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wow888 secret bonus no deposit HIGH POINT 81, PFEIFFER 50CHICAGO, Dec. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: MEI) , a leading global supplier of custom-engineered solutions for user interface, lighting, and power distribution applications, announced today that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share to be paid on January 31, 2025, to common stockholders of record at the close of business on January 17, 2025. About Methode Electronics, Inc. Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: MEI) is a leading global supplier of custom-engineered solutions with sales, engineering and manufacturing locations in North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. We design, engineer, and produce mechatronic products for OEMs utilizing our broad range of technologies for user interface, lighting system, power distribution and sensor applications. Our solutions are found in the end markets of transportation (including automotive, commercial vehicle, e-bike, aerospace, bus, and rail), cloud computing infrastructure, construction equipment, and consumer appliance. Our business is managed on a segment basis, with those segments being Automotive, Industrial, and Interface. For Methode Electronics, Inc. Robert K. Cherry Vice President Investor Relations [email protected] 708-457-4030

Cousins Properties Announces Pricing of Senior Notes OfferingNeed help with filling out your fantasy football lineups for Week 13 of the 2024 NFL season? It's an important part of the year ahead of the fantasy playoffs, so every decision becomes more crucial. Vinnie Iyer is here for you again, back with another edition of the Decider, a unique blend of positional rankings and start ‘em, sit ‘em advice. Let's get into breaking down the best and worst plays in redraft based on matchups, usage, and other factors, plus some good price values to target in DFS. Fantasy Football Week 13 Start 'Em: Quarterbacks Regular starts Stronger starts 9. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (vs. LAC): He should be busy chucking against a team with a good run defense and Herbert lighting it up. 10. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (vs. CLE): He keeps crushing at home, and the Browns will oblige on Monday night. 11. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (at JAX): Stroud has the best possible matchup to get back on track big time. 12. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers (at CIN): He should be busy working off play-action to battle Burrow. 13. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (vs. CHI): Goff needs the run to work to play well, and he should be motivated to stop a division rival after last year's Thanksgiving loss to the Packers. 14. Anthony Richardson, Colts (at NE): Richardson should have his way passing downfield and running on the Patriots. 15. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. HOU): Should he return after the bye, he can rebound with an adjusted offense vs. a bad pass defense. 16. Drake Maye, New England Patriots (vs. IND): He should see some things open up all over the field at home vs. the Colts' defense. WEEK 13 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kickers DFS pick Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (vs. TB, $4,700 on DraftKings, $6,600 on FanDuel): Let's try this again on the Buccaneers as Young is coming off a 16.5-point DK effort against the Chiefs at home. And Tampa Bay offers the best possible passing matchup in what should be another negative game script. There's an easier path to 3X or 4X value than other QBs given those prices. Fantasy Football Week 13 Sit 'Em: Quarterbacks Weaker starts 17. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (vs. MIA): The Packers should stay run-oriented and win with that and defense on Thursday. 18. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (at MIN): He's been a roller coaster, especially on the road against tougher defenses. 19. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (at GB): He has been ripping bad teams in good weather of late, and the Packers offer neither. 20. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (vs. ARI): Darnold might be sucked into more of a defensive-minded matchup at home with Murray. 21. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (at NO): Stafford should also see the running game and defense being much more effective on the road. 22. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (at NYJ): It is a revenge game, but he needs help from the running game and defense to win on the road in weather. 23. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (at DET): Don't chase the points from the home game vs. the Vikings given the Lions' defense is getting better every week, and this is a tough, short-week road game. DOMINATE YOUR NFL PICKS POOL Sign up for free ATS and straight up picks advice on NFL pick'em with PoolGenius Fantasy Football Week 13 Start 'Em: Running backs Regular starts Stronger starts 24. Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at CAR): Irving should smash on the road as a rising rookie. 25. Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots (vs. IND): He should rebound with more regular volume in an even or positive game script. 26. Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at CAR): He should be deployed with Irving as their preferred dynamic duo (forget about Sean Tucker). 27. Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers (at CIN): Warren should find some room to rumble often on the outside. 28. Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns (at DEN): Chubb should stay hot with a big workload to take pressure off the passing game. 29. Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers (at CIN): Harris should get a solid workload with a good chance for a short TD. Week 13 FANTASY ROSTER MANAGEMENT ADVICE Stock Watch | Sleepers | Busts DFS Picks Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts (at NE, $6,900 on DraftKings, $7,900 on FanDuel): Taylor has downright stunk of late because of not getting enough volume in the 1-2 punch of bad matchups and negative game scripts. Here's being mainstream contrarian by saying he's needed a spot like this to get well, and he has a strong history vs. the Patriots' defense. Aaron Jones, Minnesota Vikings (vs. ARI, $6,500 on DraftKings, $7,700 on FanDuel): He looked great vs. the Bears coming on strong late in the season again, and he can rip into the Cardinals' shaky run defense at home. Fantasy Football Week 13 Sit 'Em: Running backs Weaker starts 30. J.K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers (if he plays, at ATL): This matchup is really tough, and that knee is a concern on a short week. 31. Brian Robinson Jr., Washington Commanders (vs. TEN): The Titans just shut down Mixon, so you can't trust him with an injury. 32. Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs (vs. LV): You cannot be sure of his post-injury touches with Hunt playing so well if he finally returns. 33. Travis Etienne Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. HOU): You can't go here against this run defense, not knowing his workload running or receiving. 34. Ameer Abdullah, Las Vegas Raiders (at KC): Whoever's the healthiest Raiders back should be avoided in this brutal Black Friday matchup. 35. Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos (vs. CLE): He probably will randomly go off this week... or not. This also goes for trying to play Audric Estime... or Jaleel McLaughlin. Fantasy Football Week 13 Start 'Em: Wide receivers Regular starts Stronger starts 32. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, New Orleans Saints (vs. LAR): He should be busy stretching the field as their default No.1. wide receiver. 33. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Tennessee Titans (at WAS): All he does is make big plays and score for Will Levis. 34. Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers (at ATL): Johnston should get in on the fun as he and McConkey can rip the Falcons' cornerbacks. 35. Khalil Shakir, Buffalo Bills (vs. SF): Shakir can destroy them in the slot often. 36. Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings (vs. ARI): He's hot for Darnold, and the USC-USC connection continues. 37. DeAndre Hopkins, Kansas City Chiefs (vs. LV): He should hop into the end zone once on Black Friday. 38. Amari Cooper, Buffalo Bills (vs. SF): He should return and also do well outside. 39. Tank Dell, Houston Texans (at JAX): He should deliver here as the passing game has a much-needed bounce-back. Week 13 WAIVER WIRE ADVICE Full Waiver Wire Recommendations | How to Spend FAAB | Top Waiver Targets DFS picks Drake London, Atlanta Falcons (vs. LAC, $6,500 on DraftKings, $7,300 on FanDuel): London's size and strength can give the Chargers some problems all over the field as Cousins peppers him with high-leverage volume in what can be a high-scoring affair. Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. HOU, $5,500 on DraftKings, $6,700 on FanDuel): Thomas should dominate targets after the bye and is playable regardless of the quarterback because the Texans will have trouble slowing him down through a lot of key targets. Michael Pittman Jr., Indianapolis Colts (at NE), $5,200 on DraftKings, $6,600 on FanDuel): Josh Downs is hurting and is iffy for the game, and Pittman resurfaced for a big game at the right time vs. the Lions. Fantasy Football Week 13 Sit 'Em: Wide receivers Weaker starts 40. Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions (vs. CHI): That big outside play won't be coming in this spot. 41. Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers (at BUF): He's hard to trust anymore, especially with an iffy QB sitch and a bad matchup on the road. 42. Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland Browns (at DEN): This goes for all their wide receivers against Pat Surtain and the Broncos. 43. Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins (at GB): Don't chase the randomness of last week given his previous usage. 44. Keenan Allen, Chicago Bears (at DET): Not in the slot vs. these guys. 45. Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears (at DET): Only Moore is playable here. 46. Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas Raiders (at KC): See Waddle, Jaylen. 47. DeMario Douglas, New England Patriots (vs. IND): This is actually tougher for him inside than for the tight ends and outside wideouts. Fantasy Football Week 13 Start 'Em: Tight ends Must starts Stronger starts 11. Jonnu Smith, Miami Dolphins (at GB): He's been very consistent of late and is an integral part of the adjusted passing game. 12. Hunter Henry, New England Patriots (vs. IND): He has gone off before against them and has a solid floor in the matchup. 13. Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers (at CIN): He's made a case to be busier for Wilson, and it happens in a great matchup. 14. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles (at BAL): He should make several plays in what should be an offensive explosion for the visitors. 15. Will Dissly, Los Angeles Chargers (at ATL): He can get the job done with Herbert, going back and forth with Cousins and Pitts. 16. Luke Schoonmaker, Dallas Cowboys (vs. NYG): The numbers say no, but he is a key part of the offense with Jake Ferguson out and Rush has good chemistry with him. DFS pick Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers (at CIN, $3,500 on DraftKings, $5,100 on FanDuel): Muth came to life with a few more big plays vs. the Browns, and the Bengals have been very giving to the tight end position. Expect Wilson to look more his way playing off the deep threat of Pickens for good ROI. Fantasy Football Week 13 Sit 'Em: Tight ends Weaker starts 17. Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens (at PHI): He should be quieted with the Eagles' inside coverage rolling. 18. Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers (vs. MIA): He scored last week, but not much else happened, so no. 19. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions (vs. CHI): He's just not getting the looks from last season. 20. Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills (if he plays, vs. SF): Fred Warner is a tough draw, and we'll see about the knee. 21. Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears (at DET): Nyet on Kmet again because the Lions are nasty on tight ends. 22. Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders (vs. TEN): The Titans are tough everywhere on receivers such as this. Fantasy Football Week 13 Start 'Em: Defense/special teams Stronger starts 9. Los Angeles Rams (at NO): They should return to making more plays on the road while not facing the Eagles. 10. Dallas Cowboys (vs. NYG): They get Tommy DeVito to go after at home on a short week. 11. New York Giants (at DAL): Their defense is built well to handle the compressed offense around Cooper Rush. 12. Buffalo Bills (vs. SF): The 49ers face a tough road night game with Brock Purdy uncertain to go. 13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at CAR): The Panthers should make enough mistakes to make this a worthy back-end D. 14. Seattle Seahawks (at NYJ): They crushed the Cardinals at home last week, and they can take advantage of some Jets dysfunction. DFS pick Los Angeles Rams (at NO), $2,700 on DraftKings, $4,500 on FanDuel): The Eagles' result will have many shying away, but the Saints on the road is a different story as the sacks and takeaways can happen to make them viable vs. Derek Carr. Fantasy Football Week 13 Sit 'Em: Defenses Weaker starts 15. Los Angeles Chargers (at ATL): You can't go here in a game that should have plenty of passing and points. 16. Arizona Cardinals (at MIN): The Cardinals aren't good on the road defensively, either. 17. Cleveland Browns (at DEN): Not with the way Nix and the Broncos' offense is performing at home. 18. Miami Dolphins (at GB) : Love can turn it over, but the Dolphins also can get run over. 19. Philadelphia Eagles (at BAL): Find a big pivot this week vs. Lamar. 20. New York Jets (vs. SEA): They're not trustworthy against better offenses. Get more of Sporting News NFL writer Vinnie Iyer's Week 13 fantasy football advice by subscribing to the Locked On Fantasy Football podcast .Oakland County Woman to Quit Job After Striking $2 Million on Michigan Lottery's Ace of Spades Game

Flag football scours nation with talent camps to uncover next wave of stars

