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While the Carolina Hurricanes are putting themselves in strong position to eventually secure home-ice advantage in the postseason, the New York Rangers appear to be a shell of the squad that won the teams' second-round playoff series last season in six games. The Hurricanes will attempt to extend their winning home winning streak to nine games, while the Rangers hope to avoid a fourth straight loss when the Metropolitan Division foes convene for the first time this season on Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C. Carolina missed winning the division by three points last season, when it finished with 111. The title instead went to New York, which also won the Presidents' Trophy after racking up a league-best 114 points. Just more than a month into the new season, the Hurricanes own the third-most points in the league (31) and are outscoring foes 41-16 on home ice since taking a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in their home opener on Oct. 11. Carolina has scored at least four goals in each game of its home winning streak and has hit that mark 16 times overall in 21 games this season. The Hurricanes kept the streak alive with Monday's 6-4 victory over the Dallas Stars. Carolina scored five goals in the third period, including a tiebreaking, power-play goal from Martin Necas with under three minutes left to overcome a 3-1 deficit. "I already know what we have," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's just, can they grasp how we have to play every shift? I think sometimes we get a little off and try to do things differently, then all of a sudden, we get to the way we have to play... We don't always get the result like that, but you're giving yourself a chance. Really, a game like that, that's what you're hoping you get out of it." Sebastian Aho scored the first goal of the third-period flurry and collected three assists. Seth Jarvis scored in his first game since Nov. 9 and collected two assists, including the secondary helper on the goal by Necas. The Hurricanes are continuing to win despite uncertainty in goal. Frederik Andersen is about a month into his recovery from knee surgery and Pyotr Kochetkov is in the concussion protocol after colliding with defenseman Sean Walker in Saturday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Spencer Martin started in goal Monday. The Rangers raced out to a 5-0-1 start but are just 7-7-0 since then and have lost three straight. New York ended its four-game road trip with a 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday and produced another dud in a 5-2 home loss to the St. Louis Blues Monday. Will Cuylle scored twice, but big names Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad combined for six shots on goal and were a combined minus-7 as the Rangers were outshot 44-29. "We need to be better," New York coach Peter Laviolette said. "Everybody needs to be better. It's not good enough what we're doing." Monday's loss came after reports surfaced that general manager Chris Drury told other teams he may be willing to trade forward Chris Kreider and defenseman Jacob Trouba, who has a no-move clause to 15 teams. Kreider on Monday missed his first game since Jan. 16, 2023, due to an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. He has nine goals in 19 games this season. Trouba was on the ice for two goals Monday and has just two points since collecting four assists in the first three games this season. --Field Level MediaIsrael has agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon that will take effect at 4 a.m. Wednesday. Moments after U.S. President Joe Biden announced the ceasefire deal , which Israel's Cabinet approved late Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike slammed into the Lebanese capital. Residents of Beirut and its southern suburbs have endured the most intense day of Israeli strikes since the war began nearly 14 months ago, as Israel's nationwide onslaught of bombings signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah before the ceasefire is set to take hold. At least 42 people have killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens in the country’s north. An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza. Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after Hamas’ attack. The fighting in Lebanon escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across the country and an Israeli ground invasion of the south. In Gaza, more than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 wounded in the nearly 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Here's the Latest: BEIRUT — The Health Ministry in Lebanon says 18 more people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across the country, bringing the total death toll on Tuesday to at least 42 people. Eleven people were killed by Israeli bombing in eastern Lebanon, four were killed by strikes on border crossings between northern Lebanon and Syria, and three people were killed in southern Lebanon, the Health Ministry said early Wednesday. In the hours before a ceasefire with Hezbollah was to take effect, Israel launched its most intense wave of strikes on the capital Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict. Strikes have targeted what Israel said were Hezbollah-related targets in several other parts of the country as well. Israel’s military issued a record number of evacuation warnings in Beirut, sending people fleeing from their homes. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens across the country’s north. UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, and hopes it can end the violence and suffering of people in both countries, the U.N. spokesman says. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Hezbollah to swiftly implement all commitments under the agreement, and take immediate steps toward fully implementing the 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said late Tuesday. Resolution 1701 called for the deployment of Lebanese forces throughout the south, which borders Israel and is now mainly controlled by Hezbollah, and it calls for all armed groups including Hezbollah to be disarmed. Neither has happened in the past 17 years. Dujarric said U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon “both stand ready to support the implementation of this agreement, in line with their respective mandates.” WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s senior national security team was briefed by the Biden administration as negotiations unfolded, according to the senior U.S. official. The official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity in a White House-organized call, added that the incoming Trump administration officials were not directly involved in the talks, but that it was important that the incoming administration knew “what we were negotiating and what the commitments were.” The official said “all fire will stop from all parties” at 4 a.m. local time. The next step would be what the official described as a “phased withdrawal” by the Israeli military. As the Israelis pull back, Lebanese national forces will occupy the territories. The process is slated to finish within 60 days. Lebanese forces is supposed to patrol the area and remove Hezbollah weaponry and infrastructure there. “Hezbollah is incredibly weak at this moment, both militarily and politically,” the official said. “And this is the opportunity for Lebanon to re-establish its sovereignty over its territory.” The official said the ceasefire agreement will strengthen what’s known as the “tripartite mechanism” by including the United States and France. The goal is to address violations of the ceasefire without a return to hostilities. UNITED NATIONS – The top U.N. envoy for Lebanon welcomed the ceasefire announcement and urged Israel and Hezbollah militants to take concrete actions to fully implement the 2006 agreement that ended their last war. U.N. Special Coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said the agreement “marks the starting point of a critical process” that must see both sides fully implement U.N. Security Council resolution 1701. It called for the deployment of Lebanese armed forces in the south bordering Israel and the disarmament of all armed groups including Hezbollah – neither of which has happened in the past 17 years. “Nothing less than the full and unwavering commitment of both parties is required,” Hennis-Plasschaert said. “Neither side can afford another period of disingenuous implementation under the guise of ostensible calm.” She commended the parties for “seizing the opportunity to close this devastating chapter,” stressing that “Now is the time to deliver, through concrete actions, to consolidate today’s achievement.” UNITED NATIONS — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for urgent international intervention to stop what he described as “an ongoing genocidal war” in Gaza. Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but not Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas. The U.S. and others want a reinvigorated Palestinian Authority to run Gaza when the war ends. In a speech on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Abbas accused Israel of repeating what happened to the Palestinians in 1948 and 1967 – displacing them and seizing their land and resources. Abbas demanded to know how long the world will remain silent and refuse to compel Israel to abide by international law. The speech to U.N. member nations was read by Palestinian U.N. ambassador Riyad Mansour. “The only way to halt the halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine,” Abbas' speech said. This must be done in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolutions which call for a two-state solution, he said. BEIRUT -- Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah, describing it as a crucial step toward stability, the return of displaced people to their homes and regional calm. Mikati made these comments in a statement issued just after U.S. President Joe announced the truce deal. Mikati said he discussed the ceasefire agreement with Biden by phone earlier Tuesday. The prime minister reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to implementing U.N. resolution 1701, strengthening the Lebanese army’s presence in the south, and cooperating with the U.N. peacekeeping force. He also called on Israel to fully comply with the ceasefire and withdraw from southern Lebanon in accordance the U.N. resolution. JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet has approved a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, clearing the way for the truce to take effect. Netanyahu’s office said the plan was approved by a 10-1 margin. The late-night vote came shortly before President Joe Biden was expected to announced details of the deal in Washington. Earlier, Netanyahu defended the ceasefire, saying Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah and could now focus its efforts on Hamas militants in Gaza and his top security concern, Iran. Netanyahu vowed to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the expected deal. WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump’s designate to be national security adviser, credited Trump’s victory with helping bring the parties together toward a ceasefire in Lebanon. “Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” he said in a post on X on Tuesday. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East.” He added: “But let’s be clear: The Iran Regime is the root cause of the chaos & terror that has been unleashed across the region. We will not tolerate the status quo of their support for terrorism.” BEIRUT — Israeli jets targeted a building in a bustling commercial area of Beirut for the first time since the start of the 13-month war between Hezbollah and Israel. The strike on Hamra is around 400 meters (yards) from the country’s central bank. A separate strike hit the Mar Elias neighborhood in the country’s capital Tuesday. There was no immediate word on casualties from either strike, part of the biggest wave of attacks on the capital since the war started. Residents in central Beirut were seen fleeing after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for four targets in the city. Meanwhile, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes on at least 30 targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs Tuesday, including two strikes in the Jnah neighborhood near the Kuwaiti Embassy. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that 13 people were injured in the strikes on the southern suburbs. BEIRUT — Hezbollah has said it accepts the ceasefire proposal with Israel, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state.” of Lebanon, he said. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Among the issues that may remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal. The deal seeks to push Hezbollah and Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his Cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people. The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal. In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting. Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending. BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state media said Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed at least 10 people in Baalbek province the country’s east. At least three people were killed in the southern city of Tyre when Israel bombed a Palestinian refugee camp, said Mohammed Bikai, a representative of the Fatah group in the area. He said several more people were missing and at least three children were among the wounded. He said the sites struck inside the camp were “completely civilian places” and included a kitchen that was being used to cook food for displaced people. JERUSALEM — Dozens of Israeli protesters took to a major highway in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening to call for the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, as the country awaited news of a potential ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. Protesters chanted “We are all hostages,” and “Deal now!” waving signs with faces of some of the roughly 100 hostages believed to be still held in Gaza, at least a third of whom are thought to be dead. Most of the other hostages Hamas captured in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack were released during a ceasefire last year. The prospect of a ceasefire deal in Lebanon has raised desperation among the relatives of captives still held in Gaza, who once hoped that the release of hostages from Gaza would be included. Instead of a comprehensive deal, the ceasefire on the table is instead narrowly confined to Lebanon. Dozens of Israelis were also demonstrating against the expected cease-fire, gathering outside Israel’s military headquarters in central Tel Aviv. One of the protesters, Yair Ansbacher, says the deal is merely a return to the failed 2006 U.N. resolution that was meant to uproot Hezbollah from the area. “Of course that didn’t happen,” he says. “This agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.” FIUGGI, Italy — Foreign ministers from the world’s industrialized countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region. At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn’t refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity . Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official meeting agenda, even though the G7 was split on the issue. The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a signatory to the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.” However, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said all the other G7 countries were signatories and therefore obliged to respect the warrants. In the end, the final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.” And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.” It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the State of Israel.” The ICC warrants say there's reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny. BEIRUT — An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city’s downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded in Beirut, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. It was not immediately clear if anyone in particular was targeted, though Israel says its airstrikes target Hezbollah officials and assets. The Israeli military spokesman issued a flurry of evacuation warnings for many areas, including areas in Beirut that have not been targeted throughout the war, like the capital’s commercial Hamra district, where many people displaced by the war have been staying. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks in Lebanon during the final hours before a ceasefire is reached, sparked panic and sent residents fleeing in their cars to safer areas. In areas close to Hamra, families including women and children were seen running away toward the Mediterranean Sea’s beaches carrying their belongings. Traffic was completely gridlocked as people tried to get away, honking their car horns as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead. The Israeli military also issued warnings for 20 more buildings in Beirut’s suburbs to evacuate before they too were struck — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah in the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. TEL AVIV, Israel — The independent civilian commission of inquiry into the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel has found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly responsible for the failures leading up to the attack, alongside former defense ministers, the army chief and the heads of the security services. The civil commission presented its findings today after a four-month probe in which it heard some 120 witnesses. It was set up by relatives of victims of the Hamas attack, in response to the absence of any state probe. The commission determined that the Israeli government, its army and security services “failed in their primary mission of protecting the citizens of Israel.” It said Netanyahu was responsible for ignoring “repeated warnings” ahead of Oct. 7, 2023 for what it described as his appeasing approach over the years toward Hamas, and for “undermining all decision-making centers, including the cabinet and the National Security Council, in a way that prevented any serious discussion” on security issues. The commission further determined that the military and defense leaders bear blame for ignoring warnings from within the army, and for reducing the army’s presence along the Gaza border while relying excessively on technological means. On the day of the Hamas attack, the report says, the army’s response was both slow and lacking. The civil commission called for the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack. Netanyahu has opposed launching a state commission of inquiry, arguing that such an investigation should begin only once the war is over. JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military says its ground troops have reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River — a focal point of the emerging ceasefire. In a statement Tuesday, the army said it had reached the Wadi Slouqi area in southern Lebanon and clashed with Hezbollah forces. Under a proposed ceasefire, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Israeli border. The military says the clashes with Hezbollah took place on the eastern end of the Litani, just a few kilometers (miles) from the border. It is one of the deepest places Israeli forces have reached in a nearly two-month ground operation. The military says soldiers destroyed rocket launchers and missiles and engaged in “close-quarters combat” with Hezbollah forces. The announcement came hours before Israel’s security Cabinet is expected to approve a ceasefire that would end nearly 14 months of fighting. BEIRUT — Israeli jets Tuesday struck at least six buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs Tuesday, including one that slammed near the country’s only airport. Large plumes of smoke could be seen around the airport near the Mediterranean coast, which has continued to function despite its location beside the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah’s operations are based. The strikes come hours before Israel’s cabinet was scheduled to meet to discuss a proposal to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The proposal calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River. There were no immediate reports of casualties from Tuesday’s airstrikes. FIUGGI, Italy — EU top diplomat Josep Borrell, whose term ends Dec. 1, said he proposed to the G7 and Arab ministers who joined in talks on Monday that the U.N. Security Council take up a resolution specifically demanding humanitarian assistance reach Palestinians in Gaza, saying deliveries have been completely impeded. “The two-state solution will come later. Everything will come later. But we are talking about weeks or days,” for desperate Palestinians, he said. “Hunger has been used as an arm against people who are completely abandoned.” It was a reference to the main accusation levelled by the International Criminal Court in its arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister. Borrell said the signatories to the court, including six of the seven G7 members, are obliged under international law to respect and implement the court’s decisions. Host Italy put the ICC warrants on the G7 agenda at the last minute, but there was no consensus on the wording of how the G7 would respond given the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, has called the warrants “outrageous.” Italy, too, has said it respects the court but expressed concern that the warrants were politically motivated and ill-advised given Netanyahu is necessary for any deal to end the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. “Like it or not, the International Criminal Court is a court as powerful as any national court,” Borrell said. “And if the Europeans don’t support International Criminal Court then there would not be any hope for justice,” he said. Borrell, whose term ends Dec. 1, said he proposed to the G7 and Arab ministers who joined in talks on Monday that the U.N. Security Council take up a resolution specifically demanding humanitarian assistance reach Palestinians in Gaza, saying deliveries have been completely impeded. “The two-state solution will come later. Everything will come later. But we are talking about weeks or days,” for desperate Palestinians, he said. “Hunger has been used as an arm against people who are completely abandoned.” It was a reference to the main accusation levelled by the International Criminal Court in its arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister. Borrell said the signatories to the court, including six of the seven G7 members, are obliged under international law to respect and implement the court’s decisions. Host Italy put the ICC warrants on the G7 agenda at the last minute, but there was no consensus on the wording of how the G7 would respond given the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, has called the warrants “outrageous.” Italy, too, has said it respects the court but expressed concern that the warrants were politically motivated and ill-advised given Netanyahu is necessary for any deal to end the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. “Like it or not, the International Criminal Court is a court as powerful as any national court,” Borrell said. “And if the Europeans don’t support International Criminal Court then there would not be any hope for justice,” he said. (edited)
Starbucks has caused quite a stir with its tumbler releases —and its latest holiday collection is no different. The joyous winter season comes around once a year, and the coffee chain is marking the occasion with a line of decorative cups, tumblers, and, of course, festive flavors to indulge in for your daily cup of joe. 🤩🤩 SIGN UP for Parade's Trending News newsletter & we'll keep you in the know on the viral pop culture moments & celebrity news everyone is talking about 🗞️🗞️ There are a variety of options available this year for lovers of the fan-favorite company's coveted drinkware: the Gemstone and Navy Gemstone Cold Cups and matching keychain ornaments, Red Studded Cold Cup, Jade Green Studded Tumbler, Candy Twist Mug, Red Ribbed Tumbler, Luster Tumbler, Pink Siren Scales Tumbler, and Striped Silicon Sleeve Tumbler. As for warm sips, the Color-Changing Pearl Hot Cup Set and Iridescent Glow-in-the-Dark Pearl Hot Cup are also available. The brand even collaborated with Stanley to bring forth a 40 oz. Berry Pink Glitter Tumbler with gold accents . As Starbucks' website notes , "the new merchandise will be available for a limited time, while supplies last," which never fails to light the fire under collectors of the cups wishing to add a new design to their stash. Per usual, the drop has sparked excitement among Starbucks fans everywhere, who make a mad dash to get their hands on the new beverage holders before they fly off shelves. Several internet users have already taken to social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and Instagram to show off their pretty purchases. The collection officially released in stores on Nov. 7, aligning with a wave of other changes taking place at the café's locations, such as the debut of its 2024 holiday drink and food menu , as well as the removal of its controversial Oleato olive oil-infused drinks . Next, Starbucks' 2024 Holiday Cups Have Fans 'So Excited' for Festive Drinks: 'Prettiest Ones Yet'
There’s no shortage of magnificent TSX dividend stocks on the market for investors to buy right now. Many of those stocks now trade at discounted levels, making them great buys right now. Here’s a quick look at two of those magnificent TSX dividend stocks to add to your portfolio while they still trade at a discount. It would be nearly impossible to compile a list of magnificent TSX dividend stocks and not mention at least one of . And right now, the big bank to look closely at is ( ). Canada’s second-largest lender boasts a juicy dividend, a solid domestic segment that produces reliable revenue, and a growing presence in the U.S. market. So then how is it that TD is a stock trading down right now? As of the time of writing, TD trades down just over 7% year-to-date. The reason for that dip is TD’s problems relating to investigations by U.S. regulators, which found that the bank wasn’t doing enough to identify and prevent money laundering. As a result, the bank was hit with a hefty fine and an asset cap on its U.S. business arm. Given that the U.S. market remains TD’s primary growth market, that only added to weakness in the stock. Fortunately, investors should be looking at TD as a long-term pick. The bank has paid dividends for over a century without fail. Today, the yield on that dividend works out to a tasty 5.2%. In short, TD will weather this short-term storm, recover, and remain a solid option for any portfolio. Another intriguing option to consider right now is ( ). BCE is one of the largest telecoms in Canada, with a sprawling network that blankets Canada with its subscription-based services. Those services include wireless, wireline, TV and Internet. Worth noting is that since the pandemic started, the need for those services has become one of necessity for many. This bolsters the appeal of an already defensive stock option for any portfolio. But what makes BCE one of the magnificent TSX dividend stocks to buy right now? The stock trades at a very discounted price, which has swelled its already . As of the time of writing, BCE offers an insane 10.4% yield. This means that a $20,000 investment in BCE will earn nearly $2,100. There are a few reasons why that yield is currently inflated. First and foremost, telecoms like BCE rely heavily on borrowing to fund capital projects. The cost of borrowing has increased in recent years along with interest rates. And that higher interest rate environment has impacted BCE more so than its other big telecom peers. Adding to that, BCE is also in the midst of a restructuring. This includes deep staffing cuts and selling off part of its media business as well as its stake in MLSE. BCE also charged into the U.S. market with its recently announced Ziply acquisition. The impact of these events has sent the stock lower, and as a result, it now trades down over 25% year-to-date. Adding to those woes, BCE announced that it was pausing its annual dividend hikes during its restructuring period. So then, why should investors consider BCE right now as one of the magnificent TSX dividend stocks to buy? Despite BCE’s short-term concerns, the company still operates a highly defensive business that continues to grow. BCE’s Ziply acquisition also promises to provide long-term growth potential for the company. s No stock, even the most defensive is without risk. That includes both BCE and TD, which despite their shorter-term concerns, still have plenty of long-term potential. In my opinion, small positions in one or both stocks would do well as part of a larger, well-diversified portfolio.
