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PDYN Stock Soars to 52-Week High, Reaching $3.52 Amidst SurgeUS President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he was nominating staunch loyalist and retired general Keith Kellogg as his Ukraine envoy, charged with ending the two-and-a-half-year Russian invasion. Trump campaigned on a platform of ushering a swift end to the Ukraine war, boasting that he would quickly mediate a ceasefire deal between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. But his critics have warned that the incoming Republican will likely leverage US military aid to pressure Kyiv into an agreement that left it ceding occupied territory permanently or agreeing not to join NATO. "I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia," Trump said in a statement on social media. "Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration." A fixture on the cable news circuit, the 80-year-old national security veteran co-wrote an academic paper earlier this year calling for Washington to leverage military aid as a means of pushing for peace talks. Ukraine has received almost $60 billion from Washington for its armed forces since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, but with the more isolationist Trump taking over the White House, supporters fear the spigot will run dry. "The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a cease-fire or peace agreement," Kellogg's research paper for the Trumpist America First Policy Institute think tank said. "Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia." Kellogg served in several positions during Trump's first term, including as chief of staff on the White House national security council and national security advisor to then-vice president Mike Pence. Kellogg told Voice of America at the Republican convention in July that Ukraine's options were "quite clear." "If Ukraine doesn't want to negotiate, fine, but then accept the fact that you can have enormous losses in your cities and accept the fact that you will have your children killed, accept the fact that you don't have 130,000 dead, you will have 230,000–250,000," he said. Trump's announcement came as the outgoing administration of Democrat Joe Biden was hosting a news conference to urge Ukraine to enlist more recruits by reducing the minimum age of conscription to 18. Facing a much larger enemy with more advanced weapons and with stocks of volunteers dwindling, Ukraine is facing an "existential" recruitment crunch, a senior administration official told reporters. "The simple truth is that Ukraine is not currently mobilizing or training enough soldiers to replace their battlefield losses while keeping pace with Russia's growing military," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He was pressed on what Washington considers an appropriate minimum age and he replied that "we think there's real value in them considering lowering the recruiting age to 18" -- in line with the US benchmark. He added that an additional 160,000 troops would be "on the low end" to fill out Ukraine's ranks -- but "a good start." The former Soviet republic's population has fallen by more than a quarter since its mid-1990s peak of 52 million, and authorities are desperate to shield the younger generation -- but a US congressional report in June estimated the average Ukrainian soldier is 40. Zelensky signed a decree in April lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 but the move did not alleviate the chronic troop shortages, according to US officials. ft/bjt Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.This $16 240W omnidirectional USB cable orients to your device, not the other way aroundIsraeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said. or signup to continue reading The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months. Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital - Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia - is targeting Hamas militants. Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies. Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave. He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops. Israeli forces have operated in the vicinity of the Kamal Adwan hospital since Monday, medics said. An Israeli security official said the area was a Hamas stronghold. "Kamal Adwan is at the heart of the most complex fighting in Jabaliya," he said. "We are being very careful." Officials at the three hospitals have refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on October 5. Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies, fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals in the enclave during that period in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said they resisted a new order by the army to evacuate hundreds of patients, their companions and staff, adding that the hospital has been under constant Israeli fire that damaged generators, oxygen pumps and parts of the building. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continued elsewhere in the enclave and medics said at least nine Palestinians, including a member of the civil emergency service, were killed in four separate military strikes on Tuesday. The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign against Hamas has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins. A new bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has been reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas but that he did not know how much longer it would take to see the results. Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials' remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved. Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in a dawn raid on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. Khawla Abdo, a 53-year-old woman, was killed as a result of shelling by Israeli forces, while Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the abdomen and chest, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said earlier it killed one Palestinian in a "counter-terrorism" operation in Tulkarm, while its forces arrested 18 other wanted individuals and confiscated dozens of weapons. Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza and a wider conflict on several fronts. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? 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KUWAIT: Key amendments to the Nationality Law of 1959 were published on Monday in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm in an Amiri decree, which means they are effective. The amendments almost entirely abolish the right of foreign women to get Kuwaiti citizenship after getting married to Kuwaiti men. Under the previous law, such women had the right to apply for citizenship after five years of marriage, provided they have children. In the past several months, the government has revoked the citizenship of more than 10,000 naturalized wives of Kuwaitis. The amendments also allow revoking the citizenship of Kuwaitis who obtained it through forgery or cheating. All relatives who had obtained citizenship through that person will also lose it. The amendments allow revoking the citizenship of any naturalized Kuwaiti convicted in a final verdict of crimes related to honor or state security crimes or for abusing the Almighty, prophets and HH the Amir. The amendments allow revoking the citizenship of naturalized Kuwaitis if they were dismissed from government jobs over honesty or honor reasons within 10 years of obtaining the citizenship. The amendments also allow authorities to revoke citizenship for national interests and the state’s external security, and also for carrying out anti-state activities. The state can use modern technology in granting citizenship or revoking it, the amendments state. The amendments treat children of Kuwaiti women married to foreigners as Kuwaitis if they maintain their stay in the country and their fathers are held by the enemy, die or divorce their mothers. As per the decree, a foreign male obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship does not entitle his foreign wife to the citizenship. However, their underage children would be treated as Kuwaitis, and they can choose their preferred nationality one year after reaching the legal age. The amendments also abolished allowing authorities to naturalize foreigners including stateless people or bedoons who or their ancestors lived in the country since 1965 and before, and maintained their stay in Kuwait. In the explanatory note, the government says it has become very difficult to trace this category of people. First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Interior and Chairman of the Supreme Nationality Committee Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah will hold a meeting on Wednesday with editors-in-chief of daily newspapers and heads of public welfare societies at 10:30 am at Seif Palace. The interior ministry said in a statement on Monday that the meeting aims to clarify the most prominent features of the new Kuwaiti nationality law amendments and discuss the files of dual nationals and those who acquired nationality based on fraud, false statements or incorrect certificates according to article 21, and the files of article 8 (wives of Kuwaitis). Meanwhile, the new residency law which contains tough penalties and high fines of up to five years in jail and KD 10,000 in fines is likely to be implemented in March, a top interior ministry official was quoted as saying. The new residency law was issued by an Amiri decree earlier this month, but it does not become effective until the interior ministry completes the bylaws necessary to apply the law. The new law considers trading in visas or selling residency for money as a felony instead of a misdemeanor in the previous law, director of the residency affairs detectives department Brig Mishaal Al-Shanafa told a local newspaper. The penalty for this crime has been toughened to up to five years in jail and a fine that could reach KD 10,000, said Shanafa, adding that the penalty will be added for each case. Expat workers who pay money to obtain residency are also penalized under the new law, he said. Previously, the penalty was deportation, but under the new law, they will be fined and jailed and then deported, he said. He said that during the first eight months of this year, the department has sent 26,000 expats to the deportation department. Shanafa said the new law stipulates that expat visitors can stay for three months and violators are liable for a one-year jail term and a fine between KD 1,000 and KD 2,000.

