Century-old department store Nordstrom has agreed to be acquired and taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal with the industry being squeezed by discount chains and other competition. Public companies are under a lot more scrutiny and if private, the Nordstrom family may have more leeway in reviving a department store chain that has been attempting to reinvigorate sales for years. Nordstrom shareholders will receive $24.25 in cash for each share of Nordstrom common stock, or about $4 billion in all, representing a 42% premium on the company's stock as of March 18, when reports of a potential transaction was reported by the media. The acquiring group will also pick up more than $2 billion in Nordstrom debt. The traditional department stores have suffered in the face of withering competition from giants like Walmart and Target, as well as a host of fast-fashion bands and Amazon.com . Nordstrom rivals Macy's and Kohl's have been pressured by major investors to make huge changes in order to return more profit to shareholders. Sales at Nordstrom have essentially flatlined over the past decade or so and it announced last year that it was closing all of its Canadian stores and cutting 2,500 jobs as it winds down operations in the country. Nordstrom first announced plans to expand to Canada in 2012 and opened its first store in Calgary at CF Chinook Centre in September 2014. The offer announced today tops the previous $23-per-share bid that the Nordstrom family and Mexican retail group, El Puerto de Liverpool, made in September. The board also plans to authorize a special dividend of up to 25 cents per share, based on Nordstrom’s cash on hand immediately prior to and contingent on the close of the transaction. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025, at which time the company's shares will no longer trade publicly. “While a change in ownership does not automatically remedy all of the problems with the department store operation, it will allow the family and their backers to take a long-term view of the business and make necessary investments and changes away from the short-term scrutiny of public markets,” wrote Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData, in a note to clients. Nordstrom’s board of directors unanimously approved the the proposed transaction, with members Erik and Pete Nordstrom, part of the Nordstrom family taking over the company — recusing themselves from that vote. Following the close of the transaction, the Nordstrom family will have a majority ownership stake in the company. Erik and Pete Nordstrom are the fourth-generation leadership at the Seattle retailer, which was founded in 1901 as a shoe store. Erik is the company’s chief executive and Peter is president. After opening 23 new stores so far this year, the company now operates a combined 381 Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores in the U.S. Nordstrom shares fell about 1.5% today, but they are up 34% this year on rumors of a family takeover. The company's stock is still down considerably from post-pandemic highs above $40 per share. In May of this year, Bruce Nordstrom, a retail executive who helped expand his family’s Pacific Northwest department store chain into an upscale national brand, died at age 90. He was one of several Nordstrom family members who in 2017 made a push to take the company private, proposing to buy out the 70% of the department store’s stock they didn’t already own. Those talks failed in 2018 but earlier this year, his sons started another series of buyout negotiations, leading to today's announcement.NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher after flipping between gains and losses several times during the day. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 461 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1%. Nvidia rose just 0.5% after beating analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue yet again, but it was still the strongest force pulling the S&P 500 upward. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that topped most analysts’ expectations due to voracious demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Its stock initially sank in afterhours trading Wednesday following the release of the results. Some investors said the market might have been looking for Nvidia’s revenue forecast to surpass expectations by even more. But its stock recovered in premarket trading Thursday, and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it was another “flawless” profit report provided by Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang, whom Ives calls “the Godfather of AI.” The stock meandered through Thursday as well, dragging the S&P 500 and other indexes back and forth. How Nvidia’s stock performs has more impact than any other because it’s grown into Wall Street’s most valuable company at roughly $3.6 trillion. The frenzy around AI is sweeping up other stocks, and Snowflake jumped 32.7% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, whose platform helps customers get a better view of all their silos of data and use AI, also reported stronger revenue growth than expected. BJ’S Wholesale Club rose 8.3% after likewise delivering a bigger profit than expected. That may help calm worries about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain, given high prices across the economy and still-high interest rates. A day earlier, Target tumbled after reporting sluggish sales in the latest quarter and giving a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season. It followed Walmart , which gave a much more encouraging outlook. Nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 ended up rising Thursday, and the gains were even bigger among smaller companies. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 1.7%. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, helped keep indexes in check. It fell 4.7% after U.S. regulators asked a judge to break up the tech giant by forcing it to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser. In a 23-page document filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice called for sweeping punishments that would include restrictions preventing Android from favoring its own search engine. Regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android but left the door open to it if the company’s oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. All told, the S&P 500 rose 31.60 points to 5,948.71. The Dow jumped 461.88 to 43,870.35, and the Nasdaq composite added 6.28 to 18,972.42. In the crypto market, bitcoin eclipsed $99,000 for the first time before pulling back toward $98,000, according to CoinDesk. It’s more than doubled so far this year, and its climb has accelerated since Election Day. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Bitcoin got a further boost after Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Thursday he would step down in January . Gensler has pushed for more protections for crypto investors. Bitcoin and related investment have a notorious history of big price swings in both directions. MicroStrategy, a company that’s been raising cash expressly to buy bitcoin, saw an early Thursday gain of 14.6% for its stock quickly disappear. It finished the day with a loss of 16.2%. In the oil market, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2% to bring its gain for the week to 4.8%. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8%. Oil has been rising amid escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war. In stock markets abroad, shares of India’s Adani Enterprises plunged 22.6% Thursday after the U.S. charged founder Gautam Adani in a federal indictment with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The businessman and one of the world’s richest people is accused of concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme. Stock indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were mixed. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 4.43% from 4.41% late Wednesday following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal that the job market remains solid. Another report, though, said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank. Sales of previously occupied homes, meanwhile, strengthened last month by more than expected. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed.