The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive struggled with deputies and shouted on Tuesday while arriving for a court appearance in Pennsylvania, a day after he was arrested at a McDonald’s and charged with murder. Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, emerged from a patrol car, spun toward reporters and shouted something partly unintelligible, yelling “insult to the intelligence of the American people” while deputies pushed him inside. Mangione is contesting his extradition back to New York. He was denied bail at the brief hearing. He has 14 days to challenge the bail decision. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have a month to seek a governor’s warrant out of New York. Mangione, wearing an orange jumpsuit, mostly stared straight ahead during the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair, or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion, but was told to be quiet by his lawyer. Thomas Dickey, his defence lawyer, questioned whether the second-degree murder charge filed in New York might be eligible for bail under Pennsylvania law, but prosecutors raised concerns about both public safety and Mangione being a potential flight risk, and the judge denied it. Prosecutors on Tuesday were beginning to take steps to take Mangione back to New York to face a murder charge while new details emerged about his life and how he was captured. The Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland family was charged with murder hours after he was arrested in the killing of Brian Thompson, 50, who led the United States’ largest medical insurance company. Mr Dickey had declined to comment before the hearing at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg. Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Manhattan prosecutors have charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. Mangione was likely motivated by his anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press said. He wrote that the US has the most expensive health care system in the world and that profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of his hand-written notes and social media posts. Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, according to the police bulletin. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania — about 230 miles (370km) west of New York City — after a McDonald’s customer recognised him and notified an employee, authorities said. Officers found him sitting at a back table, wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop, according to a Pennsylvania police criminal complaint. He initially gave them a fake ID, but when an officer asked Mangione whether he had been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake”, the complaint says. When he pulled his mask down at officers’ request, “we knew that was our guy,” Officer Tyler Frye said. Images of Mangione released on Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald’s while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and beanie. In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Mangione was carrying a gun like the one used to kill Mr Thompson and the same fake ID the gunman had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione also had a three-page, handwritten document that shows “some ill will toward corporate America”. A law enforcement official who was not authorised to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the document included a line in which Mangione claimed to have acted alone. “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the document said, according to the official. It also had a line that said: “I do apologise for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.” Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said in court that Mangione was found with a passport and 10,000 dollars (£7,839) in cash, 2,000 dollars of it in foreign currency. Mangione disputed the amount. Mr Thompson was killed on Wednesday as he walked alone to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. Police quickly came to see the shooting as a targeted attack by a gunman who appeared to wait for Mr Thompson, came up behind him and fired a 9mm pistol. Investigators have said “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on ammunition found near Mr Thompson’s body. The words mimic “delay, deny, defend,” a phrase used to criticise the insurance industry. From surveillance video, New York investigators determined the gunman quickly fled fled the city, likely by bus. A grandson of a wealthy, self-made real estate developer and philanthropist, Mangione is a cousin of a current Maryland state legislator. After his elite Baltimore prep school, he went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesperson said. “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media late Monday by his cousin, Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.” From January to June 2022, Luigi Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of Waikiki in Honolulu. Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder RJ Martin. “Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Mr Ryan said. “There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.” At Surfbreak, Mr Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, from surfing to romance, Ryan said. “He went surfing with RJ once but it didn’t work out because of his back,” Mr Ryan said, but noted that Mangione and Mr Martin often went together to a rock-climbing gym. Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Mr Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. Mr Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden kicked off his final holiday season at the White House on Monday by issuing the traditional reprieve to two turkeys who will bypass the Thanksgiving table to live out their days in southern Minnesota. Biden welcomed 2,500 guests to the South Lawn under sunny skies as he cracked jokes about the fates of “Peach” and “Blossom” and sounded wistful tones about the last weeks of his presidency after a half-century in Washington power circles. “It’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful,” Biden said, taking note of his impending departure on Jan. 20, 2025. That's when power will transfer to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, the man Biden defeated four years ago and was battling again until he was pressured to bow out of the race amid concerns about his age and viability. Biden is 82. Until Inauguration Day, the president and first lady Jill Biden will continue a busy run of festivities that will double as their long goodbye. The White House schedule in December is replete with holiday parties for various constituencies, from West Wing staff to members of Congress and the White House press corps. Biden relished the brief ceremony with the pardoned turkeys, named for the official flower of the president's home state of Delaware. “The peach pie in my state is one of my favorites,” he said during remarks that were occasionally interrupted by Peach gobbling atop the table to Biden's right. “Peach is making a last-minute plea,” Biden said at one point, drawing laughter from an overflow crowd that included Cabinet members, White House staff and their families, and students from 4H programs and Future Farmers of America chapters. Biden introduced Peach as a bird who “lives by the motto, ‘Keep calm and gobble on.’” Blossom, the president said, has a different motto: “No fowl play. Just Minnesota nice.” Peach and Blossom came from the farm of John Zimmerman, near the southern Minnesota city of Northfield. Zimmerman, who has raised about 4 million turkeys, is president of the National Turkey Federation, the group that has gifted U.S. presidents Thanksgiving turkeys since the Truman administration after World War II. President Harry Truman, however, preferred to eat the birds. Official pardon ceremonies did not become an annual White House tradition until the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1989. With their presidential reprieve, Peach and Blossom will live out their days at Farmamerica, an agriculture interpretative center near Waseca in southern Minnesota. The center's aim is to promote agriculture and educate future farmers and others about agriculture in America. Separately Monday, first lady Jill Biden received the official White House Christmas tree that will be decorated and put on display in the Blue Room. The 18.5 foot (5.64 meters) Fraser fir came from a farm in an area of western North Carolina that recently was devastated by Hurricane Helene . Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm lost thousands of trees in the storm “but this one remained standing and they named it ‘Tremendous’ for the extraordinary hope that it represents,” Jill Biden said at the event. The Bidens were also traveling to New York City on Monday for an evening “Friendsgiving” event at a Coast Guard station on Staten Island. Biden began his valedictory calendar Friday night with a gala for hundreds of his friends, supporters and staff members who gathered in a pavilion erected on the South Lawn, with a view out to the Lincoln Memorial. Cabinet secretaries, Democratic donors and his longest-serving staff members came together to hear from the president and pay tribute, with no evidence that Biden was effectively forced from the Democratic ticket this summer and watched Vice President Kamala Harris suffer defeat on Nov. 5. “I’m so proud that we’ve done all of this with a deep belief in the core values of America,” said Biden, sporting a tuxedo for the black-tie event. Setting aside his criticisms of Trump as a fundamental threat to democracy, Biden added his characteristic national cheerleading: “I fully believe that America is better positioned to lead the world today than at any point in my 50 years of public service.” The first lady toasted her husband with a nod to his 2020 campaign promise to “restore the soul of the nation,” in Trump’s aftermath. With the results on Election Day, however, Biden’s four years now become sandwiched in the middle of an era dominated by Trump's presence on the national stage and in the White House. Even as the first couple avoided the context surrounding the president's coming exit, those political realities were nonetheless apparent, as younger Democrats like Maryland Gov. Wes Moore , Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Biden's Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg not only raised their glasses to the president but held forth with many attendees who could remain in the party's power circles in the 2028 election cycle and beyond. ___ Associated Press writer Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
Security cameras captured video of a University of Mississippi student leaving his campus apartment twice on the morning he was last seen alive, University Police Department Capt. Jane Mahan testified Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of killing the student. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Security cameras captured video of a University of Mississippi student leaving his campus apartment twice on the morning he was last seen alive, University Police Department Capt. Jane Mahan testified Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of killing the student. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Security cameras captured video of a University of Mississippi student leaving his campus apartment twice on the morning he was last seen alive, University Police Department Capt. Jane Mahan testified Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of killing the student. Jimmy “Jay” Lee, 20, was a gay man well known in the LGBTQ+ community at Ole Miss and in Oxford, where the university is located. He vanished July 8, 2022. Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., 24, of Grenada, Mississippi, is charged with capital murder in Lee’s death, and his trial began Tuesday in Oxford. Herrington has maintained his innocence. Police said cellphone history showed conversations between Herrington and Lee on the morning Lee disappeared. Jurors on Wednesday were shown video clips of Lee leaving his own apartment shortly after 4 a.m., wearing a robe and slippers. The clips showed him returning about 40 minutes later and leaving again just before 6 a.m. When he left the last time, he was looking at his cellphone. A friend of Lee, Khalid Fears, testified Tuesday that he had a video chat with Lee while Lee left the apartment around 6 a.m. that day. Lee said he was going back to see a man he had seen hours earlier, Fears testified. Mahan testified Wednesday about the timeline of the video clips showing Lee at the campus apartment. She said campus police started searching for Lee after his mother, Stephanie Lee, called later that day to request a welfare check on her son after he didn’t respond to multiple messages. Jay Lee’s apartment had an electronic key card, and Mahan testified that police contacted the campus housing department to put an alert on his card, which would automatically send police an email if the card were used. An assistant district attorney, Gwen Agho, asked Mahan if Lee ever returned to his apartment after he was recorded leaving that morning. “Not that I’ve ever been notified of, no,” Mahan said. Lee and Herrington saw each other twice during the hours before Lee disappeared, Agho said during opening arguments Tuesday. She said the men had sexual contact during their first meeting, and Lee was upset when he left Herrington’s apartment. Herrington invited Lee back — and before Lee arrived, Herrington searched online for how long it takes to strangle someone, Agho said. Herrington “was not openly in the LGBTQ community,” she said. A witness, Kizziah Carter, testified Wednesday that he was driving home from work at about 7:30 that morning and saw Herrington jogging along a road in Oxford. Carter said he knew Herrington and honked to greet him, and Carter flagged him down to ask for a ride. The road was near an apartment complex where Lee’s car was found later in the day. Carter said he drove Herrington to Herrington’s apartment in another complex. Surveillance video also recorded Herrington running from where Lee’s car was found, and he was later seen picking up a shovel and wheelbarrow at his parents’ house, authorities said. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Lee’s body has not been found. In October, a judge declared him dead at the request of Lee’s parents. Lee’s active presence on social media fell silent after July 8, 2022, and no transactions have appeared on his credit card since then, prosecutors said. Herrington was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished, then released five months later on a $250,000 bond. A grand jury indicted him in March 2023. Herrington’s attorney, Kevin Horan, told jurors Tuesday that prosecutors have “zero” proof that Lee was killed or that any crime happened. Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee was pursuing a master’s degree. He was known for his creative expression through fashion and makeup and often performed in drag shows in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee. Prosecutors have announced they do not intend to pursue the death penalty, meaning Herrington could get a life sentence if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing committed along with another felony — in this case, kidnapping. Advertisement AdvertisementBILLINGS — The Montana State Billings women's basketball team stayed ranked in both major NCAA Division II polls released Tuesday, being slotted at No. 3 in the WBCA Coaches Poll and No. 12 in the D2CSC Media Poll, per an email from the school. The WBCA poll is considered the more prestigious of the two rankings, with rankings being decided via a committee of coaches with one representing each D-II conference. The D2CSC poll is voted on by two voters from each D-II region, usually consisting of school sports information staff. MSUB's (9-1 overall) ranking in the WBCA poll remained unchanged from last week after the Yellowjackets won the first two games of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate on the road against Western Washington and Simon Fraser (Canada). Their only loss on the year came Nov. 2 to the No. 1 team in the poll, unbeaten Grand Valley State (Michigan). In the D2CSC poll, MSUB rose four spots after being ranked No. 16 in last week's rankings, being the only GNAC team ranked in either poll. Grand Valley State is also ranked No. 1 in the media poll. The Jackets will return to action Wednesday in the season's second edition of the Rimrock Rivalry against crosstown rival Rocky Mountain College at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside Alterowitz Gymnasium. MSUB defeated the Battlin' Bears 65-47 in their first meeting Nov. 20 at RMC's Fortin Center.
