A day before the insurgents pushed into Damascus, diplomats from countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Iran and Russia met in Qatar to discuss the situation in Syria. Alkhateb said that they had discussed a scenario in which the rebels would halt their advance, keeping the territory they had captured so far in the north — including Syria’s largest city, Aleppo — and the opposition and Assad’s government would go to Geneva for talks on a political settlement to the conflict. However, he noted, “there were no Syrians in that meeting.” Assad fled to Russia before the rebel forces arrived in Damascus but has not officially announced his resignation, which is “why we are living in a vacuum rather than a political transition,” Alkhateb said. He added that creating a professional army should be a priority of the transitional government. “We do not want a civilian who was trained during the revolution to carry military weapons to become the military,” he said. Israel bombed hundreds of military sites in Syria this week in a wave of airstrikes that destroyed “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the wave of airstrikes in neighboring Syria was necessary to keep the weapons from being used against Israel following the Syrian government’s stunning collapse . WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Peirre says Austin Tice, an American journalist missing in Syria for 12 years, “is a top priority for this president.” During a briefing with reporters on Thursday, Jean-Pierre said of Tice, “There is no indication that he is not alive. There’s also no indication about his location or condition.” “What our goal is, is to bring him home. And so, we hope certainly that he is alive and, as we have stated many times before, we are talking through this with the Turks and we want to do everything we can to bring him home,” she said. BEIRUT — Amnesty International said Thursday that four Israeli airstrikes between September and October that killed at least 49 civilians in Lebanon “must be investigated as war crimes.” The rights organization said in a new report that the four strikes targeted homes in the Bekaa Valley, northern and eastern Lebanon, and municipal offices in the south. “These four attacks are emblematic of Israel’s shocking disregard for civilian lives in Lebanon and their willingness to flout international law,” said Amnesty International’s Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns. The rights group said this report was part of its ongoing investigation into violations of the laws of war in Lebanon. Amnesty International investigated four Israeli airstrikes, including one on Sept. 29 in al-Ain that killed all nine members of the same family. On Oct. 21, a strike in Baalbek city in eastern Lebanon killed six members of the same family. Another on Oct. 14 in the village of Aitou in northern Lebanon killed 23 displaced people, including a 5-month-old baby. A fragment from the attack site in Aitou was identified by an Amnesty weapons expert as likely part of a Mk-80 series aerial bomb, weighing at least 500 pounds. These munitions are primarily supplied to Israel by the United States, Amnesty said. The fourth strike Amnesty investigated was the strike that hit the municipal headquarters in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, on Oct. 16, killing 11 civilians including the mayor. “The air strike took place without warning, just as the municipality’s crisis unit was meeting to coordinate deliveries of aid, including food, water and medicine, to residents and internally displaced people who had fled bombardment in other parts of southern Lebanon,” Amnesty said. The rights group said it interviewed survivors and witnesses, examined evidence, and found no military targets near the sites of the four strikes. The Israeli military gave no warnings and did not respond to Amnesty’s inquiries, the group said. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, Palestinian medics said, just hours after President Joe Biden’s national security adviser raised hopes about a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. Photos from the scene of the blast that circulated on social media showed a completely collapsed building with people walking through its mangled and charred remains, smoke rising from piles of belongings strewn over the rubble. Officials at two hospitals in the Gaza Strip, al-Awda Hospital in the north and al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, reported they received a combined total of 25 bodies from an Israeli strike on a multistory residential building in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp. Palestinian medics also reported that over 40 people, most of them children, were receiving treatment at the two hospitals. The al-Aqsa Hospital said that the Israeli attack also damaged several nearby houses in Nuseirat. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the deadly strike. Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza . The Israeli military says Hamas militants hide among Gaza’s civilian population. 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 fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames U.N. agencies for not distributing it. The U.N. says Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order after Israel repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, make it extremely difficult to operate in the territory. UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. food agency is trying to deal with massive needs in Syria not only from escalating war-related food insecurity and an upsurge in displaced people fleeing Lebanon but also the dramatically new environment following the ouster of Bashar Assad, a senior U.N. official says. “It’s a triple crisis and the needs are going to be massive,” said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, in an interview with The Associated Press late Wednesday. The WFP estimated that 3 million people in Syria were “acutely food insecure” and very hungry. However, that estimate was made before the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon pushed many Syrian refugees back to their home country, plus the instability caused by the overthrow of Assad. Due to funding cuts, the WFP had been targeting only 2 million of those people, he said. Because WFP has been working in Syria during the 13-year civil war, he said, it has pre-positioned food in the country. It has 500 staff in seven offices nationwide and has operated across conflict lines, across borders, and with all different parties, he said. Skau said Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main rebel group now in control of Syria, has promised to provide security for WFP warehouses. Humanitarian aid supplies had been looted at U.N. warehouses in the disorder after Assad fell. “We’re not really up and running in Damascus because of the continued kind of uncertainty there,” he said. WFP initially thought of relocating non-essential staff but the situation in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, has been “quite calm and orderly," he said. In the short term, Skau said, “what we’re seeing is that markets are disrupted, the value of the currency dropped dramatically, food prices are going up, transport lines don’t work,” and it’s unclear who will stamp required papers for imports and exports. This means that a bigger humanitarian response is needed initially, he said, but in the next phase, the U,N. will be looking at contributing to Syria’s recovery, and ultimately the country will need reconstruction. Skau said he expects a new funding appeal for Syria and urged donors to be generous. JERUSALEM — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Jerusalem on Thursday that Israel’s ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for another deal to end the war in Gaza. He plans to travel next to Qatar and Egypt — key mediators in the ceasefire talks — as the Biden administration makes a final push on negotiations before Donald Trump is inaugurated. Sullivan said “Hamas’ posture at the negotiating table did adapt” after Israel decimated the leadership of its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and reached a ceasefire there. “We believe it puts us in a position to close this negotiation,” he said. Sullivan dismissed speculation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was waiting for Trump to take office to finalize a deal. He the U.S. believes there are three American hostages still alive in Gaza, but it’s hard to know for sure. He also said “the balance of power in the Middle East has changed significantly” since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, especially with the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally of Hezbollah and Iran. “We are now faced with a dramatically reshaped Middle East in which Israel is stronger, Iran is weaker, its proxies decimated, and a ceasefire that is new and will be lasting in Lebanon that ensures Israel’s security over the long term,” he said. KHIAM, Lebanon — An Israeli strike killed at least one person Thursday in the Lebanese border town of Khiam, the Health Ministry said, less than a day after Israeli troops handed the hilltop village back to the Lebanese army in coordination with U.N. peacekeepers, Khiam is the first Lebanese town Israel has pull out of since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants began two weeks ago, and marks an important test of the fragile truce . Lebanon's Health Ministry and state news agency did not provide details on who was killed, and did not report airstrikes elsewhere on Thursday. The Israeli military said the airstrike in Khiam targeted Hezbollah fighters. Lebanese troops deployed in the northern section of the town on Thursday morning and were coordinating with U.N. peacekeepers to finalize Israel’s withdrawal before fully entering into other neighborhoods. An Associated Press reporter who visited Khiam on Thursday observed widespread destruction, with most houses reduced to rubble. Entire neighborhoods were flattened, with collapsed walls and debris scattered across the streets. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, sharply criticized Israel for striking the town less than 24 hours after the Lebanese army returned, saying it was “a violation of the pledges made by the parties that sponsored the ceasefire agreement, who must act to curb Israeli aggression.” The truce was brokered by the U.S. and France. Israel has previously said the ceasefire deal allows it to use military force against perceived violations. Near-daily attacks by Israel during the ceasefire, mostly in southern Lebanon, have killed at least 29 people and wounded 27 others. Khiam, which sits on a ridge less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the border with Israel, saw some of the most intense fighting during the war. The Lebanese army was clearing debris and reopening roads in the northern section of the town. Civilian access to other areas remained challenging as the army clears roads and works alongside the U.N. peacekeepers to ensure the area is free of unexploded ordnance. AQABA, Jordan -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is urging the many players in Syria to avoid taking any steps that could lead to further violence. Blinken spoke to reporters in Jordan on Thursday shortly after meeting King Abdullah II as he opened a trip in the region to discuss Syria's future after former President Bashar Assad's ouster. Blinken will next visit Turkey, a NATO ally and a main backer of Syrian rebel groups. Blinken called this “a time of both real promise but also peril for Syria and for its neighbors.” He said he was focused on coordinating efforts in the region “to support the Syrian people as they transition away from Assad’s brutal dictatorship” and establish a government that isn’t dominated by one religion or ethnic group or outside power. Blinken was asked about Israel’s incursion into a buffer zone that had been demilitarized for the past half century. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the move is temporary and defensive, but also indicated Israel will remain in the area for a long time. Blinken declined to say whether the U.S. supports the move, but said the U.S. would be speaking to Israel and other partners in the region. “I think, across the board, when it comes to any actors who have real interests in Syria, it’s also really important at this time that, we all try to make sure that we’re not sparking any additional conflicts,” he said. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, arrived in Damascus on Thursday, according to Turkish media reports. Kalin was seen arriving at the Umayyad Mosque to pray, surrounded by a large crowd, according to video shown on Turkish television. The visit is highly symbolic. Turkish officials, who supported the opposition against Syria’s government, had predicted at the start of the civil war in 2011 that President Bashar Assad’s government would fall, allowing them to pray at the Umayyad Mosque. JERUSALEM — Paraguay reopened its embassy in Jerusalem Thursday, becoming one of a small handful of nations to recognize the city as Israel’s capital and marking a diplomatic victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s international isolation has increased as the war in Gaza drags on, and Paraguay was the first country to move its embassy to Jerusalem since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that kickstarted the war. The United States, Honduras, Guatemala, Kosovo, and Papua New Guinea are among the few countries with Jerusalem embassies. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1967 but it wasn’t recognized by the international community, and most countries run their embassies out of Tel Aviv. Spirits were high at the ceremony marking the embassy’s inauguration Thursday, with Netanyahu and Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar lavishing praise on Paraguayan President Santiago Pena. “My good friend Santiago,” said Netanyahu, addressing Pena. “We’re a small nation. You’re a small nation. We suffered horrible things but we overcame the odds of history...we can win and we are winning.” Paraguay had an embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, under Former President Horacio Cartes. That embassy was moved back to Tel Aviv by Cartes’ successor, Mario Abdo Benitez, prompting Israel to close its embassy in Asuncion. Saar said Israel and Paraguay shared a “friendship based not only on interests but also values and principles.” He and the Paraguayan foreign minister, Rubén Ramírez Lezcano, signed a series of bilateral agreements and Saar said he would soon visit Asunción with a delegation from the Israeli private sector. “Israel is going to win and the countries we are standing next to Israel, we are going to win," Pena said. AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is renewing calls for Syria’s new leadership to respect women and minority rights, prevent extremists from gaining new footholds in the country and keeping suspected chemical weapons stocks secure as he makes his first visit to the Mideast since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad . Making his 12th trip to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war erupted lasted year but amid fresh concerns about security following the upheaval in Syria, Blinken emphasized Thursday to Jordan’s King Abdullah II U.S. “support for an inclusive transition that can lead to an accountable and representative Syrian government chosen by the Syrian people,” the State Department said. Blinken also repeated the importance the outgoing Biden administration puts on respect for human rights and international law, the protection of civilians and stopping terrorist groups from reconstituting. Blinken met with the monarch and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Aqaba before traveling to Turkey for talks with Turkish officials on the situation in Syria and the urgency of securing a long-elusive deal to release hostages and end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian territory since October 2023. Abdullah told Blinken that “the first step to reach comprehensive regional calm is to end the Israeli war on Gaza." GENEVA — The U.N. envoy for Syria is calling on authorities to save evidence from detention centers that were a hub of “unimaginable barbarity” that Syrians have faced for many years and cooperate with international investigators looking into such crimes. Geir Pederson referred to new images from the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital, Damascus, after President Bashar Assad fled Syria as armed groups stormed in to overthrow his government over the weekend. “The images from Saydnaya and other detention facilities starkly underscore the unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured and reported for years,” Pedersen said in a statement. Documentation and testimonies “only scratch the surface of the carceral system’s horrors,” he added. Pedersen urged authorities to cooperate with U.N. bodies like an independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was created in 2011, and an independent group known as the IIIM that was set up five years later to also compile evidence of crimes. ROME — Leaders of the Group of 7 industrialized nations offered their full support for an inclusive political transition in Syria and invited all parties to preserve the country’s territorial integrity. In a message released by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office, the leaders said they were ready to support a transition that “leads to a credible government, inclusive and not sectarian, that guarantees respect for the state of law, universal human rights, including rights for women, (and) the protection of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities.” The leaders also underlined the importance that ousted President Bashar Assad’s government is held responsible for crimes, citing “decades of atrocities.” They said they would also cooperate with groups working to prohibit chemical weapons “to secure, declare and destroy” remaining chemical arms in Syria. Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the G-7, which also includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it struck Hamas militants in two locations in the southern Gaza Strip who planned to hijack aid convoys. Palestinian Health officials had earlier said that the two strikes killed 15 men who were part of local committees established to secure aid deliveries. The committees have been organized in cooperation with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza. It was not possible to independently confirm either account of the strikes, which occurred overnight into Thursday. Israel has long accused Hamas of hijacking humanitarian aid deliveries, while U.N. officials have said there is no systemic diversion of aid . U.N. agencies and aid groups say deliveries are held up by Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid and movement within Gaza, as well as the breakdown of law and order more than 14 months into the war between Israel and Hamas. Israel has repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, which maintained internal security before the war. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, said a U.N. convoy of 70 trucks carrying humanitarian aid in southern Gaza “was involved in a serious incident,” resulting in just one of the trucks reaching its destination. It did not provide further details on the incident but said the same route had been used successfully two days earlier. Israel’s offensive, launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, leaving the territory heavily reliant on international food aid. DAMASCUS, Syria — An American who turned up in Syria on Thursday says he was detained after crossing into the country by foot on a Christian pilgrimage seven months ago. Travis Timmerman appears to have been among thousands of people released from the country’s notorious prisons after rebels reached Damascus over the weekend, overthrowing President Bashar Assad and ending his family’s 54-year rule. As video emerged online of Timmerman on Thursday, he was initially mistaken by some for Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago. In the video, Timmerman could be seen lying on a mattress under a blanket in what appeared to be a private house. A group of men in the video said he was being treated well and would be safely returned home. The Biden administration is working to bring Timmerman home, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Aqaba, Jordan, without offering details, citing privacy. Timmerman later gave an interview with the Al-Arabiya TV network, saying he had illegally crossed into Syria on foot from the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle seven months ago, before being detained. He said he was treated well in detention but could hear other men being tortured. AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Jordan on his 12th visit to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year and his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad that has sparked new fears of instability in a region wracked by three conflicts despite a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Blinken was meeting in Aqaba with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday before traveling to Turkey for talks with Turkish officials on Friday. The meetings will focus largely on Syria but also touch on long-elusive hopes for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian territory since October 2023. Blinken is the latest senior U.S. official to visit the Middle East in the five days since Assad was deposed as the Biden administration navigates more volatility in the region in its last few weeks in office and as President-elect Donald Trump has said the U.S. should stay out of the Syrian conflict. Other include national security adviser Jake Sullivan and a top military commander who traveled there as the U.S. and Israel have launched airstrikes to prevent the Islamic State militant group from reconstituting and prevent materiel and suspected chemical weapons stocks from falling into militant hands. Blinken “will discuss the need for the transition process and new government in Syria to respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance, prevent Syria from being used as a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” the State Department said. The U.S. would be willing to recognize and fully support a new Syrian government that met those criteria. U.S. officials say they are not actively reviewing the foreign terrorist organization designation of the main Syrian rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, which was once an al-Qaida affiliate, but stressed they are not barred from speaking to its members. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces will remain in a Syrian buffer zone until a new force on the other side of the border can guarantee security. After the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israeli forces pushed into a buffer zone that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war. The military says it has seized additional strategic points nearby. Israeli officials have said the move is temporary, but Netanyahu’s conditions could take months or even years to fulfill as Syria charts its post-Assad future, raising the prospect of an open-ended Israeli presence in the country. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Thursday that Assad’s overthrow by jihadi rebels created a vacuum on the border. “Israel will not permit jihadi groups to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with October 7th style attacks,” it said, referring to Hamas’ 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there. “That is why Israeli forces entered the buffer zone and took control of strategic sites near Israel’s border.” The statement added that “this deployment is temporary until a force that is committed to the 1974 agreement can be established and security on our border can be guaranteed.” The buffer zone is adjacent to the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. The international community, except for the United States, views the Golan as occupied Syrian territory. JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Thursday that the attacker who fatally shot a 12-year-old Israeli boy in the occupied West Bank overnight turned himself in to authorities. The attacker opened fire on a bus near the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit, critically wounding the boy, who hospital authorities pronounced dead in the early morning. Three others were wounded in the attack, paramedics said. The shooting took place just outside Jerusalem in an area near major Israeli settlements. JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian government has evacuated 37 citizens from Syria following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government, officials said Thursday. The evacuees were taken by land from Damascus to Beirut, where they boarded three commercial flights to Jakarta, said Judha Nugraha, director of citizen protection at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The Indonesian Embassy in Damascus said all 1,162 Indonesian citizens in Syria were safe. Indonesian Ambassador to Syria Wajid Fauzi said the situation in Syria has gradually returned to normal. “I can say that 98% of people’s lives are back to normal, shops are open, public transportation has started running,” Fauzi said, adding that most Indonesian nationals living in Syria had chosen to stay. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. One of the strikes overnight and into Thursday flattened a house in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies at the hospital’s morgue. Two other strikes killed 15 men who were part of local committees established to secure aid convoys . The committees were set up by displaced Palestinians in coordination with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. The Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis received the bodies and an AP reporter counted them. The hospital said eight were killed in a strike near the southern border town of Rafah and seven others in a strike 30 minutes later near Khan Younis. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel’s offensive 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 fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames U.N. agencies for not distributing it. The U.N. says Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order after Israel repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, make it extremely difficult to operate in the territory. UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved resolutions Wednesday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban . The votes in the 193-nation world body were 158-9 with 13 abstentions to demand a ceasefire now and 159-9 with 11 abstentions to support the agency known as UNRWA. The votes culminated two days of speeches overwhelmingly calling for an end to the 14-month war between Israel and the militant Hamas group . General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly. Israel and its close ally, the United States, were in a tiny minority speaking and voting against the resolutions.