UnitedHealth Group shares keep falling, other health insurance stocks follow, as criticism of the industry heats up'Fox Across America' host Jimmy Failla on Biden not sharing a D-Day message until nighttime, Tampa Bay Rays players' refusal to wear Pride jerseys and a Texas lawmaker pushing to ban children from attending drag shows. The sex abuse trial of Tampa Bay Rays player Wander Franco was supposed to commence Thursday. But it was delayed until June after 28 of 31 witnesses expected to testify were absent. Franco has been charged with sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor and human trafficking. His trial is scheduled to resume June 2, 2025. Dominican Judge Yacaira Veras postponed the trial at the request of prosecutors due to the absence of several key witnesses in the case. Only three of 31 witnesses arrived for the trial Thursday. Franco’s lawyers asked the court to reconsider the postponement, arguing Franco must report to spring training in mid-February. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco throws to first base in the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., July 25, 2023. (Jonathan Dyer/USA Today Sports) "There is no case against Wander. For as many witnesses as they present, there is no case now," Franco’s lead lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez, told The Associated Press. The judge replied that Franco is obligated to continue with the trial schedule and his conditional release from detainment. The 23-year-old shortstop said his career is not over yet, that he wants justice to be done and that "everything is in God’s hands." ROGER GOODELL SAYS JAY-Z'S RELATIONSHIP WITH LEAGUE REMAINS INTACT AMID SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS Franco appeared upset when reporters asked if his MLB career was over. "I did not had a career," he said, implying that he still has one. "This is not over." Franco was arrested on a separate charge in the country for his involvement in an alleged armed altercation in November. Tampa Bay Rays star Wander Franco is facing an investigation into alleged inappropriate relationships with minors. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) The Rays took down images of Franco around Tropicana Field after the allegations became public last year. There has also been no sign of Franco merchandise being sold at the Rays' team store within their ballpark. He agreed to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He was an All-Star for the first time in 2023, hitting .281 with 17 homers and 58 RBI over 112 games. Tampa Bay placed him on the team's restricted list July 10, cutting off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP After Dominican police raided two homes associated with Franco just before the new year, he was eventually arrested. He was later released on the condition that he meet with local authorities once a month. According to ESPN, Dominican prosecutors say Franco called the minor "my girl" in a WhatsApp message, admitting the relationship was a "risk," but he "loved it." "My girl," Franco allegedly wrote in Spanish. "If my team realizes this, it could cause problems for me. It is a rule for all teams that we cannot talk to minors, and yet I took the risk and I loved it." Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco celebrates after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit Aug. 6, 2023. (Rick Osentoski/USA Today Sports) Prosecutors say Franco's relationship with the girl, now 15, lasted four months, and he paid her not to speak about it. The girl's mother also faces charges of money laundering based on gifts sent to her by Franco. Franco and the girl met Dec. 9, 2022, after he "took her from her home," had sex twice in a two-day span and began their relationship. Prosecutors say the minor’s mother went from being a bank employee to leading an ostentatious life and acquiring assets using the funds she received from Franco. During the raids on the house of the minor’s mother, prosecutors say they found $68,500 and $35,000 that they allege was delivered by Franco. Franco gave the girl the equivalent of $46,000 in July and August, the documents say, and paid the mother about $1,700 per month, along with a new car. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter . Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

It looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. “The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more,” Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. “There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie,” said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction.” In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation , did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the “no-fault findings,” as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report , Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist “saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities.” But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's “decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable.” A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug “then entered the market through illegal channels,” he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles,” Li said. “The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice.” This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. “Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated,” he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. “It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. “Which clearly it has not.” AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-gamesOne of the kingpins of a Russian money laundering network appears to have worked for a Tory donor. Elena Chirkinyan, 36, was listed online on LinkedIn as working at Oracle Capital Group, which has offices in London, Moscow, Kazakhstan and a string of tax havens. Oracle Capital describes itself as "the ultimate service for high net worth individuals and their families”. It donated £8,400 to the Conservative Party ’s Spring Lunch in 2012, when the former Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was party leader. Oracle founder Denis Korotkov-Koganovich donated another £16,450 the following year. Chirkinyan’s LinkedIn page was edited over the weekend to remove any reference to Oracle but it previous stated she