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WASHINGTON — The House passed a $895 billion measure Wednesday that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill passed by a vote of 281-140 and next moves to the Senate, where lawmakers sought a bigger boost in defense spending than the current measure allows. 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 service member pay 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 agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reached with President Joe Biden to increase the nation's borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators wanted to increase defense spending about $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 in 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 nondefense 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 if that treatment 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, proved 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 service members' children from having access to that." Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care extends into the thousands. 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 on the ban and said the provision "taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation." 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 did not tell Democrats how to vote on the bill. "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 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.www mnl777 co 。

The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — What a wonderful year 2024 has been for investors. U.S. stocks ripped higher and carried the S&P 500 to records as the economy kept growing and the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates. The year featured many familiar winners, such as Big Tech, which got even bigger as their stock prices kept growing . But it wasn’t just Apple, Nvidia and the like. Bitcoin , gold and other investments also drove higher. Here’s a look at some of the numbers that defined the year. All are as of Dec. 20. Remember when President Bill Clinton got impeached or when baseball’s Mark McGwire hit his 70th home run against the Montreal Expos? That was the last time the U.S. stock market closed out a second straight year with a leap of at least 20%, something the S&P 500 is on track to do again this year. The index has climbed 24.3% so far this year, not including dividends, following last year’s spurt of 24.2%. The number of all-time highs the S&P 500 has set so far this year. The first came early, on Jan. 19, when the index capped a two-year comeback from the swoon caused by high inflation and worries that high interest rates instituted by the Federal Reserve to combat it would create a recession. But the index was methodical through the rest of the year, setting a record in every month outside of April and August, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The latest came on Dec. 6. The number of times the Federal Reserve has cut its main interest rate this year from a two-decade high, offering some relief to the economy. Expectations for those cuts, along with hopes for more in 2025, were a big reason the U.S. stock market has been so successful this year. The 1 percentage point of cuts, though, is still short of the 1.5 percentage points that many traders were forecasting for 2024 at the start of the year. The Fed disappointed investors in December when it said it may cut rates just two more times in 2025, fewer than it had earlier expected. That’s how many points the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by the day after Election Day, as investors made bets on what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for the economy and the world . The more widely followed S&P 500 soared 2.5% for its best day in nearly two years. Aside from bitcoin, stocks of banks and smaller winners were also perceived to be big winners. The bump has since diminished amid worries that Trump’s policies could also send inflation higher. The level that bitcoin topped to set a record above $108,000 this past month. It’s been climbing as interest rates come down, and it got a particularly big boost following Trump’s election. He’s turned around and become a fan of crypto, and he’s named a former regulator who’s seen as friendly to digital currencies as the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, replacing someone who critics said was overly aggressive in his oversight. Bitcoin was below $17,000 just two years ago following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Gold’s rise for the year, as it also hit records and had as strong a run as U.S. stocks. Wars around the world have helped drive demand for investments seen as safe, such as gold. It’s also benefited from the Fed’s cut to interest rates. When bonds are paying less in interest, they pull away fewer potential buyers from gold, which pays investors nothing. It’s a favorite number of Elon Musk, and it’s also a threshold that Tesla’s stock price passed in December as it set a record. The number has a long history among marijuana devotees, and Musk famously said in 2018 that he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 per share . Tesla soared this year, up from less than $250 at the start, in part because of expectations that Musk’s close relationship with Trump could benefit the company. That’s how much revenue Nvidia made in the nine months through Oct. 27, showing how the artificial-intelligence frenzy is creating mountains of cash. Nvidia’s chips are driving much of the move into AI, and its revenue through the last nine months catapulted from less than $39 billion the year before. Such growth has boosted Nvidia’s worth to more than $3 trillion in total. GameStop’s gain on May 13 after Keith Gill, better known as “Roaring Kitty,” appeared online for the first time in three years to support the video game retailer’s stock, which he helped rocket to unimaginable heights during the “ meme stock craze ” in 2021. Several other meme stocks also jumped following his post in May on the social platform X, including AMC Entertainment. Gill later disclosed a sizeable stake in the online pet products retailer Chewy, but he sold all of his holdings by late October . That’s how much the U.S. economy grew, at annualized seasonally adjusted rates, in each of the three first quarters of this year. Such growth blew past what many pessimists were expecting when inflation was topping 9% in the summer of 2022. The fear was that the medicine prescribed by the Fed to beat high inflation — high interest rates — would create a recession. Households at the lower end of the income spectrum in particular are feeling pain now, as they contend with still-high prices. But the overall economy has remained remarkably resilient. This is the vacancy rate for U.S. office buildings — an all-time high — through the first three quarters of 2024, according to data from Moody’s. The fact the rate held steady for most of the year was something of a win for office building owners, given that it had marched up steadily from 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Demand for office space weakened as the pandemic led to the popularization of remote work. That’s the total number of previously occupied homes sold nationally through the first 11 months of 2024. Sales would have to surge 20% year-over-year in December for 2024’s home sales to match the 4.09 million existing homes sold in 2023, a nearly 30-year low. The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. A shortage of homes for sale and elevated mortgage rates have discouraged many would-be homebuyers.Fears for Gaza hospitals as fuel and aid run low