If confirmed, it would be the latest data point in a growing trend of FCS football teams hiring well-known former players -- with little to no prior coaching experience -- in an effort to stand out. Jackson, 38, has no connection to Delaware State but according to ESPN, "it has always been a dream" of his to coach at an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities). Earlier this month, Norfolk State hired Michael Vick to take over the Spartans' program. Vick, who also reportedly heard from Sacramento State, hails from the Norfolk, Va., area. Norfolk State is one of Delaware State's rivals in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Colorado coach Deion Sanders spent three seasons (2020-22) as the head coach of Jackson State before moving up to the FBS level. His only prior coaching experience came at the high school level, including at his own short-lived charter school in Texas, "Prime Prep Academy." Jackson last played for the Baltimore Ravens in 2022. He is best known for two stints with the Philadelphia Eagles (2008-13, 2019-20) and played for a total of six teams in a 15-year NFL career. Jackson caught 641 passes for 11,263 yards and 58 touchdowns, adding four rushing touchdowns and four punt return touchdowns in 183 career games. Delaware State went 1-11 in 2024 (0-5 MEAC) and fired coach Lee Hull after the season. The Hornets have not had a winning season since going 6-5 in 2012. --Field Level Mediahacker Photo: VCG Senior White House officials met on Friday with telecommunications executives to discuss what the White House called "China's significant cyber espionage campaign targeting the sector," Reuters reported, which Chinese experts believe to be another round of persistent hype surrounding the issue of China. The White House meeting was hosted by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology. "The meeting was an opportunity to hear from telecommunications sector executives on how the US Government can partner with and support the private sector on hardening against sophisticated nation state attacks," the White House said in a statement. Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Washington Post on Thursday the breach was "worst telecom hack in [US] history - by far." Experts revealed that the US deliberately fabricates evidence of cyberattacks to tarnish China's image. On May 24, 2023, cybersecurity authorities from the Five Eyes countries - the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand - issued a joint advisory, claiming they had identified activities linked to a "China state-sponsored cyber actor" called Volt Typhoon, which had impacted networks across US critical infrastructure. On April 15 and July 8, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and 360 Digital Security Group released reports exposing the Volt Typhoon narrative as a fabrication by the US government. Multiple cybersecurity authorities in the US have been pushing a false narrative to secure more funding, while companies like Microsoft seek larger contracts from these agencies, according to the investigation. In October, China released the third report on Volt Typhoon, while the US side remained silent on the matter. It can be said that the narrative of "China threat" and "China collapse" appears frequently, with often-changing themes, such as reports from Microsoft or issues in the telecommunications industry, Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. "These arguments all lack factual basis, and they continually shift the so-called subjects of infringement. Many of the information sources are anonymous and lack substantial support," Lü said. As Lü put it: "The international community sees clearly who is conducting long-term monitoring and espionage on its allies, carrying out indiscriminate cyberattacks on other countries. The actions of the US, lacking substantial evidence, will ultimately expose only the vulnerabilities in its own security system." Responding to a similar US accusation of Chinese "state-sponsored hackers," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on November 14 that: "We have no interest in interfering in other countries' internal affairs through cyberspace and oppose spreading China-related disinformation out of a political agenda."iPhone 16 Pro available at Rs 1,02,500 after a Rs 16,000 discount and bank offers during Vijay Sales' Apple Days. iPhone 16 gets a Rs 9,000 price cut, now priced at Rs 66,900 with additional bank discounts. Customers can also get bank offers, EMI options and more. iPhone 16 Pro price in India: Apple’s flagship devices are rarely discounted, but customers can get massive discounts on the iPhone 16 Pro during Vijay Sales’ Apple Days sale. For the unversed, the Vijay Sales Apple Days sale is already live and will conclude on January 5. During these 5 days, customers can save big on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro along with other Apple products. So, if you are planning to buy a new flagship iPhone for yourself, this can be the best time. Check iPhone 16, and iPhone 16 Pro price deals here. iPhone 16 Pro price, offers, and discounts The iPhone 16 Pro is listed at a Rs 13,000 price cut. Customers can buy the device at Rs 1,06,900 without any bank offers on the platform. Launched at Rs 1,19,900 in India, the device is available in four different colours. Additionally, the customers can get up to Rs 4,500 bank discounts on using select bank cards including HDFC or RBL bank cards, bringing down the price to Rs 1,02,500. Customers can also trade in their old devices and get significant price reductions. Customers can opt-in for the no-cost EMI options. READ: iPhone 15 now available for under Rs 50,000 on Flipkart: Here’s how the deal works iPhone 16 price, discounts and offers Along with the iPhone 16 Pro, the customers can also save big on the iPhone 16. The vanilla trim is currently listed at Rs 70,990, a massive Rs 9,000 price cut. The customers can also get Rs 4,000 off on using select bank cards bringing down the price to Rs 66,900. However, only Ultramarine colour is available for the customers, and the rest are tagged as ‘Out of Stock’. It is worth noting that the above-mentioned deals and prices are for the base variants and the customers can choose storage options as per their requirements and avail discounts as listed on the platform. Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. Previously, he worked as a Senior Sub-Editor with Jagran English from 2022, and has been a journalist since 2020, with experience at Times Internet. Ashish specializes in Technology. In his free time, you can find him exploring new gadgets, gaming, and discovering new places. View Full Profile