has worked there for five years. The 36-year-old was last week sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as a “key member of an international money laundering network”. She has not been arrested and it is believed she may be living in Dubai. Rheian Davies, legal director of the Good Law Project, said: "UK politics is incredibly vulnerable to dirty money and the influence of malign interests. The Tory government has often welcomed questionable donations but these revelations raise urgent questions for Oracle Capital. What did it know about Chirikinyan’s moonlighting?" The UK’s National Crime Agency identified Chirkinyan as the second in command of TGR, one of two Russian operations at the heart of this global “criminal enterprise”. Together with Smart, run by glamorous Siberian-born businesswoman and magazine cover star Ekaterina Zhdanova, TGR helped launder huge sums of cash for drugs gangs around the world , including the UK. The NCA’s Director General of Operations Rob Jones said: “Pretty much everything bad you can find in terms of organised crime has been supported by this platform. For the first time, we have been able to map out a link between Russian elites, crypto-rich cyber criminals, and drugs gangs on the streets of the UK. The thread that tied them together – the combined force of Smart and TGR – was invisible until now.” The crooked laundromat swapped criminal cash for cryptocurrency swindled by high-profile Russian hackers through ransomware attacks including on British schools, hospitals and businesses. The US authorities said Chirkinyan, who is a Russian national, “is considered a decision maker within the TGR Group”. Last year, she was involved in “obfuscating the transfer of funds out of Russia ” for state TV firm RT and this money was “most likely to support the activities of a UK-sanctioned Russian-language media organization in the United Kingdom ”. Chirkinyan also is accused of working with Zhdanova to “obfuscate the source of Russian client funds to purchase real estate property in the United Kingdom”. With other TGR Group members she arranged handovers where cash - which the NCA said was derived from UK street gangs - was swapped for a crypto currency called Tether. The dirty cash was then laundered clean by TGR through cash-rich businesses like launderettes and construction firms. After passing through a series of shell companies, often linked to Dubai, the laundered money entered the global banking system and was used to buy assets around the world. Chirkinyan appears to have joint Russian and Armenian nationality but has spent much of the last two decades in England. According to her LinkedIn profile, Chirkinyan went to school in Moscow before attending Caterham School in Surrey for sixth form, where fees start at £26,565 a year for day pupils or £55,455 for boarders. She studied economics and business at university in London before joining Oracle Capital Group in 2019 as a “business development specialist”. She is fluent in Russian and English, but also speaks Armenian and French. Alon Gook, former Head of HR and Compliance at Oracle Capital Group, was briefly a director of TGR Solutions, when it was part-owned by Chirkinyan’s boss George Rossi, who was also sanctioned this week. Oracle Capital Group was founded in 2002 offering services to the superrich, including immigration help, company set up and property investment. It was founded by Kakakh wealth manager Denis Koganovich-Korotkov who was later sued for £165m by the daughter of the former president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev over the fortune he helped her transfer out of the central Asian country. A spokesperson for Koganovich-Korotkov said: “The unfounded allegations were denied and an amicable settlement was reached.” When we called Oracle to ask if Chirkinyan was still employed, their London phone number went unanswered and the voice mailbox was full. The company did not respond to our emails.

A drug checking service has warned festival goers that partaking in risky drug taking could put a downer on their fun. KnowYourStuffNZ general manager Casey Spearing said combining MDMA, also known as ecstasy, with alcohol was one the most widespread high-risk behaviours they saw at summer festivals. Spearing said a University of Otago study this year found most users were consuming 7 to 9 standard drinks while taking MDMA. "We know high-risk drug practices like mixing drugs or taking very high doses are going to cause harm at festivals this summer." She acknowledged there were risks involved in taking any substance, including alcohol. But she said there were measures people could take to look after themselves and their friends if taking drugs. "No drug use is completely safe. "But there are some ways of using drugs that are more safe than others." If taking MDMA, Spearing suggested substituting alcoholic drinks with flavoured fizzy water or non-alcoholic beer. "You won't miss the alcohol and you're reducing your risk when taking MDMA." She said the service was looking into what concerning substances might be circulating over the summer. "We're seeing MDMA being substituted for synthetic cathinones, sometimes called bath salts, some funky ketamine analogues, and a variety of other things." She said China recently banning the production of several novel psychedelic substances could have knock-on effects here. "When production stops there's usually stock left over. We'll probably see some of that entering the illicit market. "We can expect new compounds to be produced to get around that ban. So we could see some new and unexpected things arriving." About one in 10 drug samples KnowYourStuffNZ tested this year were not what they were sold as or thought to be. Spearing recommended always getting drugs checked by them or another drug checker even if purchased from a trusted person. She added that reagent tests were not always accurate. "Results from a reagent test are less reliable than visiting an actual drug checking service. "It's relatively easy to fool these tests and drug dealers know this." She told people to check High Alert , New Zealand's drug warning system, for the latest updates. At upcoming festivals, Spearing urged people to keep an eye on others. "Have a conversation with mates before taking anything; how are you feeling, what's going on in your life, are you on any medication that might