MUMBAI: Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das has reiterated that the central bank's war against inflation is not yet over, indicating that rates will remain higher for longer. "By emphasising our firm commitment to realign inflation with the target, we also categorically say that it is not enough to be within the tolerance band, and that our job is not finished until we reach the target of 4% on a durable basis," said Das in his speech at a conference of central banks from the Global South. In his speech, Das said price stability is just as crucial as growth for the Global South, as it enables economic planning, reduces uncertainty, encourages savings and investment and supports sustained high growth. "Resilient growth has given us the space to focus on inflation to ensure its durable descent to the 4% target, a stable inflation or price stability is in the best interest of the people and the economy. It acts as a bedrock for sustained growth, enhances purchasing power of the people and provides a stable environment for investment." The governor's speech, highlighting importance of getting inflation under control, comes days after both the Union commerce minister and the finance minister, made a strong case for lower inflation. While commerce minister Piyush Goyal said RBI should look through food price inflation as this was a demand and supply issue, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman called for lower interest rates to promote private investments. Das acknowledged the role of monetary policy on growth but mentioned a a number of other factors that were conducive for growth. "To achieve higher growth, countries in the Global South need to step up investment in physical and social infrastructure, leverage technology and innovations and carry out institutional reforms. All these require congenial public policies, including monetary policies, to be growth supportive, while maintaining balance with inflation." According to Das, Global South countries have a significant share of low-income population, with large developmental needs. They are more vulnerable to supply shocks, requiring fiscal support, which puts further burden on their limited budgetary resources. He made a strong case for effective coordination between fiscal-monetary policy in this context. "Central bank communication assumes greater significance in the Global South, as these economies transition towards more independent central banks and the need for transparency and accountability increases," said Das. Ready to Master Stock Valuation? ET's Workshop is just around the corner!CHICAGO (WLS) -- Fifteen of the more conservative council members say Chicago's city budget has expanded dramatically since the pandemic and there needs to be a fiscal reset. "Our starting point is, let's look at 2020, budget adjust that for inflation, and that should be the starting point on the mayor's spending plan," 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly said. 15 council members sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson saying that they could reduce spending by $568 million, and help avoid a property tax hike. "We have set forth parameters to provide a framework for a budget that is responsible and reasonable. The ball is in the mayor's court," 23rd Ward Alderwoman Silvana Tabares said. However, Johnson's allies said the proposed budget adjustments will result in cuts in services, and layoffs. "I don't know how you cut 500 and some odd million dollars out of $5 billion, and not have layoffs," Budget Committee Chairman Jason Ervin said. Ervin that the council is not going to go for cuts because residents have told them they want to maintain levels of service. The same group of alders calling for cuts also commissioned a poll showing the mayor's approval rating was at 15%. 81% favor cuts over a property tax hike. The polls also found 81% of respondents preferred some cuts in services versus raising property taxes by $150 million. "Well, the fact that they're doing this polling and the fact that they're exploring other possible candidates for mayor, shows that they are emboldened," ABC7 Political Analyst Laura Washington said. "They see the opportunity to take the lead and grab power from the mayor, and this budget may be the tipping point for that." "I think the mayor needs to back off his position that city jobs are entitlements and that we can't look at making any cuts," Reilly said. "Every private company does that when they have a bad revenue year. Every household does that when they're facing job insecurity, or their rent goes up." When push comes to shove it seems unlikely significant cuts will have sufficient support to go through. But it's clear this council is not done flexing its political muscle.
Middle East latest: Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is set to begin at 4 am
November 25, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked trusted source written by researcher(s) proofread by John Gowlett, The Conversation In pursuit of knowledge, the evolution of humanity ranks with the origins of life and the universe. And yet, except when an exciting find hits the headlines, paleoanthropology and its related fields have gained far less scientific support and funding—particularly for scientists and institutions based in the African countries where so many landmark discoveries have occurred. One of the first was made a century ago in Taung, South Africa, by mineworkers who came across the cranium of a 2.8 million-year-old child with human-like teeth . Its fossilized anatomy offered evidence of early human upright walking—and 50 years later, in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia that would become a hotspot for ancient human discovery, this understanding took another leap backwards in time with the discovery of Lucy . The part-skeleton of this small-bodied, relatively small-brained female captured the public's imagination . Lucy the "paleo-rock star" took our major fossil evidence for bipedal walking, human-like creatures (collectively known as hominins) beyond 3 million years for the first time. The race to explain how humans became what we are now was well and truly on. Since then, the picture has changed repeatedly and dramatically , shaped by waves of new fossil discovery, technology and scientific techniques—often accompanied by arguments about the veracity of claims made for each new piece of the puzzle. Even the term "human" is arguable. Many scholars reserve it for modern humans like us, even though we have Neanderthal genes and they shared at least 90% of our hominin history from its beginnings around 8 million years ago . The essence of hominin evolution ever since has been gradual change, with occasional rapid phases. The record of evolution in our own genus , Homo , is already full enough to show we cannot separate ourselves with hard lines. Nonetheless, there is enough consensus to thread the story of human evolution all the way from early apes to modern humanity. Most of this story centers on Africa, of course, where countries such as Kenya, South Africa and Ethiopia are rightly proud of their heritage as "cradles of humankind" —providing many of their schoolchildren with a much fuller answer then those in the west to this deceptively simple question: how did we get here? Early apes to 'hominization' (around 35m to 8m years ago) The story of human evolution usually starts at the point our distant ancestors began to separate from the apes, whose own ancestors are traceable from at least 35 million years ago and are well attested as fossils . Around 10 million years ago, the Miocene world was warm, moist and forested. Apes lived far and wide from Europe to China, though we have found them especially in Africa, where sediments of ancient volcanoes preserve their remains. This world was soon to be disrupted by cooling temperatures and, in places, great aridity—best seen around the Mediterranean , where continental movements closed off the Straits of Gibraltar and the whole sea evaporated several times, leaving immense salt deposits under the floor of the modern sea. Widespread drying was reported from around 7 to 6 million years ago, leading to a stronger expression of seasons in much of the world, and changes in plant and animal communities. The divergence from the apes of a lineage—the hominins—that eventually led to us had probably already begun 8 million years ago. But our knowledge of this date depends on molecular comparisons with other animals, rather than fossils. DNA shows we are most closely related to chimpanzees and their sister species, the bonobo. Branching points can be estimated by comparisons with other well-dated events, such as the separation of South American monkeys from other primates about 35 million years ago. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter— daily or weekly . A surprise from genetic science is that gorillas, the other African great apes, are less closely related to chimpanzees than chimps are to us. A chimpanzee, if it could speak, might tell us: "These gorillas may look like my big brothers, but actually I'm more closely related to you." They seem so similar because they are both tropical forest apes with similar adaptations, which underlines just how much—and how rapidly—the earliest hominins had to evolve to survive in their drier environments. Yet, there is still some debate about whether the chimpanzee is our best model for the starting point: the "last common ancestor" . Better to call it the "best living model" because the chimp has shown many adaptations of its own, especially in its limb proportions and locomotion, but also in its large shearing front teeth. But its social behavior, communication and tool-making have all provided invaluable insights into the processes that we can call "hominization." Earliest hominins (about 7m up to 4m years ago) The earliest hominin fossil yet known is about 7 million years old and comes from the middle of Africa, near Lake Chad. This rare find from 2001 is Sahelanthropus tchadensis , represented by a cranium (nicknamed "Toumaï" by its finders), a femur and teeth—all probably from the same species. Although these finds were limited, they were enough to show a bipedal creature probably still comfortable living in trees, who had teeth with hominin features. Many accompanying fossils of other species show this hominin lived in both woodland and grassland habitats. Then, for over a million years, our record vanishes—other than for some fragmentary remains of Orrorin tugenensis , a different genus of hominin found in the Tugen Hills of Kenya and dating to about 6 million years ago. Hominins appear again in plain sight with a new species dating back around 5.5 million years, Ardipithecus kadabba . The discovery of its partial jawbone and teeth in the Middle Awash region of northern Ethiopia in 1997 shed more light on what may have been the "stem ancestor" leading to all later hominins. Exceptionally thorough investigations have since revealed these creatures in full anatomical detail and in remarkable environmental context, showing Ardipithecus combined characters of both apes and later hominins. A. kadabba's finders emphasized that it was not chimpanzee-like in limb proportions, nor did it have their exaggerated shovel-like front teeth. It also overturned the old theory of hominins coming down from the trees into savannas, and thus being forced to become bipedal. Rather, Ardipithecus lived in thick woodland and supports the idea that bipedalism first arose as an adaptation to walking along tree boughs, perhaps while clasping the branches above. The stem hominin idea may well be correct, but more recent finds suggest there were soon multiple hominin species . While Ardipithecus is known from only one modern country, Ethiopia, there are huge areas of Africa that could have supported similar sibling species but which, for geological reasons, have not given up these secrets as generously as sections of the Great Rift Valley. It is also striking that Ardipithecus' feet remained apelike, with a divergent big toe—a sign that climbing trees was still important. The other, later species of Ardipithecus ( Ar. Ramidus ) lived only half a million years before the famous footprints found in Laetoli, Tanzania in 1976—trails of footprints that displayed fully human characteristics. Evolution would need to have been rapid indeed for those two creatures to be directly related. Even so, Ardipithecus had features that are enormously valuable for showing the general state of hominins at this time. Its pelvis, the oldest known, was short and basin-like as in later hominins, although ape-like in its lower part. And its teeth had enamel that was thicker than in African apes but thinner than in modern humans, suggesting an omnivorous diet. Australopithecines (about 4.3m to 1.4m years ago) More than 4 million years ago, another group of hominins begins to appear on the scene: the genus Australopithecus , named after the "Taung child" whose skull was discovered 100 years ago by workmen in the South African limestone quarry. While the name means "southern ape," the australopithecines were certainly hominins. Fully bipedal, their teeth were arranged in a modern human pattern with their canines reduced—sometimes to an extraordinary degree—and they existed in great diversity. As finds accumulate, at least ten species of this group are now known, indicating "adaptive radiation" —meaning that hominins had become highly successful and were by now adjusting to many different habitats and climates. While the australopithecines were confined to Africa, they extended widely from the south to the east and even towards the west near Lake Chad—close to the find of the older Sahelanthropus . This distribution underlines the argument for hominins having originated in Africa, as had been long suspected from the