Lebanon is closing all its land border crossings with Syria except for a main one that links Beirut with the Syrian capital Damascus, the General Security Directorate said Friday. The decision came hours after an Israeli airstrike damaged a border crossing in northern Lebanon just days after it was reopened. Separately, Jordan’s interior minister said the Naseeb border crossing with Syria had been closed because of the security situation on the Syrian side. He spoke after Syrian opposition activists said insurgents had captured the main border crossing with Jordan, forcing the Syrian authorities to leave. Separately, Israel’s military said it planned to reinforce its positions in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and near the border with Syria. Israel said it was “monitoring developments and is prepared for all scenarios, offensive and defensive alike.” Meanwhile, Syrian insurgents entered the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh early Friday just north of the central city of Homs, bringing them closer Syria’s third largest city, an opposition war monitor and pro-government media both reported. The breakthrough came a day after jihiadi-led opposition fighters captured the central city of Hama , Syria’s fourth largest. In other developments, a Hamas official said international mediators have resumed negotiations with the Palestinian militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war is within reach. Israel's war against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage . Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians , more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. Here's the Latest: CAIRO — Israel said Friday that “thousands of food packages and sacks of flour” were delivered to the isolated northernmost reaches of Gaza, where hunger experts warn famine could be underway. The delivery would mark one of the first successful convoys to the area, which is besieged by Israeli troops that have mounted a fierce offensive in Gaza’s north since early October. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls the border crossings into Gaza, said the aid was delivered to the town of Beit Hanoun. Israeli authorities did not publicly say who delivered the aid, and did not provide details on the exact amount of aid involved. COGAT released photos of flatbed trucks driving past rubble, some carrying what appeared to be 25-kilogram (55 pound) sacks of aid and others with cargo covered under tarps. The U.N. has struggled to deliver aid to the area in recent weeks. Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the World Food Program, told The Associated Press that nearly no food has entered the area for two months, and that the agency’s daily requests to enter the area have been denied by Israel. Of two missions that have been approved since Oct. 6, Zaki said, only two trucks of aid were delivered to a shelter that Israeli soldiers ordered to evacuate soon after and then burned. The situation in northern Gaza has prompted hunger experts to warn that famine is either near or may already be underway. BEIRUT — A Kurdish-led force in Syria that's backed by the United States says it has taken positions along the border with Iraq, replacing Syrian government forces. The move by the Syrian Democratic Forces to capture areas on the west bank of the Euphrates River is likely to cut the land line that links Iran with the Mediterranean coast. The SDF said in a statement that its fighters were deployed in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour and west of the Euphrates for the safety of civilians. “Our primary objective is to protect our security and the security of our people,” it said about the deployment. SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told The Associated Press that their fighters are not in control of the Boukamal border crossing with Iraq. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Iran-backed fighters have evacuated the border crossing point of Boukamal and the SDF is expected to control it later. The Boukamal border crossing has been a main supply line for Iran-backed fighters, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, who had opened the corridor that links Iran with the Mediterranean in 2017. The developments come as jihadi-led insurgents in northwestern Syria have made stunning advances over the past week that have so far met little resistance from government troops. KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Crowds of displaced Palestinians, some carrying cooking pots and crying children, gathered at an aid kitchen in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Friday, but many left with nothing. “The food ran out,” said Adel Mohammad, who was hoping to get a meal of rice – the only food being served — for his children. “At night they wake up hungry.” After the kitchen shut down, children used their hands to scoop bits of rice left in large empty cooking pots. The World Food Program has warned that the humanitarian response in Gaza is “nearing collapse as famine looms.” The U.N. agency says Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries, along with the breakdown of law and order in Gaza, has made it difficult for aid convoys to reach displaced Palestinians. Concerns are growing with the onset of another winter of war. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, many displaced repeatedly by Israeli attacks, are living in tent camps, reliant on international aid. Experts have already warned of famine in northern Gaza, which Israeli forces have almost completely isolated since early October. BEIRUT -- Lebanon’s General Security Directorate said Friday the country is closing all land border crossing with Syria except for a main one that links Beirut with the Syrian capital Damascus. The decision by the security agency in charge of border crossings came hours after an Israeli airstrike damaged the Arida border crossing with Syria in north Lebanon, days after it was reopened. “Border crossings will be closed until further notice for the safety of travelers,” the agency said in a statement posted on X. It said that the only border crossing that will be kept open is Masnaa in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. Lebanon’s state news agency said Friday the airstrike on the Arida crossing caused heavy material damage and cut the road. The Israeli military said fighter jets attacked the border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, adding that they were used to transfer munitions for Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. BEIRUT - Syrian opposition activists say insurgents have captured a main border crossing with Jordan forcing Syrian authorities to leave it. Shortly afterward, Jordan’s Interior Minister al-Frayeh said the Naseeb border crossing with Syria had been closed because of the security situation on the Syrian side. Opposition activists posted videos online showing people storming the border crossing with Jordan, which was in rebel hands until government forces regained control of it in 2018. Ahmad al-Masalmeh, an opposition activist based in France who covers events in southern Syria, told The Associated Press that local gunmen have captured the Naseeb crossing as well as several other areas in the southern province of Daraa where the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. Syrian troops have evacuated checkpoints in several areas including the villages of Inkhil, Nawa and Jassem, he added. JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said on Friday that it planned to reinforce its forces stationed in the Golan Heights and near the border with Syria, where civil war has reignited between the government and rebel groups. The Israeli military said in a statement that it was “monitoring developments and is prepared for all scenarios, offensive and defensive alike.” After 13 years of civil war, Syrian insurgents are gaining ground, first taking cities in the country’s north and on Friday entering cities in central Syria. It comes as rebel groups mount new challenges to Russia- and Iran-backed Syrian forces, including in Aleppo, the country’s largest city. Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has intermittently struck areas in Syria seen as strongholds of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group it is at war with in Lebanon. The advances of the Syrian insurgents adds new instability on Israel’s northern border, two months after it invaded neighboring Lebanon. Israel’s defense minister and military chief of staff met to discuss the situation Thursday. Israeli media reported there is concern in the country’s security establishment that the rebels would advance until they reached the Golan Heights, territory occupied by Israel, gaining control of Syrian weapons stockpiles along the way. Writing in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahoronoth Friday, veteran military correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai wrote that Israel may “prefer” to destroy the weapons storehouses so they won’t fall into the hands of the rebels. Israel seized control of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Syria has constantly accused Israel of launching attacks against it from territory it occupies in the Golan Heights. Israel has frequently struck Syria over the years. BEIRUT — Syrian insurgents entered two central towns early Friday just north of the central city of Homs, bringing them closer Syria’s third largest city, an opposition war monitor and pro-government media both reported. The break into Rastan and Talbiseh came a day after opposition gunmen captured the central city of Hama , Syria’s fourth largest, after the Syrian army said it withdrew to avoid fighting inside the city and spare the lives of civilians. The insurgents, led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have said that they will march to Homs and Damascus, President Bashar Assad’s seat of power. The city of Homs, parts of which were controlled by insurgents until 2014, is a major intersection point between the capital, Damascus, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus where Assad enjoys wide support. Homs province is Syria’s largest in size and borders Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. Insurgents are now 5 kilometers (3 miles) away from Homs, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor. “The battle of Homs is the mother of all battles and will decide who will rule Syria,” said Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory’s chief. MANAMA, Bahrain — Iran said Friday it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its program the West alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile technology. Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh program , a satellite-carrying rocket that had had a series of failed launches, at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. That’s the site of Iran’s civilian space program. The Simorgh carried what Iran described as an “orbital propulsion system,” as well as two research systems to a 400-kilometer (250-mile) orbit above the Earth. A system that could change the orbit of a spacecraft would allow Iran to geo-synchronize the orbits of its satellites. Tehran has long sought that ability. Iran also put the payload of the Simorgh at 300 kilograms (660 pounds), heavier than its previous successful launches. There was no immediate independent confirmation the launch was successful. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The announcement comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel’s continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and as an uneasy ceasefire holds in Lebanon. MELBOURNE, Australia — Arsonists extensively damaged a Melbourne synagogue on Friday in what Australia’s prime minister condemned as an antisemitic attack on Australian values. The blaze in the Adass Israel Synagogue is an escalation in targeted attacks in Australia since the war began between Israel and Hamas last year. Cars and buildings have been vandalized and torched around Australia in protests inspired by the war. A witness who had come to the synagogue to pray saw two masked men spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms inside the building at 4:10 a.m., officials said. About 60 firefighters with 17 fire trucks responded to the blaze, which police said caused extensive damage. Investigators have yet to identify a motive, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed antisemitism. “This was a shocking incident to be unequivocally condemned. There is no place in Australia for an outrage such as this,” Albanese told reporters. “To attack a place of worship is an attack on Australian values. To attack a synagogue is an act of antisemitism, is attacking the right that all Australians should have to practice their faith in peace and security,” he added. ISTANBUL — A Hamas official says international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the United States because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. But there has been a “reactivation” of efforts in recent days to end the fighting, release hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in Israel, according to Bassem Naim, an official in Hamas’ political bureau who spoke with The Associated Press in Turkey on Thursday. Another official familiar with the talks confirmed the return of Qatari mediators. The official spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media. Since the talks broke down, there have been significant shifts in the global and regional landscape. Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, and a ceasefire was declared last week between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon. Trump is a staunch supporter of Israel, but Naim said he believes the incoming administration could “affect the situation positively” given that Trump had made halting wars in the region part of his campaign platform. Trump this week called for the release of all hostages held in Gaza by the time he takes office on Jan. 20, saying there would be “hell to pay” if that doesn’t happen. WASHINGTON -- Three U.S. service members were being evaluated for potential traumatic brain injuries following an attack near a base in eastern Syria this week, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday. Ryder said U.S. Central Command is still evaluating who was behind the attack near Mission Support Site Euphrates, which prompted the U.S. to conduct counter strikes on Tuesday. At the time, the Pentagon said rockets and mortars had landed in the vicinity of the base. The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria to conduct missions to counter the Islamic Stage group. By Lolita Baldor

From the return of ‘Hamilton’ to a brilliant guitarist and a star-studded (literally) night in Oakland, there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area this weekend. The Founding Fathers are back Is it just us, or does a musical about how a group of political leaders put their squabbling ways, personal interests and other matters behind them just long enough to create an American Democracy seem especially relevant right now? Even if you don’t want to look at it that way, “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2015 musical that changed the notion of what a musical could be, is worth seeing. The fast-paced show with rapid-fire, hip-hop-infused numbers, a largely non-white cast and a compelling story wrapped around Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and the creation of the U.S. Constitution, makes for a thrilling night at the theater. And now it’s back in the Bay Area for a four-week run extending into early January. “Hamilton,” based on Ron Chernow’s best-selling biography “Alexander Hamilton,” has been embraced with almost universal acclaim. It became an instant sensation with its off-Broadway opening and continued to generate sold-out audiences when it moved to the Great White Way, eventually garnering a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations and 11 trophies, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Now a new North American tour of the iconic show, which blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and traditional showtunes in what Miranda has described as an exploration of “America then, as told by America now,” is playing at the Orpheum Theatre. Details: Presented by BroadwaySF; through Jan. 5; 1192 Market St.; tickets start at $189; broadwaysf.com. — Randy McMullen, Staff All-world guitarist heading to Yoshi’s Mike Stern will take your breath away. He’s just that good — the type of guitarist who will leave you in awe with his fretboard fireworks, honed through decades of stellar work in the jazz world. But please don’t just take our word on the matter. Instead, put our statement of his greatness to the test by going to see Stern when he performs three shows in two days. Stern, of course, has amazing credentials in the music industry. He came to fame as a member of the popular jazz-rock troupe, Blood, Sweat & Tears, when he was 22. From there, he came under the wing of Billy Cobham, working in the drummer’s fusion group, before getting the call to join Miles Davis’ band. He’s since established himself as a first-tier bandleader in the jazz game, thanks to such fine releases as 1988’s “Time In Place,” 1994’s “Is What It Is” and 2006’s “Who Let the Cats Out?” The guitarist is out on the road with his latest Mike Stern Band ensemble — featuring drummer Dennis Chambers, saxophonist Bob Franceschini, bassist Janek Gwizdala and vocalist-guitarist Leni Stern — in support of the recently released album “Echoes and Other Songs.” Details: 7:30 p.m. Monday and 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday; Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland; $29-$74; yoshis.com . — Jim Harrington, Staff Stars on parade in Oakland The Perseids are lovely, peaking in mid-August with swift and plentiful fireballs, and October’s Orionids are a delight with their smoky, long-lasting trails. But real meteor-heads look forward to December when it’s time for the Geminids, the strongest annual shower, in terms of action, with more than 100 shooting stars zipping by every hour. The 2024 Geminids meteor shower will peak overnight from Dec. 13 to 14 and, to celebrate, the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland is holding a watch party for kids and adults. Gather on the center’s observation deck to observe the busy skies and get all your astronomical questions answered by experts — where do the Geminids come from? (Asteroid 3200 Phaethon.) How big are they (pretty much grains of sand) and what might they taste like (perhaps clay or metal)? The viewing conditions aren’t 100 percent optimal this year, with a waxing-gibbous moon providing interference, but the Geminids’ trademark light-bright meteors should still make the show a blast. Note: Bring warm clothing and optional blankets, chairs or sleeping bags. Details: 11 p.m.