interact? "Put a plan together and decide who is going to be your sober tripster. That person is invaluable if something goes wrong." She said it was also crucial to know the warning signs of any substance you are taking and when to get help. She said taking time to hydrate could save people from a gnarly hangover. "A lot of a hangover is sleep deprivation. "Buy electrolytes, watch your water intake, and watch your body temperature." The drug checking service is celebrating ten years of harm reduction in 2025. Spearing said the organisation had been operating in a "grey area" since 2015. "Our goal has always been to offer a confidential and non-judgemental conversation about drug use." Three years ago, New Zealand started allowing organisations such as KnowYourStuffNZ and the NZ Drug Foundation to legally operate drug checking services. This New Years, KnowYourStuffNZ are attending AUM, Northern Bass, and Twisted Frequency. The NZ Drug Foundation would be covering drug checking at Gisborne's Rhythm and Vines. But Spearing said there continued to be not enough testing equipment to meet demand. "We've had to turn away multiple New Years events, particularly in the South Island and the Bay of Plenty, where we are providing pre-festival clinics instead." The service planned to hold clinics in Mount Maunganui in conjunction with Tauranga City Council, and in the Wanaka Queenstown area in conjunction with Rhythm&Alps and the Queenstown Lakes District Council. Spearing said several spectrometers needed to remain in cities to serve non-festivalgoers. She said they there were 11 spectrometers in the drug checking organisations shared pool, and they borrowed another three over New Years from educational and scientific institutes. "The spectrometer issue always comes up over New Years. "All we need is another two or three spectrometers and we'd be able to go to very New Years festival." She said a spectrometer could cost upwards of $50,000. "We would love more spectrometers but it's quite a stretch to buy more without more funding."Nordstrom to be acquired by Nordstrom family and a Mexican retail group in $6.25 billion deal

At Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, more than a year of war has taken its toll. Global airlines have canceled flights, gates are empty and pictures of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip guide the few arriving passengers to baggage claim. But one check-in desk remains flush with travelers: the one serving flights to the United Arab Emirates, which have kept up a bridge for Israelis to the outside world throughout the war. The Emirati flights, in addition to bolstering airlines’ bottom lines, have shined a light on the countries’ burgeoning ties — which have survived the wars raging across the Middle East and could be further strengthened as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to office. “It’s a political and economic statement,” said Joshua Teitelbaum, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. “They are the main foreign airlines that continue to fly.” Since the wars began with Hamas’ initial Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, many international airlines have halted, restarted and halted again their flights into Israel’s main gateway to the rest of the world. The concern is real for the carriers, who remember the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine 10 years ago and Iran shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran in 2020. But FlyDubai, the sister airline to the long-haul carrier Emirates, has kept up multiple flights daily and kept Israel connected to the wider world even as its other low-cost competitors have stopped flights. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad has continued its flights as well. While maintaining the flight schedule remains politically important for the UAE after its 2020 diplomatic recognition of Israel, it also provided a further shot in the arm for revenues — particularly for FlyDubai. Since the Israeli’s wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon started, international carriers such as Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, Germany’s Lufthansa and other major airlines halted their flights. Some resumed, only to stop again after Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel and Israel’s Oct. 26 retaliatory strike on the Islamic Republic. Tehran has threatened to strike Israel again. That’s brought major business to Israel’s national carrier El Al, which had struggled in the coronavirus pandemic and prior years. The airline posted its best-ever half-year results this year, recording a $227 million profit as compared to $58 million profit in the same period last year. El Al stock has risen by as much 200% over the past year, as compared to a 29% rise in the wider Tel Aviv 125 stock market index. El Al, however, lacks the routes and connections of major international carriers. Low-cost carriers as well have stopped flying into Israel during periods of the war, sending the price of El Al tickets ever higher. Passenger numbers through Ben Gurion halved compared to the same period the year before, El Al said in its second-quarter financial results. However, FlyDubai has kept flying. The carrier has operated more than 1,800 flights to Israel since October 2023, cancelling only 77 flights overall, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. In September alone, it flew more than 200 flights. As a line snaked toward the FlyDubai check-in counters at Ben Gurion Airport, UAE-bound Motti Eis said the flights were “a symbol that the Emirates countries decided to keep the peace.” FlyDubai declined to answer questions from The Associated Press about the flights. Etihad, the flag carrier for Abu Dhabi, has kept flying into Tel Aviv, but the number of its flights has been dwarfed by FlyDubai. FlyDubai had 3.6% market share at Ben Gurion, compared to El Al’s 43.2% in the second half of 2024. However, at least two of the foreign low-cost airlines with greater market, Wizz Air and Blue Bird, stopped flying for extended periods this year. Etihad said it maintains a close watch on the situation in the region, but continues its daily flights to and from Tel Aviv. “Ben Gurion International Airport remains open, employing best practices in safety and security practices, enabling Etihad and other airlines to provide essential