shared heritage with African apes. The oldest Australopithecus is A. anamensis , found in northern Kenya and dating to more than 4 million years ago, closely followed by A. afarensis in Ethiopia— Lucy's species —and A. prometheus in South Africa. Then, in addition to species such as A. africanus and A. garhi , there is a further group who combined enormous chewing teeth and ape-sized brains—their massive jaws and skulls led to them being dubbed the "robusts." Often officially termed Paranthropus rather than Australopithecus , they occurred as three separate species in southern and eastern Africa , appearing at least 3 million years ago and surviving until about 1.4 million years ago. While microwear studies of their teeth suggest a mixed diet, the huge size of those teeth implies it was of low quality, with grasses and sedges providing the bulk. Indeed, the dominance of these creatures' massive molars meant their front teeth shrank to the extent that their incisors and canines were consistently smaller than ours today. Although the African Rift Valley running down the east side of the continent is often celebrated as the focus of hominin origins, the distribution of australopithecines is just wide enough to show the rift is not necessarily the cradle of humankind—although it is the region where most fossils have been found. South Africa's dolomite caves are strong competitors in importance, while the discovery of A. bahrelghazali in Chad is far west of the rift. Beginnings of Homo (from about 2.8m years ago) It is certain that our own genus, Homo , emerged at some point from within the australopithecines. But exactly how and when is still difficult to ascertain, because cranial remains—skulls—are very scarce in the period between 3 and 2 million years ago. This is a matter of chance; before and after, we have plenty of them. Large numbers of teeth prove that hominins were in eastern and southern Africa during this period, and rare finds of crania such as P. aethiopicus and A. garhi make the point that others could be found at any moment. In later times, Homo is distinguished by its very large brain—about three times the size of a chimpanzee's brain—but this was not so in the beginning. At the start, Homo would have been almost indistinguishable from australopithecines, with just some small anatomical details picking it out, especially the shape of its molar and premolar teeth. Fragmentary jaws and teeth from Ledi Geraru and Hadar in Ethiopia, then from Chemeron in Kenya, trace the early story of our direct ancestors from 2.8 to 2.4 million years ago. As we approach 2 million years, Homo appears much more clearly in famous skull and other fossil discoveries from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) and East Turkana (Kenya), and latterly South Africa . As well as at least three species in Africa— Homo habilis , Homo rudolfensis and Homo erectus — Homo of similar age is suddenly found outside Africa, especially at Dmanisi in modern-day Georgia, where the finds are as old as those from Olduvai. Together with first archaeological finds of stone tools and cutmarks on animal bones indicating butchery, these fossils combine to show us that Homo had become highly successful within a million years of its origins, and had spread out far across Asia as far as China. These first arrivals must have been a species of early Homo , but it is only at Dmanisi and Lantien in China that we have early fossil remains. Technology was almost certainly part of the adaptation that allowed this great expansion. Tool-making is the most obvious part of early cultural behavior, and it is preserved as hard evidence by the presence of stone tools. First dates for stone tool-making have moved back in an exciting way. The 2 million-year barrier was broken around 1970, then the 3 million-year barrier just recently with discoveries of stone tools at Lomekwi and Nyayanga in Kenya. We do not know who made these tools, but it means stone artifacts emerged around the same time that early Homo appeared alongside the australopithecines. As "stone age visiting cards"—as the archaeologist Glynn Isaac labeled them—they are hugely useful for telling us where hominins went, and what they were doing. Talking point: Who made the first tools? A generation ago, it would have been axiomatic that the emergence of tools and Homo were linked, and that they signaled a major step forward—the development of early human culture. Now, there is a different perspective, largely owing to detailed studies of living animals . To a striking degree, chimpanzees make a range of tools as well as use them, and so do the small capuchin monkeys of South America. Birds too are in the picture, especially the New Caledonian crow . Their tools may be simple—mainly made from plant materials—but they include stones used for hammering. There are many indications that this animal behavior is cultural , handed on as learned tradition. Granted that we, Homo sapiens , are the most cultural animal of all, there has to be a possibility that all hominins were toolmakers and users, given that all fossil hominins are more closely related to us than to the chimpanzee, which is itself a habitual toolmaker. Having said that, we don't know who made the earliest stone tools. We know that when Paranthropus and other australopithecines eventually disappeared, toolmaking continued—but this does not rule out earlier tool use by some of them. Most early stone artifacts, from about 3 to 1.8 million, are placed in the "Oldowan tradition" —named after Olduvai Gorge where so many tools have been discovered, typically made from carefully selected lava or quartzite rocks. Both heavy core tools such as "choppers" and sharper stone flakes were used for a variety of tasks—certainly including animal butchery, and almost certainly in the preparation of plant foods and shaping of wooden tools (although these did not survive for our discovery until much later ). This toolkit literally gave early Homo species a cutting edge in the struggle for survival in varied environments, and may have been a key factor underlying their ability to expand their niche into new areas, including Jordan , north India and China well over 2 million years ago. Homo erectus (about 1.8m up to 0.5m years ago) After the rapidly expanding australopithecines, it is a relief to find the next 1.5 million years of human evolution looking rather simpler. One hominin— Homo erectus —becomes supreme, and the archaeology is dominated by one great theme: the handaxe or Acheulean tradition . Homo erectus first appeared as long as 2 million years ago, and was living in southern, eastern and northern Africa as well as the Middle and Far East, according to its fossil remains. It was far more human than earlier hominins, with brain size ranging from about 500cc in early examples to more than 1,000cc in later times—around 70% of our modern cranial capacity. Its limb proportions were fairly modern too, showing a striding form of bipedalism, evident both at Dmanisi in Georgia, and in the near-complete skeleton of "Turkana Boy" in Kenya. Homo erectus was wide-ranging and capable, as its tools confirm, having been found all over Africa and most of Asia. The handaxe form emerged around 1.75 million years ago in eastern Africa, probably as a good multi-purpose solution to everyday needs, and again made from lava or quartzite. The handaxe concept spread very widely; indeed, this may have been the first great diffusion of a "package of ideas." Some were so finely worked that they have been deemed the first art —or at least a sign of aesthetic feeling. In fact, Homo erectus may represent a group of similar species that existed in parallel—and that in some locations, could be quite varied. The single site of Dmanisi has offered up as much variety in five skulls as has been found across Africa. Existing finds make a giant "geographical donut," with nothing in the middle across the whole of southern Asia from Georgia to China. While Far Eastern Homo erectus was very similar to the African species, there are anomalies in this part of the story. For example, a remarkable and diminutive hominin species, Homo floresiensis —discovered in 2003 on the remote island of Flores in Indonesia, and often known as "the Hobbit"– had anatomical details, especially of its wrists, to suggest it could have been descended from an earlier Homo than Homo erectus . In southern Africa, meanwhile, Homo naledi was a primitive-seeming species that dates back just 300,000 years, and seems likely to have been a small-brained descendant of an early Homo erectus . It may have lived in gallery forest alongside streams, and survived in splendid isolation. The handaxes, too, were not all the same. The idea of making them seems to have spread far and wide, but not everywhere—they are absent in much of the Far East, for example. While some are now known from China, the famous fossil site of Zhoukoudian near Beijing—where remains of more than 40 Homo erectus individuals have been found—lacks them entirely. In Europe, ice ages and temperate periods alternated many times, so across the last 1 million years much of the early record has been erased by ice sheets. There is no definite evidence of Homo erectus but a probable sister species, Homo antecessor , lived in Atapuerca , northern Spain, perhaps as long ago as 1.4 million years. In this climatically challenging environment, we could wonder how "primitive" humans survived—but at the Arago cave in the Pyrenees, near France's Mediterranean coast, we know they were butchering reindeer 600,000 years ago and so able to endure the most severe cold. There are three main things we can say about the hominins of this long period up to half a million years ago: they were widely dispersed (hence highly adaptable and resilient); technically capable to the point that at least some of them used fire; and were evolving large brains that reflected their highly social nature. Fire seems to have been very important in human adaptation . It fits with ideas about cooking —the need for high-quality food to fuel the brain—and a reordering of the day to provide more social time , especially in the evening. Fire was also a key enabler of other technologies, in time allowing these early humans to begin pottery and metalworking. The origins of fire's "domestication" are far from certain, but are likely to date back at least 1 million years. Opportunistic use probably came before full control, with the ability to kindle fire eventually releasing humans from the need to keep it alight for long periods. Talking point: The benefits of a bigger brain In brain size, Homo erectus was certainly not static. Contrary to a general impression that most of the great brain enlargement in Homo is relatively recent, there was already some overlap with modern humans half a million years ago. Although it is natural to think that to be clever is an end in itself, large brains like ours are costly enough to take 20–30% of our energy, and they have to pay their way. Most species succeed with far less than hominins, and to treble brain size in 2 million years is a remarkable phenomenon. Such an expansion was only possible through a high-quality diet and reduction in the size of other major organs. As the large brain is energetically expensive, it must have had evolutionary drivers. One of the most appealing is the "social brain hypothesis" , whose core idea is that in some environments, ecological survival favored larger groups. We know from regular stone tool transport distances of 5–10 km, and occasional ones of 20–30km, that hominins were ranging much further than apes even 2 million years ago. The social management of such groups is very demanding, and may have been a spur towards developing larger brains. The acceleration in change that is such a feature of modern life seems to have started around half a million years ago. In Africa, Homo erectus gave way to larger-brained descendants such as Homo heidelbergensis , which was also present in Europe. But in archaeology, major developments were seen even before the first early modern human fossils emerged. Two key developments were the appearance of projectile (spear) points and the long-distance transport of materials. The stone spear points indicated that their makers had mastered hafting , and hence had knowledge of fixatives such as glue or twine. In southern Africa, we see the beginnings of these developments as long as 400,000 years ago. With their bigger brains, larger social groups and better weapons, hominins developed and honed their unique hunting techniques , often working by ambush and taking prime animals rather than the old and young. While that pattern may date back more than a million years, in the last 50,000 years this practice may have been so intense that it contributed to the demise of many large animals, including the mammoth, mastodons, and giant marsupials. In all this, there is plentiful evidence of high skill. In the Levallois technique , which few can reproduce today, the maker prepared a stone core by careful flaking, and had to "see" the artifact before releasing in one blow. Such skills could approach art . Numbers of ancient pieces including some of the handaxes would qualify as art by modern definitions, although we know little about the past intent. Such finds suggest the basic abilities for art were in place as much as a million years ago, but its projection into non-utilitarian forms gives another level to the evidence of human intellect. Modern humans (from around 300,000 years ago) Many people look at human evolution chiefly to explain us, Homo sapiens . But we are the culmination of a long process of evolution—no more than 5% of the whole hominin story by time spent on this planet. Until the 1980s, our species was thought to have first appeared around 40,000 years ago in a "human revolution"—an explosion of