-3 a.m. Friday; 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland; $15 for adults, $7 for ages 2-12, chabotspace.org . — John Metcalfe, Staff ‘Nutcrackers’ of all kinds With the holiday entertainment season in full bloom, here are some productions of the beloved “Nutcracker” you should know about. San Francisco Ballet ‘Nutcracker’: Helgi Tomasson’s classic adaptation of the work is back; through Dec. 29; War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco; $19-$465; www.sfballet.org . Dorrance Dance “Nutcracker Suite”: Presented by the nation’s preeminent tap company; 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $30-$150; calperformances.org . “The San Jose Nutcracker”: Presented by New Ballet and Symphony San José, set in the South Bay in 1905 and featuring choreography by Dalia Rawson, New Ballet’s founder and artistic director; Saturday through Dec. 23; California Theatre, San Jose; $31.50-$121.50; newballet.com . Mark Foehringer Dance Project: The roughly 1-hour “Nutcracker Sweets” was designed by Foehringer with young viewers in mind; through Dec. 22; Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, San Francisco; $23.50-$59.50; nutcrackersweets.org . San Jose Dance Theatre: The company’s annual production of the “Original San Jose Nutcracker” runs through Sunday; San Jose Center for the Performing Arts; $39.50-$115; www.sjdt.org . — Andrew Gilbert, Correspondent Celebrating holidays in song Looking for a special concert to round out your holiday calendar? Here are three you should know about. “A Chanticleer Christmas”: Founded in 1978 by the late singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer continues to set the gold standard for exquisitely sung choral music. From classical favorites to holiday carols, the 12-man vocal ensemble always achieves a radiant blend as they celebrate this special time of year. This season, the group returns under music director Tim Keeler — a countertenor who previously sang with Chanticleer — in a wide-ranging program that begins with a candlelit chant procession and moves to a joyous gospel conclusion. Details: Friday through Dec. 23, with performances in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Mill Valley, Petaluma, Sacramento, Santa Clara, and Carmel; $45-$91; chanticleer.org. “Wintersongs”: Kitka, the acclaimed nine-woman vocal ensemble dedicated to the music of the Balkan, Caucasus and Slavic lands, returns with its annual concert following the arc of the “Supra,” a traditional Georgian ritual feast. Details: Through Dec. 22; concerts in Davis, Santa Cruz, Oakland and San Francisco; $36-$56; kitka.org . “Messiah,” American Bach Soloists: It’s a Bay Area tradition: Handel’s masterwork, performed in Grace Cathedral, is one of the great holiday events, and American Bach presents it in all of its splendor. This year, conductor Jeffrey Thomas leads the orchestra and Bach Choir in a performance featuring soprano Mary Wilson, countertenor Eric Jurenas, tenor Jon Lee Keenan, baritone Jesse Blumberg, and the company’s Bach Choir. Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; $25-$135; americanbach.org . — Georgia Rowe, Correspondent Austen for the holidays Jane Austen is justifiably revered for a great many things: her exquisite prose, her savvy critique of the British upper class, her emotionally satisfying romantic storylines. But she has rarely been thought of the go-to author for the winter holidays. But TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, along with Bay Area playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, may have changed all that. The Palo Alto stage company is presenting Gunderson and Melcon’s Austen-themed work, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” as its holiday stage show this year. The comedic rom-com is described as a sequel to Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” and, as the title makes clear, it is set during the holiday time. The play focuses on the middle Bennet daughter, (the “bookish” Mary, as organizers put it) who is weary of always being in the middle of her siblings’ romantic issues until a dishy new visitor arrives at Pemberley to light up her world. Having scored with audiences in a trio of Austen adaptations – “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility,” and “Emma” – you can’t blame TheatreWorks for returning to the beloved author, as well as acclaimed playwrights Gunderson and Melcon, for some holiday cheer. Directed by Jeffrey Lo, “Miss Bennett” plays at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto through Dec. 29. Details: $34-$115; theatreworks.org . — Bay City News Foundation Some perky Prokofiev We always expect the San Francisco Youth Symphony to bring families a rousing performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s charming “Peter and the Wolf” every holiday season, but we don’t know until the date approaches what celebrity will be picked to fill the narrator’s shoes. Past performers have included Sharon Stone, Linda Ronstadt, Robin Williams, Bobby McFerrin and Rita Moreno. This year, it’s the Filipino American Broadway star of “Aladdin” and current host of the kids TV series “Blues, Clues and You” Josh Dela Cruz who will be telling the tale of the plucky boy, his animal friends and the unlucky duck who gets swallowed whole. The concert, conducted by Radu Paponiu, takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday in San Francisco’s Davies Hall. There are other fun works on the program, including the “Thunder and Lightning Polka” by Johan Strauss, Jr., and it will wind up with a traditional holiday carol singalong. Details: $37.50-$199; sfsymphony.org . — Bay City News FoundationWASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department, said he had a “wonderful conversation” with Maine Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday as he pushed to win enough votes for confirmation. He said he will not back down after allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct. Collins said after the hourlong meeting that she questioned Hegseth about the allegations amid reports of drinking and the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies. She said she had a “good, substantive” discussion with Hegseth and “covered a wide range of topics,” including sexual assault in the military, Ukraine and NATO. But she said she would wait until a hearing, and notably a background check, to make a decision. “I asked virtually every question under the sun,” Collins told reporters as she left her office after the meeting. "I pressed him both on his position on military issues as well as the allegations against him, so I don’t think there was anything that we did not cover.” The meeting with Collins was closely watched as she is seen as more likely than most of her Republican Senate colleagues to vote against some of Trump’s Cabinet picks. She and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a fellow moderate Republican, did not shy from opposing Trump in his first term when they wanted to do so and sometimes supported President Joe Biden’s nominees for the judicial and executive branches. And Hegseth, an infantry combat veteran and former “Fox & Friends” weekend host, is working to gain as many votes as he can as some senators have expressed concerns about his personal history and lack of management experience. “I’m certainly not going to assume anything about where the senator stands,” Hegseth said as he left Collins’ office. “This is a process that we respect and appreciate. And we hope, in time, overall, when we get through that