Whales with a lot of money to spend have taken a noticeably bearish stance on Zscaler . Looking at options history for Zscaler ZS we detected 21 trades. If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 9% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 80% with bearish. From the overall spotted trades, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $128,915 and 19, calls, for a total amount of $1,446,125. Projected Price Targets After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $145.0 and $220.0 for Zscaler, spanning the last three months. Analyzing Volume & Open Interest Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Zscaler's options for a given strike price. Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Zscaler's whale trades within a strike price range from $145.0 to $220.0 in the last 30 days. Zscaler 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot Noteworthy Options Activity: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Ask Bid Price Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume ZS PUT SWEEP BULLISH 08/15/25 $7.2 $7.05 $7.05 $145.00 $97.9K 0 140 ZS CALL TRADE BEARISH 06/20/25 $48.25 $47.9 $47.9 $150.00 $91.0K 2.7K 92 ZS CALL TRADE BEARISH 06/20/25 $48.05 $47.75 $47.75 $150.00 $90.7K 2.7K 20 ZS CALL TRADE BEARISH 06/20/25 $47.8 $47.5 $47.5 $150.00 $90.2K 2.7K 158 ZS CALL TRADE BEARISH 06/20/25 $47.7 $47.4 $47.4 $150.00 $90.0K 2.7K 111 About Zscaler Zscaler is a software-as-a-service, or SaaS, firm focusing on providing cloud-native cybersecurity solutions to primarily enterprise customers. Zscaler's offerings can be broadly partitioned into Zscaler Internet Access, which provides secure access to external applications, and Zscaler Private Access, which provides secure access to internal applications. The firm is headquartered in San Jose, California, and went public in 2018. Having examined the options trading patterns of Zscaler, our attention now turns directly to the company. This shift allows us to delve into its present market position and performance Current Position of Zscaler With a volume of 373,425, the price of ZS is down -0.66% at $186.03. RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversold. Next earnings are expected to be released in 63 days. Expert Opinions on Zscaler In the last month, 5 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $229.0. Turn $1000 into $1270 in just 20 days? 20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access .* Maintaining their stance, an analyst from JP Morgan continues to hold a Overweight rating for Zscaler, targeting a price of $240. * Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Piper Sandler continues to hold a Overweight rating for Zscaler, targeting a price of $235. * An analyst from Wells Fargo persists with their Equal-Weight rating on Zscaler, maintaining a target price of $190. * Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Keybanc continues to hold a Overweight rating for Zscaler, targeting a price of $250. * Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Canaccord Genuity keeps a Buy rating on Zscaler with a target price of $230. Trading options involves greater risks but also offers the potential for higher profits. Savvy traders mitigate these risks through ongoing education, strategic trade adjustments, utilizing various indicators, and staying attuned to market dynamics. Keep up with the latest options trades for Zscaler with Benzinga Pro for real-time alerts. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.BOZEMAN — For the second time in four seasons, the Montana State football team will face UT Martin at home in the second round of the FCS playoffs. Unseeded UT Martin cruised to a 41-10 win at No. 16-seeded New Hampshire on Saturday to set up next week's second-round game against top-seeded MSU (12-0). The Bobcats beat UT Martin 26-7 in the second round of the 2021 playoffs en route to the national championship game. MSU now-senior starting quarterback Tommy Mellott, then a freshman, made his first career start at QB that day and rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Montana State's Tommy Mellott tries to evade UT Martin's John Ford during their FCS playoff game at Bobcat Stadium on Dec. 4, 2021. The second round game between the Bobcats and Skyhawks will kick off at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Bobcat Stadium. MSU had a first-round bye. UT Martin began the season with consecutive road losses: 41-6 to FBS Kansas State and 45-42 in double overtime to SEMO, which lost 35-27 at No. 12 seed Illinois State in Saturday's first-round FCS playoff game (ISU will play at fifth-seeded UC Davis next week). UT Martin quarterback Kinkead Dent attempts to pass as Kansas State defensive end Tobi Osunsanmi (44) tries to sack him on Aug. 31 in Manhattan, Kan. The Skyhawks also fell 31-24 at home Sept. 21 to Missouri State, which finished 8-4 and was ineligible for the FCS playoffs because it's transitioning to the FBS. UT Martin's other loss was 10-9 at home Nov. 16 to Tennessee Tech, which went 7-5. UT Martin has defeated one playoff team this season: at unseeded Tennessee State 28-21 on Nov. 2. Victor Flores is the Montana State Bobcats beat writer for 406 MT Sports. Email him at victor.flores@406mtsports.com and follow him on Twitter/X at @VictorFlores406 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!

DENVER (AP) — So you’re the most valuable player of that annual Thanksgiving Day backyard flag football game. Or played tackle football on any level. Or ran track. Or dabbled in basketball. Or toyed with any sport, really. Well, this may be just for you: is holding talent identification camps all over the country to find that next flag football star. It’s “America’s Got Talent” meets “American Idol,” with and the grand prize a chance to compete for a spot on a national team. Because it’s never too early to start planning for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where flag football will make its Summer Games debut. Know this, though — it’s not an easy team to make. The are at “Dream Team” status given the men’s side has captured six of the last seven world championships and the women three in a row. To remain on top, the sport’s national governing body is scouring every football field, park, track, basketball court and gym to find hidden talent to cultivate. USA Football has organized camps and tryouts from coast to coast for anyone ages 11 to 23. There are more than a dozen sites set up so far, ranging from Dallas (Sunday) to Chicago (Dec. 14) to Tampa (March 29) to Los Angeles (TBD) and the Boston area (April 27), where it will be held at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. The already partnered with the NFL on flag football initiatives and programs. The numbers have been through the roof, with engagement on social media platforms increasing by 86% . The participation of boys and girls ages 6 to 17 in flag football last year peaked at more than 1.6 million, according to USA Football research. “We pride ourselves on elevating the gold standard across the sport,” said Eric Mayes, the managing director of the high performance and national teams for USA Football. “We want to be the best in the world — and stay the best in the world.” Flag football was added to the LA28 program. The already soaring profile of American football only figures to be enhanced by an Olympic appearance. Imagine, say, a few familiar faces take the field, too. Perhaps even NFL stars such as Tyreek Hill or Patrick Mahomes, maybe even past pro football greats donning a flag belt for a country to which they may have ties. Soon after flag football’s inclusion, there was chatter of NFL players possibly joining in on the fun. Of course, there are logistical issues to tackle before their inclusion at the LA Olympics, which open July 14, 2028. Among them, training camp, because the Olympics will be right in the middle of it. The big question is this: Will owners permit high-priced players to duck out for a gold-medal pursuit? No decisions have yet been made on the status of NFL players for the Olympics. For now, it’s simply about growing the game. There are currently 13 states that sanction girls flag football as a high school varsity sport. Just recently, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles helped pave the way to get it adopted in Pennsylvania. Around the world, it’s catching on, too. The women’s team from Japan took third at the recent word championships, while one of the best players on the . “Could flag football globally become the new soccer? That’s something to aspire to,” said , the NFL’s vice president of flag football. This type of flag football though, isn’t your Thanksgiving Day game with family and friends. There’s a learning curve. And given the small roster sizes, versatility is essential. Most national team members need to be a version of Colorado’s Travis Hunter. Forget bump-and-run coverage, too, because there’s no contact. None. That took some adjusting for Mike Daniels, a defensive back out of West Virginia who earned a rookie minicamp invitation with the Cleveland Browns in 2017. “If a receiver is running around, I’m thinking, ‘OK, I can kind of bump him here and there and nudge him,’” Daniels explained. “They’re like, ‘No, you can’t.’ I’m just like, ‘So I’m supposed to let this guy just run?!’ I really rebelled at the idea at first. But you learn.” The competition for an Olympic roster spot is going to be fierce because only 10 players are expected to make a squad. The best 10 will earn it, too, as credentials such as college All-American or NFL All-Pro take a backseat. “I would actually love” seeing NFL players try out, said Daniels, who’s also a personal trainer in Miami. “I’m not going to let you just waltz in here, thinking, ‘I played NFL football for five years. I’m popular. I have a huge name.’ I’m still better than you and I’m going to prove it — until you prove otherwise.” Around the house, Bruce Mapp constantly swivels his hips when turning a hallway corner or if his daughter tries to reach for a hug. It’s his way of working on avoiding a “defender” trying to snare the flag. That approach has earned the receiver out of Coastal Carolina four gold medals with USA Football. The 31-year-old fully plans on going for more gold in Los Angeles. “You grow up watching Usain Bolt (win gold) and the ‘Redeem Team’ led by Kobe Bryant win a gold medal, you’re always thinking, ‘That’s insane.’ Obviously, you couldn’t do it in your sport, because I played football,” said Mapp, who owns a food truck in the Dallas area. “With the Olympics approaching, that (gold medal) is what my mind is set on.” It’s a common thought, which is why everything — including talent camps — starts now. “Everybody thinks, ‘Yeah, the U.S. just wins,’” Daniels said. “But we work hard all the time. We don’t just walk in. We don’t just get off the bus thinking, ‘We’re going to beat people.’” ___ AP NFL: and

Cousins Properties Announces Pricing of Senior Notes OfferingWaldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in NVIDIA Co. ( NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report ) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,868 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares during the period. NVIDIA accounts for approximately 1.1% of Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in NVIDIA were worth $27,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NVDA. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NVIDIA in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its position in shares of NVIDIA by 1,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of NVIDIA in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of NVIDIA in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NVIDIA in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. 65.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. NVIDIA Stock Up 2.2 % NVDA stock opened at $138.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.41, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. NVIDIA Co. has a 12 month low of $45.01 and a 12 month high of $152.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $136.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.67. NVIDIA Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.03%. NVIDIA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1.57%. NVIDIA declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the computer hardware maker to buy up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms have commented on NVDA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NVIDIA from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of NVIDIA from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of NVIDIA from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of NVIDIA from $145.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Westpark Capital upped their price target on shares of NVIDIA from $127.50 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NVIDIA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.15. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on NVIDIA Insider Transactions at NVIDIA In other news, Director Tench Coxe sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.27, for a total transaction of $119,270,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,852,480 shares in the company, valued at $698,025,289.60. This trade represents a 14.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink . Also, CFO Colette Kress sold 66,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.59, for a total transaction of $7,773,055.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,954,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $577,611,810.26. This represents a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold 2,036,986 shares of company stock worth $240,602,399 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock. NVIDIA Company Profile ( Free Report ) NVIDIA Corporation provides graphics and compute and networking solutions in the United States, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and internationally. The Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs, the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics; virtual GPU or vGPU software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; automotive platforms for infotainment systems; and Omniverse software for building and operating metaverse and 3D internet applications. Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than NVIDIA What Are Some of the Best Large-Cap Stocks to Buy? The Latest 13F Filings Are In: See Where Big Money Is Flowing What Investors Need to Know About Upcoming IPOs 3 Penny Stocks Ready to Break Out in 2025 Dividend Capture Strategy: What You Need to Know FMC, Mosaic, Nutrien: Top Agricultural Stocks With Big Potential Receive News & Ratings for NVIDIA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NVIDIA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

