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casino games vegas Orioles owner and presidential scholar David Rubenstein: Many people felt it wasn’t a good idea to indict TrumpJack Turner destroyed Piero Aponte with a brutal first-round knockout on Friday night Liverpool star Kostas Tsimikas watched on as Jack Turner destroyed Piero Aponte with a brutal first-round knockout. Tsimikas is currently sidelined with an ankle injury but was ringside at the Exhibition Centre on Friday night to watch Turner produce yet another devastating demolition job. After meeting some of the fighters backstage, including Turner, the Greece international took his seat ringside and watched on as 'El Terrier' showed why he is one of the most talked-about up-and-coming fighters in the UK. Speaking in the build-up to this fight, Turner claimed he is the man who is going to dominate the super-flyweight and bantamweight divisions. And in the manner in which he blew away Aponte here, few would disagree with him, as, having already dropped his 34-year-old opponent twice, Turner landed another huge shot to the body that resulted in the fight being waved off just over a minute after it started. Speaking to Boxing Social afterwards, the 22-year-old said: “I’m looking for a big year next year. I’m coming for everyone at super-flyweight, and then I’m going to batter all of them and move up to bantamweight and batter all of them. “I really enjoyed tonight, and I want to thank all my fans and everyone who has come out to support me. It means a lot. I’m going to look for a big year next year.” Elsewhere on the card, James Metcalf made a winning return to the ring as he fought for the first time since being stripped of his IBO super-welterweight title. The 36-year-old, who is the son of Shea Neary , was stripped of his title by the IBO earlier this year after a split from Matchroom left him without a promoter. As a result of the split, Metcalf was unable to defend his crown, but he made a winning return to the ring here, beating Alan Sebastian Velazquez on points after six rounds of boxing. “You know what? It was just business; it was just a fight, and I am not going to lie to myself; it was a fight I should have won comfortably,” he admitted to Boxing Social . “That’s all it was: [it was a fight] to get the rust off and push on to better things next year. Since getting stripped by the IBO, I would like a bigger fight, maybe WBA.”

AP Business SummaryBrief at 1:26 p.m. ESTJimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100 Published 4:30 pm Sunday, December 29, 2024 by Becky Taylor By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center simply said in posting about Carter’s death on the social media platform X. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Basketball Christmas Invitational here Friday, Saturday 10 to slide at Polar Bear Plunge Tifton Scene’s Holiday Issue is now online! County property tax bill distribution estimated for JanuaryVotes will be counted in the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections Here's your 10-point cheat sheet to this big story Most exit polls have predicted a Mahayuti win in Maharashtra. Three exit polls have, however, forecast neither the Mahayuti nor the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) would secure a decisive majority to form government. This may lead to a situation where 'resort politics' may happen. In Mahayuti, the BJP contested the largest number of seats at 148, followed by the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at 80, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at 52. Mahayuti candidates are contesting in six more seats. In the Opposition MVA, the Congress contested 102 seats, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) 96 seats, and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) 86 seats. Two seats were contested by Samajwadi Party and two seats by smaller MVA allies. This was the first election after splits in the NCP and the Shiv Sena. In the 2019 elections, BJP won 105 seats, the undivided Shiv Sena 56, undivided NCP 54, Congress 44, independents 13 and others 16 seats. The results today will have huge implications for all the parties, particularly NCP and Shiv Sena. Uddhav Thackeray lost his chief ministerial position due to a split in his party in 2022 and the party has been keen to prove a point in the assembly polls. His key rival Eknath Shinde also gained popularity due to welfare measures of the Mahayuti government. And now there is a seeming clash over who is the true inheritor of Balasaheb Thackeray's legacy. The NCP also suffered a split with Ajit Pawar joining the ruling alliance as Deputy Chief Minister in July last year. His uncle Sharad Pawar kept a tight campaign and has been keen to see that there is no dent to his long legacy in politics. A lot is at stake for the Congress in Maharashtra after the party is seen to have bungled its prospect in the Haryana assembly polls earlier this year. The BJP formed its third successive government in Haryana earlier this year. In Jharkhand, while the ruling JMM-led alliance is banking on its work and promises, the NDA is hopeful of getting people's support on its promises and the work of the central government. The campaign saw BJP leaders targeting the JMM-led alliance over its performance and raised the issue of "infiltration" and tribal rights in the state. Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Hemant Soren, wife Kalpana Soren, and sister-in-law Sita Soren from the JMM. Key BJP leaders include former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, Assembly Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahto (JMM), AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri. Votes in bypolls will also be counted today. In Kerala's Wayanad, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is contesting the Lok Sabha byelection on the same seat that his brother Rahul Gandhi used to represent before he won this time from Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli. Bypolls were held on seven assembly seats in Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, a by-election was held in Budhni and Vijaypur. In Uttar Pradesh, votes will be counted in the by-polls in nine assembly seats.