air connectivity as long as it is secure to do so,” the airline said in a statement. Beyond the financial impact, the decision also takes root in the UAE’s decision to recognize Israel in 2020 under agreements brokered by President Donald Trump known as the Abraham Accords. While Abu Dhabi has repeatedly expressed concern and outrage at Israel’s conduct during the wars, Israel’s consulate in Dubai and embassy remain open in the country. And while Dubai, broadly speaking, remains focused on business in the country, Abu Dhabi’s focus long has been on its geopolitical aims — which since the 2011 Arab Spring have been squarely focused on challenging Islamist movements and those who back them in the wider region. The UAE, a hereditary autocracy, long has viewed those groups as serious challenges to its power. Get local news delivered to your inbox!In the last three months, 18 analysts have published ratings on Darden Restaurants DRI , offering a diverse range of perspectives from bullish to bearish. In the table below, you'll find a summary of their recent ratings, revealing the shifting sentiments over the past 30 days and comparing them to the previous months. Bullish Somewhat Bullish Indifferent Somewhat Bearish Bearish Total Ratings 5 5 8 0 0 Last 30D 0 1 0 0 0 1M Ago 5 4 7 0 0 2M Ago 0 0 0 0 0 3M Ago 0 0 1 0 0 The 12-month price targets, analyzed by analysts, offer insights with an average target of $191.72, a high estimate of $220.00, and a low estimate of $164.00. This upward trend is apparent, with the current average reflecting a 4.43% increase from the previous average price target of $183.59. Investigating Analyst Ratings: An Elaborate Study A comprehensive examination of how financial experts perceive Darden Restaurants is derived from recent analyst actions. The following is a detailed summary of key analysts, their recent evaluations, and adjustments to ratings and price targets. Analyst Analyst Firm Action Taken Rating Current Price Target Prior Price Target Brian Harbour Morgan Stanley Raises Overweight $209.00 $193.00 Sara Senatore B of A Securities Raises Buy $211.00 $195.00 Andrew Strelzik BMO Capital Raises Market Perform $175.00 $165.00 Brian Bittner Oppenheimer Raises Outperform $200.00 $182.00 Chris O'Cull Stifel Raises Buy $205.00 $190.00 Jake Bartlett Truist Securities Raises Buy $200.00 $195.00 Dennis Geiger UBS Raises Buy $210.00 $195.00 Jeffrey Bernstein Barclays Raises Overweight $206.00 $192.00 Eric Gonzalez Keybanc Raises Overweight $200.00 $194.00 David Tarantino Baird Raises Neutral $194.00 $180.00 Nick Setyan Wedbush Raises Outperform $220.00 $200.00 Jim Salera Stephens & Co. Raises Equal-Weight $175.00 $164.00 Jim Salera Stephens & Co. Maintains Equal-Weight $164.00 $164.00 Andrew Strelzik BMO Capital Lowers Market Perform $165.00 $175.00 Jim Salera Stephens & Co. Maintains Equal-Weight $164.00 $164.00 Christine Cho Goldman Sachs Announces Neutral $183.00 - Jon Tower Citigroup Lowers Buy $206.00 $209.00 Jim Salera Stephens & Co. Maintains Equal-Weight $164.00 $164.00 Key Insights: Action Taken: Analysts respond to changes in market conditions and company performance, frequently updating their recommendations. Whether they 'Maintain', 'Raise' or 'Lower' their stance, it reflects their reaction to recent developments related to Darden Restaurants. This information offers a snapshot of how analysts perceive the current state of the company. Rating: Offering a comprehensive view, analysts assess stocks qualitatively, spanning from 'Outperform' to 'Underperform'. These ratings convey expectations for the relative performance of Darden Restaurants compared to the broader market. Price Targets: Gaining insights, analysts provide estimates for the future value of Darden Restaurants's stock. This comparison reveals trends in analysts' expectations over time. To gain a panoramic view of Darden Restaurants's market performance, explore these analyst evaluations alongside essential financial indicators. Stay informed and make judicious decisions using our Ratings Table. Stay up to date on Darden Restaurants analyst ratings. Unveiling the Story Behind Darden Restaurants Darden Restaurants is the largest restaurant operator in the us full-service space, with consolidated revenue of $11.4 billion in fiscal 2024 resulting in 3%-4% full-service market share (per NRA data and our calculations). The company maintains a portfolio of 10 restaurant brands: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Ruth's Chris, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V's, Bahama Breeze, and The Capital Burger. Darden generates revenue almost exclusively from company-owned restaurants, though a small network of franchised restaurants and consumer-packaged goods sales through the traditional grocery channel contribute modestly. As of the end of its fiscal 2024, the company operated 2,031 restaurants in the us. Financial Milestones: Darden Restaurants's Journey Market Capitalization: Exceeding industry standards, the company's market capitalization places it above industry average in size relative to peers. This emphasizes its significant scale and robust market position. Positive Revenue Trend: Examining Darden Restaurants's financials over 3 months reveals a positive narrative. The company achieved a noteworthy revenue growth rate of 4.82% as of 30 November, 2024, showcasing a substantial increase in top-line earnings. As compared to competitors, the company encountered difficulties, with a growth rate lower than the average among peers in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Net Margin: Darden Restaurants's net margin is impressive, surpassing industry averages. With a net margin of 7.44%, the company demonstrates strong profitability and effective cost management. Return on Equity (ROE): Darden Restaurants's ROE lags behind industry averages, suggesting challenges in maximizing returns on equity capital. With an ROE of 10.21%, the company may face hurdles in achieving optimal financial performance. Return on Assets (ROA): Darden Restaurants's ROA stands out, surpassing industry averages. With an impressive ROA of 1.8% , the company demonstrates effective utilization of assets and strong financial performance. Debt Management: Darden Restaurants's debt-to-equity ratio is below the industry average. With a ratio of 3.06 , the company relies less on debt financing, maintaining a healthier