University of Idaho students travel across the campus during a change in classes. (Courtesy of University of Idaho) Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on December 11, 2024 Soon after the State Board of Education began talking about restricting diversity, equity and inclusion programs on campuses, Nick Koenig and other University of Idaho students began fanning out. They started collecting student testimonials about the U of I’s Office of Equity and Diversity — and its programs for women, Black and Latino students and LGBTQ students. “I had sexual trauma resurface causing me to have a panic attack,” wrote one student. “Going to the women’s center, the staff supported me and lent me a shoulder to cry on.” “These offices were the one place I could be my authentic self. No need to ‘fix’ the way I spoke or to ‘hide’ my accent,” wrote a second student. “If it were not for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Black/African American Cultural Center, I don’t know if I would have graduated, let alone be pursuing a master’s degree.” The testimonials aligned with Koenig’s own experience. A doctoral student who teaches climate science and sociology, Koenig moved from Kentucky to Moscow in 2022, after a Zoom call with the former head of the U of I’s LGBTQA office. “It was absolutely the reason I came,” Koenig said last week. “My story is just one of the numerous stories of these kinds of support services and how they operate day to day.” Koenig has forwarded the 66 student testimonials to the State Board — and to a legislative task force scrutinizing DEI programs. But the State Board is likely to vote next Wednesday on a resolution to limit DEI on campus. And while the U of I says it is waiting to see what the State Board does, Boise State University and Idaho State University have already reined in their own DEI initiatives. By design, or by coincidence, the two universities are backing away from a showdown with the State Board and the Legislature. The heart of the DEI resolution reads as follows: “Institutions shall ensure that no central office, policy, procedure, or initiative is dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion.” The State Board would carve out a series of exceptions — covering federal research grants, accreditation or NCAA rules, among other items. Exceptions aside, the State Board resolution would shut down campus centers that have a DEI component. “Institutions shall ensure that all student success centers are dedicated to all students ... regardless of personal identity characteristics.” The proposal has Gov. Brad Little’s blessing. “Little has long supported the idea that all Idahoans be given the same opportunities to succeed,” spokeswoman Joan Varsek said this week. And while the State Board is taking online comments from students through Friday , that doesn’t change the fact that its resolution has political momentum behind it. If the State Board votes next week, at its last scheduled meeting of the year, the board’s resolution could get out ahead of the Legislature. The Legislature’s DEI task force hasn’t offered any specific proposals yet, and it won’t meet again until the week of Jan. 6, the opening week of the 2025 session. Meanwhile, Boise State and Idaho State have moved first. Months before the Legislature’s task force began its work — and months before the State Board unveiled its DEI resolution — Boise State administrators began talking about closing its Gender Equity Center and its Student Equity Center. It’s unclear exactly when Boise State decided to close the centers. But in a Sept. 24 memo to legislative staff, the university’s government affairs team said the closure was a done deal. (The Legislature’s DEI task force held its first meeting on Oct. 23.) “We’ve been aware of the conversations happening at the state board level and the legislative level,” Jeremiah Shinn, Boise State’s vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, said in an interview Tuesday. “We wanted to be as proactive as we can.” The two equity centers — with nine staffers and a combined budget of about $700,000 — closed on Nov. 29. The money will stay in student support programs, but some of the employees are leaving Boise State. “It won’t be the same staff to a person,” Shinn said. The centerpiece in Boise State’s shift is pretty much what the State Board has in mind: a one-stop shop, the newly opened Student Connections and Success Center. In their Sept. 24 memo to legislative staff, Boise State said it would gear the new center toward a variety of demographic groups that struggle to stay in school: first-generation students, rural students, low-income students eligible for federal Pell grants, Hispanic students, and male students. It’s going to look different, but Shinn says he believes Boise State will be able to serve the different needs of all student groups under one roof. “This is new territory for us and certainly we’ll learn a lot in the coming weeks and semesters,” he said. On Nov. 14 — one week before the State Board’s first hearing on the DEI resolution — Idaho State President Robert Wagner announced said his university would close its Diversity Resource Center and its Gender Resource Center. Both had operated on campus for 20 years or longer, and had a combined budget of close to $150,000. The centers’ programs will move into Idaho State’s own one-stop shop, dubbed the Bengal Student Success Center. Wagner is promising what he calls “a hub for academic growth.” But compliance is at least part of the equation. “This shift allows us to consolidate efforts and provide more streamlined, impactful support for all students while adhering to state guidelines,” Wagner said in a memo to students and staff . For the time being, the U of I’s Office of Equity and Diversity is still intact. That also goes for the programs under its bailiwick: the College Assistance Migrant Program , the Black/African American Cultural Center , the LGBTQA Office , the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Women’s Center . The office has close to 11 full-time staffers and an annual budget exceeding $1.3 million. The Legislature has banned all colleges and universities from using taxpayer funding for DEI programs, so almost all of this $1.3 million comes from student fees. That status quo is certain to change if the State Board resolution passes. The U of I has a “rough idea” of how it would put all of its student support programs under one umbrella, spokeswoman Jodi Walker said Tuesday. But the U of I wants to wait to see what comes from the State Board, to avoid the upheaval that could come from closing and reopening student centers. “We want to align,” she said. “We don’t have to do this twice.” But at the same time, the U of I has been trying to assure the university community that the student programs will not go away. “Maybe we are going to serve them and support them in ways that look different than what we’ve done in the past, maybe it’s from a different office, maybe it’s from different units, but still trying to meet the needs of students and employees as well,” Provost Torrey Lawrence said at a recent Faculty Senate meeting, according to the Lewiston Tribune . Koenig expects the U of I to give in eventually, in order to appease a Legislature that has cut past higher education budgets over DEI. “It sucks that it’s always the most marginalized that are thrown out first ... to save the bottom line,” Koenig said. And that might affect Koenig’s future. Koenig, who uses the pronouns they and them, studies tree rings to gauge climate change. Koenig loves Idaho and its limitless forests. But depending on what happens next legislative session, Koenig said they might leave the state. At this point, the defense of DEI isn’t coming from university leaders — who say they are committed to supporting students of all backgrounds, but who also have to work with the State Board and the Legislature. Instead, that support is bubbling up from the grass roots level. In the days leading up to their most recent meeting on Dec. 2, members of the legislative task force received a flurry of more than three dozen emails from Idahoans, urging the lawmakers to leave DEI programs alone. The emails — obtained by Idaho Education News, through a public records request — came from current and former U of I students, retired educators and a woman who called herself “a concerned grandmother” of a U of I student. “There are certain programs that benefit my granddaughter, such as the Women’s Center,” she wrote. “These are safe places of support and community.” The 66 U of I testimonials — collected by Koenig and fellow students — represent a sliver of an enrollment of nearly 12,300. But one pattern emerged from this small sample. If the U of I’s DEI programs go away, three-fourths of the respondents said they would reconsider attending the U of I or supporting their university. “I definitely wouldn’t want to support a university that doesn’t care for its students and isn’t willing to fight for them,” said one student. “If the university isn’t willing to protect academia then what is it willing to do at all? Why even exist as an institution?” Kevin Richert writes a weekly analysis on education policy and education politics. Look for his stories each Thursday. Due to the timeliness of the topic, this week’s analysis was published on Wednesday, Dec. 11. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOXblackjack online game 。