Romania police raid houses after vote scrapped over 'irregularities'

Middle East latest: Tension on the streets of Damascus as opposition fighters close inVance takes on a more visible transition role, working to boost Trump’s most contentious picks

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered in afternoon trading on Wall Street Monday at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. A handful of technology companies helped support the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 63 points, or 0.2% as of 1:18 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 3%. Broadcom jumped 5.2% to also help support the broader market. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. Honda rose 3.8% and Nissan rose 1.6% in Tokyo. Eli Lilly rose 3% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.7% after it agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence slipped in December. Its consumer confidence index fell back to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Wall Street was expecting a reading of 113.8. The unexpectedly weak consumer confidence update follows several generally strong economic reports last week. One report showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The latest report on unemployment benefit applications showed that the job market remains solid. A report on Friday said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. Worries about inflation edging higher again had been weighing on Wall Street and the Fed. The central bank just delivered its third cut to interest rates this year, but inflation has been hovering stubbornly above its target of 2%. It has signaled that it could deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier anticipated because of concerns over inflation. Expectations for more interest rate cuts have helped drive a 24% gain for the S&P 500 in 2024. That drive included 57 all-time highs this year. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under an incoming President Donald Trump. "Put simply, much of the strong market performance prior to last week was driven by expectations that a best-case scenario was the base case for 2025," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.58% from 4.53% late Friday. European markets were mostly lower, while markets in Asia gained ground. Wall Street has several other economic reports to look forward to this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its November report for sales of newly constructed homes. A weekly update on unemployment benefits is expected on Thursday. Markets in the U.S. will close early on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas.

GST holiday: How B.C. residents get the short end of the stick with Trudeau's tax breakGeraldo Rivera is making amends with the father of JonBenét Ramsey. After John Ramsey’s daughter was found murdered at 6 years old in the basement of her family’s Colorado home in 1996, the journalist, 81, staged a mock murder trial on television. On Monday, during NewsNation’s “Cuomo,” Rivera addressed the mock trial that aired on his daytime talk show, “The Geraldo Rivera Show,” in 1997, telling Ramsey, “I deeply apologize to you for what you and your family have suffered.” During the episode, the political commentator’s “jury” found Ramsey and his wife, Patsy Ramsey, liable for their daughter’s death, per NewsNation . Rivera continued, “No one deserves to go through what you went through. That’s my bottom line. And when I walk around and it is with stories like yours in my head over the last 54 years of my career, I, it is a burden to me. It’s a soulful burden. And again, man to man, to you, I apologize, and I am sorry for everything you have gone through, John.” Ramsey responded, “Geraldo, I accept your apology and thank you.” Ramsey and the tragedy has been back in the spotlight since the November release of the Netflix three-part docuseries “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?” , which premiered on Nov. 25. The 80-year-old has been vocal for decades about what he considers to be missteps made by authorities during their investigation. John also acknowledged how the media frenzy only made things worse at the time. Ramsey and Patsy, who has since died, became persons of interest after JonBenét was found sexually assaulted and strangled to death on Dec. 26. Earlier that morning, Patsy found a ransom note demanding $118,000 in exchange for her youngest child’s safe return. No member of the Ramsey family, including the couple’s son Burke who was nine at the time, has ever been charged in connection with the case. Despite several people falling under suspicion, no arrests have ever been made. Today, Ramsey now wants state-of-the-art labs that use genetic genealogy and other advanced DNA technology to crack the cold case. He claims that there are seven items from the crime scene that have never been tested, or were examined with outdated methods. “We’re begging the police to engage,” Ramsey told People last month. “There are cutting-edge DNA labs that want to help and who believe they can move the case forward.” However, the Boulder Police Department disputed the claims they were not pursuing all leads and said progress is, in fact, being made. “The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuing — to include DNA testing — is completely false,” the department said in a statement post on X , formerly Twitter, last month. “Additionally, it was the Boulder Police Department — not the Colorado Bureau of Investigation — who convened the Cold Case Review Panel in December 2023 as part of its investigation efforts,” the post added.

