end game

Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF ( NASDAQ:IUSB – Free Report ) by 32.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,208 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF were worth $481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IUSB. Vertex Planning Partners LLC lifted its holdings in iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF by 28.5% during the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 58,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 12,942 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF by 81.1% during the third quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 21,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 9,549 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $246,000. CAP Partners LLC lifted its holdings in iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 39,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 5,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Theory Financial LLC boosted its stake in iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Theory Financial LLC now owns 142,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,518,000 after purchasing an additional 36,677 shares during the last quarter. iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF Stock Performance IUSB opened at $45.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.97. iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF has a twelve month low of $44.21 and a twelve month high of $47.44. iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF Increases Dividend iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF Profile ( Free Report ) The iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF (IUSB) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Bloomberg U.S. Universal index. The fund tracks a broad Barclays index of USD-denominated taxable bonds. The index is market value weighted. IUSB was launched on Jun 10, 2014 and is managed by BlackRock. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IUSB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF ( NASDAQ:IUSB – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .ANDOVER, Mass. , Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TransMedics Group, Inc. ("TransMedics") (Nasdaq: TMDX), a medical technology company that is transforming organ transplant therapy for patients with end-stage lung, heart, and liver failure, today announced that on December 9, 2024 , TransMedics granted non-qualified stock options to purchase an aggregate of 20,612 shares of its common stock and an aggregate of 13,576 restricted stock units to 3 employees, each as a material inducement for each employee's entry into employment with TransMedics. The grants included stock options to purchase 18,922 shares of TransMedics' common stock and 12,463 restricted stock units granted to Gerardo Hernandez , the Company's Chief Financial Officer. The grants were approved by the Compensation Committee of the TransMedics Board of Directors and were granted in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) and pursuant to the TransMedics Group, Inc. Inducement Plan. TransMedics granted non-qualified stock options to purchase 20,612 shares of TransMedics' common stock and 13,576 restricted stock units in the aggregate. The stock options were granted with a per share exercise price of $69.84 , the closing price of the common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market on December 9, 2024 . Twenty-five percent of the shares subject to each option will vest on the first yearly anniversary of the date of the employee's start of employment, with the remainder vesting in equal monthly installments over the subsequent three year period, subject to the employee's continued service with the Company through the applicable vesting date. The options have a 10-year term and are subject to the terms of the TransMedics Group, Inc. Inducement Plan. Twenty-five percent of each restricted stock unit award will vest on the first four anniversaries of the date of the employee's start of employment, subject to the employee's continued service with the Company through the applicable vesting date. The restricted stock units are subject to the terms of the TransMedics Group, Inc. Inducement Plan. About TransMedics Group, Inc. TransMedics is the world's leader in portable extracorporeal warm perfusion and assessment of donor organs for transplantation. Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts , the company was founded to address the unmet need for more and better organs for transplantation and has developed technologies to preserve organ quality, assess organ viability prior to transplant, and potentially increase the utilization of donor organs for the treatment of end-stage heart, lung, and liver failure. Investor Contact: Brian Johnston 332-895-3222 Investors@transmedics.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/transmedics-reports-inducement-grants-under-nasdaq-listing-rule-5635c4-302330724.html SOURCE TransMedics Group, Inc.H&M REOPENS ICONIC TIMES SQUARE FLAGSHIP IN NEW YORK CITY AS NEW BRAND SHOWCASE