American Airlines resumes flights after brief grounding ahead of busy Christmas travel

Penn State preparing for hard-charging Jeanty and Boise State in CFP quarterfinalsWASHINGTON (AP) — Deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in northern Gaza as soon as next month owing to Israel’s “near-total blockade” of food and other aid, the U.S.-created global food-crisis monitor said on Tuesday. The finding by the Famine Early Warning System Network appeared to expose a rift within the Biden administration over the extent of starvation in northern Gaza, with the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, disputing part of the data used in reaching the conclusion and calling the stepped-up famine warning “irresponsible.” Northern Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its 14-month war with Hamas militants. Israel at one point increased the number of aid deliveries it permitted into northern Gaza under pressure from President Joe Biden. But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has blocked almost all aid again. Only nine U.N. trucks have been able to bring in food and water over the past 2 1/2 months, Oxfam says. Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border. Related stories Former Israeli spies describe attack using exploding electronic devices against Hezbollah Bethlehem plans another somber Christmas under the shadow of war in Gaza Winter is hitting Gaza and many Palestinians have little protection from the cold FEWS Net said unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in northern Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between next month and March. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people. Cindy McCain, the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, in a Dec. 15 appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” called for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians trapped in north Gaza. “We need unfettered access. We need a ceasefire and we need it now,” she said. “We can’t ... sit by and just allow these people to starve to death.” FEWS Net was created by the U.S. Agency for International Development in the mid-1980s to warn of global food crises. The United States, Israel’s main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions. Military support for Israel’s war in Gaza is politically charged in the United States. Republicans and some Democrats have staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration’s reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month’s elections. Lew, the U.S. ambassador, challenged the famine warning in a posting on social media, saying it was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings. FEWS said its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 remain there. “We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible.,” Lew wrote. ___ AP writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Zaire Williams, Zavier Fitch combine for 45 points to help Wagner beat Penn State-Scranton 120-30While some people are hoping for a load of presents from Santa this Christmas, others are dreaming of a load of loot courtesy of the Michigan Lottery. Macomb County residents who snapped up a Mega Millions ticket will be closely watching tonight’s drawing to see if they will be able to pay for Christmas gifts by winning a jackpot near $1 billion. The current jackpot stands at $970 million with a cash value of $439.9 million. The drawing takes place at 11 p.m. “A Michigan Lottery player could be waking up to a stocking stuffed with cash on Christmas morning with $970 million up for grabs (Tuesday) night,” Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said in a news release. Mega Millions tickets are available at retailers and online until 10:45 p.m. Tuesday. If a player wins the jackpot, it would be the fourth Mega Millions jackpot won this year. The jackpot is the seventh largest Mega Millions jackpot ever. Tuesday’s drawing will be the 30th drawing since the jackpot was last won in September, when one ticket purchased in Texas won the $810 million jackpot. Lottery officials say since the Mega Millions jackpot run began Sept. 13, Michigan Lottery players have won nearly $5 million in base-game prizes, including two $1 million prizes. Holiday drawings have been lucky for Michigan Lottery players. On Jan. 1, 2024, The Breakfast Club lottery club won an $842.4 million Powerball jackpot. They bought the winning ticket at the Food Castle of Grand Blanc, located at 3035 East Grand Blanc Road in Grand Blanc. The Mega Millions jackpot was last won in Michigan in January 2021 by an Oakland County lottery club. The club won a $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot. That jackpot was the largest ever won in Michigan. In observance of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Michigan Lottery headquarters in Lansing and all Lottery regional offices located in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Livonia, Saginaw, and Sterling Heights will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 24 and 25.Qualcomm processors properly licensed from Arm, US jury finds

LONDON (AP) — An artist whose work exploring her Scottish Sikh identity includes a vintage Ford car draped in a crocheted doily won the U.K.’s prestigious Turner Prize on Tuesday. Jasleen Kaur was awarded the 25,000-pound ($32,000) prize by actor James Norton during a ceremony at the Tate Britain gallery in London, where works by the four finalists are on display until February. A jury led by Tate Britain director Alex Farquhar praised the way 38-year-old Kaur “weaves together the personal, political and spiritual” through “unexpected and playful combinations of material.” Her winning exhibition mixes sculpture, print, everyday items – including family photos, a Ford Escort car and the popular Scottish soda Irn Bru -- and immersive music to reflect on her upbringing in Glasgow’s Sikh community. Three other finalists – Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson and Delaine Le Bas – received 10,000 pounds ($12,670) each. Named for 19th-century landscape painter J.M.W. Turner and founded in 1984 to reward young artists, the prize helped make stars of shark-pickling artist Damien Hirst, potter Grayson Perry, sculptor Anish Kapoor and filmmaker Steve McQueen . But it has also been criticized for rewarding impenetrable conceptual work and often sparks debate about the value of modern art, with winners such as Hirst’s "Mother and Child Divided,” which consists of two cows, bisected and preserved in formaldehyde, and Martin Creed’s “Lights On and Off” -- a room with a light blinking on and off – drawing scorn from sections of the media. In 2019, all four finalists were declared winners after they refused to compete against one another, “to make a collective statement in the name of commonality, multiplicity and solidarity.” In 2021, all five finalists were collectives rather than individual artists. The award was initially open to artists under 50 but now has no upper age limit.Fonseca content with Milan's serious attitude in easy Sassuolo win