committee and to the floor that we can earn her support.” Hegseth met with Murkowski on Tuesday. He has also been meeting repeatedly with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a military veteran who has said she is a survivor of sexual assault and has spent time in the Senate working on improving how attacks are reported and prosecuted within the ranks. On Monday, Ernst said after a meeting with him that he had committed to selecting a senior official to prioritize those goals. Republicans will have a 53-49 majority next year, meaning Trump cannot lose more than three votes on any of his nominees. It is so far unclear whether Hegseth will have enough support, but Trump has stepped up his pressure on senators in the last week. “Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!” Trump posted on his social media platform last week. On Thursday, Hegseth plans to meet with a Democrat — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman. Fetterman confirmed the meeting to The Associated Press but did not say whether he was considering supporting Hegseth or what he planned to discuss. ___ Associated Press writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report. Mary Clare Jalonick And Matt Brown, The Associated Press

, with Phil Pearlman (December 11, 2024) Wall Street is always looking for an edge over the competition. But what if there was a giant source of overlooked alpha? We discuss how to obtain “Fitness Alpha.” Full . ~~~ About this week’s guest: Phil Pearlman, is former Chief Behavioral Officer at the Bank of the Ozarks and founder of the Pearl Institute. For more info, see: ~~~ Find all of the previous , and in the MiB feed on , , , and . And find the entire musical playlist of Musical Intro: Everyone on Wall Street is looking for an edge. We deploy quant models, hire analysts, run various simulations, All to gain the slightest advantage that might be worth a few basis points over a year. But what if you were overlooking a giant source of alpha? I’m Barry Ritholtz. And on today’s edition of at the money, we’re going to discuss how Wall Street has been using personal health to gain a competitive advantage to help us understand all of this and its implications for your portfolio. Let’s bring in Phil Perlman. Previously, he served as executive editor at Stocktwits and was chief behavioral officer at the Bank of the Ozarks. Today he runs the Pearl Institute, focusing on personal health and the process of making effective change. So Phil, let’s just start with a basic question. What is Fitness Alpha? Fitness alpha is a model of performance, and we can derive alpha in markets from so many different areas. And, you know, just as a very brief primer, for those who might not know, alpha is this idea of how much we outperform. So if our benchmark is the S& P 500, we’re a money manager, and we make 25 percent in a year when the market’s up 20%. That’s 5% Percent of alpha and so forth. If we’re, if we’re up 15%, that’s 5% of negative alpha. If the market’s up 20%. And so where do you get the alpha from and you know, do you get it from information, do you get it from having a certain model? There’s different sources and there’s one source that is just a very simple source of alpha that nobody. Is talking about, nobody has ever talked about it. And it’s basically the outperformance we derive from our health, the healthier we get, the better we perform across multiple areas of function. So give us a few examples of some of those multiple functions that create an advantage in the financial marketplace. Well, markets are a competitive endeavor, and we know from years of research that health, the better, the more healthy we get, the better we perform across multiple areas of function, including stress tolerance. Right. So the markets are stressful. 2022, anybody who’s involved with markets for years, think of 2022 for one moment, and you know, it was a stressful time and bear markets occur periodically. I don’t know, every five or six years. And so when we have bear markets and we’re able to tolerate stress more adaptively, our performance will improve not only stress tolerance, but emotional regulation and emotional control, how we’re able to control our emotions, how we’re able to cope with our emotions. Do they affect us behaviorally? Do we go on tilt or do we remain rational during volatile periods. This sounds like you’re referring to fitness alpha helps you make better decisions, especially in times of volatility. Absolutely. And there are so many different areas, for example, stamina and resilience, right? I mean, money managers have pressure, Even during bull markets, because everybody’s sort of chasing returns and that is a stressor. So it’s not just during periods of volatility in bear markets, you get it in bull markets alike and our ability to bounce back. So just to go back to your other question, there’s so many different areas and that’s why I’m harping on it. Resilience. We bounce back better, the healthier that we get, we recuperate faster. We’re able to To stay focused longer, long days. We can put in long days after long days, our charisma, our self confidence and the way we are perceived by others. You and I have spoken about this previously, and you have mentioned that this has quietly become a thing on wall street, more trading desks, more funds are internally discussing fitness alpha. Explain a little bit about what’s happening on the street. Well, you know, there was a moment, you know, and this goes back 30 some odd years, but there was a moment. When Tiger Woods won the masters, he changed the game of golf forever because before Tiger Woods, none of the golfers really thought about their physical health. And all of a sudden here comes a young golfer who’s in better shape than anybody else out there and he’s crushing the ball and he is able to manage his emotional world, his stress and stay ice cold, even with the greatest pressure on him. And after Tiger Woods, now you go and you look at the tour, almost everybody is incredible conditioning. And so you’re starting to really see something similar to that happen on wall street, especially, um, at the highest tiers and in the hedge fund industry. I’ve had numerous clients who’ve come to me with, uh, metabolic health problems with, uh, alcohol and other substance problems. And they begin to get those under control. And then all of a sudden they have more energy, they bounce back quicker, their resilience improves. And they’re performing better and feeling like it’s a more sustainable thing than being day to day and hour to hour. So let’s talk about some of the areas of health that you focus on. You touched on drinking, you touched on metabolism, which I assume involves nutrition. What are the areas that you can derive fitness alpha from? Well, here’s the thing about that. I’d like to keep things