creativity marked by the flowering of cave art and sophisticated tools. However, many events in this analysis were incorrectly concertinaed together by a ceiling in radiocarbon dates , which the rapid decay rate of carbon-14 limited to a maximum age of about 40,000 years. Since then, new dating techniques based on other radioisotopes and new finds have expanded the timescale for the existence of Homo sapiens by almost a factor of ten. In fact, the first early modern humans , closely resembling us, appeared about 300,000 years ago in northern and eastern Africa. This drastic change of timescale alters our perspective in ways that are still being explored. For a start, we now know that for a long period, the earliest modern humans were not alone. They existed alongside Homo neanderthalensis , the Neanderthals—the people of the north, ranging from western Europe to Siberia—for hundreds of thousands of years. To the east, DNA studies have recognized a probable sister group of the Neanderthals, the Denisovans —best known from Denisova cave in the Altai mountains of Siberia—while to the south, Homo naledi was still there, and the Kabwe skull from Zambia is evidence for at least one other species. Astonishing progress in genomic research has shown that the Neanderthals and Denisovans were separate species , but so closely related to our H. sapiens ancestors that interbreeding was possible. Does the ability of these species to interact imply the existence of language? As with fire, language origins have been one of the major debating points within palaeoanthropology. Small clues are enigmatic. More than 2 million years ago, a mutation reduced the power of the chewing muscles in human ancestors. That may indicate they were doing more food preparation, but also possibly making more controlled use of their mouths . Expanded nerve outlets in the thoracic vertebrae appeared in Homo erectus , indicating the millisecond control of breathing that is necessary for language. And later, 400,000-year-old Homo heidelbergensis remains from Atapuerca in northern Spain had perfectly preserved ear canals which were tuned to the frequencies used in human language. As these Atapuerca hominins were probable Neanderthal ancestors, there is a good chance that at least a simple form of language was very widespread at this point, if not earlier. Paintings first appeared—or were preserved—around 50,000 years ago, but beads and ornaments can be traced back much earlier. The oldest so far are shell beads from Es-Skhul cave on Mount Carmel in Israel, dating back about 130,000 years. They mark out personal identity, and hence the idea that one person can appreciate these signals in another. Shell beads occurred again at Blombos in South Africa about 70,000 years ago, along with a piece of engraved ochre. Burials have a similar antiquity: both Neanderthal and early modern burials occurred from about 130,000 years ago—although older finds such as the numerous human remains in one cave at Atapuerca, or cutmarks on a skull at Bodo in Ethiopia, may indicate there was already a special interest in human bodies. The burials suggest that early humans had a strong idea of the needs of others. Some burials—both of early moderns and Neanderthals—had red ochre smeared on the bodies. This is likely to have carried symbolic significance. "Symbolism" has played a crucial part in all modern human behavior, underpinning language, religion, and art. However, studying its origins presents pitfalls, because other animals seem capable of using symbols, as when a chimpanzee offers a clipped leaf to another. The line between such "signs" and symbols is easily blurred. But the projection of symbols into the outside world in the form of material objects is a measurable step, so long as they survive. The beads and burials are among the earliest evidence of behavior which may, in fact, have had much deeper origins. The great breakout (about 100,000 years ago) More than 100,000 years ago, the early modern humans began to expand outside Africa, leading to the greatest diaspora in human history. Variation in modern human DNA preserves geographic signals that tell us something about past population movements. Even better, fossil DNA can be isolated from bone specimens up to about 50,000 years old in cool climates, and sometimes even older. The results confirm that the Neanderthals were a truly separate species, with their ancestors separating from ours between 500,000 and 700,000 years ago, and living on until about 40,000 years ago. Some of the clearest genetic signals come from parts of the genome that do not recombine each generation—that is, the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA. These have allowed scientists to assemble "family trees" which show that all modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) are related within about 150,000 years. They also indicate, along with the archaeological evidence, that modern humans surged out of Africa after that date, sweeping around the world and eventually completely replacing other hominins such as the Neanderthals and Denisovans—although some of their genes survived in us, thanks to rare past matings between species. In essence, this was a great population expansion rather than a migration. Populations remained in Africa and along the way, but this astonishing wave of advance headed east across Asia, then north into Europe, and ultimately to all parts of the world. The start was necessarily from north-east Africa, offering a land route into the Middle East and, at times of low sea-level, a likely southern one to Arabia . Climate changes almost certainly played a major part: each time "green Sahara" became desert Sahara in the rhythmic changes of the ice ages, this would pulse people out into the Levant . Modern humans are visible there around 130,000 years ago—but Neanderthals succeeded them around 80,000 years ago as conditions became colder again. Probably by then, the great move east had already happened: early modern humans had covered the 12,000 kilometers to Australia as long as 70,000 years ago. At least 45,000 years ago, they were in north-east China , perhaps arriving by a route north of the Himalayas. From there, it was 6,000km to the Bering landbridge that would lead to Alaska. By 14,500 years ago, modern humans were in Monte Verde, Chile after an astonishing 15,000km journey down the Americas. The severe cold of the last glacial maximum , 20,000 years ago, must have slowed down this progress. Sea levels dropped more than 100 meters, and northern populations were rolled back by the ice advances. Many American archaeologists still believe the first settlement in their continent began after this, but footprint trails in New Mexico dated to the 20,000s BCE are part of growing evidence for earlier dates. Such debates do not alter the big picture: at times, our direct ancestors were progressing about a kilometer every five years; at others, they were shooting forward great distances. Some of them, at least, had become adventurers, with something like the wanderlust characteristic of modern explorers. They traveled both inland and along the coasts, by foot and certainly by boat. They covered high and low terrain, in warm and cold, wet and dry—all the while, living by the ancient and enduring adaptation of hunting and gathering. Last of the Neanderthals (about 40,000 years ago) Historically, studies in human evolution greatly emphasized Europe. While the balance has rightly been redressed to a global perspective in the last 50 years, Europe remains important in our record—both because northern climates better preserve organic remains including DNA, and because this rich record has been studied intensively for more than 150 years. Amid the great diaspora of early modern humans, a newer perspective is that, by the time the last Neanderthals were gone from Europe, fully modern humans had already dispersed through Australia and throughout the Far East. But these events remain puzzling because the Neanderthals had held their own with early modern humans for hundreds of thousands of years across a fluctuating frontier, and were dominant in the Middle East as late as 60,000 years ago. The Neanderthals have an enduring fascination because they are so like us and yet so different. They were stocky and strong, and had a brain size as large as ours. Their abilities have been debated for more than a century, but there is strong evidence that they are an alternative humanity rather than an inferior humanity. They had full control of fire, made bone tools, and used pigments as well as burying their dead. Their replacement by modern humans was completed between 50,000 and 40,000 years ago. What gave the moderns the edge? It could be that a known series of rapid climate fluctuations destabilized the Neanderthal populations. There is evidence that they were living in small groups, under stress and with significant inbreeding , and a consensus now is that demographic factors were a main cause of their disappearance. Talking point: Art and technology In Europe, the traditional idea of a "creative revolution" was highlighted by the disappearance of the Neanderthals around 40,000 years ago, and the arrival of new populations with new toolkits—the Upper Paleolithic with its blade tools, bone tools and artwork. Elsewhere, such advanced traits often appeared earlier. At the moment, the earliest known cave art comes from Karampuang Hill on Sulawesi, Indonesia, where there are representations of humans and animals dated to 51,000 years ago. European art is considerably later, except for some markings which could have been made by Neanderthals, who certainly used pigments. From around 40,000 years ago, there began to be other representations, including one of exceptional importance: a small statue of mammoth ivory found in a cave in what is now southern Germany. It combines the head of a lion with a human body , showing the artist's ability to morph a 3D form which may have had religious significance. By the time of the 20,000s BCE, we see many signs of new technologies and skills: basketry in the Gravettian phase of central Europe; the first pottery in China ; polished axes in Australia and New Guinea ; and specialized use of marine resources in South Africa, Indonesia and elsewhere. Probably, there were also the first domesticated dogs , who became well-documented in Europe about 15,000 years ago. After the ice (about 20,000 years ago) Following the glacial maximum, there came a steady return to warmer conditions, culminating in the period we call the Holocene . Ice sheets retreated to the north, temperate vegetation appeared and the sea came up, with profound effects on coastal settlement around the world. Along with new environmental stresses, around 12,000 years ago came the next major shift in human adaptation: the agricultural revolution . The domestication of plants and animals soon led to vast increases in population numbers. Villages, towns and civilizations followed, ultimately made possible by the control of food supplies that hunters and gatherers could never have, but also dependent on technological advances and complex social behavior. It is easy to take for granted that we are human. But knowing the human evolutionary story, even if at times from only a few fossil fragments, shows it could easily have been otherwise. Had climate patterns been slightly different, Neanderthals might have survived. They or the Denisovans could be carrying the flag of progress, in a different way and at a different pace. Today, we are still not on top of things. The greatest changes in the world are humanly created, and they stem above all from our vast numbers. For at least 99.5% of the time of Homo , our ancestors lived as hunters and gatherers, with global numbers no more than a few million. Yet now, over a single human lifespan, the global population has grown fourfold, from 2 billion to 8 billion. The story of human evolution is about more than bones and stones. It helps us to see our many strengths and limitations. The strengths include an ability to manage rapid cultural change, especially in technology—the key to our survival over a very long period, and vital for coping with environmental change. But this ability is also having many unforeseen consequences to our planet and its biodiversity, and to our own human societies. It is a triumph that most of the 8 billion humans alive today are living relatively happily and, thanks to modern medicine, for longer than ever before. But it is all part of a high-risk species strategy that has characterized the story of human evolution from its earliest origins nearly 8 million years ago. Throughout this story, success has regularly thrown up new sets of problems. Our ancient ancestors had no choice but to forge forwards into the unknown, adapting to survive. Many times over, they surmounted challenges at least as great as those we face today. Provided by The Conversation This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 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ASML Deadline: ASML Investors with Losses in Excess of $100K Have Opportunity to Lead ASML Holding N.V. Securities Fraud LawsuitU.S. women's national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, known for her unflappable demeanor in the face of pressure, is retiring from international soccer. Naeher was on the team's roster for a pair of upcoming matches in Europe but those games will be her last after a full 11 years playing for the United States. Naeher was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team that won the Women's World Cup in 2019 and the gold medal at this year's Olympics in France. She's the only U.S. goalkeeper to earn a shutout in both a World Cup and an Olympic final. She made a key one-handed save in stoppage time to preserve the Americans' 1-0 victory over Brazil in the Olympic