Ducks’ Frank Vatrano and Troy Terry are heating upOn Thursday, Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman became the first Senate Democrat to meet with Pete Hegseth , Donald Trump’s problematic pick to lead the Department of Defense. Oddly, Fetterman hasn’t ruled out supporting Hegseth, whose own mother once wrote him an angry email calling him an abuser of women. (She now says she doesn’t hold the same view of her son.) “He could theoretically become the head of the Defense Department,” Fetterman told Politico in explaining his logic. “I've discovered in my time in D.C. that that’s important. And, ‘Are you having a conversation with someone?’ I don’t know why that’s shocking.” Fetterman also said he’s aware of “ some ” allegations against Hegseth. Those include, but are not limited to, Hegseth allegedly raping a woman in 2017—Hegseth said the sex was consensual —and supposedly drinking on the job . But that hasn’t stopped the Pennsylvania senator from being open to joining Republicans in confirming the Fox News host. Fetterman said he’s not sure why it’d be “ controversial ” to meet with Hegseth—and even suggested the two might find common ground on some issues. And on its own, meeting with the likely next defense secretary may not be a strange thing. But that’s not the only eyebrow-raising action Fetterman has taken recently. On Wednesday, Fetterman apparently became the first Democratic senator to join Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform. And in his debut post, he made the surprising call to pardon Trump in his New York hush money case. Fetterman also said he was a “hard YES” on confirming Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York as the next ambassador to the United Nations. x Always was a hard YES for @EliseStefanik but it was a pleasure to have a conversation. I support defunding UNRWA for its documented Hamas infiltration and fully look forward to her holding the @UN accountable for its endemic antisemitism and blatant anti-Israel views. https://t.co/DvyYIYCd0h — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) December 11, 2024 Stefanik isn’t the first Trump Cabinet pick that Fetterman has voiced his support for. In November, he said he would vote to confirm Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as the next secretary of state. x Unsurprisingly, the other team’s pick will have political differences than my own. That being said, my colleague @SenMarcoRubio is a strong choice and I look forward to voting for his confirmation. pic.twitter.com/OUIDx5KK4J — U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) November 12, 2024 Once a self-described progressive , Fetterman has pivoted to the right since winning his 2022 Senate election. But backing Trump’s Cabinet picks isn’t the first time the senator has found himself on the outs with the progressive movement. He’s one of many Democrats to make stringently pro-Israel statements during its ongoing war in Gaza. In that, he found allies in the Democratic Party, such as New York Rep. Ritchie Torres. However, Fetterman is making the case that he hasn’t abandoned progressivism—but that the movement dumped him. “I didn’t leave the label, it left me on that,” Fetterman said in a June interview with comedian Bill Maher. But a review of his history with the label makes his change appear more cynical in nature. After all, the senator happily embraced the label for years and courted the endorsement of independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist , when Fetterman successfully ran to be Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor. Now, though, Fetterman seems more keen to taunt progressivism than to embrace it. It’s a convenient scapegoat for Fetterman to blame the left for his shift to the right. It keeps his name in the limelight while making him seem to be some sort of brave truth-teller who isn’t afraid to stand up to his own party. However, he might find it hard to have it both ways, with both parties, especially during a time when center-left and establishment Democrats are coming under fire for frequently losing elections and major policy fights . At least for now, Fetterman hasn’t made clear what his end goal is in fighting his own party’s interests. But in the short-term, he is apparently trying to fill the void of the non-Republican rabble-rouser now that independent Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are leaving .