NORAD's Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids

"I have always looked up to the past captains of AC Milan and dreamed of following in their footsteps," Gabia shared in a recent interview. "Becoming the captain of this historic club would be a great honor for me, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to earn that privilege."Following Mr. Li's speech, government officials and industry leaders took to the stage to sign the official agreements, solidifying their commitment to utilizing the CIBTC platform for their barter trade transactions. The signing ceremony was filled with excitement and anticipation, as each participant recognized the potential of this platform to revolutionize the way businesses conduct trade.

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is slated make his season debut Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers following offseason ankle surgery. The 7-foot-2 Latvian center was upgraded from probable to available about an 90 minutes before tipoff, though Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said how much he'd play was to be determined. Veteran center Al Horford, who has started 14 of the Celtics 17 games this season, is out Monday with an illness. Fellow big man Luke Kornet is also sitting out as he continues to deal with hamstring tightness. “He has worked hard, he's in good shape. We'll put him in position to be healthy and be successful and do what's best for the team,” Mazzulla said. “He's been pretty consistent, just based on his work ethic and what he's done to get to this point.” Porzingis had surgery to fix a tear in the tissue that holds the ankle tendons in place. The issue limited him to seven playoff games during the Celtics' NBA championship run last season. Boston is 14-3 this season, but has missed his presence on the inside, with teams routinely outscoring the defending champions in the paint. Mazzulla acknowledged that how Porzingis plays on the offensive end, particularly how he operates sometimes out of the high and low post, will force some adjustment from how the team has played this season without him on the floor. “I think last year we had an opportunity to see how teams were guarding him,” Mazzulla said. "That'll take a little bit of time to figure out what the coverages are, just get used to that spacing. That'll take some time. ... Then we'll figure out how we go from there." The original window for Porzingis' return following surgery was five to six months. But Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said before the season that they didn't want to hold to a specific timeline because of the uniqueness of the injury. Porzingis injured his ankle in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks and missed the next two games. He returned for Game 5, contributing five points and one rebound in 16 minutes as the Celtics beat Dallas 106-88 to clinch their record 18th title. Porzingis averaged 20 points and seven rebounds in 57 games for last season. He signed a $60 million, two-year extension with Boston in the summer of 2023 after the Celtics acquired him in a trade with Washington. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