final. Mallory Swanson, who scored the only goal, ran down the length of the field to embrace Naeher at the final whistle. Naeher announced her retirement on social media Monday . “Every tear shed in the challenging times and disappointments made every smile and celebration in the moments of success that much more joyful. This has been a special team to be a part of and I am beyond proud of what we have achieved both on and off the field," she wrote. “The memories I have made over the years will last me a lifetime.” Naeher has been known throughout her career for her calm and steady leadership. She is one of just three goalkeepers to make more than 100 appearances for the United States. Naeher made her debut with the national team in 2014 and was a backup to Hope Solo at the 2015 World Cup, which the United States won. She became the team’s regular starter following the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and was on the squad that repeated as World Cup winners in 2019. For her career, Naeher has appeared 113 games with 110 starts, 88 wins and 68 shutouts. She had four shutouts over the course of the Olympic tournament in France. In all, she was on the U.S. roster for three World Cups and three Olympic teams. The 36-year-old has also played for the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League since 2016. She plans to play for Chicago next season. The United States is headed to Europe for a match against England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday and on Dec. 3 against Netherlands in The Hague. In addition to her save at the Olympics, Naeher has had many other memorable moments. In the 2019 Women's World Cup semifinals against England, she stopped Steph Houghton’s penalty kick in the 83rd minute. The Americans won 2-1 before downing the Netherlands 2-0 in the final. Earlier this year in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, Naeher made three saves during a penalty shootout with Canada and also converted a penalty kick herself — tucking the ball neatly into the corner of the net. Afterward she said: “Winning is the best feeling.” AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerFire in central Phoenix displaces 8 people, officials say
NEW YORK , Dec. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Why: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of ordinary shares of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) between January 24, 2024 and October 15, 2024 , both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important January 13, 2025 lead plaintiff deadline. So what: If you purchased ASML ordinary shares during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. What to do next: To join the ASML class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=31159 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. at 866-767-3653 or email case@rosenlegal.com for more information. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than January 13 , 2025. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Why Rosen Law: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company at the time. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. Details of the case: According to the lawsuit, during the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the issues being faced by suppliers, like ASML, in the semiconductor industry were much more severe than defendants had indicated to investors; (2) the pace of recovery of sales in the semiconductor industry was much slower than defendants had publicly acknowledged; (3) defendants had created the false impression that they possessed reliable information pertaining to customer demand and anticipated growth, while also downplaying risk from macroeconomic and industry fluctuations, as well as stronger regulations restricting the export of semiconductor technology, including the products that ASML sells; and (4) as a result, defendants' statements about ASML's business, operations, and prospects lacked a reasonable basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the ASML class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=31159 mailto: or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm , on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/ . Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. ------------------------------- Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 case@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/asml-deadline-asml-investors-with-losses-in-excess-of-100k-have-opportunity-to-lead-asml-holding-nv-securities-fraud-lawsuit-302331928.html SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A.
THE Department of Health-Davao Region (DOH-Davao) reiterated that its central office operates only one verified Facebook page, countering the proliferation of fraudulent accounts falsely endorsing health claims and products. DOH-Davao clarified earlier this week that the agency has not advertised any milk supplement claiming to treat severe insomnia. “The DOH emphasizes that this page is fake, not affiliated with the Department in any way, and does not endorse the products it promotes,” the statement read. It also revealed that the agency is collaborating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to investigate the matter further. The DOH warned that any statements, comments, or transactions made through these fake accounts are fraudulent. “Continued dissemination of false information may result in criminal charges. The public is strongly advised to rely only on the official social media handles listed below,” the statement added. This clarification follows reports of a Facebook page named “DOH News” gaining traction for promoting a fake medical product that allegedly cured “90 percent” of individuals with chronic sleep disorders. In a similar incident last November, the DOH debunked a false claim that Singapore discovered COVID-19 was not caused by a virus but by a bacterium exposed to radiation, allegedly leading to death by blood coagulation. The DOH reiterated that COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, not a bacterium. It urged the public to remain vigilant against misleading COVID-19 information and to seek updates exclusively from legitimate sources, including the Department’s official platforms and social media handles. DEFSpecial counsel Jack Smith is dropping the federal election subversion and the mishandling of classified documents cases against President-elect Donald Trump , seeking the cases’ dismissal in court filings Monday. Trump has said he would fire Smith once he retook the office, shattering previous norms around special counsel investigations. “The (Justice) Department’s position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” Smith wrote of the election subversion case in a six-page filing with US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC. “This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant.” Smith’s criminal pursuit of Trump over the last two years for trying to subvert the 2020 presidential election and his mishandling of classified documents represented a unique chapter in American history: Never before has a former occupant of the White House faced federal criminal charges. Though the election subversion case culminated this summer in a landmark Supreme Court ruling that said Trump enjoyed some presidential immunity from criminal prosecution, Trump’s strategy of delay in the case ensured that a trial never got underway before the November election. In the election case Trump faced in Washington, DC, Smith charged the former president over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, a plot that culminated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. “The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed,” Smith said in the filing. Chutkan had been deciding how much of Trump’s conduct at the center of the case was shielded by immunity after prosecutors last month laid out their arguments for why the Supreme Court’s ruling should have no impact on the case. After Trump won reelection this month, prosecutors asked Chutkan to pause a series of postelection deadlines in the case as they weighed their next steps. In the documents case brought in Florida, Trump was indicted for allegedly taking classified national defense documents from the White House after he left office and resisting the government’s attempts to retrieve the materials. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung in a statement called the move “a major victory for the rule of law.” “The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country,” Cheung added. Trump employees still face appeal Smith, in a filing with a federal appeals court, said that prosecutors were keeping their case on mishandling classified documents alive against two of Trump’s employees. The case is before the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is reviewing Judge Aileen Cannon’s order dismissing all charges. The co-defendants are Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, who work for Trump and are accused of helping the former president obstruct a federal investigation into sensitive government documents taken from his first administration. Both have pleaded not guilty. Dismissing without prejudice Smith said he was seeking to drop the charges against the president-elect “without prejudice,” which would keep the door open for charges to be brought again in the future, calling the presidential immunity Trump will have as “temporary.” Smith said he consulted with Justice Department lawyers on the question and that they also weighed the possibility of pausing the case until Trump no longer had the immunity of the presidency protecting him. Ultimately, however, the department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the bar on prosecuting sitting presidents is “categorial,” including for indictments handed up before a defendant enters office. “Accordingly, the Department’s position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated. And although the Constitution requires dismissal in this context, consistent with the temporary nature of the immunity afforded a sitting President, it does not require dismissal with prejudice,” Smith wrote. State cases will continue against Trump As president, Trump will not have the power to interfere with the prosecutions brought against him by state authorities in Georgia and New York. However, the courts in those cases will still have to work out immunity questions and issues raised by his return to the White House. Last week, the judge overseeing Trump’s criminal hush money case in New York postponed his sentencing indefinitely. A jury in the state convicted Trump earlier this year on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment made during the 2016 campaign to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who alleged a prior affair with the president-elect. (Trump denies the affair.) And Trump is still working to stave off prosecution in Georgia, where he is a defendant in a sprawling case that accuses him and several allies of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the Peach State. This story has been updated with additional information.Michael Ray Richardson, a beloved husband, father, and friend, of Lucedale, Mississippi, ascended to eternal rest with our Lord and Savior on December 6, 2024, at the age of 64. Born on April 19, 1960 in Shirley, Massachusetts, Michael was a cherished son of Dorma Lee and Gilbert Lavon Richardson. His early years spent in Dallas, Texas, shaped a vibrant personality filled with humor, loyalty, and deep-rooted love for family and the outdoors. Michael attended Sunset High School and Mountain View College in Dallas, TX. Michael embarked on a beautiful journey when he married his soulmate, Jeri McMillin Richardson, in 1982. Their love story became the foundation of a blessed life, filled with laughter and unwavering support for one another. Together, they nurtured a loving family, teaching their children values of compassion, perseverance, and joy in God’s grace. A proud Texas Longhorn and Dallas Cowboys fan, Michael carried his teams in his heart and loved watching games with family and friends. He relished every moment he could spend outdoors-immersed in nature as a lifelong hunter and spending countless weekends on the boat at the lake. He found peace in the quiet of the deer camp, in the camaraderie shared with fellow hunters, and in the memories formed on those excursions especially with his son. Michael’s infectious humor and eagerness to provide advice touched all who had the privilege of knowing him. He consistently had a joke or cheerful remark at the ready, and he offered his guidance without hesitation. He created a legacy of love and laughter that will remain with his family and friends forever. Michael is survived by his loving wife Jeri; his daughter, Audreanna Brown and husband, Kevin; grandchildren, Kaden and Caitlyn Brown; brother, Claude Richardson; and half-sister Cherry Ann Richardson; nieces Vanessa McCarty, Jocelyn Clayton, and Hollie Johnson, as well as a multitude of great nieces and nephews, cousins and friends whose lives he positively impacted. Michael is preceded in death by his mother, Dorma Richardson; father, Gilbert Richardson; brothers, Gilbert Richardson, Jr. and Glenn Allard; and son, Clayton Morris Richardson. A celebration of Michael’s life will be held on Monday, December 16, 2024 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm at Mulkey-Bowles Montgomery Funeral Home, 705 N Locust St. Denton, TX 76201. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to Camp Straight Arrow, 25757 Preston Bend Rd., Pottsboro, TX 75076, as he was a lifelong supporter of his childhood camp. Michael Ray Richardson’s legacy will forever remain in our hearts, and he will be deeply missed until we meet again in heaven.