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BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels’ moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. As they have advanced, the insurgents, led by the group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands rushed the Syria border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those that remained open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some shops were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reach the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. Assad’s status Amid the developments, Syria’s state media denied rumors flooding social media that Assad has left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. Assad’s chief international backer, Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine, and Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up his forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran, meanwhile, has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. Pedersen said a date for the talks in Geneva on the implementation of U.N. Resolution 2254 would be announced later. The resolution, adopted in 2015, called for a Syrian-led political process, starting with the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. The insurgents’ march Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. Syria’s military, meanwhile, sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth largest city. HTS leader Abu told CNN in an interview Thursday from Syria that the aim is to overthrow Assad’s government. The Britain-based Observatory said Syrian troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces and are sending reinforcements to Homs, where a battle is looming. If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where the president enjoys wide support. The Syrian army said in a statement Saturday that it has carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists.” The army said it is setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south. The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011. After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces remained in control of five provincial capitals — Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. Tartus is home to the only Russian naval base outside the former Soviet Union while Latakia is home to a major Russian air base. Diplomacy in Doha In the gas-rich nation of Qatar, the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey met to discuss the situation in Syria. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels. Qatar’s top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process. After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces remained in control of five provincial capitals — Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. On Friday, U.S.-backed fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured wide parts of the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq as well as the provincial capital that carries the same name. The capture of areas in Deir el-Zour is a blow to Iran’s influence in the region as the area is the gateway to the corridor linking the Mediterranean to Iran, a supply line for Iran-backed fighters, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. With the capture of a main border crossing with Iraq by the SDF and after opposition fighters took control of the Naseeb border crossing to Jordan in southern Syria, the Syrian government’s only gateway to the outside world is the Masnaa border crossing with Lebanon. ____ Karam reported from London. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Pandas An An and Ke Ke celebrate their 1st Christmas in Hong Kong HONG KONG (AP) — A pair of five-year-old pandas, named An An and Ke Ke, celebrated their first Christmas early in a Hong Kong park, munching on special treats and looking cute for the cameras. An An, the male panda, was presented with an ice slab that had “Merry Christmas” written on it with sweet potato and carrots while Ke Ke, his female companion, got a snowman garnished with slices of carrot and apple in a special press event Monday before visitors streamed to the park. China sent the pair to Hong Kong in late September in a bid to boost tourism in the city. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Wemby: Spurs-Knicks Christmas game is also an animated one at Disney World NEW YORK (AP) — There’s a Christmas Day basketball game at Walt Disney World, featuring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Wemby. While Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs are facing the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, an alternate animated telecast will have the teams playing in the Magic Kingdom, with some Disney characters participating. The special alt-cast, the first animated presentation of an NBA game, will be shown on ESPN2 and also stream on Disney+ and ESPN+. 