A big shopping deadline is drawing near for some people, and it has nothing to do with the holidays. Millions of people use flexible spending accounts to help pay for health care, and some may lose money left in those accounts if they don’t spend it by year’s end. There are many ways to spend that use-it-or-use it balance __ think raiding the local drugstore __ but it’s important to understand FSA rules before going on a shopping spree. Here are some things to consider. FSAs let you set aside money from your paycheck before taxes to cover a wide range of medical expenses like copays, deductibles, eyeglasses and other supplies. They are set up through your employer, and individuals can set aside up to $3,300 in these accounts. Figuring out the right amount to set aside can be tricky because it involves forecasting how much care you might need. And you have to use the money by a certain point or you lose it. They can vary by employer or plan administrator. In some cases, you may have to spend the money by Dec. 31 or you will lose it. But many plans offer a grace period in the new year to let people use their remaining funds or they allow participants to carry over some of the leftover balance. “Make sure you understand the clock and the rules,” said David Feinberg of Justworks, a technology company that helps small businesses with benefits. There are limits. The IRS, for instance, limits the balance carried over to $660 for 2025. Any amounts over that could be lost if they are still in your account by the plan deadline. Think of medical expenses not covered by insurance. The IRS keeps a huge list of eligible expenses for both FSAs and health savings accounts. But companies can limit the expenses they’ll reimburse, so employees should check with their employers. Eligible expenses can include travel costs to the doctor’s office, eyeglasses, bandages, sunscreen, condoms and tampons. FSA dollars may even be used to cover things like gym memberships or electric massagers if you have a doctor’s note stating that they are medically necessary. But they don’t cover things like health insurance premiums or certain cosmetic procedures like teeth whitening. Do you have any receipts from health care you could submit, like the copayment for a doctor’s office visit? That would qualify. Some plan administrators watch for stockpiling. Don’t buy a crate of aspirin to use up your balance. Limit purchases to about a year’s supply. Items can be bought in stores or online. Health savings accounts, or HSAs, also allow you to set aside money before taxes. The difference is that you won't lose the balance, you can keep the account if you leave your job, and some plans let you invest the money. HSAs can only be paired with high-deductible insurance plans. Account holders can contribute several thousand dollars each year, depending on the type of coverage they have. FSAs work with more types of coverage. And the help they offer can be more immediate. The money you decide to set aside over the course of the year is available right away. That can help people facing a big medical expense like a surgery at the start of a year, said Nicky Brown of Health Equity, which manages about 3 million FSAs. ____ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Elon Musk blasts Australia’s planned ban on social media for childrenI'm a Celebrity viewers all have the same complaint as show sees the return of epic cyclone challengedrawing online game 。

Since it was formed in 2000, the mineral-rich state of Jharkhand has been riven by multiple fault lines. But none were as prominent as the social one between the tribal communities, which form a little over a fourth of the state’s population, and non-tribal communities. The tension between these two large umbrella groups created an instability that ensured that no government could complete a five-year term and return to power. They were also spatially segregated — the tribespeople largely in the Santhal Parganas and Kolhan regions, and the non-tribal communities in the North Chhotanagpur region, also home to the coal mining and industrial corridor spread across the Dhanbad-Bokaro-Hazaribag belt. Going into the Jharkhand polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a simple plan — limit the JMM-led alliance to the tribal-dominated regions, arrest Soren’s appeal among non-Santhal tribes (the chief minister belongs to the largest tribal community, the Santhals), and maximise its catchment among the non-tribal regions of the state. In a state where the mandate has been historically fragmented, the party had reason to believe this was a winning strategy, especially after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won all eight non-reserved Lok Sabha constituencies in this summer’s general elections. It had a reasonable belief that the tribal-non-tribal fault line could lend itself to communal polarisation. It did not work. Not only did the JMM-led alliance win the elections with a mandate higher than its tally in 2019, it also made Hemant Soren the first chief minister of the state to complete a full term (he was out of the saddle for about five months due to his imprisonment over corruption charges) and then retain power. More importantly, the JMM-led alliance’s commanding performance erased some of the historic differences between tribal and non-tribal seats, helping the INDIA bloc post victories across the board. How did it happen? The BJP ran an aggressive campaign focussed on alleged infiltration by outsiders and Bangladeshis into Jharkhand. The party released a television ad and told rally after rally that these outsiders were aimed at making indigenous communities homeless in Jharkhand, and that the JMM-led government was helping these outsiders to corner reservation benefits. The strategy was aimed at driving a wedge between the tribal and Muslim vote banks — two crucial bases of the JMM-led alliance. In response, the JMM didn’t engage directly with the allegation but only said that the protection of borders was the prerogative of the central government. Every time a senior BJP leader spoke about infiltration, the JMM sought to switch the conversation to Hemant Soren’s imprisonment and the treatment of a tribal man at the hands of the central government — a pitch it was relatively more confident about. In the battle between aggression and sympathy, the latter eventually won. Throughout the campaign, Soren was careful to keep the focus on himself and asked the BJP repeatedly who its chief ministerial candidate was. The BJP dithered on its answer even as many people expected Babulal Marandi, a former chief minister and the state unit chief, to step up if the party performed well. For some time, it appeared that Champai Soren, Hemant’s former lieutenant who became CM in his stead and then left the JMM after feeling sidelined, could fill the void. But the Kolhan Tiger didn’t have a pan-state appeal, and his influence was largely limited to his seat of Saraikela. A final blow to the BJP’s campaign came from an unexpected quarter — via a 29-year-old man with short-cropped hair and an aggressive tone. Whenever Jairam Mahto would go on the campaign trail, standing atop a car as two underlings grasped hold of a leg each, frenzied crowds would follow with loudspeakers blaring the slogans: “Dekho Dekho Kaun Aaya, Tiger Aaya, Tiger Aaya” (See, the Tiger has arrived) and “Jairam Mahto Zindabad” (Long Live Jairam Mahto). Mahto’s youthful pitch to the Kudmi community, focussing on self-respect, jobs, and economic security struck a chord in the impoverished mining belt. On Saturday, Mahto posted an emphatic victory from the JMM stronghold of Dumri, defeating sitting minister Bebi Devi. More importantly, candidates put up by his Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha played spoiler on 14 seats, ensuring the defeat of candidates from the BJP and its ally All Jharkhand Students Union in at least 11 seats. Mahto’s appeal damaged the BJP’s plans among its erstwhile loyal Kudmi-Mahto base and hurt the BJP’s chances among non-tribals. The tribal-non-tribal fault line had been bridged to an extent, but not in the way the BJP had intended.

CEO Pedro Martinez wins temporary restraining order against school board after ousterNone