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State Administration Council Members watched the final matches of Inter-State and Region sports competitions of the Fifth National Sports Festival at the relevant stadiums and gymnasiums in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday. The final matches of Inter-State and Region boxing took place at Wunna Theikdi stadium yesterday and was attended by SAC members Dr Hmuh Thang and Dr Ba Shwe, Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs U Min Thein Zan, Deputy Ministers, state and regional social affairs ministers, transport ministers, and other relevant officials. In the women’s 52-kilogramme event, the Magway Region team won the first prize, the second went to the Mandalay Region team, the joint third to the Shan State team and the Taninthayi Region team, whereas the Yangon Region team grabbed the first prize, the second by the Taninthayi Region team and the joint third by the Nay Pyi Taw and the Sagaing Region team in women’s 50-kilogramme. The Taninthayi Region team won the first prize in women’s 54-kilogramme, and the Kayin State team ranked second place and the Shan State team and the Yangon Region team secured the third place. In the women’s 57-kilogramme, the first prize went to the Chin State team, the second to the Ayeyawady Region team, and the third to the Bago Region team and the Sagaing Region team. In the men’s 51-kilogramme, the Kayin State team won the first prize, while the Kachin State team grabbed the second prize and the Mandalay Region team and the Sagaing Region team received the third prize. In the men’s 54-kilogramme, the first prize went to the Mandalay Region team, the second to the Shan State team and the third to the Nay Pyi Taw team and Taninthayi Region team. In the men’s 57-kilogramme, the Yangon Region team won the first prize, the Kachin State team ranked at the second place and the Chin State team and the Sagaing Region team at the third place. In the men’s 63.5-kilogramme, the Kachin State team won the first prize, the Mandalay Region team grabbed the second prize and the Bago Region team and Sagaing Region team achieved the third prize. In the men’s 71-kilogramme, the first prize went to the Sagaing Region team, the second to the Mandalay Region team, and the third to the Kayin State team and Bago Region team. The final matches of the Inter-State and Region U-21 athletics were held at Wunna Theikdi stadium, and SAC member U Yan Kyaw, Union Minister U Min Thein Zan, deputy ministers, state and regional social affairs ministers, transportation ministers, and other officials. In the men’s 800-metre race, the Bago Region won the first prize, the Nay Pyi Taw team won the second prize and the Ayeyawady Region team won the third prize. In the women’s 800-metre race, the first prize went to the Chin State team, the second to the Kayah State team and the third to the Shan State team. In the women’s 200-metre race, the first and second prizes went to the Taninthayi Region team and the third to the Magway Region team. In another women’s 200-metre race, the Taninthayi Region team won the first prize, the Ayeyawady Region team grabbed the second prize and the Taninthayi Region team secured the third prize. In the men’s shot-put event, the first prize went to the Magway Region team, the second to the Yangon Region team and the third to the Ayeyawady Region team. In the men’s 110-metre hurdle, the Ayeyawady Region team won the first and second prizes, and the Magway Region team won the third prize. In the women’s 110-metre hurdle, the first and second prizes went to the Shan State team and the third to the Sagaing Region team. The Kayin State team grabbed the first prize in the men’s high jump, whereas Mon State ranked at second place and the Ayeyawady Region team in third place. In the men’s 400-metre hurdle, the Sagaing Region team won the first prize, the second prize by the Mandalay Region team and the third prize by the Taninthayi Region team. Moreover, in the women’s shot put, the Shan State team won the first prize, while the second prize by the Rakhine State team and the third prize by the Sagaing Region team. In the women’s high jump, the Taninthayi Region team ranked at first place, the Sagaing Region team at second place and the Taninthayi Region at third place. Similarly, Inter-State and Region Men’s and Women’s U-20 volleyball final matches took place at Wunna Theikdi Gymnasium B, and attended by SAC Member Khun San Lwin, Union Chief Justice U Tha Htay, Union Constitutional Tribunal Chairman U Aung Zaw Thien, and other relevant officials watched the matches. In the women’s volleyball, the Shan State team won the first prize, whereas the Taninthayi Region team won the second prize and the Kachin State team and the Mandalay Region team won the third prize jointly. In men’s volleyball, the first prize went to the Mandalay Region team, the second to Shan State team and the third to the Kayin State team and the Nay Pyi Taw team. Similarly, the award ceremony of Inter-State and Region Taekwondo was held at TC-1. The Yangon Region team won the first prize, the Bago Region team grabbed the second prize and the Chin State and Shan State teams achieved the third prize in women’s singles. In men’s singles, the Yangon Region team won the first prize, whereas the second prize by the Mon State team and the third prize by the Shan State and Kayin State teams. In the mixed event, the first prize went to the Yangon Region team, the second to the Mon State team and the third to the Shan State team and Mandalay Region team. In the women’s team event, the Yangon Region team won the first prize, the Kayah State team the second prize and the Shan State team and Bago Region team third prize. In the men’s team event, the first prize went to the Yangon Region team, the second to the Bago Region team and the third to the Mon State team and Kayin State team. — MNA/KTZHSARAJEVO -- Bosnia-Herzegovina’s security minister has been arrested on charges of money-laundering, abuse of office, and accepting bribes, the Balkan nation’s prosecutor’s office said. The minister, Nenad Nesic, was among seven people arrested on similar charges, the office said on December 26. The charges stem from an investigation by the Bosnian state prosecutor and the Interior Ministry of Bosnia's ethnic-Serb entity, Republika Srpska, into suspected corruption at the Roads of RS (Putevi RS) public company, where Nesic was general manager from 2016 to 2020. The company's current general manager, Milan Dakic, was also among those arrested, prosecutors said. The company did not immediately comment. Nesic, 46, has been Bosnia’s security minister since 2022. When asked by reporters about the case as he was entering an East Sarajevo police station, Nesic said only that "I continue to fight for Republika Srpska," according to Reuters. Nesic is president of the Democratic People's Alliance (DNS), which is in a coalition with Milorad Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). Dodik, who is president of Republika Srpska, claimed on social media that this was an "unacceptable procedure" and a "persecution of cadres" from the Bosnian government. The pro-Russia Dodik is under sanctions imposed by the United States and Britain for his efforts to undermine the Dayton agreements that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war. He is currently facing trial himself on charges he failed to comply with the decisions of international High Representative Christian Schmidt. Ethnic Serb lawmakers this week said Dodik's trial was political and based on illegal decisions by the high representative. They claimed that the court was unconstitutional because it was set up by Schmidt and not by the Dayton agreement. Since the Dayton peace accords were put into effect, the country has consisted of a Bosniak-Croat federation and the mostly ethnic Serb Republika Srpska under a weak central government, where Nesic holds the security portfolio. Israel carried out large-scale air strikes on the main airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on December 26 as it steps up attacks on the Iranian-backed Huthi rebels in what Tehran called a “violation” of peace and security. Huthi rebels said three people were killed and 14 were injured or missing following the Israeli attacks on the airport and other sites in Yemen, including port facilities. "Fighter jets conducted intelligence-based strikes on military targets belonging to the Huthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. The attacks followed recent rocket launches by the Huthi fighters against the Tel Aviv area, although little damage was reported. The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli strikes on Yemen, calling them "aggressions" that it claimed were "a clear violation of international peace and security." It said they represented "an undeniable crime against the heroic and noble people of Yemen," who had "not spared any effort to support the oppressed people of Palestine." The Israeli military has said air strikes in Yemen are targeting Huthi sites that have been used to receive Iranian weapons, which are then often transported to other Tehran-linked groups in the Mideast -- mainly Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hamas has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, while Hezbollah has also been deemed a terrorist group by Washington. The EU blacklists its military arm but not its political wing. The U.S. State Department designated the Huthis as a terrorist group at the start of this year. Hamas and Hezbollah have been severely weakened following massive Israeli military strikes on their respective sites in Gaza and Lebanon, and most of their leaders have been killed in Israel's military response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes would continue against the Huthi rebels, who have also targeted shipping in the Red Sea, claiming they are in solidarity of Hamas fighters in Gaza. "We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil. We will continue until the job is done," Netanyahu said in a video statement. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus -- head of the World Health Organization who was at the Sanaa airport during the Israeli attack -- said he was safe but that "one of our plane's crew members was injured.” A Pakistani military court has sentenced 60 people to prison terms ranging between two and 10 years over violent protests that erupted after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2023, the army’s media wing said on December 26. The defendants, who included a relative of Khan as well as two retired military officers, were sentenced in connection with attacks on military facilities. Twenty-five other people were sentenced on the same charges on December 21. They have the right to appeal the sentences, the military’s media wing said in a statement. Protests erupted across Pakistan in May 2023 when Khan was arrested during his court appearance on corruption charges that he and his supporters deny. Thousands of Khan’s supporters ransacked military facilities and stormed government buildings. Several people were killed, and dozens were injured in the unrest. At least 1,400 protesters, including leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party were arrested following the riots. But only 105 of those detained faced military trials. PTI condemned the sentencing, and said the court had violated the defendants’ rights. The United States expressed deep concern about the sentences, while Britain said that trying civilians in military courts "lacks transparency, independent scrutiny, and undermines the right to a fair trial.” The European Union said the sentences are "inconsistent with the obligations that Pakistan has undertaken under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” As the first seven survivors arrived back in the country on December 26, Azerbaijan observed a national day of mourning 24 hours after a passenger plane from the flag carrier, Azerbaijan Airlines, crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. Speculation has swirled over why the Embraer 190 aircraft went down on a scheduled flight from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny in Russia's Chechnya region with 67 people onboard after it was diverted and attempted an emergency landing near the city of Aqtau in western Kazakhstan. Some experts pointed to holes seen in the plane’s tail section as a possible sign that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems engaged in thwarting Ukrainian drone attacks. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told news agencies that indications suggest a Russian antiaircraft system struck the airliner, although the official provided no evidence. Azerbaijani and Kazakh authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the incident. Officials said the airliner's cockpit recorder had been recovered and urged caution over laying blame before the facts could be determined. Officials in Baku said the wounded arrived on a special flight arranged by Azerbaijan's Emergency Affairs Ministry and that the injured were accompanied by medical professionals. There was no immediate word on the condition of the injured, who were among 29 survivors from the crash, many of whom suffered severe burn wounds. Ayhan Solomon, Azerbaijan’s chief consul in Aqtau, told reporters that 26 of those killed were Azerbaijani citizens. He said initial reports indicate that 16 Azerbaijani citizens survived. “Of those, 10 to 12 are in good condition and others remain critically stable,” he added. Azerbaijan Airlines' supervisory board said on December 26 that the families of those killed will be compensated with 40,000 manats ($23,460), while those injured would receive 20,000 manats ($11,730). On December 26, national flags were flown at half-mast across Azerbaijan, and signals were sounded from vehicles, ships, and trains as the nation observed a moment of silence at noon to honor the victims of the plane crash. In Baku, officials and families were waiting for the remaining survivors, who were also due to be flown to Azerbaijan in the evening of December 26. Talgat Lastaev, Kazakhstan's vice minister of transport, told RFE/RL that experts are scheduled to arrive at the site on December 27 to assess the next steps regarding the black box. Officials said it typically takes about two weeks to fully assess a black box, although various conditions can alter that time frame. Commenting on unconfirmed reports that the plane may have been shot down by a missile, Kazakh Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbaev said it was “not possible” to say what may have damaged the aircraft until the investigation is finished. "Real experts are looking at all this and they will make their conclusions. Neither Kazakhstan, Russia, nor Azerbaijan, of course, is interested in hiding information, it will be brought to the public," Ashimbaev said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made a similar comment, saying: "We need to await the end of the investigation.” It was “wrong” to speculate before the investigators give their findings, Peskov added. Along with the 42 Azerbaijani citizens, those aboard Flight J2-8243 were listed as 16 Russian nationals, six from Kazakhstan, and three Kyrgyz citizens, officials said. The survivors include nine Russian citizens, who were flown to Moscow on December 26 by the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry. Three of the Russian survivors were in critical condition, according to Russian health authorities. Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Qanat Bozymbaev -- who is in charge of a special government commission to investigate the incident -- said many of those who died in the crash were not immediately identifiable due to massive burns suffered. Bozymbaev said the 29 survivors had injuries ranging from moderate to severe, with many also suffering from major burns. According to Kazakhstan’s Health Ministry, the injured included at least two children and 11 people had been placed in intensive care. Azerbaijan Airlines said it was suspending all its flights from Baku to the Chechnya region, pending an investigation of the tragedy. Russia's Interfax news agency quoted officials as saying the plane, commissioned in 2013, had passed a maintenance check in October and that the pilot had "vast experience," with more than 15,000 flying hours. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who cut short his visit for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Russia, said it was too early to determine a cause but suggested bad weather could have contributed to the crash. “The information provided to me is that the plane changed course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and detoured to the Aqtau airport [before] it crashed,” he said. The office of Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General said that "all possible scenarios are being examined." The United States and European Union on December 25 condemned plans by ethnic-Serb leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina to block efforts for closer European integration for the Western Balkan nation. Lawmakers in the country’s ethnic-Serb entity, Republika Srpska, late on December 24 ordered Serb representatives in state institutions to block decision-making actions and law changes needed for the country's further integration into the EU. In response, the embassies of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, along with the EU delegation in Bosnia, in a joint statement condemned the Serb parliament's acts as "a serious threat to the country's constitutional order." "At a time when formal opening of EU accession negotiations has never been so close, a return to political blockades would have negative consequences for all citizens, a majority of whom support EU accession," the statement said. The Republika Srpska parliament announced the actions in response to the trial of regional leader Milorad Dodik, who is under U.S. and British sanctions for actions that Western governments allege are aimed at the eventual secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia-Herzegovina. Dodik is on trial in a long-delayed, ongoing process on charges he failed to comply with the decisions of the High Representative in Bosnia. He faces up to five years in prison and a ban on participating in politics if convicted. Ethnic Serb lawmakers said Dodik's trial was political and based on illegal decisions by international High Representative Christian Schmidt. They claimed that the court was unconstitutional because it was set up by Schmidt and not by the Dayton agreement. Since the Dayton peace accords that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian War, the country has consisted of a Bosniak-Croat federation and the mostly ethnic Serb Republika Srpska under a weak central government. Dodik, who is friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has often made somewhat contradictory comments about his entity's place in Bosnia. He has denied it has ever pursued a policy of secession or disputed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia under the Dayton agreement. He has said, however, that Republika Srpska "has the right to a political fight for its status” under the Dayton accords. He has also called for the “disassociation” of Republika Srpska from Bosnia -- which Washington called “secession by another name.” PRISTINA -- A special panel in Kosovo overturned a decision by the election commission that had barred the country's largest ethnic-Serbian party from participating in upcoming elections due to its strong links with Belgrade. "The Central Election Commission (CEC) is ordered to certify the political entity Serbian List and the candidates of this political entity...for the elections for the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo to be held on February 9, 2025," the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) said on December 25. The ruling stated that the party had fulfilled all obligations required regarding the political filings and was therefore entitled to be certified. On December 23, the CEC said when it announced its decision not to certify Serbian List that its main reason was the party's nationalistic stance and close ties to Serbia. Some commission members noted that Serbian List leader Zlatan Elek has never referred to Kosovo as independent and continues to call it Serbia's autonomous province of Kosovo. The CEC also said that Serbian List has close ties with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and other Serb leaders who also refuse to recognize Kosovo's independence. Serbia has close ties to Russia and has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, although Vucic has attempted to balance relations with the West and has continued to press Belgrade's desires to join the European Union. Elek on December 24 said he planned to appeal the order and said he was confident it would be overturned. The Serbian List -- which described the CEC decision as an attempt "to eliminate" it from the electoral process -- welcomed the latest ruling. The party said the CEC is now obliged to act on the PZAP decision but added it remains to be seen whether the commission will "continue to violate its own law and regulations and act on direct political pressure from the authorities in Pristina." The February parliamentary elections are expected to be a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti, whose party came to power in 2021 in a landslide in the Western-backed Balkan nation. Prior to the ECAP ruling, political analyst Albert Krasniqi of the Demokraci+ NGO told RFE/RL that the CEC decision is part of the preelection campaign being conducted by Kurti’s Self-Determination party (Vetevendosje). He forecast that Serbian List would appeal the decision and predicted it would be successful in getting it reversed. “All this noise will last at most four days, and I am sure that the ECAP will reverse this decision of the CEC and will oblige the CEC to certify Serbian List,” Krasniqi said. Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade still considers Kosovo a province of Serbia and has a major influence on the ethnic Serbian minority living there. Authorities declared a region-wide state of emergency in Russia's Krasnodar region, warning that oil was still washing up on the coastline following a December 15 incident involving two Volgoneft tankers carrying thousands of tons of low-quality heavy fuel oil. "Initially, according to the calculations of scientists and specialists, the bulk of fuel oil should have remained at the bottom of the Black Sea, which would allow it to be collected in water. But the weather dictates its own conditions -- the air warms up and oil products rise to the top. As a result, they are brought to our beaches," regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on December 25. Dozens of kilometers of Black Sea coastline in the southern Russian region have been covered in heavy fuel after the two oil tankers were badly damaged during a storm in the Kerch Strait. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here . If North Korea’s elite troops were expecting an easy campaign against Ukrainian forces entrenched in Russia’s Kursk region, they faced a harsh reality on the ground. About 1,100 North Korean special forces have been killed or injured in Russia since entering the fray against Ukraine a few weeks ago, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported on December 19. A general was reportedly among those killed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on December 23 put the figure even higher, at more than 3,000, or about a quarter of the North Korean special forces sent to Russia, though he couched his statement by saying the data was preliminary. RFE/RL could not confirm either of the reported numbers. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, though, doesn’t seem to be fazed by the rapid losses. The authoritarian leader is reportedly doubling down in his support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in exchange for critical supplies of oil, cash, and military technology. Zelenskiy said on December 23 that North Korea may send more troops and weapons to the front. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff seconded that forecast, saying Pyongyang is preparing to rotate or supply additional forces to Russia. North Korean military support is coming at a critical time in the war. Russia is seeking to overpower an undermanned and under-resourced Ukrainian infantry and gain territory before its own manpower and resources become constrained. Russia has lost more than 600,000 soldiers in the nearly three-year war, the Pentagon said in early October. It has burned through so much war material that it is struggling to replace its artillery and missile needs amid sweeping Western sanctions. Now nearly two-thirds of the mortars and shells Russia launches at Ukraine come from North Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported , citing Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian Army officer. And every third ballistic missile was made in North Korea, Ukrainian officials said. Pyongyang is ramping up arms production to meet Russia’s growing need, experts said. Trench Warfare Russian troops are now gaining ground in Ukraine’s east at the fastest pace since the start of the war. Kyiv carried out a surprise incursion into the Kursk region in August, seizing a swath of Russian territory in the hope of drawing enemy forces away from eastern Ukraine. That hasn’t materialized, thanks in part to the supply of North Korean troops. The arrival of the North Korean troops in Russia in October was initially seen as an act of desperation on the part of Putin, who has had to significantly bump up salaries to attract new recruits. However, The New York Times reported on December 23, citing U.S. officials, that it was North Korea who approached Russia with the offer of troops and Putin accepted. It is unclear when Kim made the offer. Putin traveled to Pyongyang to meet Kim in June. During the summit, the two leaders agreed on a strategic treaty that includes a mutual defense provision. Putin signed the treaty into law in November. The supply of troops to Russia can help Kim evade sweeping sanctions on technology and materials for military use. North Korea was hit with international sanctions after conducting its first nuclear test in 2006. Pyongyang hasn’t been engaged in a hot war in decades. Thus, its miliary brass and troops – which number more than 1 million -- have no combat experience. The deployment in Russia's war with Ukraine is a way for Kim and his military to acquire some. However, Kim’s troops are ill-prepared for the type of trench warfare with widespread use of drones and missiles they are facing in Kursk, experts say. Hyunseung Lee, a North Korean who spent 3 1/2 years with an artillery and reconnaissance battalion in the early 2000s before defecting, told RFE/RL last month that Kim’s troops "don't really train with that equipment." He said they cannot master drones and the high-tech equipment in such a short period of time. Videos circulating on social media show Ukrainian kamikaze drones striking and killing North Korean soldiers in Kursk’s snow-covered fields. Commenting on the videos in a December 19 tweet , Lee called it a “sad predictable outcome.” Modern warfare technology is not the only issue leading to large-scale deaths of North Koreans, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The Washington-based research firm said North Korean soldiers were struggling to communicate and coordinate with Russian forces due to language barriers. Perhaps more importantly, North Koreans are now conducting the initial attack in open territory on Ukrainian positions, ISW said. Some military experts cynically call such fighting tactics “meat assaults” because they result in a large loss of life among the attackers. Yevhen Yerin, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence service, told the AFP news agency on December 24 that Russia’s use of North Korean troops has not had a major impact on the battlefield. “It is not such a significant number of personnel," he said, adding that they use tactics that are "primitive, linked, frankly speaking, more to the times of the Second World War." The cockpit recorder has been recovered intact as authorities stepped up their investigation following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet in Kazakhstan that killed at least 38 of the 67 people aboard on December 25. Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Qanat Bozymbaev said many of the 38 people who died aboard the Azerbaijan Airlines scheduled flight from Baku to Grozny in Russia's Chechnya region were not immediately identifiable due to massive burns suffered. He added the 29 survivors had injuries ranging from moderate to severe, many also suffering from major burns in the crash. Kazakhstan’s Health Ministry said the injured included at least two children and that 11 people had been placed in intensive care. Some discrepancies remained over casualty figures provided by various authorities. The cause of the crash was not immediately known amid unconfirmed reports of heavy fog or a possible bird strike. Azerbaijani and Kazakh authorities have launched an investigation, and officials said the airliner's cockpit recorder had been recovered. Bozymbaev and Kazakh law-enforcement authorities would conduct the probe of the crash, although he did not suggest any foul play at this time. In Baku, the prosecutor's office said that "all possible scenarios are being examined." Azerbaijan Airlines said it was suspending all its flights from Baku to the Chechnya region, pending an investigation of the tragedy. Russia's Interfax news agency quoted officials as saying the plane, commissioned in 2013, had passed a maintenance check in October and that the pilot had "vast experience," with more than 15,000 flying hours. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who cut short his visit for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Russia, said it was too early to determine a cause but suggested bad weather could have contributed to the crash. “The information provided to me is that the plane changed course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and detoured to the Aqtau airport [before] it crashed,” he said. Video showed the plane crashing along the coast of the Caspian Sea short of the airport. In a dramatic account of the incident, Elmira, a witness on the ground, told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service that she was on a company bus near Aqtau with other work colleagues when they saw a plane break up above them and that several people attempted to aid victims following the crash. "We rushed toward the scene, pulling people out from the tail section, which had separated," she said. "The nose of the plane was on fire. We rescued those alive from the back -- they were severely injured and crying." She said a young girl cried out, "Save my mom! My mom is there!" Others also pleaded for help, she added. "Ambulances arrived soon after, and we handed the injured over... I am in shock now and cannot get these scenes out of my mind." At the Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, the families of the passengers of Flight J2-8243 gathered in a designated area, anxiously waiting for news about the fate of their loved ones. Vugar Ismayilov, whose friend Habib Ismayilov, was on board the plane, told RFE/RL that he hadn’t yet received any news about Habib. Ismayilov said that Habib, a 25-year-old native of the Aghdash region in central Azerbaijan, had been reluctant to go on this trip, which would take him to Daghestan via Grozny. “I dropped my friend off at the airport this morning. He was going to Daghestan for work, and it was his first time traveling to Daghestan,” Ismayilov said. “He didn’t really want to go on this trip. He went there because of work.” Nezaket Bayramova, whose sister Jamila Bisloyeva was among the passengers of the ill-fated aircraft, told the Turan Information Agency that she had no information about her sibling’s situation. "We called the hotline that was set up [for the relatives], they took our information and said they would inform us. But there is still no news," Bayramova said. "I don't know anything. From what I heard, a bird hit the plane. I don't know anything else,” she said. There was a heavy police presence at the Baku airport, where ambulances and emergency crews could also be seen in the vicinity. Kazakhstan's Emergencies Ministry said in a statement that rescue teams were at the location of the crash and that fire services had put out a blaze at the site. Videos from the scene of the crash showed the aircraft lying upside down on the ground with part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the plane. Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, but was forced to make an emergency landing approximately three kilometers from Aqtau. The airline said it would keep members of the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black. A spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said that preliminary information showed that the pilot had decided to divert to Aqtau after a bird strike on the plane led to “an emergency situation on board.” Media reports said earlier that the plane had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny. Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has set up a special commission -- led by Deputy Prime Minister Bozymbaev -- to investigate the incident. Toqaev also instructed authorities to send a group of medics from the capital, Astana, to Aqtau to help treat the survivors. At Aliyev’s instruction, representatives of the Azerbaijani government left for Aqtau, the Azerbaijani Press Agency reported. The delegation includes the ministers for digital aviation, transport and emergency situations, the deputy health minister, the deputy prosecutor-general, and the deputy director of the State Civil Aviation Agency among others, the news agency added. Officials said crew members were all Azerbaijani citizens. Including the crew, there were 42 citizens of Azerbaijan aboard, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan, and 16 Russian nationals, officials said. Pakistani air strikes killed 46 civilians in eastern Afghanistan, the Taliban-led government in Kabul said on December 25, while Islamabad claimed it targeted suspected militant hideouts in border areas. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told RFE/RL that there were many women and children among the victims of the December 24 strikes, which hit four locations in the Barmal district of Paktika Province. There was no immediate comment from Pakistani authorities on the strike inside Afghanistan. However, the Pakistani Army said security forces killed 13 insurgents in an overnight intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan, a Pakistani district that borders Paktika. RFE/RL cannot independently verify the claims. The strikes are likely to further spike tensions between the two neighbors. Pakistan says that militants from the Islamist group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are hiding across the border in Afghanistan, and Islamabad has repeatedly asked the Afghan Taliban to take action against them. But the Afghan Taliban say the TTP are in Pakistan. The latest Pakistani air strikes come just days after TTP militants carried out a raid near the northwestern border with Afghanistan that killed 16 security officers and wounded eight others. The attack occurred when militants opened fire at a security checkpoint in South Waziristan in the early hours of December 21. The TTP, which seeks to impose Shari'a law in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it killed 35 Pakistani security officers. RFE/RL could not independently confirm the number of dead. Neither side said how many militants were killed during the attack. There has been a steady increase in TTP attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in August 2021. KYIV -- "Massive" Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure showed no letup as night fell on Christmas Day following what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called an “inhumane” assault by the Kremlin’s forces – leaving hundreds of thousands in the bitter cold without heating and causing blackouts in the capital, Kyiv. "Today, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin deliberately chose Christmas to attack,” Zelenskiy said on December 25, adding that Moscow continues to “fight for a blackout” throughout the country. “What could be more inhumane? More than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than a hundred attack drones." The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed its forces had conducted a "massive strike" on critical energy sites that were supporting Ukraine’s "military-industrial complex." "The aim of the strike was achieved. All facilities have been hit," the ministry said in a statement. In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden, who will leave office on January 20, offered new support and further aid for Ukraine in the face of the Christmas Day attacks. “In the early hours of Christmas, Russia launched waves of missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure," Biden said in a statement . "The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid." He added that "the United States and the international community must continue to stand with Ukraine until it triumphs over Russia’s aggression." "I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, and the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in its defense against Russian forces," he said. Regional governors reported that six people were injured in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and one person was killed in the Dnipropetrovsk area, as residents struggled to recover amid the freezing cold. Governor Oleh Syniehubov also reported "damages to civilian nonresidential infrastructure” in the regional capital of Kharkiv . Kharkiv came “under a massive missile attack,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on the Telegram social media platform. “A series of explosions was heard in the city and there are still ballistic missiles heading toward the city," Terekhov wrote early on December 25. Ukrainian authorities reported that there was no letup in drone attacks into the evening of December 25, with areas around Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Chernihiv being targeted. In Ukraine, where a majority of Christians identify as Orthodox Christians, this was the second Christmas that was officially designated by the government to be observed not on January 7, but on December 25, in line with Roman Catholic and many Western Christian traditions. In Russia, home to the largest number of Orthodox Christians, believers still celebrate Christmas on January 7. From outside the country, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also condemned what he called an "ongoing assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure." "I pay tribute to the resilience of the Ukrainian people, and the leadership of President Zelenskiy, in the face of further drone and missile attacks from Putin's bloody and brutal war machine with no respite even at Christmas," Starmer said in a statement. Pope Francis, in his Christmas address, made an urgent plea for "all people, all peoples, and nations [to] silence the weapons and overcome divisions." "Let there be silence of the weapons in martyred Ukraine," Francis said while calling for negotiations to "achieve a just and lasting peace" in the war-torn country. Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Russia was “again massively attacking the energy sector” on December 25. "The transmission system operator is taking the necessary measures to limit consumption to minimize the negative consequences for the energy system,” Halushchenko wrote on Telegram. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak reported that the province had been under a “major attack since the morning,” with Russian forces “trying to destroy the region's power system.” Air raid sirens rang out across Ukraine in the early morning, while the country’s air force reported that Russian Kalibr cruise missiles had been launched from the Black Sea. Since the start of the war in February 2022, Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s energy sector, severely damaging the country’s power grid and causing frequent outages. In a similar attack on December 13, more than 90 missiles and more than 200 drones were used -- but 81 of the missiles were shot down, according to Zelenskiy. Inside Russia, authorities said the Ukrainian military attacked the city of Lgov in the Kursk region , hitting a residential building and killing four people. It wasn't immediately clear if the damage was caused by drones or shelling. Russian officials also reported Ukrainian drone attacks in the Belgorod region and Voronezh regions. The reports could not immediately be verified. The president of the largest ethnic-Serbian party in Kosovo on December 24 said that he will file an appeal with the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) over a decision by the Central Election Commission (CEC) barring the party’s from the February 9 elections due to its strong links with Belgrade. Zlatan Elek told a news conference that he expects the decision of the CEC against Serbian List (Srpska Lista) to be annulled. Elek used harsh words against Prime Minister Albin Kurti, saying he wanted to "eliminate" Serbian List from the race. "This is institutional and legal violence against the Serbian people, against the Srpska List, because Kurti does not want to see Srpska List MPs in the Kosovo Parliament, but wants obedient Serbs in that parliament," said Elek. The CEC said on December 23 when it announced its decision not to certify Serbian List that its main reason was its nationalist stance and close ties to Serbia. Some commission members noted that Elek has never referred to Kosovo as independent and continues to call it Serbia's autonomous province of Kosovo. The CEC also said that Serbian List has close ties with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and other Serb leaders who also refuse to recognize Kosovo's independence. Kurti, speaking his own news conference on December 24, accused Serbian List of being under the command of Belgrade. "The Serbian List is unfortunately representing the wide scope and high degree of Serbia's interference in Kosovo's internal affairs," Kurti said. Kurti has previously criticized Serbian List regarding its relationship with Vucic and fugitive former Kosovar Serb politician Milan Radoicic. Kosovar officials have accused Radoicic of being the ringleader of an ambush near the Serbian Orthodox Banjska Monastery complex in September 2023 that killed a policeman and injured another. Radoicic, who has taken responsibility for the armed attack, remains in Serbia, which refuses to extradite him. Kosovo has characterized the assault on the monastery as a terrorist attack and accused of being responsible for it. Belgrade has denied involvement and has said the attack was not terrorism. Kurti underlined that the Serbian List has never distanced itself from the attack nor condemned it. "Radoicic continues to be the de-facto head of Srpska Lista," Kurti said. "In my view, the Serb List is not an expression of the political organization of Serbs in Kosovo, but rather Belgrade's dictate to the Serbs of Kosovo by placing Radoicic as the leader of that party." Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani also said that the Serbian List is engaged in terrorist acts, acts of aggression, and violations of the constitutional order, according to her office in responses to RFE/RL’s inquiries. "Every decision made by the CEC must be respected, as part of the commitment to the rule of law and preserving institutional integrity," Osmani said, according to her office. Petar Petkovic, head of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian government, said that Osmani's "shameful" statement only confirms that the CEC's decision was political and made on Kurti's orders. “[Osmani] and Kurti know neither about democracy nor the rule of law. With this stance, Pristina is showing that the Serbian List and the unity of Serbs are a thorn in its side. Therefore, the Serbian List must win," Petkovic stated on X. Meanwhile, the international community has warned against the process of certifying political entities becoming politically motivated. The U.S. Embassy in Pristina assessed that "it is necessary for voters, not political bodies, to decide who represents them." German Ambassador to Kosovo Joern Rohde said that equal application of the law for all is necessary and the certification process should not be politicized. Similar reactions have been expressed by the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Kosovo Democratic Institute said the CEC's decision was "contrary to the law and other applicable regulations." Eugen Cakolli of the institute said if the Serbian List appeals to the ECAP, it will be certified and the CEC's decision will be annulled. Pakistani military jets on December 24 conducted air strikes inside Afghanistan, targeting suspected hideouts of the Islamist militant group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP positions targeted were in the Murgha area of the Bermal district in Afghanistan's Paktika Province, according to sources. The area borders the Angoor Adda town in Pakistan's volatile South Waziristan tribal district. Pakistani jets carried out strikes against one target in the Murgha area and two more areas of the Bermal district. There has been no official comment from Pakistan, but some accounts on X believed to be related to Pakistani intelligence confirmed the strikes and claimed casualties among the TTP militants. An Afghan Taliban leader, speaking to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity, confirmed the strikes but added that it is too early to report on casualties. The Afghan Taliban leader said an Afghan government official confirmed to him that there were strikes in three places in Paktika Province but it was not yet known who was targeted. Pakistani security sources say the hideouts of the TTP were hit and dozens of militants were killed. But a TTP official who spoke with RFE/RL said a camp of Pakistani displaced persons was bombed and civilians killed. Pakistan says that TTP militants are hiding across the border in Afghanistan, and Islamabad has repeatedly asked the Afghan Taliban to take action against them. But the Afghan Taliban say the TTP are in Pakistan. The air strikes on December 24 come just days after TTP militants carried out a raid near the northwestern border with Afghanistan that killed 16 security officers. The attack occurred when militants opened fire at a security checkpoint in South Waziristan in the early hours of December 21. Laddha Police Deputy Superintendent Hidayat Ullah told RFE/RL that, in addition to the 16 killed, eight officers were wounded. The TTP, which seeks to impose Shari'a law in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it killed 35 Pakistani security officers. RFE/RL could not independently confirm the number of dead. Neither side said how many militants were killed during the attack. The year already had been one of the deadliest for the region. There has been a steady increase in TTP attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in August 2021. The Pakistan Center for Conflict and Security Studies said in its most recent report that more than 240 people were killed in "terrorist incidents" in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in November. The death toll included 68 security officers, the highest in a single month this year. Meanwhile, the Army Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) claims to have killed dozens of suspected militants in operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this month. The governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan say they are committed to wiping out the TTP. Iran’s council on safeguarding the Internet has voted to lift bans on the WhatsApp messenger and the Google Play apps, state media reported. The Supreme Cyberspace Council voted unanimously in favor of lifting restrictions on some foreign-owned applications, including WhatsApp and Google Play, during a meeting on December 24, state news agency IRNA said. "Today, we took the first step toward lifting Internet restrictions with unanimity and consensus," Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi said on X. It was not immediately clear when the decision would come into force. The Supreme Cyberspace Council holds its meetings behind closed doors and its members' votes are not made public. IRNA reported that the members of the council voted to lift restrictions while at the same time " emphasizing the importance of rule-of-law governance in cyberspace." The two apps were restricted in 2022 following the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that were severely suppressed. The Supreme Cyberspace Council, which was established by order of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has also emphasized "supporting domestic platforms." On the eve of the council’s meeting, Mehr News Agency published a document indicating that, based on a Supreme Cyberspace Council plan, an "advertising support package" is to be allocated to domestic messaging services. The document states that the “first phase” of the council’s plan will include “building infrastructure” for domestic content platforms. While the bans on WhatsApp and Google Play were lifted by the council, other popular social media platforms including Facebook, X, Telegram, and YouTube remain blocked in Iran. Critics of the restrictions have argued that the controls have been costly for the country. "The restrictions have achieved nothing but anger and added costs to people's lives," social and political activist Ali Rabiei said on X on December 24. Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif added that President Masud Pezeshkian believes in removing restrictions and does not consider the bans to be in the interest of the people and the country. “All experts also believe that this issue is not beneficial to the country's security," Zarif said on December 24. Others, however, warned against lifting the restrictions. The reformist Shargh daily reported on December 24 that 136 lawmakers in Iran's 290-member parliament sent a letter to the council saying the move would be a "gift” to Iran's enemies. The lawmakers called for allowing access to restricted online platforms only "if they are committed to the values of Islamic society and comply with the laws of" Iran. A Russian cargo ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea, leaving two members of its crew missing, Russian and Spanish authorities said on December 24. Fourteen members of the crew were rescued from a lifeboat and taken to Spain, the country’s maritime rescue agency said. The Russian Defense Ministry said the ship began sinking after an explosion in the engine room, but Spanish authorities did not confirm that an explosion had occurred. The vessel is owned by a subsidiary of Oboronlogistika, a shipping and logistics company established under the Russian Defense Ministry that has been designated for sanctions by the United States and the European Union for its ties to Russia's military. Spanish authorities said they received an alert around 1 p.m. local time on December 23 when the vessel, the Ursa Major, was roughly 100 kilometers from the coast of southeastern Spain. A ship nearby reported poor weather conditions and said the Ursa Major was listing. Authorities said a Russian warship arrived later to oversee rescue operations and that the 142-meter-long vessel sank around midnight. On board the vessel were empty containers and two cranes, Spanish authorities said. The Russian Embassy in Spain told state news agency RIA Novosti that it was investigating and that it was in contact with local authorities. The Ursa Major left St. Petersburg on December 11 and its final destination was Vladivostok, where it was scheduled to arrive on January 22, according to open-source data. Some news outlets, including Mediazone, cited open-source information in reporting that the sunken dry cargo ship was actually heading to Syria, where the Kremlin-loyal regime of Bashar al-Assad was overthrown earlier this month, to help evacuate a Russian military base. Tracking data indicate that Russia also sent the dry cargo ship Sparta and three large landing ships to the Mediterranean amid reports that Russia was evacuating military personnel and equipment in the wake of the fall of the Assad regime. But an open-source analyst cited by RFE/RL studied the data on the cargo that was on board the Ursa Major and concluded that it was indeed heading to Vladivostok. A photo and video show that there were two port cranes on board the sunken ship as well as 45-ton hatch covers for the construction of nuclear icebreakers. According to analyst Alexander Oliver, the loss of the cargo will be a big blow to the port of Vladivostok and the icebreaker construction program. Oboronlogistika vessels have been repeatedly used to supply Russian military bases in Syria. The United States in May 2022 imposed sanctions against Oboronlogistika and several other Russian companies involved in maritime transportation for the Russian Defense Ministry. YouTube traffic in Russia has plummeted to just 20 percent of its “normal levels” in recent days, a leading Russian expert said, describing the situation as a “de facto” blocking of the video-sharing platform in the country. Mikhail Klimarev, director of the nonprofit organization Society for the Protection of the Internet, said in a Telegram post on December 23 that YouTube traffic in Russia has dropped to one-fifth of the levels recorded before the authorities reportedly began to deliberately slow down the service in July. “Google’s monitoring service currently shows 8.5 traffic points from Russia. Before the “slowdown,” it was 40 points. This means it’s now at roughly 20 percent of normal levels,” Klimarev wrote on his Telegram channel, ZaTelecom, adding: “YouTube is de facto blocked in Russia.” Speaking on condition of anonymity, a resident of the Russian city of Surgut told RFE/RL on December 24 that YouTube has become “inaccessible for some time.” “I first noticed YouTube becoming frustratingly slow in the summer, now it is simply impossible to open,” she said. “We have three smartphones in our family and get the Internet from two different [service providers.] We tried [opening YouTube] in all of them. I can say for sure that we can’t open YouTube anymore,” the Surgut resident added. YouTube, which is owned by Google, has tens of millions of users in Russia. Russian YouTube users have been experiencing mass outages and slowdown in the service since July. Russian authorities said the problems were caused by Google's failure to upgrade equipment used to ensure access to Google services in Russia. Critics, however, accuse the authoritarian government in Moscow of deliberately disrupting the service to prevent Russians from viewing content there that is critical of the Kremlin’s policies. In July, Russian outlet, Gazeta.ru quoted two sources close to the president’s administration as saying that Moscow was planning to begin blocking YouTube in September. The EU-based news website Meduza at the time quoted a source in Russia’s telecommunications sphere who claimed the government started slowing YouTube speeds on July 11. YouTube said in August that it was aware that some people in Russia were not able to access the platform, but it insisted that the problem was not caused by any action or technical issues on YouTube’s part. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow’s position, claiming that the YouTube service disruption was caused by Google’s failure to upgrade equipment. During his annual news conference and call-in show on December 19, Putin also demanded that Google and YouTube observe Russia’s laws and not use the Internet as a tool to “achieve [the U.S.] government’s political goals.” There was no immediate response by Google. Russia has blocked major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Six people died in a fire at a migrant workers’ temporary residence in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, highlighting the increasingly difficult conditions faced by those coming to Russia seeking work. The regional Investigative Committee said a criminal investigation into the blaze on December 24 has been opened. It added that the wooden building on a farm housed more than three dozen Uzbek migrant workers. Migrants , especially from Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, have long provided desperately needed workers across Russia even though the conditions they live in can be poor. In October, the Russian government approved a measure that cuts the quota for residence permits for foreigners in 2025 by almost half even as the number of workers entering the country has fallen to a 10-year low, exacerbating an acute labor shortage. The move came as public sentiment toward migrants grows increasingly negative , with some 80 percent of Russians surveyed expressing concerns about the high number of migrants, particularly from Central Asia and the Caucasus. Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from those areas legally reside in Russia on working visas allowing them to stay and work in the country for a limited period, while residence permits allow stays in Russia for years. But many Russians turned against migrants from Central Asia after a terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall entertainment center near Moscow in March that claimed 140 lives. Several Tajik citizens were arrested over their alleged involvement in the attack. The men appeared in court bearing clear signs of beating and torture . Suspicions of migrants from Central Asia were further stoked last week when Russian authorities said they had arrested a man from Uzbekistan over the assassination of a senior general in Moscow on December 17. The arrest of the 29-year-old, who Moscow claimed killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov on Ukraine's orders has triggered fear among Central Asian migrants in Russia. Kirillov was the highest-ranking Russian military officer to be assassinated since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Authorities in Tatarstan have not tied the fire to the backlash. In addition to the investigation, the republic’s president, Rustam Minnikhanov, has ordered a check of housing for workers at farms in Tatarstan and pledged assistance for the victims of the fire. Alisher Ilkhamov, an Uzbek analyst and the director of the U.K.-based research entity Central Asia Due Diligence, said Uzbeks will be portrayed "to some extent as the villains” in the assassination. "Anti-migrant rhetoric has been very popular with Russian politicians recently," Ilkhamov said. "Now that will be reinforced.” A Russian court has sentenced U.S. citizen Eugene Spector to 15 years in a penal colony for "espionage" amid accusations by several Western governments that Moscow is convicting foreign nationals to use as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps. Spector was sentenced on December 24 by the Moscow City Court after a trial that was held behind closed doors. Little is known about the charges the former pharmaceuticals executive faced as the court claimed classified materials during the trial warranted it being closed to the public. The case comes against a backdrop of deteriorating relations between Moscow and Washington, which are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. Moscow has also been accused of targeting U.S. citizens by detaining them on trumped-up charges to later use as bargaining chips in talks to bring back Russians convicted of crimes in the United States and other Western nations. At least 10 U.S. citizens remain behind bars in Russia even after a prisoner swap on August 1 involving 16 people that Moscow agreed to free in exchange for eight Russians convicted of crimes and serving prison terms in the United States and Europe. “Although the prisoner exchange can rightly be considered a victory for diplomacy, we should not hastily declare that justice has prevailed,” Yulia Mineeva , an associate at Chatham House, said after the prisoners were swapped. “The Russian side held hostages to free their hitmen, spies, and hackers , while the West made a tough decision in favor of the freedom and lives of innocent people, not only their citizens but Russian nationals as well.” The state TASS news agency said Spector was born in 1972 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and moved to the United States, where he became a citizen. His Russian name is Yevgeny Mironovich, TASS added. Spector was the chairman of the board of Medpolymerprom Group, a company known for its focus on developing cancer-curing drugs. He was sentenced in 2021 to four years in prison on alleged bribery charges. His sentence was reduced by six months after a retrial. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for Georgian security forces to be investigated for the “brutal police violence” against largely peaceful protesters who have taken to the streets for anti-government demonstrations. Police have clashed with protesters for over two weeks, detaining dozens and injuring scores of people who accuse the government of the ruling Georgian Dream party -- founded by Russia-friendly billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili -- of moving the country away from the EU and closer to Moscow. “In widespread and apparently punitive acts, security forces have chased down, violently detained, and beat protesters. Police also tortured and otherwise ill-treated them in police vans and police stations,” HRW said in a report on December 24. The political crisis erupted after Georgian Dream claimed victory in October elections that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said was marred by instances of vote-buying, double-voting, physical violence, and intimidation. The rallies intensified after a government decision last month to delay negotiations on Georgia joining the European Union. The authorities have responded violently to the demonstrations, arresting hundreds of people in recent weeks and closely watching participants with Chinese-made surveillance cameras with facial-recognition capabilities. Dozens of protesters – as well as journalists covering the rallies – have been beaten and detained by police were wearing riot gear or full-face black masks, with no identifiable insignia. “The level of the authorities’ violence against largely peaceful protesters is shocking, blatantly retaliatory, and violates Georgia’s domestic laws and international norms,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The scale of the police ill-treatment of protesters and the failure of Georgian authorities to hold them accountable for it indicates they either authorized or condoned the violence.” Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on December 22 called on Georgian Dream to set a date for new parliamentary elections by December 29. Zurabishvili has been locked in a standoff with the party since the October parliamentary elections, which the opposition has refused to recognize. Georgian Dream has denied any election wrongdoing and has refused to consider new elections despite the almost daily protests. Georgia received EU candidate status in December last year but ties with Brussels have been tense in recent months following the adoption in May of a controversial "foreign agent" law pushed through parliament by Georgian Dream, which has ruled since 2012. Critics say the legislation threatens media outlets and civil society groups and mirrors a similar Russian law used by the Kremlin to stifle political opponents and civil society. While initially endorsed by Georgian Dream for her successful presidential run in 2018, Zurabishvili has been a thorn in the ruling party's side. Although officially a nonpartisan president limited to a ceremonial role, Zurabishvili has criticized Georgian Dream for its increasingly authoritarian stance. Earlier this month, an electoral college dominated by Georgian Dream chose Mikheil Kavelashvili, a 53-year-old former soccer player and right-wing populist, as Georgia's next president. His inauguration is supposed to take place on December 29, though the 72-year-old Zurabishvili, whose term ends this year, has said she isn't going anywhere. The 'foreign agent' law, which mandates that organizations receiving significant foreign funding register as foreign agents, took effect on August 1, sparking significant backlash from international and domestic actors. The government last week pledged to amend the law, though it did not give details of the changes it would enact. CHISINAU -- Moldova's pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, was sworn in for a second term in what analysts call a critical milestone for the integration of one of Europe's poorest countries into the European Union. Sandu defeated her Russian-friendly opponent, Alexandr Stoianoglo, in the second-round of a hard fought election last month. The Harvard University educated, former World Bank official's victory -- coming just one week after another former Soviet republic, Georgia, suffered a setback on its EU path when elections were won by Moscow-friendly incumbents -- came as a relief for Moldova's Western partners, who hailed it as proof that democracy can win over Russian meddling. Sandu said in her inauguration speech that she hopes her second and final four-year mandate will tie her legacy to "Moldova being in the European Union." During Sandu's first term, Moldova secured EU candidate status in 2022 and opened accession talks earlier this year after firmly aligning itself with its neighbor, Ukraine, after Russia's unprovoked invasion in 2022, and joining the EU sanctions regime against Russia. "European integration is our path to security and prosperity, but let's not think of it as a business-class ticket to paradise," Sandu said in her inauguration speech. "It's not a miracle cure to all our problems. The French won't come here to run our judiciary. The Danes won't come in to clean up our garbage. The Germans won't come in to manage our border crossings. Only we are responsible for our lives, for our country." Last week the European Union applauded Moldova for the successful conduct of the presidential elections and of the referendum on enshrining EU accession in the constitution," while blasting the " hybrid attempts to undermine the country's democratic institutions." Moldovan officials had warned for months of threats from Russia that included disinformation and facilitating millions in illicit payments for an informal network of anti-EU organizers. At the same time, they also fended off cyberattacks and deepfakes, and publicly confronted what they regarded as false narratives aimed at influencing the outcome of the vote. Sandu, 52, became Moldova's first female president with a landslide victory in 2020, running on a strong pro-EU message and vowing to fight corruption. Stoianoglo, 57, from Gagauzia -- a Turkic-speaking autonomous region of Moldova with pro-Russian sentiment -- campaigned on a law-and-order theme, although critics slammed him for what they say was a failure to address high-level corruption during his time as Moldova's prosecutor-general. One person was killed and 11 were wounded by a ballistic missile strike on an apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Kryviy Rih, local officials said on December 24 as clashes were reported along much of the front line in eastern Ukraine amid gains by Russian forces and speculation over the Kremlin’s strategy . Ukrainian officials condemned the attack on the building in Kryviy Rih, calling it a direct hit on a four-story residential block with 32 apartments. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said 11 people had been wounded and seven of them had been hospitalized. He described three of the wounded as two women, ages 69 and 72, and a 78-year-old man, and said all were in moderate condition. He said later that one man who had been pulled from the rubble could not be revived despite doctors doing everything possible to resuscitate him. Lysak added that there may still be people buried in the rubble. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman reacted angrily, noting that the strike occurred on Christmas Eve. "While other countries of the world are celebrating Christmas, Ukrainians are continuing to suffer from endless Russian attacks," Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram. Kryviy Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has regularly been the target of Russian missile attacks throughout the war. Russia says it does not deliberately target civilians despite widespread evidence to the contrary and thousands of deaths among the civilian population. Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said earlier on December 24 that by mid-morning some 235 clashes had been recorded at the front since the start of the previous day, with intense fighting in the direction of Kharkhiv, Donetsk, and Kupyansk. It added that Russia lost over 1,600 soldiers and 30 armored vehicles during the period, though the claim could not be independently verified. Moscow rarely comments on its losses in the war. The Institute for the Study of War ( ISW ) said in a report on December 24 that Russia’s priorities in the current fighting remain unclear as troops make incremental advances south and southwest of the key city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. “It remains unclear if Russian forces will be able to exploit these gains to envelop the town or if they intend to advance to the administrative boundary of Donetsk region,” the ISW said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Moscow is nearing its primary goal in the war , though he didn’t elaborate. Ever since Ukraine's counteroffensive to drive out invading Russian forces culminated with little success in October 2023, Russian troops have slowly pushed westward, capturing the Donetsk city of Avdiyivka and then the town of Vuhledar. Russia currently controls about 60 percent of Donetsk. Russian troops reportedly are just a few kilometers from the edge of Pokrovsk and could be on the verge of taking it. Pokrovsk is strategically significant because it serves as a major transportation hub, is close to the front lines, and serves as a supply hub for military operations in the Donbas region. Fighting between Russia and Ukraine has ratcheted up in recent weeks, with Moscow launching waves of drones and missiles across Ukrainian territory, mainly aimed at civilian and energy infrastructure. Kyiv has countered with attacks on Russian oil and energy targets just inside Russian territory and over the weekend struck high-rise buildings in Kazan, the capital of Russia's oil-rich republic of Tatarstan. A delegation from Kazan on December 24 traveled to Belgorod to study best practices in organizing civil defenses during drone attacks, according to Kazan media citing a statement by city's mayor, Ilsur Metshin. Metshin said that Kazan must establish a clear plan so that residents know how to respond in emergencies and where to find shelters. "Everyone should have this in mind. We will bring the best practice in the country by the end of the week," the mayor said. He said he understands that in Belgorod all residents can evacuate to shelters within minutes. Last week Putin dangled the prospect of Russian concessions, saying more than once during his annual question-and-answer conference that Moscow was ready for a compromise. But he attached numerous conditions to the idea of compromise, suggesting Moscow’s goal of subjugating Ukraine and winning major security guarantees from NATO and the West remain in place, as well as saying he does not consider Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a legitimate leader. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump -- whose inauguration is set for January 20 -- has said he would move to end the war quickly and during his remarks at Turning Point’s America Fest convention on December 22, said, "We have to end that war. That war is horrible, horrible." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine is interested in stabilizing the situation in Syria and believes it is essential for the country's security to remove any Russian presence from the country. “We are grateful to every country and every leader who is now ready to help Syrian society restore normal life and build effective state institutions,” Zelenskiy said on X on December 23, pledging to "support Syria in ensuring food security." "We are ready to work with representatives of the Syrian people to correct the mistakes of the Assad regime, in particular, regarding Ukraine and all of Europe,” he said. Russia granted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family asylum earlier this month after rebels took control of Damascus. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on December 23 that said it was in contact with Syria's new administration at both a diplomatic and military level. Moscow is concern in particular about the fate of a naval facility and an air base it operates in Syria. Zelenskiy in his message on X also renewed his warnings about Russia's cooperation with North Korea. Russia earlier this month began deploying North Korean troops to reinforce its military, including to the Kursk border region, where Ukrainian forces seized territory earlier this year. Kyiv continues to press allies for a tougher response to the development, which it says is a global threat because it involves a transfer of Russian warfare experience and military technologies to Pyongyang. "For the world, the cost of restoring stability is always much higher than the cost of effectively pressuring those who destabilize the situation and destroy lives," Zelenskiy said. He warned of "risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment” and said Kyiv will have a “tangible responses to this." He added that according to preliminary data supplied by General Oleksandr Syrskiy, Ukraine's top commander, the number of North Korean soldiers killed and wounded in the Kursk region has exceeded 3,000. Syrskiy said last week that Russian forces backed by North Korean troops had intensified their offensive against Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region. South Korea's assessed the number of killed and wounded troops was closer to 1,000. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on December 23 that based on "various sources of information and intelligence," the North Korea has suffered around 1,100 casualties since joining combat operations against Ukraine. The JCS agreed that Pyongyang is reportedly "preparing for the rotation or additional deployment of soldiers" to aid Russia's war effort. JCS added that it has detected signs of Pyongyang planning to produce suicide drones to be shipped to Russia in addition to the 240mm multiple rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled howitzers it already is supplying. The Kremlin has neither denied nor directly confirmed the presence of North Korean troops on its soil. NATO, however, confirmed in October that North Korean troops had been deployed in the Kursk region. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the deployment marked a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "growing desperation." Kosovo’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has decided not to certify the main ethnic Serbian party, effectively barring it from competing in the February 9 parliamentary elections. The CEC said its main reason for declining to certify Serbian List was its nationalist stance and close ties to Serbia. Some commission members noted that Serbian List leader Zlatan Elek has never referred to Kosovo as independent and continues to call it Serbia's autonomous province of Kosovo. The CEC also said that Serbian List has close ties with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and other Serb leaders who also refuse to recognize Kosovo's independence. There was no immediate reaction from Serbian List. The move may further aggravate the already tense ties between Kosovo and Serbia despite international efforts to normalize them. The parliamentary elections on February 9, 2025, are expected to be a key test for Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, whose party came to power in 2021 in a landslide. Vucic claimed on December 23 that Kurti is trying to "eliminate the only opponent" in the elections. He also accused Kurti and his allies of attempting to expel the Serbian people from the southern areas of Kosovo. Vucic said that he had also spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about what he considered to be violations of international law by Pristina. Only the chairman of the CEC, Kreshnik Radoniqi, voted for the certification of Serbian List. Two members of the ruling Self-Determination party voted against, while the others abstained. Political analyst Albert Krasniqi of the Demokraci+ NGO told RFE/RL that the decision is part of the preelection campaign being conducted by Kurti’s Self-Determination party. He said Serbian List will appeal the decision to the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) and predicted that it will reverse the decision. “All this noise will last at most four days, and I am sure that the ECAP will reverse this decision of the CEC and will oblige the CEC to certify Serbian List,” Krasniqi said. Eugen Cakolli of the Democratic Institute of Kosovo told RFE/RL that the CEC has once again become “part of [the] political rhetoric, making a decision in violation of the law and other regulations in force.” He also said Serbian List will appeal and the ECAP will overturn the decision. Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade still considers Kosovo a province of Serbia and has a major influence on the ethnic Serbian minority living there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico of wanting to "help" President Vladimir Putin earn money to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine after Fico paid a visit to Putin in Moscow. Zelenskiy said on X on December 23 that EU leaders had previously observed that Fico opposes reducing energy dependence on Russia, "implying that he wants to help Putin earn money to fund the war and weaken Europe." Ukraine is “losing people as a result of the war that Putin started, and we believe that such assistance to Putin is immoral,” Zelenskiy said . Fico said his trip to Moscow and meeting with Putin on December 22 was in response to Zelenskiy opposing any "transit of gas through Ukraine to our territory." Ukraine has said it will not renew a contract for gas transit through pipelines in Ukraine that expires on December 31. Slovakia has raised concerns about the prospect of losing supplies of natural gas as a result. The flow of gas through the pipeline accounts for around half of Russia's total exports to Europe, and Slovakia, Italy, Austria, and the Czech Republic are set to be most affected if it ends. The European Commission has said it is ready for the current contract to expire, and all countries receiving Russian fuel via the Ukraine route have access to alternative supplies. Fico is one of the few European leaders Putin has stayed friendly with since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, but Zelenskiy questioned his motivation. "Why is this leader so dependent on Moscow? What is being paid to him, and what does he pay with?" Zelenskiy asked rhetorically. The visit by Fico, whose country is a NATO and European Union member, had not been previously announced, but Fico said he had informed EU leaders about it ahead of time. Fico said on Facebook after his meeting with Putin that the Russian president had confirmed Russia's “readiness to continue supplying gas to the West and to Slovakia in view of the Ukrainian president's stance after January 1, 2025." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on December 23 said he could not give more details about the talks between Putin and Fico but said the situation regarding the flow of gas is “very difficult” and “requires increased attention." Fico’s visit with Putin drew strong reactions from other European leaders. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky denounced it, saying on X that the Czech government “has been working to achieve independence from Russian energy supplies so that we don't have to grovel to a mass murderer." Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda reacted sarcastically, saying that any dealings with Russia involve a price. “How cheap is your love,” he said on X . “There are those who come to Russia with love and feel gassed to meet a war criminal. This is not Lithuania's way. We choose energy independence and real market prices -- with no political strings attached!