Eagles Star DeVonta Smith Missed Practice For Second Straight DayIs Enron back? If it’s a joke, some former employees aren’t laughingNo. 11 Tennessee crushes UTEP to enhance CFP chances

NoneAn Israeli airstrike flattened a multistory building in central Gaza, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens more, according to Palestinian medical officials, after strikes Thursday across the Gaza Strip killed at least 28 others. The latest deadly strike hit the urban Nuseirat refugee camp just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Jerusalem that the recent ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for a potential deal to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the deadly strike in Nuseirat. Israel says it is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza . The Israeli military says Hamas militants hide among Gaza’s civilian population. The fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine in some of the hardest-hit parts of the territory. Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Here's the latest: DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, Palestinian medics said, just hours after President Joe Biden’s national security adviser raised hopes about a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. Photos from the scene of the blast that circulated on social media showed a completely collapsed building with people walking through its mangled and charred remains, smoke rising from piles of belongings strewn over the rubble. Officials at two hospitals in the Gaza Strip, al-Awda Hospital in the north and al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, reported they received a combined total of 25 bodies from an Israeli strike on a multistory residential building in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp. Palestinian medics also reported that over 40 people, most of them children, were receiving treatment at the two hospitals. The al-Aqsa Hospital said that the Israeli attack also damaged several nearby houses in Nuseirat. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the deadly strike. Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza . The Israeli military says Hamas militants hide among Gaza’s civilian population. Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames U.N. agencies for not distributing it. The U.N. says Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order after Israel repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, make it extremely difficult to operate in the territory. UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. food agency is trying to deal with massive needs in Syria not only from escalating war-related food insecurity and an upsurge in displaced people fleeing Lebanon but also the dramatically new environment following the ouster of Bashar Assad, a senior U.N. official says. “It’s a triple crisis and the needs are going to be massive,” said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, in an interview with The Associated Press late Wednesday. The WFP estimated that 3 million people in Syria were “acutely food insecure” and very hungry. However, that estimate was made before the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon pushed many Syrian refugees back to their home country, plus the instability caused by the overthrow of Assad. Due to funding cuts, the WFP had been targeting only 2 million of those people, he said. Because WFP has been working in Syria during the 13-year civil war, he said, it has pre-positioned food in the country. It has 500 staff in seven offices nationwide and has operated across conflict lines, across borders, and with all different parties, he said. Skau said Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main rebel group now in control of Syria, has promised to provide security for WFP warehouses. Humanitarian aid supplies had been looted at U.N. warehouses in the disorder after Assad fell. “We’re not really up and running in Damascus because of the continued kind of uncertainty there,” he said. WFP initially thought of relocating non-essential staff but the situation in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, has been “quite calm and orderly," he said. In the short term, Skau said, “what we’re seeing is that markets are disrupted, the value of the currency dropped dramatically, food prices are going up, transport lines don’t work,” and it’s unclear who will stamp required papers for imports and exports. This means that a bigger humanitarian response is needed initially, he said, but in the next phase, the U,N. will be looking at contributing to Syria’s recovery, and ultimately the country will need reconstruction. Skau said he expects a new funding appeal for Syria and urged donors to be generous. JERUSALEM — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Jerusalem on Thursday that Israel’s ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for another deal to end the war in Gaza. He plans to travel next to Qatar and Egypt — key mediators in the ceasefire talks — as the Biden administration makes a final push on negotiations before Donald Trump is inaugurated. Sullivan said “Hamas’ posture at the negotiating table did adapt” after Israel decimated the leadership of its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and reached a ceasefire there. “We believe it puts us in a position to close this negotiation,” he said. Sullivan dismissed speculation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was waiting for Trump to take office to finalize a deal. He the U.S. believes there are three American hostages still alive in Gaza, but it’s hard to know for sure. He also said “the balance of power in the Middle East has changed significantly” since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, especially with the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally of Hezbollah and Iran. “We are now faced with a dramatically reshaped Middle East in which Israel is stronger, Iran is weaker, its proxies decimated, and