really, really simple. Okay. And if you go out there, there’s a thousand books and there’s 10, 000 hours of podcasts focusing on health and wellbeing these days. And they get very, very granular. And there’s a lot of debates and arguments and, you know, mitochondria and VO two max, and there’s a thousand buzzwords. I like to keep it very, very simple. And from my point of view, there are four elements of health that we can focus on. And if we can just get a little bit better, we don’t have to get 1 percent better every day. We could just get 5 percent better a year. And if we do that year after year, and those four areas, those four elements of good health. or nutrition, what we put into the only body that we are ever issued on this earth body movement, which is exercise, which includes cardiovascular, you know, aerobic exercise, and also anaerobic exercise or resistance training. Uh, it also includes sleep and rest and how we allow our bodies to heal, uh, over time, whether that’s sleeping or whether that’s taking a day off or two, if we’re injured and social and family and love. And that’s the fourth one. It’s a very surprising one when I mentioned that, but huge alpha in a relationship and love, uh, focus. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, social. All right. So those are the four big areas. So within those four areas, someone listening to this, whether they’re a trader or a fund manager or, uh, driving a truck or working in a retail store, what do they need to do to generate that performance boost to generate that fitness alpha in those four areas? Well, all you have to do is get a little bit better at a time. All you have to do is get incrementally better over time. You don’t have to try. To blow the lights out. Hey, I’m going to start exercising six times a day. I’m going to completely change my diet. I’m going to do all these things. You don’t have to get super duper gung ho. And I would say that for each person, there is a gateway drug in a good way. You know, not a gateway bad drug, but a gateway good drug. There’s a place to start. And it really, there’s individual differences. And it’s dependent on the person. I’ll give you a few examples. If you have somebody who really does not move their body. and they’re gaining weight over the years, begin to move your body. And that can be as simple as just walking. Walking is an incredible thing. You get outside, you get into the fresh air. Maybe you turn notifications off on your phone and you just begin to get the blood flowing. And the body movement for other people. Hey, you might have people who love food, who are good cooks. Maybe their gateway drug is to say, Hey, I’m going to really begin this by focusing on my nutrition and you don’t have to do anything fancy there. You could keep it stupid, simple there too. And just start eating real foods with very few ingredients. and staying away from ultra processed foods and staying away from foods that have a lot of added sugar. The one other thing that I thought of when you asked me that question was this, that I find that substance abuse and alcohol abuse. It’s very prominent in our culture and extremely prominent among professional market participants. And we know, especially as we age that alcohol and other substances affect our performance and affect our brains very, very significantly. And so if you could get a handle on that, that would be another fantastic gateway. So let’s say we all start moving a little more. We start eating better. We cut the cigarettes and that glass of wine with dinner. How does that show up in our portfolios? What sort of advantages accrue to us? Well, it begins with executive functioning. And it begins with decision making, and this is a direct relationship to the ideas coming from behavioral economics, um, and this idea that we are not always rational decision maker. And the better, you know, I always use, I always, whenever I hear the word rational, I, I, I substitute the word wise. Right. So we are not always wise decision makers. And we know that the average human suffers from loss aversion. And we know that there’s anxiety related to losses, especially. And so when we are even incrementally. improving our ability to make decisions, to make wise decisions. That’s really where we experience alpha, where we make better decisions that affect our portfolio, that improve our performance. And are there any fringe benefits to this besides just improving our portfolios? Well, that’s actually a beautiful question because I’m actually flipping the primary use case. You know, when people talk about getting healthier, they’re not talking about improving your portfolio. They’re talking about extending your life and staying healthy for longer and improving your mood and improving your relationships and improving your quality of life. And so really the fringe benefits are just incredibly central. And some would argue primary. I mean, let’s say if you were not an investor or market participant, and I was talking to you about this, I would be making the same exact case related to, Hey, well, wouldn’t you like, you know, we’re only here once. Wouldn’t you like to stay healthier longer? And so that you can enjoy life for a longer period of time. So this sounds like this is not just for wall street traders and fund managers. Uh, fitness alpha sounds like it can apply to just about everybody. I built this model from my own experience, Barry. I was not a healthy person and I was kind of faking it. Like I was performing well enough professionally that I was getting by and I was making some money, but I was not thriving. And I started to get myself healthy and I started to experience this. Wow. I have more energy. Wow. I want to, I want to interrupt you because I want people to realize back in the day, You were considerably heavier. You were a big drinker. You were not in any sort of shape other than round round as a shape, but you were, you know, you, you, you were struggling. Tell us a little bit about that aha moment and tell us what you accomplished. You know, I’m like a hair club for men. Remember that commercial, the hair club for men guy. I use the product myself. So I bought You know, I mean, I got myself healthy and I was kind of You know, I was kind of faking it. I was an executive within the financial services space and I was miserable traveling too much, drinking too much, not moving my body. When I was 12 years old, 15 years old, I was an athlete, but I had gotten so far away. From who I was, you know, there’s this idea in buddhism of enlightenment This one great author once said that enlightenment is nothing mysterious. It’s really just rediscovering who you always were And so I felt like as I started really getting healthy getting my mind and body in shape That I started really rediscovering who I was getting back to me and lo and behold Uh, I started performing better across all aspects of my life. So to wrap up, fitness alpha is how Wall Street finds yet another edge to enhance their performance, but it’s not just for Wall Street professionals. We sleep better, we eat better, we move, we have better social relationships. Not only does that show up in our portfolios. But it also shows up in extended lifespans and healthier for longer as part of your alpha. I’m Barry Ritholtz and you are listening to Bloomberg’s at the Money ~~~KP IGP bars police from politicsNFL commissioner says Jay-Z rape allegation won't impact Super Bowl halftime show relationship