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in waterways presents a critical threat . If commonly used antibiotics are deemed useless, decades of progress in human medicine and agriculture could be undermined. By 2050, AMR could cause 10 million deaths annually, according to the UN Environment Programme . But AMR is not just a human health issue. It also contributes to a decline in water quality and is exacerbated by water pollution, particularly from sources such as sewage and agricultural runoff. So, it’s a significant environmental concern with far-reaching implications. Addressing AMR in water is challenging because water systems are complex and can carry many different types of resistant bacteria. The lack of efficient, scalable and globally accessible methods to monitor AMR in water makes it difficult to mitigate this growing threat. I recently published a review in the Sustainable Microbiology journal that identifies key trends in AMR detection methods and highlights significant gaps. Rivers, lakes and wastewater systems around the world act as reservoirs and pathways for resistant superbugs and their genes, allowing AMR to spread across ecosystems, affecting wildlife, agriculture and human populations. River water is the most studied source of water samples, making up 42% of AMR-related research studies. Other water sources, including lakes and wastewater, may also play a key role in spreading resistant genes but, without detailed analysis, will remain misunderstood. Most AMR research comes from three countries: the US (17%), China (10%) and Brazil (9%). This shows where the focus is, but many other regions, especially low-income countries, are not well studied. This is concerning because AMR may be even more serious in these areas, yet data is lacking. To detect AMR, scientists primarily use two advanced molecular methods: polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (used in 57% of studies) and metagenomics (27%), alongside traditional culture-based methods that involve growing bacteria in a lab. Culture-based methods are simpler and cheaper than molecular methods but cannot be used onsite. They also can’t detect dead bacteria or hidden resistance genes. PCR amplifies specific DNA sequences for detection and can be used to identify specific bacteria. Metagenomics is a technique that analyses all of the genetic material from entire microbial communities within a sample, offering a broader perspective. These advanced methods are better at detecting AMR in rivers, lakes and oceans. They can find both known and new types of resistance, making them more useful for thorough monitoring. In Brazil , scientists used metagenomics to search for all of the different resistance genes present in waterways in different cities. This technique can detect patterns of resistance that regular tests can’t. While these methods are time-consuming and complicated (because they need specialised equipment and trained staff) and can be expensive, costing thousands of euros, they could be used more widely if funding is available. This would help track antibiotic resistance around the world, making it easier to find and fight. One Europe-wide study shows that culture methods failed to find all the resistance genes in contaminated river systems in ten countries, while advanced metagenomic techniques were able to identify them. So, molecular tools are crucial for understanding the true extent of AMR. My review shows a shift towards molecular techniques as the gold standard for AMR detection. It highlights the inadequacies of traditional culture-based methods and the need for integrated approaches that combine molecular techniques such as PCR (for detecting specific resistance genes) with metagenomics (for broader microbial community analysis). For example, wastewater monitoring programs could use PCR to quickly identify key resistance genes in hotspots while employing metagenomics to map the diversity of resistant organisms. This would offer a more balanced approach that optimises cost, efficiency, and accessibility. A hybrid approach By mapping global research efforts, I identified underrepresented regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia. I also found that certain water sources were underrepresented, particularly rivers in low-income countries. Without more equitable and comprehensive AMR surveillance, those will not be accounted for. To make accurate AMR detection more accessible to all, hybrid approaches that combine the comprehensive detection capabilities of molecular methods with the affordability of culture-based methods will be essential. Governments around the world must prioritise investments in technologies that are not only scientifically robust but also economically viable, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. New methods such as PCR and metagenomics can help us fight the spread of drug resistance. If we can make these methods cheaper and easier to use it could help us manage wastewater better, improve global tracking of drug resistance and make decisions that protect both people and the environment from superbugs. Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like? Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

Heavy travel day starts with brief grounding of all American Airlines flights'Lies and deceit suffered a crushing defeat': PM Modi on Mahayuti's landslide win in Maharashtra

WASHINGTON — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a national ground stop for the airline. The order, which prevented planes from taking off, was issued at the airline's request after it experienced trouble with its flight operating system, or FOS. The airline blamed technology from one of its vendors. As a result, flights were delayed across American's major hubs, with only 36% of the airline's 3,901 domestic and international flights leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company; 51 flights were canceled. An American Airlines employee wearing looks toward quiet check-in counters Tuesday in the American terminal at Miami International Airport in Miami. Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said the airline told pilots at 7 a.m. Eastern that there was an outage affecting the FOS system. It handles different types of airline operations, including dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, as well as an airplane's weight and balance data, he said. Some components of FOS went down in the past, but a systemwide outage is rare, Tajer said. Hours after the ground stop was lifted, Tajer said the union had not heard about "chaos out there beyond just the normal heavy travel day." He said officials were watching for cascading effects, such as staffing problems. On social media, however, customers expressed frustration with delays that caused them or their family members to miss connecting flights. One person asked if American planned to hold flights for passengers to make connections, while others complained about the lack of assistance they said they received from the airline or gate agents. Travelers wait in line for security checks Tuesday at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. Bobby Tighe, a real estate agent from Florida, said he would miss a family Christmas Eve party in New York because his American flight was repeatedly delayed. The delays made him miss a connecting flight, leaving him the choice of going to his destination — Westchester, N.Y. — on Christmas Day or taking another flight to Newark, N.J., scheduled to land Tuesday evening. He chose the latter. "I'm just going to take an Uber or Lyft to the airport I was originally supposed to go to, pick up my rental car and kind of restart everything tomorrow," Tighe said. He said his girlfriend was "going through the same exact situation" on her way from Dallas to New York. Cirium noted the vast majority of flights departed within two hours of their scheduled departure time. A similar percentage — 39% — arrived at their destinations as scheduled. Dallas-Fort Worth, New York's Kennedy Airport and Charlotte, North Carolina, saw the greatest number of delays, Cirium said. Washington, Chicago and Miami experienced considerably fewer delays. Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 4,058 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed, with 76 flights canceled. The site did not post any American Airlines flights Tuesday morning, but it showed in the afternoon that 961 American flights were delayed. Amid the travel problems, significant rain and snow were expected in the Pacific Northwest at least into Christmas Day. Showers and thunderstorms were developing in the South. Freezing rain was reported in the Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington, and snow fell in New York. An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat walks through the American terminal Tuesday at Miami International Airport in Miami. Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions. That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have "interline agreements" that let them put stranded customers on another carrier's flights. This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights. Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That's because finding a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be expensive. American Airlines employees check in travelers Tuesday in the American terminal at Miami International Airport in Miami. An American spokesperson said Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline — with about 2,000 fewer flights than the busiest days — so it had somewhat of a buffer to manage the delays. The Transportation Security Administration said it expected to screen 40 million passengers through Jan. 2. About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA. Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.04 a gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. "It's not the destination, it's the journey," said American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ralph clearly was not among the travellers on one of more than 350 cancelled or 1,400 delayed flights after a worldwide tech outage caused by an update to Crowdstrike's "Falcon Sensor" software in July of 2023. U.S. airlines carried nearly 863 million travellers in 2023, with Canadian carriers accounting for another 150 million, many of whom experienced lost luggage, flight delays, cancellations, or were bumped off their flights. It's unclear how many of them were compensated for these inconveniences. Suffice it to say, posting a crabby rant on social media might temporarily soothe anger, but it won't put wasted money back in pockets. Money.ca shares what to know in order to be compensated for the three most common air travel headaches. Bags elected to go on a vacay without you? Check off the following: If you expect a large payout, think again. Tariffs (air carrier contracts) limit the compensation amounts for "loss of, damage to, or the delay in delivery of baggage or other personal property." In the case of Air Canada, the maximum payout is $1,500 per passenger in the currency of the country where the baggage was processed. To raise that limit, purchase a Declaration of Higher Value for each leg of the trip. The charge is $0.50 for each $100, in which case the payout limit is $2,500. For Delta Air Lines, passengers are entitled to up to $3,800 in baggage compensation, though how much you'll receive depends on your flight. Delta will pay up to $2,080 for delayed, lost, and damaged baggage for international travellers, almost half of what U.S. domestic passengers can claim. If your flight is marked delayed for more than 30 minutes, approach the gate agent and politely request food and hotel vouchers to be used within the airport or nearby. Different air carriers and jurisdictions have their own compensation policies when flights are delayed or cancelled. For example, under European Union rules, passengers may receive up to 600 Euros, even when travelling on a non-EU carrier. Similarly, the DOT states that travellers are entitled to a refund "if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel." However, US rules regarding delays are complicated. Some air carriers, such as Air Canada, do not guarantee their flight schedules. They're also not liable for cancellations or changes due to "force majeure" such as weather conditions or labour disruptions. If the delay is overnight, only out-of-town passengers will be offered hotel accommodation. Nevertheless, many airlines do offer some compensation for the inconvenience. If your flight is marked delayed for more than 30 minutes, approach the gate agent and politely request food and hotel vouchers to be used within the airport or nearby. In terms of cash compensation, what you'll get can differ significantly based on things like departure location, time, carrier, and ticket class. The DOT offers a helpful delay and cancellations dashboard designed to keep travellers informed about their compensation rights. The dashboard is particularly helpful because, as the DOT states on its website, "whether you are entitled to a refund depends on a lot of factors—such as the length of the delay, the length of the flight, and your particular circumstances." The Canadian Transportation Agency is proposing air passenger protection regulations that guarantee financial compensation to travellers experiencing flight delays and cancellations, with the level of compensation varying depending on the situation and how much control the air carrier had. The proposed regulations include the following: The airline is obligated to complete the passenger's itinerary. If the new ticket is for a lower class of service, the air carrier would have to refund the cost difference; if the booking is in a higher class of service, passengers cannot be charged extra. If the passenger declines the ticket, the airline must give a full refund, in addition to the prescribed compensation. For overnight delays, the air carrier needs to provide hotel accommodation and transportation free-of-charge. Again, if you are unsatisfied, the Canadian Transportation Agency or Department of Transportation may advocate on your behalf. Passengers get bumped because airlines overbook. When this happens, the air carrier must compensate you. For international flights in the US, the rate is 200% of your one-way fare to your final destination, with a $675 maximum. If the airline does not make travel arrangements for you, the payout is 400% of your one-way fare to a maximum of $1,350. To qualify, you must check-in by the stated deadline, which on international flights can be up to 3 hours ahead. Keep in mind that if you accept the cash, you are no longer entitled to any further compensation, nor are you guaranteed to be rebooked on a direct flight or similar type of seat. Don't be too quick to give up your boarding pass. Negotiate for the best compensation deal that would include cash, food and hotel vouchers, flight upgrade, lounge passes, as well as mileage points. But avoid being too greedy—if the gate attendant is requesting volunteers and you wait too long, you'll miss the offer. According to Air Canada's tariff, if a passenger is involuntarily bumped, they'll receive $200, in cash or bank draft, for up to a two-hour delay; $400 for a 2-6 hours delay; and $800 if the delay is over six hours. (Air Canada was forced to raise its payouts in 2013 due to passenger complaints.) The new rules would raise the payout significantly: $900 for up to six hours; $1,800 for 6-9; and $2,400 for more than nine hours, all to be paid within 48 hours. Statistically speaking, Delta Airlines is the carrier most likely to bump. A few years ago, Delta raised its payout maximum to $9,950, while United Airlines tops out at $10,000. This story was produced by Money.ca and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Be the first to know2 House Republicans seek to stop IVF expansion in defense billNone