Nebraska judge dismisses challenges against medical marijuana petitions
Alabama flips RB Jace Clarizio from Michigan StateThe University of NSW has signed an Australian-first deal with ChatGPT to roll out a special version of the technology on campus, as universities increasingly embrace AI and acknowledge bans are no longer viable despite fears of a “new wave” of cheating. The deal with ChatGPT would allow students, academics, and staff to use the tool securely, ensuring any information shared with the chatbot remained private and was not used to train AI models. UNSW students Matthew Kuk and Gemma Ahearne have found benefits in using AI to enhance their study. Credit: Rhett Wyman It comes after the University of Sydney overhauled its cheating policy to allow the use of AI in all assessments not held in exam-like conditions, in a sign institutions were conceding they could not control students’ use of the rapidly evolving technology. UNSW’s deal with ChatGPT – a chatbot widely used to answer questions, generate ideas and write content – will start with a pilot across about 500 staff and students with the view of rolling it out more widely. It is the first Australian university to introduce ChatGPT Edu – a tool specifically built for higher education – joining other institutions including Arizona State, Oxford and Columbia. UNSW has paid the US company behind the chatbot, OpenAI, to deploy the tool, but would not reveal how much. Third-year UNSW law and commerce student Matthew Kuk welcomed the move, saying it could make the technology more accessible by eliminating the need for students to pay for the premium version, ChatGPT4. He regularly uses it to summarise papers he doesn’t have time to read in full and to help understand difficult ideas. UNSW student Gemma Ahearne. Credit: Rhett Wyman “It has freed up so much more time in my studies now, so I’m able to spend more time on concepts that I would have just skipped over,” he said. Kuk said when ChatGPT was first rolled out, its use was stigmatised, and it was labelled by students a “cheat bot”. “In my experience, it’s quite the contrary,” he said. “It’s almost impossible to cheat well with ChatGPT. That’s because you’re probably going to fail if you use ChatGPT as your bible because it can’t critically think. “It’s only really good at explaining concepts and it’s really, really bad with numbers.” ChatGPT’s emergence about two years ago has upended universities’ cheating policies and caused widespread concern about a new and undetectable wave of cheating on campus. UNSW revealed it had seen an increase in cheating using AI tools such as ChatGPT, with 166 serious cases referred for investigation in 2023. But experts warned this would just be the tip of the iceberg because the available technology used to detect AI plagiarism only picked up the most unsophisticated cheaters. Students have also raised concerns that tools used by universities to detect AI cheating are rife with false positives and caused unnecessary stress. Unlike Sydney University, UNSW does not have a blanket rule on AI. Instead, teachers determine whether students can use AI in assessments on a subject-by-subject basis. UNSW Business School senior deputy dean Paul Andon said there were vast uses for the tool for both staff and students, including creating bespoke “AI tutors”, and it would help develop students into “AI natives”. Andon said the university had evolved its policies to reflect the realities of AI, conceding students could not be effectively stopped from accessing AI in non-supervised settings. “I actually think in many ways [AI access is] a good thing. It helps them in terms of their learning, it’s not something to shy away from,” he said, adding they also needed to be assessed in secure settings without access to AI. UNSW design student Gemma Ahearne said she started using AI widely this year and describes it as her “personal assistant”, helping her with brainstorming ideas, giving personalised feedback and summarising academic articles. “When we were initially told, ‘no you’re not allowed to use it’, it scared me away, but now I understand it a lot more,” she said. “The world is infused with AI. If you’re not using it you’re going to fall behind.” But she said students needed to actively reflect on their reliance and consider if they were starting with their own ideas or going straight to ChatGPT. “When you go into a job interview or exam, for example, you’re going to have to think for yourself,” Ahearne said. The higher education watchdog said institutions imposing strict bans on the use of generative AI did not constitute an effective long-term approach to managing integrity risks, and universities need to consider how to redesign teaching and assessments. UNSW vice chancellor Attila Brungs said the collaboration would be used to enhance research, teaching and the student experience. “From engineering to health, business and science, AI is revolutionising research and education by making learning more personalised, accessible, and impactful,” he said. Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter .
THE HAGUE (AP) — The world’s top war-crimes court issued arrest warrants Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza. The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny. The action by the International Criminal Court came as the death toll from Israel’s campaign in Gaza passed 44,000 people, according to local health authorities, who say more than half of those killed were women and children. Their count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Experts say hunger has become widespread across Gaza and may have reached famine levels in the north of the territory, which is under siege by Israeli troops. Israel says it has been working hard to improve entry of aid, though the trickle of supplies into Gaza remains near the lowest levels of the war. Netanyahu condemned the warrant against him, saying Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions” by the court. In a statement released by his office, he said: “There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza.” Gallant, in a statement, said the decision "sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defense and moral warfare and encourages murderous terrorism.” The warrant marked the first time that a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global court of justice. The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects, putting them at risk of arrest when they travel abroad and potentially further isolating them . Israel and its top ally, the United States, are not members of the court. But others of Israel's allies, including some of its close European friends, are put in an awkward position. Several, including France, welcomed the court's decision and signaled they might arrest Netanyahu if he visited. The move “represents the most dramatic step yet in the court’s involvement in the conflict between Israel and Hamas," said Anthony Dworkin, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Israeli leaders, politicians and officials across the spectrum denounced the warrants and the ICC. The new defense minister, Israel Katz, who replaced Gallant earlier this month, said Thursday’s decision is “a moral disgrace, entirely tainted by antisemitism, and drags the international judicial system to an unprecedented low.” Human rights groups applauded the move. The warrants against both sides “break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law,” the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, Balkees Jarrah, said in a statement. The decision came six months after ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan requested the warrants. The court issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ armed wing, over the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in Gaza. It said it found reasonable grounds to believe Deif was involved in murder, rape, torture and the taking of hostages amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the Hamas-led attack, militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking some 250 others hostage. Around 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, around a third of them believed to be dead. Khan withdrew requests for warrants for two other senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh , who have both since been killed. Israel says it also killed Deif in an airstrike, but Hamas has never confirmed his death. The warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were issued by a three-judge panel in a unanimous decision. The panel said there were reasonable grounds to believe that both men bear responsibility for the war crime of starvation and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts. The judges said the lack of food, water, electricity, fuel and specific medical supplies created conditions “calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population in Gaza,” including the deaths of children due to malnutrition and dehydration. They also found that by preventing hospital supplies and medicine from getting into Gaza, doctors were forced to operate, including performing amputations, without anesthesia or with unsafe means of sedation that led to “great suffering.” Israeli diplomatic officials said the government is lobbying the international community to speak out against the warrants and is considering an appeal to the court. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal decision on how the government will proceed. Despite the warrants, none of the suspects is likely to face judges in The Hague anytime soon. Member countries are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that. For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin, wanted on an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, recently visited Mongolia, a member state in the court but also a Russian ally. He was not arrested. Still, the threat of arrest now complicates any travel abroad by Netanyahu and Gallant. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the warrants are binding on all 27 members countries of the European Union. France signaled it could arrest Netanyahu if he came to its territory. Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine called it a “complex legal issue” but said France supports the court’s actions. “Combating impunity is our priority,” he said. “Our response will align with these principles.” Hamas in a statement welcomed the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant but made no mention of the one against Deif. Israel’s opposition leaders fiercely criticized the ICC’s move. Benny Gantz, a retired general and political rival to Netanyahu, said it showed “moral blindness” and was a “shameful stain of historic proportion that will never be forgotten.” Israel’s campaign has caused heavy destruction across Gaza and driven almost the entire population of 2.3 million people from their homes, leaving most dependent on aid to survive. Two days after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel, Gallant announced a total seal on Gaza, vowing not to let in food, fuel or other supplies. Under U.S. pressure, Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid to enter a few weeks later. Israel now says it puts no limit on the supplies permitted into Gaza, and it blames the U.N. distribution system. But Israel's official figures show the amount of aid it has let in has plunged since the beginning of October. The U.N has blamed Israeli military restrictions, along with widespread lawlessness that has led to theft of aid shipments. The case at the ICC is separate from another legal battle Israel is waging at the top U.N. court, the International Court of Justice, in which South Africa accuses Israel of genocide , an allegation Israeli leaders staunchly deny. Lawyers for Israel argued in court that the war in Gaza was a legitimate defense of its people and that it was Hamas militants who were guilty of genocide. Associated Press journalists Raf Casert in Brussels, Mike Corder in The Hague and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.BULLHEAD CITY – The Mohave High School girls basketball team trailed by nine at halftime and nearly came back, but fell 44-41 against Moon Valley High School on Friday. Next, the Thunderbirds will play against Lake Havasu on the road on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m.