Steady leadership, unmatched wisdom: India’s sports community mourns Dr Singh’s demise PTI Updated: December 27th, 2024, 00:36 IST in Sports 0 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on Linkedin New Delhi: India’s sports fraternity Thursday joined the nation in mourning the demise of two-time former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, paying homage to his “calm leadership and wisdom” in stirring condolence messages. Singh, 92, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here after losing consciousness at his home owing to age-related ailments. Also Read BGT: It’s probably a safe shot for me, says Konstas on ramps against Bumrah 8 hours ago ISL: Odisha FC to face Mohammedan SC in search of top four spot 8 hours ago “Sad news of the passing of Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji. A visionary leader and a true statesman who worked tirelessly for India’s progress. His wisdom and humility will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his loved ones,” World Cup-winning former cricketer Yuvraj Singh posted on X. Similar sentiments were expressed by his former teammate and Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha member Harbhajan Singh, who described Singh as a thorough gentleman and visionary leader. “What truly set him apart was his calm and steady leadership in times of crisis, his ability to navigate complex political landscapes, and his unwavering belief in India’s potential,” he wrote. It was during Singh’s second tenure that India hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the national capital. It was the first international multi-sport extravaganza to be held in the country after the 1982 Asian Games, also hosted by Delhi. Former wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who is now a Congress MLA in Haryana, called Singh a man of “extraordinary wisdom, simplicity and vision.” “Dr. Manmohan Singh was not just a Prime Minister, but he was a thinker, economist and a true patriot. His calm leadership style and economic vision gave the country a new direction, from the 1991 economic reforms to establishing India’s reputation on the global stage. “There was depth in his humility and wisdom in his every word. His services and contributions to the country will always be remembered. You will always live in our hearts, Sir,” she wrote in her emotional tribute on social media. Former cricketers Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman and ex-women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal were also among those who expressed their sadness at his death. Before serving as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, Singh was finance minister in the P V Narasimha Rao-led government and was the brain behind the economic reforms of 1991 that marked the beginning of liberalisation in the country. Widely respected for his intellect and grace in public life, Singh had retired from active politics in April this year after over a three-decade run as a Rajya Saha MP. PTI Tags: Manmohan Singh Share Tweet Send Share Suggest A Correction Enter your email to get our daily news in your inbox. Leave this field empty if you're human:

Google CEO Sundar Pichai was expected to fly to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Thursday to meet with the president-elect, according to a report. Pichai is just the latest billionaire tech executive from whom Trump has sought counsel, along with Tesla founder Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to The Information . But this meeting comes after years of Trump accusing the massive search engine of fervent anti-conservative – and anti-Trump – bias. Meanwhile, the United States government is considering whether to break up Google after a judge in August ruled that the search engine is a monopoly . As president, Trump could influence the weight of the penalty Google will face for operating an illegal monopoly. As Pichai tries to warm up to Trump, he faces significant obstacles – including Musk, who owns Tesla, SpaceX, xAI and X, formerly known as Twitter. Musk became a close confidant to Trump during the course of his campaign, joining him onstage at rallies and at his Mar-a-Lago residence on election night – and donating a massive $250 million to his campaign and pro-Trump PACs. His companies compete directly with Google’s artificial intelligence ventures and Waymo, its self-driving car unit. Musk reportedly caught Pichai by surprise when he hopped on a phone call between the Google executive and Trump last month, according to The Information . During Trump’s first campaign and presidency, Pichai criticized the Republican president on his “Muslim ban.” “Let’s not let fear defeat our values,” Pichai wrote in a blog post in 2015 after Trump, then a candidate, proposed the ban. He doubled down in 2017, after Trump signed an executive order banning refugees from Muslim-majority countries, saying Google would “fight” the ban. Trump has sung a different tune on Google in recent months, defending the company and saying it should not be broken up, but he has still filled his incoming cabinet with anti-Google picks. Trump tapped Google critic Gail Slater to lead the Justice Department’s antitrust efforts and signaled his administration would continue going after tech giants. “Big Tech has run wild for years,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social announcing he would nominate Slater. Brendan Carr, Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission, has similarly slammed Google in the past for squashing conservative voices. Pichai is not expected to try any negotiations on the antitrust lawsuit or future regulations during his meeting with Trump, a person briefed on the plans told The Information. Tech leaders are scrambling to curry favor with Trump ahead of his second administration as they fear intense regulatory scrutiny. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with the president two weeks ago and Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, according to The Wall Street Journal. Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is planning to meet with Trump next week, the president-elect said on Thursday.

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