DJ Nani Wins Maiden Deejay Of The Year AwardSAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — Zach Calzada threw for 182 yards and his 17-yard scoring pass to Roy Alexander was the game's only touchdown and Incarnate Word beat Villanova 13-6 on Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs. The Cardinals (11-2), who earned their highest seed in program history at No. 6, travel to face third-seeded South Dakota State in the quarterfinals. Brack Peacock kicked a 23-yard field goal to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead with 8:48 before halftime. Villanova (10-4) tied it on 49-yard field goal by Ethan Gettman almost five minutes later. Late in the third, Gettman gave the Wildcats their lone lead when he kicked a 52-yarder. Calzada connected with Roy early in the fourth and Peacock added insurance in the last stanza with a 35 yarder with 4:14 remaining. Lontrell Turner had 120 yards rushing on 18 carries for Incarnate Word. Connor Watkins threw for 103 yards and an interception for Villanova whose offense was outgained 437-138. The Wildcats hadn't been kept out of the end zone since Nov. 5, 2022 when Towson beat Villanova 27-3. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

PHILIPPE CLEMENT is feeling the heat at Ibrox. But the Rangers boss could cool some of the sacking talk with a huge win away from home in the Europa League on Thursday. 2 Philippe Clement is a man under pressure at Ibrox Credit: Kenny Ramsay 2 Franck Haise may be forced to make some changes for this clash Credit: AFP The Belgian watched his side fall 11 points behind Celtic in the Premiership title race after slumping to a 1-1 draw against Dundee United at Ibrox . It's only December and their chances of pipping the Hoops to the league looks extremely unlikely. However, they are still very much in the running in Europe . Rangers have surprisingly performed a lot better on the continent compared to domestic action this season. read more football stories 'VERY HONEST' Jim Goodwin hits back at claims of Rangers kick off 'mind games' NICE OFFER Nice vs Rangers: Get £50 in free bets for Europa League on Thursday with Betfred They've been unbeaten in their two away trips to Malmo and Olympiacos - winning in Sweden and holding the Greek giants to a 1-1 draw. The Light Blues' only loss in the Europa League came at the hands of Lyon who thrashed the Light Blues 4-1 in Govan. But can they get their own back in France against one of their Ligue 1 rivals? SunSport has all the details ahead of the crunch clash. Most read in Europa League HISTORY MAKER Ex-Scotland women coach 'lands key role at Prem club' working with MALE stars THIS IS THE STRIFE Amy Macdonald slams BBC's Scottish football coverage in X-rated blast FAMILIAR FACE Celtic hero set for shock Rangers UEL start - five years from last Ibrox game LAST WORDS Mum wrote 'I was murdered' before she 'took own life after years abuse from ex' What time does Nice vs Rangers kick off? Rangers take on Nice on Thursday, November 28 The match kicks off at 8pm UK time It will be held at the Allianz Riviera in France. What TV channel will Nice vs Rangers be on and can I live stream it? Yes, the match will be shown live on TNT Sports 3. Coverage will begin at 7.45pm - 15 minutes before kick-off. There will be live radio coverage on BBC Sportsecene. Alternatively, you can follow all the action via SunSport's LIVE blog. Team news Rangers will be without Neraysho Kasanwirjo , Rabbi Matondo , Tom Lawrence and Oscar Cortes for the Europa League clash. Clement will have a big call to make at right-back, with James Tarvernier left on the bench for their trip to Greece earlier in the month. The hsts will also be wthout several key players for this one. They could be without Jonathan Clauss , Ali Abdi, Antoine Mendy, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Morgan Sanson and Terem Moffi through injury . Sofiane Diop and Moise Bombito are both suspended. Latest odds Nice Draw Rangers *Latest odds correct from Sky Bet as of Tuesday, November 26. Keep up to date with ALL t h e latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football pageArcher Aviation ( ACHR 15.14% ) stock posted explosive gains in Tuesday's trading, which saw the market close at 1 p.m. for the Christmas Eve holiday. The company's share price ended the abbreviated daily trading session up 15.1%. Archer Aviation surged today following some big news in the defense industry. According to a report from The Financial Times , Palantir ( PLTR 2.09% ) is teaming up with defense-tech innovator Anduril to form a new consortium that aims to make big waves in the defense space -- and it could have implications for Archer. Are Palantir and Anduril about to shake up the defense industry? Palantir and Anduril are reportedly aiming to create a new power block in the defense industry. The FT 's report says the two companies are talking to businesses including OpenAI, SpaceX, Scale AI, and Saronic to form a defense consortium that aims to challenge industry stalwarts, including RTX , Lockheed Martin , and Boeing . Palantir and Anduril are innovation-focused players in the defense industry, with the former company being a leader in artificial intelligence ( AI ) software and the latter working on unmanned vehicles and robotics. The list of companies that the two partners are said to be approaching for their consortium suggests they're aiming to build a network of disruptive, next-gen tech players with the ability to outcompete current industry leaders in emerging categories. Archer Aviation investors are understandably excited. What comes next for Archer Aviation stock? On Dec. 12, Archer published a press release announcing that it had entered a partnership with Anduril to develop flying electric vehicles for the defense industry. Anduril has already won U.S. defense contracts, and the team-up has the potential to be a powerful catalyst for Archer. While Archer wasn't specifically named as a potential partner approached for the proposed defense consortium with Palantir, it seemingly makes for a natural candidate. Archer Aviation recently said that it expects to begin production at its Georgia plant in the beginning of 2025, and CEO Adam Goldstein has said he expects commercial flights to begin next year. With a promising outlook on the defense front and the potential for commercial flights to kick off next year, Archer stock could keep rallying.online game app 。

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Malik Nabers says calling the Giants 'soft' was wrong but he doesn't regret speaking outMajor banks and business groups sued the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, alleging the U.S. central bank's annual "stress tests" of Wall Street firms violate the law. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, claims the Fed's practice of determining how big banks perform against hypothetical economic turmoil, and assigning capital requirements accordingly, do not follow proper administrative procedure. Plaintiffs included the Bank Policy Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Bank Association. The lawsuit marks the latest example of the banking industry growing bolder and challenging in court their regulators' powers, particularly in the wake of recent Supreme Court rulings placing fresh restrictions on administrative authority. In June, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to such power by overturning a 1984 precedent that granted deference to government agencies in interpreting laws they administer. The so-called "Chevron doctrine" had called for judges to defer to reasonable federal agency interpretations of U.S. laws deemed to be ambiguous. While the 2010 Dodd-Frank law passed following the global financial crisis broadly requires the Fed to test banks' balance sheets, the capital adequacy analysis the Fed performs as part of tests, or the resulting capital it directs lenders to set aside, are not mandated by law. Specifically, the groups are calling for the Fed to make public and subject to feedback the now-confidential models the regulators use to gauge bank performance, as well as details of the annual scenarios they create to test for weaknesses. The groups said they did not want to kill the stress testing program, which provides an annual bill of health to the nation's biggest firms, but argue the process needs to be more transparent and responsive to public feedback. On Monday, the Fed announced plans to pursue similar changes ahead of the 2025 exams, citing recent legal developments, but the industry opted to proceed with its lawsuit. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit on Tuesday. "The opaque nature of these tests undermines their value for providing meaningful insights into bank resilience," Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, said in a statement. "We remain hopeful the Fed will address long-standing issues with the stress tests, but this litigation preserves our ability to seek legal remedies if the Fed falls short.” These tests, which banks have complained for years are opaque and subjective, are a central piece of the U.S. regulatory bank-capital structure. The Fed has long resisted calls to completely open up the testing process, due to concerns that it could make it easier for banks to clear the exams. How banks perform on the test informs how much capital they must set aside to meet their obligations and dictate the scope of dividend payouts and stock buybacks.