balance between debt and equity, which can be viewed positively by investors. What Are Analyst Ratings? Ratings come from analysts, or specialists within banking and financial systems that report for specific stocks or defined sectors (typically once per quarter for each stock). Analysts usually derive their information from company conference calls and meetings, financial statements, and conversations with important insiders to reach their decisions. In addition to their assessments, some analysts extend their insights by offering predictions for key metrics such as earnings, revenue, and growth estimates. This supplementary information provides further guidance for traders. It is crucial to recognize that, despite their specialization, analysts are human and can only provide forecasts based on their beliefs. Which Stocks Are Analysts Recommending Now? Benzinga Edge gives you instant access to all major analyst upgrades, downgrades, and price targets. Sort by accuracy, upside potential, and more. Click here to stay ahead of the market . This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON (AP) — National defense would see a 1% increase in spending this fiscal year under a Pentagon policy bill that also gives a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The measure is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but not this year as some Democratic lawmakers protest the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill is expected to pass the House Wednesday and then move to the Senate, where lawmakers had sought a bigger boost in defense spending than the $895.2 billion authorized in the compromise measure before them. Lawmakers are touting the bill’s 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the U.S. military. Those serving as junior enlisted personnel are in pay grades that generally track with their first enlistment term. Lawmakers said their pay has failed to remain competitive with the private sector, forcing many military families to rely on food banks and government assistance programs to put food on the table. The bill also provides significant new resources for child care and housing. “No service member should have to live in squalid conditions and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that’s exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “This bill goes a long way to fixing that.” The bill sets key Pentagon policy that lawmakers will attempt to fund through a follow-up appropriations bill. The overall spending tracks the numbers established in a 2023 that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached with President Joe Biden to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators had wanted to increase defense spending some $25 billion above what was called for in that agreement, but those efforts failed. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the overall spending level was a “tremendous loss for our national defense,” though he agreed with many provisions within the bill. “We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it,” Wicker said. House Republicans don’t want to go above the McCarthy-Biden agreement for defense spending and are looking to go way below it for many non-defense programs. They are also focused on cultural issues. The bill prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 that could result in sterilization. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said minors dealing with gender dysphoria is a “very real problem.” He said the treatments available, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, have proven effective at helping young people dealing with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression. “These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives,” Smith said. “And in this bill, we decided we’re going to bar servicemembers’ children from having access to that.” Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care is in the thousands. He said he could have supported a study asking medical experts to determine whether such treatments are too often used, but a ban on health insurance coverage went too far. He said Speaker Mike Johnson’s office insisted upon the ban. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the ban a step in the right direction, saying “I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates.” Smith said he agrees with Roy that lawmakers should be focused on the military and not on cultural conflicts, “and yet, here it is in this bill.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said his team was not telling Democrat how to vote on the bill. He said he was still evaluating the legislation as of Wednesday morning. “There’s a lot of positive things in the National Defense Authorization Act that were negotiated in a bipartisan way, and there are some troubling provisions in a few areas as well,” Jeffries said. The defense policy bill also looks to strengthen deterrence against China. It calls for investing $15.6 billion to build military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration had requested about $10 billion. On Israel, the bill, among other things, includes an expansion of U.S. joint military exercises with Israel and a prohibition on the Pentagon citing casualty data from Hamas. The defense policy bill is one of the final measures that lawmakers view as a must-pass before making way for a new Congress in January. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation next week. It then would move to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