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(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been appointed to lead a subcommittee dedicated to working with President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency. Known as a Republican firebrand and close ally of Trump, Greene has already set her sights on rooting out “every penny of waste and abuse.” “We’ll be looking at everything from government-funded media programs like NPR that spread nothing but Democrat propaganda, we’ll be going into grant programs that fund things like sex apps in Malaysia, toilets in Africa,” she said on a media appearance Sunday morning. The subcommittee will be under the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. “We want to make the government more efficient,” Comer said on a media appearance . “We want to work for the taxpayers, not the bureaucrats. We hate the deep state, we’ve dealt with the deep state, we’ve fought the deep state.” He added that Republicans are excited to implement the recommendations of DOGE, which, as an advisory committee, will have to work with Trump and Congress to change policies. “What Trump has ... are willing partners to make government more efficient,” Comer said of Congress. Elon Musk, CEO of X and Tesla Motors, and Vivek Ramaswamy are currently heading up DOGE. “Looking forward to working together with Congress,” Ramaswamy said on social media of Greene’s appointment . “Proper oversight of agencies and public transparency are critical.” DOGE has made it a key part of its plan to address the national debt of $36 trillion. That is $273,000 owed per taxpayer. “This trend must be reversed, and we must balance the budget,” DOGE posted . For her part, Greene has promised to “drain the swamp,” stating that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to holding government agencies like the Pentagon accountable. “Our government should steward every single cent of your hard-earned money,” Greene said. “The DOGE subcommittee will expose the waste and bring truth and transparency to the American people.” Bureaucrats and independent contractors will also be on the chopping block, in what Greene called a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make real transformational change to government to benefit the American people.” “In the private sector, if you’re not doing a good job, you get fired,” she said on social media . “But for some reason, in government, bad employees – whether they’re failing to do the job they were hired to do or working in roles that are no longer needed – never get fired. This is incredibly unfair to the hard-working taxpayers of our country, and it’s about to change.” Recently, an audit of the IRS found that its employees and contractors owe millions in taxes, all while the agency warned thousands of taxpayers that they could face jail time. “The same unelected IRS government employees and contractors, who owe $50 million in unpaid taxes, would throw Americans in jail for not paying their taxes,” Greene said of the audit . “Time to hold them all accountable.” Greene also addressed Democrats' accusations that the subcommittee will go after programs like Social Security. “No, Senator Warren, we are not going to take away a senior’s Social Security. That’s a lie,” Greene responded on social media . “We are going to investigate all areas of the federal government like CFPB, an ‘independent’ agency inside the federal government. Beholden to no one. Ran by unelected bureaucrats.”

Zoetis Declares First Quarter 2025 Dividend; Board Approves 16% Payment IncreaseNetanyahu's office says his security Cabinet has approved ceasefire deal with HezbollahJERUSALEM — The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants began early Wednesday as a region on edge wondered whether it will hold. The ceasefire announced Tuesday is a major step toward ending nearly 14 months of fighting sparked by the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Israel said it will attack if Hezbollah breaks the ceasefire agreement. The ceasefire calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. An international panel led by the United States will monitor compliance. People are also reading... The ceasefire began at 4 a.m. Wednesday, a day after Israel carried out its most intense wave of airstrikes in Beirut since the start of the conflict that in recent weeks turned into all-out war. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. Bilal Hussein - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS The ceasefire does not address the devastating war in Gaza , where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. There appeared to be lingering disagreement over whether Israel would have the right to strike Hezbollah if it believed the militants had violated the agreement, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted was part of the deal but which Lebanese and Hezbollah officials have rejected. Israel's security Cabinet approved the U.S.-France-brokered ceasefire agreement after Netanyahu presented it, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza but the talks repeatedly sputtered to a halt . President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. In this screen grab image from video provide by the Israeli Government Press Office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a televised statement Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Jerusalem, Israel. Uncredited - hogp, ASSOCIATED PRESS Israel says it will ‘attack with might’ if Hezbollah breaks truce Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” The ceasefire deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” A police bomb squad officer inspects the site where a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in a backyard in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024. Leo Correa - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS Netanyahu’s office said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but “reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the ceasefire and described it as a crucial step toward stability and the return of displaced people. Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday it had not seen the agreement in its final form. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts “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," he said, referring to Israel's demand for freedom of action. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Rescuers and residents search for victims Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut, Lebanon. Hassan Ammar, Associated Press Warplanes bombard Beirut and its southern suburbs Even as ceasefire efforts gained momentum in recent days, Israel continued to strike what it called Hezbollah targets across Lebanon while the militants fired rockets, missiles and drones across the border. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in central Beirut — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets linked to Hezbollah's financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously were not targeted. Residents fled. Traffic was gridlocked, with mattresses tied to some cars. Dozens of people, some wearing pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed overhead. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said peacekeepers will not evacuate. Israeli soldiers inspect the site Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024, where a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in a backyard in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel. Leo Correa, Associated Press Israeli forces reach Litani River in southern Lebanon The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometers (miles) from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah is required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have exchanged barrages ever since. Israel escalated its bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. Israeli security officers and army soldiers inspect the site Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024, where a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in a backyard in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel. Leo Correa, Associated Press More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut and Federman from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed. 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Ex-Colorado footballer Bloom dedicates time to fulfilling wishes for older adultsIsrael and Lebanon's Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting

By Steve Holland and Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has signed a memorandum of understanding with the White House that will allow Trump to formally begin his transition to power, his incoming chief of staff said on Tuesday, after weeks of delays. The move will allow Trump's team to coordinate directly with federal agencies and access documents. The unusual delay in signing the agreement after the Nov. 5 election had raised concerns among some critics about potential hiccups in government operations or conflicts of interest. "This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power," Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, said in a statement. Trump, a Republican, will take office on Jan. 20. His team had rejected entreaties from Democratic President Joe Biden's administration to quickly sign a memorandum of understanding and had objected to some elements of a traditional transition agreement, according to the White House. Under the agreement signed on Tuesday, Trump's team avoided signing a government ethics pledge, saying it has its own ethics plan that will "meet the requirements for personnel to seamlessly move into the Trump administration." The separate ethics pledge was later posted to the General Services Administration's website. It included promises that transition team members will avoid conflicts of interests, will safeguard classified information and will disqualify themselves from involvement in any matter if they have engaged in lobbying on the issue in the previous 12 months. However, it did not include a pledge that Trump would avoid conflicts of interest or that he hold only "non-conflicting assets," promises in the more standard agreement signed by Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate. Trump has a stake valued at $3.76 billion in Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs his Truth Social platform, as well as stakes in a cryptocurrency business, real estate properties and several foreign deals. The family real estate company, now run largely by Trump's son Eric, owns a portfolio of hotels, golf courses, resorts and New York City office space, retail operations and condominiums. The Trump pledge also did not include a promise to protect whistleblowers on his transition team, a promise in the Harris pledge. SECURITY CLEARANCES Separately, the Trump transition team has not entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice to allow the FBI to conduct background checks of nominees, and it has not sent the FBI the names of prospective national security personnel who would have access to classified information. A White House official said while a Justice Department agreement has not been signed, progress has been made toward such an agreement. Circumventing background checks would buck a long-established norm in Washington, but the president has the final authority on whom he nominates and picks to conduct background checks. The transition said on Tuesday it already has existing security and information protections built in, "which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight." Trump's team also broke from tradition and did not sign an agreement with the General Services Administration that would provide the use of office space. The team said it did not want to waste taxpayer money by using government offices. White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma said the Biden administration did not agree with the Trump team's decision to forgo signing some of the usual agreements but the White House would go ahead with the transition process to avoid more delays. Trump's team said his transition will use private funding instead of government money to pay for transition costs. The team said donors to the transition will be disclosed to the public. (Reporting by Steve Holland, Nandita Bose, Heather Timmons and Eric Beech; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Deepa Babington and Sonali Paul)

🚨 White House says NJ sightings are not of drones 🚨 Feds address foreign involvement theories 🚨Retiterate: No threat to public safety Federal officials say people in New Jersey are just seeing things. That are not drones, that is. The White House says the drones that have been sighted over New Jersey since November may all be planes. During Thursday's press briefing, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said there is no evidence to suggest they pose a national security or public safety threat. Kirby also said they do not appear to have any foreign connections. The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are using "sophisticated sophisticated electronic detection technologies" to determine their origin, Kirby said. "We have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings. To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully," Kirby said. Response to Iranian theory "The United States Coast Guard is providing support to the state of New Jersey and has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement from coastal vessels," Kirby said. That appears to be an indirect comment about the con tention of Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ, 2ns District, about drones coming from an Iranian drone mothership. "There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any re stricted airspace," Kirby said. "We certainly take seriously the threat that can be posed by manned aircraft systems which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports even though they have uncovered no malicious activity or intent at this particular stage." ALSO READ: NJ county runs out of money, can't pay public safety workers Benchmark for action against drones? The Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County earlier this week confirmed 11 sightings over base property. The FAA has instituted a no-drone zone over the arsenal and President-elect Donald Trump's golf club in Bedminster where he stays while in New Jersey. Kirby also echoed the suggestion of several legislators to extend and expand counter-drone authorities so threats can be better mitigated. When asked if there is any benchmark for when the military might take an action Kirby reiterated that there is no threat to the public. "If the president as Commander-in-Chief believed based in the information he'd been given that there was a national security threat at play here, or even a public safety threat here, he would issue the appropriate directives to not only law enforcement but the military if needed," Kirby said. What do they really know about the drones? The bottom line from Kirby was that they still don't know what exactly people are seeing. A federal ban on the use of drones is not imminent. "I cannot characterize definitively what these sightings are. I can just go back to what I said at the opening. We've looked at the imagery, we can't corroborate some of the reported sightings through our own expert analysis using sophisticated detection techniques. But that doesn't mean we're putting our pen down this afternoon and calling it a day," Kirby said. Assemblyman Brian Bergen, R-Morris, called Kirby an "idiot" during an appearance on Fox News. He accused the Biden Administration of ignoring serious national concerns. Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom A sad, desolate look at NJ's Old Monmouth Mall It was the last Christmas Eve for New Jersey's Monmouth Mall in Eatontown before major redevelopment began. Here's what it looked like on that day in 2023, the final Christmas season the enclosed mall would ever see. Gallery Credit: Mike Brant A list of NJ malls where you can get photos with Santa for the 2024 holiday season The annual New Jersey tradition is back for the 2024 holiday season, along with pet photos, special events, exclusive sensory sessions, and more. Malls are listed in alphabetical order. Gallery Credit: Mike Brant Items you're most likely to lose over the holidays in NJ These are the top items most New Jerseyans are most likely to lose, according to you. Gallery Credit: Mike BrantNo. 25 Nebraska women take early control, beat Kansas City 84-38