NoneMONROE, La. (AP) — Zylan Perry rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns, and Louisiana-Lafayette earned a spot in the Sun Belt Championship game for the fifth time in the seven-year history of the game by beating in-state rival UL Monroe 37-23 on Saturday in the regular season finale. Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2) posted its fourth 10-win season in program history and now leads the all-time series with the Warhawks 34-26. Max Larson kicked a 47-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the first half to tie the game at the break, 13-13, but ULL took the lead after Chandler Fields engineered a seven-play, 80-yard drive to open the third quarter, connecting with Tavion Smith from 4-yards out to take a 20-13 lead it never surrendered. Larson converted again to get UL Monroe within 20-16, but Perry's second touchdown run of the game clinched the win. Kenneth Almendares, playing in his 60th career game, recovered from having his first PAT attempt blocked to convert his next four and kicked a 26-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to move past former Arkansas State kicker Blake Grupe for second place on the Sun Belt career scoring list. Fields completed 17 of 26 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Bill Davis added 17 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. Ahmad Hardy had 28 carries for 172 yards and a touchdown to lead UL Monroe, finishing his season with 1,179 yards on 209 carries. The freshman ran for more than 100 yards in a game eight times and topped 200 yards twice while scoring 12 touchdowns. Aidan Armenta was 15 of 31 passing for 168 yards and a touchdown but threw three interceptions for UL Monroe, which finished the season at 5-7 (3-5). __ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up . AP college football: and The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Kaapo Kaako scored a power-play goal with 24 seconds left, and the New York Rangers stopped a five-game slide by topping the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday. Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers, who got their first win since a 4-3 victory at Vancouver on Nov. 19. Adam Fox had two assists, and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves. With Montreal’s Kirby Dach serving a four-minute, high-sticking penalty, Kaako got his fourth goal of the season. The Canadiens trailed 3-1 after two periods. But Cole Caufield scored his 14th goal 4:16 into the third and Nick Suzuki tied it at 14:07. Trocheck tipped the puck past Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault at 19:56 to put New York ahead after Panarin and Montreal’s Mike Matheson scored earlier in the first. Panarin put the Rangers ahead at 9:02, scoring on a 5-on-3 for New York’s first power-play goal since Nov. 12 at home against Winnipeg. Matheson tied it at 11:47. Montembault made 24 saves for Montreal. Takeaways Canadiens: dropped to 3-7-1 on the road. Rangers: Forwards Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil returned to the lineup. Kreider missed three games with an upper-body injury while Chytil was out for seven after colliding with teammate K’Andre Miller on Nov. 14. Reilly Smith and Jonny Brodzinski were scratched. RELATED COVERAGE Predators trade Wedgewood to Avalanche for Annunen in swap of backup goaltenders Mason Marchment has two goals and assist as Stars beat Avalanche 5-3 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scores in OT to lift Oilers to 4-3 win over Utah Key moment Seeking an early spark, New York captain Jacob Trouba fought Montreal’s Josh Anderson 1:58 into the contest. It appeared to give the Rangers a collective jolt that was missing in recent games. Key stat The Rangers are 11-1-0 when scoring first. It was the 1,700th home win in franchise history. Up next The Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins on Sunday. The Rangers host the New Jersey Devils on Monday. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ( NYSE:WPM – Free Report ) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 955,540 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,970 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $58,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WPM. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 91,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,292,000 after acquiring an additional 5,009 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 80.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 16,570 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the first quarter worth about $400,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 2.6% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 11,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the second quarter valued at approximately $229,000. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stifel Canada lowered shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.67. Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance NYSE WPM opened at $62.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.28 billion, a PE ratio of 46.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.32. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52-week low of $38.57 and a 52-week high of $68.64. Wheaton Precious Metals ( NYSE:WPM – Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The business had revenue of $308.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.57 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 50.05%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.27%. Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile ( Free Report ) Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. primarily sells precious metals in North America, Europe, and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp. and changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. in May 2017. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WPM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ( NYSE:WPM – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Wheaton Precious Metals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wheaton Precious Metals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Doughty scores 17 in Indiana State's 83-80 win against Iona

Daily Post Nigeria NNL: Sokoto United sign three players for new season Home News Politics Metro Entertainment Sport Sport NNL: Sokoto United sign three players for new season Published on November 30, 2024 By Taiwo Adesanya Sokoto United have reinforced their team with three new players for the 2024-25 Nigeria National League, NNL, season. The newly recruited players are Muhsin Attahiru, Halidu Adamu and Tukur Gambo. Attahiru joined Sokoto United from Kano Pillars, Adamu joined from Kogi United while Gambo signed as a free agent. Sokoto United announced the signing of the trio on the social media. “These new additions bring a wealth of experience, skill and determination to our squad,” Sokoto United stated during the players unveiling ceremony. “We are confident they will make a significant impact and help us achieve our goals this season!” Sokoto United will kick-off their NNL campaign with a clash against Jigawa Golden Stars next weekend. Related Topics: NNL Sokoto United Don't Miss EPL: Nottingham Forest boss backs Awoniyi to hit top form again You may like NNL: Referee chief Irabor charges officials on best practices NNL: Abakaliki, Madiba to clash in season opener NNL: Ogun Government keen to select best players for Gateway United NNL: Gateway United unveil Allen as new head coach NNL: Gateway United set to unveil Festus Allen as head coach NNL tasks clubs on successful 2024/25 campaign Advertise About Us Contact Us Privacy-Policy Terms Copyright © Daily Post Media LtdKakko's late goal lifts Rangers past Canadiens 4-3

The promising career of Floyd Mayweather -promoted boxer Curmel Moton has encountered a setback after he failed to meet the weight requirements for his seventh professional fight in shocking fashion. The 18-year-old lightweight, who boasts a 6-0 record with 5 knockouts , was scheduled to face Bryan Mercado in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but tipped the scales at 147.8lbs, a staggering 15lbs over the agreed 133lbs catchweight. As a result, the six-round fight was postponed, putting a brake on the Las Vegas-based prospect's momentum. Moton had been on a three-fight knockout streak but will now have to wait for his next opportunity to step into the ring. In a statement, Moton revealed that he had not attempted to make weight for the fight and apologised to fans who had planned to attend. He also expressed his hope to return to action next month on the undercard of Ryan Garcia's exhibition fight against Japanese kickboxer Rukiya Anpo. "I want to apologise to everyone that was planning on coming to Jersey to watch me fight," Moton said. "I've been going back and forth with the commission about my bloodwork passing, and as of right now, they lost my blood in their system [which meant the fight was unlikely to be sanctioned]. "I've known this for the past three days, so there was no point in killing myself to make [the] weight. They still made me weigh in for some reason, and they decided that was the reason they were going to cancel the fight. Regardless, I'll be back in Japan on December 30th [at the potential exhibition involving Ryan Garcia]. See you all there." Moton faced some criticism on social media with a spokesperson later saying. The event in New Jersey was due to be staged by Danny Garcia's Swift Promotions. The promotional company issued a statement to explain the decision to postpone the fight. "The decision to postpone the fight was made in the best interest of all parties involved," a spokesman said. "While we are disappointed to delay this event, our priority is ensuring that both Curmel and his opponents are set up for the best possible competition." "We appreciate the continued support of Curmel's fans and the boxing community, and we look forward to announcing his return to the ring soon."

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