Elon Musk calls Justin Trudeau 'insufferable tool' in new social media postOn whether to allow digital ID for age assurance when buying alcohol, some countries say yes, some say no, and some see an opportunity for dramatically increased biometric surveillance using facial recognition cameras. is aiming to crack down on underage drinking by tightening and requiring establishments to check a physical copy of a government-issued ID. The only digital IDs that will be permitted in the city, where the drinking age is 25, are those stored in the government’s Digilocker portal, according to from the Economic Times. In a reversal of the standard story in which are more secure than easily tampered-with physical identity documents, the government says the move is to prevent the use of fraudulent or edited digital IDs. Elsewhere in the world, trends are moving in the opposite direction. In the new year, UK retailers are set to start accepting in alcohol sales. Staff at pubs, clubs and retail outlets will be able to perform age assurance checks using QR codes or contactless technology. The initiative follows the successful rollout of digital age verification in UK cinemas through the GOV.UK One Login system, as the Kier Starmer government takes up the reins on the nation’s wider . Meanwhile, in Türkiye’s capital, businesses selling alcohol and cigarettes are now required to install and to store biometric data for at least a month. A from DuvaR.English says the Istanbul Governorship issued a notice to liquor stores and other businesses requiring camera systems to be installed “to monitor and record the sales area, all entry and exit points, and parking lots, if any, from various angles.” The cameras must be effective in low light or nighttime conditions and able to operate constantly. While the set-up sounds much like a CCTV system for real-time and security monitoring, the stated goal is more like an ambient, panopticon-esque form of age assurance: the governorship says its goal is “protecting minors under 18 from harmful habits such as alcohol and cigarettes.” The rule goes into effect on January 1 and comes with penalties under the “non-compliance with orders” clause of the Misdemeanor Law. occupies a balance point between biometric innovation and a government with autocratic tendencies, embodied in president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. According to from Norton Rose Fulbright, in Istanbul and other large cities “security systems such as hand geometry recognition, iris or fingerprint scans are widely used to enter office buildings, new residential complexes and even luxury gyms.” And there are data protection laws on the books. “Under the Turkish data protection regime, personal data may not be processed without the data subject’s explicit consent. are treated as sensitive data under the Data Protection Law and are subject to the rules applicable to protection of sensitive personal data.” And yet, Türkiye has danced with questionable uses of facial recognition technology before. In 2023, the country’s minister of interior faced a data privacy lawsuit after going on air to show off a state-developed capable of identifying everyone in the country. | | | | |

Malladi Vishnu, coordinator for the YSR Congress Vijayawada Central constituency and former legislator, criticised the imposition of Rs 9,412 crores as fuel adjustment charges on Andhra Pradesh’s electricity consumers. He condemned the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) for ignoring objections raised against these charges. Vishnu pointed out that the coalition government has burdened citizens with increased electricity costs twice within six months of assuming power. From January, consumers will face a combined hike of Rs 2.19 per unit due to recent increments. He accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of reneging on past promises to lower electricity charges, citing contradictory statements from 2019 to 2023. Vishnu revealed that nearly Rs 150 crores would burden 146,427 consumers in the Central constituency alone. Calling for the government and distribution companies to bear these costs, he urged immediate action to alleviate the burden on the poor, warning of mass protests if demands are ignored. Jana Chaitanya Vedika leaders, including state president Vallam Reddy Lakshmana Reddy and former minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasad, called for expanding the Elite Anti-Narcotics Group for Law Enforcement (EAGLE) initiative to tackle drugs and illicit liquor production. Speaking at a meeting in Guntur, they highlighted the proliferation of local illicit liquor in tribal areas, which harms the poor. Varaprasad urged the government to provide alternative livelihoods to those involved in liquor production. Lakshmana Reddy raised concerns over adulterated liquor containing harmful chemicals like Diazepam and Chloral Hydrate, emphasising its health risks. Criticising the excise policy, they condemned the rise of illegal belt shops and inflated liquor prices. They demanded that EAGLE’s police force, empowered with IG-level authority, operate without political interference. The leaders reiterated the importance of EAGLE’s toll-free number, ensuring round-the-clock action against drug and liquor offences.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes drifted amid mixed trading Monday, ahead of this week’s upcoming meeting by the Federal Reserve that could set Wall Street’s direction into next year. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, coming off its first losing week in the last four . The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2% to a record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was a laggard and fell 110 points, or 0.3%. Broadcom leaped 11.2% to help lead the S&P 500 for a second straight day after delivering a profit report last week that beat analysts’ expectations. The technology company is riding a wave of enthusiasm about its artificial-intelligence offerings in particular. The market’s main event, though, will arrive on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve will announce its last move on interest rates for the year. The widespread expectation is that it will cut its main rate for a third straight time, as it tries to boost the slowing job market after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its target of 2%. The question is how much more it will cut rates next year, and Fed officials will release projections for where they see the federal funds rate ending 2025, along with other economic indicators, once their meeting concludes. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will also answer questions in a press conference following the meeting. For now, the general expectation among traders is that the Fed may cut a couple more times in 2025, according to data from CME Group. But such expectations have been shrinking following reports suggesting inflation may be tougher to get all the way down to 2% from here. Besides last month’s slight acceleration in inflation, another worry is that President-elect Donald Trump’s preferences for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation down the line. Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle has dropped his earlier forecast of a cut by the Fed in January, for example. Beyond the possibility of tariffs, he said Fed officials may also want to slow their cuts because of uncertainty about exactly how low rates need to go so that they no longer press the brakes on the economy. Expectations for a series of cuts to rates by the Fed have been one of the main reasons the S&P 500 has set an all-time high 57 times so far this year and is heading for one of its best years of the millennium . The economy has held up better than many feared, continuing to grow even after the Fed hiked the federal funds rate to a two-decade high in hopes of grinding down on inflation, which topped 9% two summers ago. On Wall Street, MicroStrategy jumped as much as 7% during the day as it continues to benefit from the surging price for bitcoin , which set another all-time high. But its stock ended the day down by les than 0.1% after bitcoin’s price pulled back below $106,000 after setting a record above $107,700, according to CoinDesk. The software company has been building its hoard of the cryptocurrency, and its stock price has more than sextupled this year. It will also soon join the Nasdaq 100 index. Bitcoin’s price has catapulted from roughly $44,000 at the start of the year, riding a recent wave of enthusiasm that Trump will create a system that’s more favorable to digital currencies . Honeywell rose 3.7% after saying it’s still considering a spin-off or sale of its aerospace business, as part of a review of its overall business. It said it plans to give an update with the release of its fourth-quarter results. They helped offset a drop for Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world’s move into AI. Its stock fell 1.7%. Because it’s grown so massive, with a total value topping $3 trillion, it was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500. All told, the S&P 500 rose 22.99 points to 6,074.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 110.58 to 43,717.48, and the Nasdaq composite rose 247.17 to 20,173.89. In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.39% from 4.40% late Friday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, eased to 4.24% from 4.25%. In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly across much of Europe and Asia. They sank 0.9% in Hong Kong and 0.2% in Shanghai after China reported lackluster economic indicators for November despite attempts to strengthen the world’s second-largest economy. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% as law enforcement authorities pushed to summon impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his short-lived martial law decree, and the Constitutional Court met to discuss whether to remove him from office or reinstate him. AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.Dabrowka (Poland), Nov 30 (AP) Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk travelled on Saturday to his country's border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect progress in the construction of military fortifications along the eastern frontier, calling it "an investment in peace". Tusk's visit comes a month before Poland is to take over the rotating presidency of the 27-member European Union. Polish officials say their priority is to urge Europeans to beef up defences at a time of Russian aggression and with change coming soon in Washington. Some European leaders are concerned that the incoming administration of Donald Trump might be less committed to Europe's defense. Also Read | Sabrina Krasniqi Suicide-Murder Case: US Model Shoots Husband to Death, Later Dies by Suicide in Florida. Tusk also proposed this week that Poland and the Nordic and Baltic countries carry out joint navy patrols in the strategically important Baltic Sea, following the suspected sabotage of undersea data cables. Poland's government and army began building the system dubbed East Shield this year. It will eventually include approximately 800 kilometers (500 miles) along the Polish borders with Russia and Belarus, at a time when Western officials accuse Russia of waging hybrid attacks against the West that include sabotage, the weaponisation of migration, disinformation and other hostile measures. Also Read | Relations with India Changed After August 5, Says Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Mohammed Touhid Hossain. “The better the Polish border is guarded, the more difficult it is to access for those with bad intentions,” Tusk said at a news conference near the village of Dabrowka as he stood in front of concrete anti-tank barriers. Poland has been at the mercy of aggressive neighbours over the past centuries and has become a leading European voice for security at a time when France and Germany are weakened by internal political problems. Poland aims to spend 4.7 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence next year, making it one of NATO's leaders in defence spending. Tusk's government estimates that the strategic military project will cost at least 10 billion zlotys (USD 2.5 billion). Poland's borders with Russia, Belarus — as well as Ukraine — are the easternmost external borders of both the European Union and NATO. Tusk said he expected the East Shield to eventually be expanded to protect the small Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. “Everything we are doing here — and we will also be doing this on the border with Belarus and Ukraine — is to deter and discourage a potential aggressor, which is why it is truly an investment in peace," Tusk said. “We will spend billions of zlotys on this, but right now the whole of Europe is observing these investments and our actions with great satisfaction and will support them if necessary.” Tusk did not elaborate on his plans for reinforcing the border with Ukraine, a close ally. Along the frontier, anti-tank barriers known as “hedgehogs” will be integrated with natural barriers like ditches. Tusk said parts of the project are not visible to the naked eye, but it is nonetheless the largest project of its nature in Europe since the end of World War II. The plans also include the construction of threat reconnaissance and detection systems, forward bases, logistics hubs, warehouses and the deployment of anti-drone systems, the state news agency PAP reported. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)