'Squid Game' returns looking for win with season 2 The first season of “Squid Game” was Netflix's most-watched series and went on to win a variety of accolades including the Emmy Award for lead actor in a drama series for Lee Jung-jae and a directing award for Hwang Dong-hyuk. The show returns for its second season on Dec. 26 and is already nominated for a Golden Globe for best drama. It's rare for TV shows made in Korea to have more than one season but Lee describes Hwang as “a genius.” A third and final season has already filmed. Netflix is also invested in expanding its “Squid Game” universe with a reality competition series and an English-language version in development. In the ruins of a bombed-out church in Lebanon, there's now a tiny Christmas tree DARDGHAYA, Lebanon (AP) — A Christmas tree stands among the fallen stones in the ruins of a Catholic church in southern Lebanon that was hit by an Israeli airstrike during the war with Hezbollah. It's a small and modest tree. There are no lights because the war destroyed power lines. The ground is too uneven to set up the Nativity scene. The priest says his blood pressure went up and he lost his balance when he saw the church's destruction. Now he leads Mass in an underground room that serves as a temporary worship space. He tells the community it “is more like the cave where Jesus was born.” Burt, the huge Australian crocodile who had a cameo in ‘Crocodile Dundee,’ dies at 90 The Crocosaurus Cove reptile aquarium in Darwin, Australia, says the huge crocodile that rose to fame with a cameo in the movie “Crocodile Dundee” has died. The aquarium says Burt died over the weekend and was at least 90 years old. A saltwater crocodile, Burt was estimated to be more than 5 meters long. The 1986 movie stars Paul Hogan as the rugged crocodile hunter Mick Dundee. In the movie, American Sue Charlton, played by actress Linda Kozlowski, goes to fill her canteen in a watering hole when she is attacked by a crocodile, before being saved by Dundee. Elaborate holiday light displays are making spirits bright in a big way CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow might be enough to brighten some homes this holiday season. But others are adorned with thousands of blinking lights synched to blasting music. In Mesa, Arizona, 14 homeowners have been going all-out on holiday lights for 30 years, and those buying homes in the neighborhood often find the attics full of décor left behind by previous owners. In Santa Clarita, California, residents began coordinating their holiday lights to bring some joy to their community after an earthquake. And in Edmond, Oklahoma, those looking to the western sky will easily spot the Miranda family’s elaborate display featuring images and music from the movie “Wicked.” Santa braves the sticky heat of the Amazon jungle to bring gifts to children in Brazilian village CATALAO, Brazil (AP) — Santa Claus has braved the sticky heat of the Amazon rainforest this weekend, taking two boats to bring gifts to the children of a small village near the Brazilian city of Manaus. The visit was arranged by Amigos do Papai Noel, a Brazilian charity that has been taking gifts to children in the Amazon rainforest for the past 26 years. More than 600 children from different villages gathered in Catalao to receive presents from Santa, who dressed in his traditional nightcap, white gloves and red suit, while enduring the stifling jungle heat. NASA's Parker Solar Probe aims to fly closer to the sun like never before NEW YORK (AP) — A NASA spacecraft is about to make the closest approach to the sun. The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. On Tuesday, Parker will pass within a record-breaking 3.8 million miles of the sun’s surface. That's nearly seven times closer to the sun than previous spacecraft. Scientists won’t hear from Parker until a few days after the flyby. It’ll continue circling the sun at this distance until at least September. Scientists hope to better understand what drives the solar wind and why the corona is so much hotter than the sun's surface. 174 Colorado skiers and snowboarders rescued after a lift cracks WINTER PARK, Colo. (AP) — Officials are investigating what caused a crack in a Colorado ski lift that forced the evacuation of over 170 stranded skiers and snowboarders. The evacuation happened Saturday on a gondola lift at Winter Park Resort. A spokesperson says the lift stopped automatically when a crack was detected in a structural piece of the lift. Passengers were lowered down by ropes over the course of about five hours. No injuries were reported during the rescues, which came at the start of the busy holiday season. 'Sonic 3' bests 'Mufasa: The Lion King' at the box office NEW YORK (AP) — In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office. The results came just ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters. According to studio estimates, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend. “Mufasa,” however, was humbled in its opening weekend, coming in notably shy of expectations. It returned just $35 million in domestic ticket sales.Exelon Corp. stock outperforms competitors despite losses on the day