a ceasefire that is new and will be lasting in Lebanon that ensures Israel’s security over the long term,” he said. KHIAM, Lebanon — An Israeli strike killed at least one person Thursday in the Lebanese border town of Khiam, the Health Ministry said, less than a day after Israeli troops handed the hilltop village back to the Lebanese army in coordination with U.N. peacekeepers, Khiam is the first Lebanese town Israel has pull out of since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants began two weeks ago, and marks an important test of the fragile truce . Lebanon's Health Ministry and state news agency did not provide details on who was killed, and did not report airstrikes elsewhere on Thursday. The Israeli military said an airstrike targeted Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, without saying if the strike was in Khiam. Lebanese troops deployed in the northern section of the town on Thursday morning and were coordinating with U.N. peacekeepers to finalize Israel’s withdrawal before fully entering into other neighborhoods. An Associated Press reporter who visited Khiam on Thursday observed widespread destruction, with most houses reduced to rubble. Entire neighborhoods were flattened, with collapsed walls and debris scattered across the streets. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, sharply criticized Israel for striking the town less than 24 hours after the Lebanese army returned, saying it was “a violation of the pledges made by the parties that sponsored the ceasefire agreement, who must act to curb Israeli aggression.” The truce was brokered by the U.S. and France. Israel has previously said the ceasefire deal allows it to use military force against perceived violations. Near-daily attacks by Israel during the ceasefire, mostly in southern Lebanon, have killed at least 29 people and wounded 27 others. Khiam, which sits on a ridge less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the border with Israel, saw some of the most intense fighting during the war. The Lebanese army was clearing debris and reopening roads in the northern section of the town. Civilian access to other areas remained challenging as the army clears roads and works alongside the U.N. peacekeepers to ensure the area is free of unexploded ordnance. AQABA, Jordan -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is urging the many players in Syria to avoid taking any steps that could lead to further violence. Blinken spoke to reporters in Jordan on Thursday shortly after meeting King Abdullah II as he opened a trip in the region to discuss Syria's future after former President Bashar Assad's ouster. Blinken will next visit Turkey, a NATO ally and a main backer of Syrian rebel groups. Blinken called this “a time of both real promise but also peril for Syria and for its neighbors.” He said he was focused on coordinating efforts in the region “to support the Syrian people as they transition away from Assad’s brutal dictatorship” and establish a government that isn’t dominated by one religion or ethnic group or outside power. Blinken was asked about Israel’s incursion into a buffer zone that had been demilitarized for the past half century. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the move is temporary and defensive, but also indicated Israel will remain in the area for a long time. Blinken declined to say whether the U.S. supports the move, but said the U.S. would be speaking to Israel and other partners in the region. “I think, across the board, when it comes to any actors who have real interests in Syria, it’s also really important at this time that, we all try to make sure that we’re not sparking any additional conflicts,” he said. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, arrived in Damascus on Thursday, according to Turkish media reports. Kalin was seen arriving at the Umayyad Mosque to pray, surrounded by a large crowd, according to video shown on Turkish television. The visit is highly symbolic. Turkish officials, who supported the opposition against Syria’s government, had predicted at the start of the civil war in 2011 that President Bashar Assad’s government would fall, allowing them to pray at the Umayyad Mosque. JERUSALEM — Paraguay reopened its embassy in Jerusalem Thursday, becoming one of a small handful of nations to recognize the city as Israel’s capital and marking a diplomatic victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s international isolation has increased as the war in Gaza drags on, and Paraguay was the first country to move its embassy to Jerusalem since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that kickstarted the war. The United States, Honduras, Guatemala, Kosovo, and Papua New Guinea are among the few countries with Jerusalem embassies. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1967 but it wasn’t recognized by the international community, and most countries run their embassies out of Tel Aviv. Spirits were high at the ceremony marking the embassy’s inauguration Thursday, with Netanyahu and Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar lavishing praise on Paraguayan President Santiago Pena. “My good friend Santiago,” said Netanyahu, addressing Pena. “We’re a small nation. You’re a small nation. We suffered horrible things but we overcame the odds of history...we can win and we are winning.” Paraguay had an embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, under Former President Horacio Cartes. That embassy was moved back to Tel Aviv by Cartes’ successor, Mario Abdo Benitez, prompting Israel to close its embassy in Asuncion. Saar said Israel and Paraguay shared a “friendship based not only on interests but also values and principles.” He and the Paraguayan foreign minister, Rubén Ramírez Lezcano, signed a series of bilateral agreements and Saar said he would soon visit Asunción with a delegation from the Israeli private sector. “Israel is going to win and the countries we are standing next to Israel, we are going to win," Pena said. AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is renewing calls for Syria’s new leadership to respect women and minority rights, prevent extremists from gaining new footholds in the country and keeping suspected chemical weapons stocks secure as he makes his first visit to the Mideast since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad . Making his 12th trip to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war erupted lasted year but amid fresh concerns about security following the upheaval in Syria, Blinken emphasized Thursday to Jordan’s King Abdullah II U.S. “support for an inclusive transition that can lead to an accountable and representative Syrian government chosen by the Syrian people,” the State Department said. Blinken also repeated the importance the outgoing Biden administration puts on respect for human rights and international law, the protection of civilians and stopping terrorist groups from reconstituting. Blinken met with the monarch and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Aqaba before traveling to Turkey for talks with Turkish officials on the situation in Syria and the urgency of securing a long-elusive deal to release hostages and end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian territory since October 2023. Abdullah told Blinken that “the first step to reach comprehensive regional calm is to end the Israeli war on Gaza." GENEVA — The U.N. envoy for Syria is calling on authorities to save evidence from detention centers that were a hub of “unimaginable barbarity” that Syrians have faced for many years and cooperate with international investigators looking into such crimes. Geir Pederson referred to new images from the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital, Damascus, after President Bashar Assad fled Syria as armed groups stormed in to overthrow his government over the weekend. “The images from Saydnaya and other detention facilities starkly underscore the unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured and reported for years,” Pedersen said in a statement. Documentation and testimonies “only scratch the surface of the carceral system’s horrors,” he added. Pedersen urged authorities to cooperate with U.N. bodies like an independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was created in 2011, and an independent group known as the IIIM that was set up five years later to also compile evidence of crimes. ROME — Leaders of the Group of 7 industrialized nations offered their full support for an inclusive political transition in Syria and invited all parties to preserve the country’s territorial integrity. In a message released by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office, the leaders said they were ready to support a transition that “leads to a credible government, inclusive and not sectarian, that guarantees respect for the state of law, universal human rights, including rights for women, (and) the protection of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities.” The leaders also underlined the importance that ousted President Bashar Assad’s government is held responsible for crimes, citing “decades of atrocities.” They said they would also cooperate with groups working to prohibit chemical weapons “to secure, declare and destroy” remaining chemical arms in Syria. Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the G-7, which also includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it struck Hamas militants in two locations in the southern Gaza Strip who planned to hijack aid convoys. Palestinian Health officials had earlier said that the two strikes killed 15 men who were part of local committees established to secure aid deliveries. The committees have been organized in cooperation with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza. It was not possible to independently confirm either account of the strikes, which occurred overnight into Thursday. Israel has long accused Hamas of hijacking humanitarian aid deliveries, while U.N. officials have said there is no systemic diversion of aid . U.N. agencies and aid groups say deliveries are held up by Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid and movement within Gaza, as well as the breakdown of law and order more than 14 months into the war between Israel and Hamas. Israel has repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, which maintained internal security before the war. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, said a U.N. convoy of 70 trucks carrying humanitarian aid in southern Gaza “was involved in a serious incident,” resulting in just one of the trucks reaching its destination. It did not provide further details on the incident but said the same route had been used successfully two days earlier. Israel’s offensive, launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, leaving the territory heavily reliant on international food aid. DAMASCUS, Syria — An American who turned up in Syria on Thursday says he was detained after crossing into the country by foot on a Christian pilgrimage seven months ago. Travis Timmerman appears to have been among thousands of people released from the country’s notorious prisons after rebels reached Damascus over the weekend, overthrowing President Bashar Assad and ending his family’s 54-year rule. As video emerged online of Timmerman on Thursday, he was initially mistaken by some for Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago. In the video, Timmerman could be seen lying on a mattress under a blanket in what appeared to be a private house. A group of men in the video said he was being treated well and would be safely returned home. The Biden administration is working to bring Timmerman home, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Aqaba, Jordan, without offering details, citing privacy. Timmerman later gave an interview with the Al-Arabiya TV network, saying he had illegally crossed into Syria on foot from the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle seven months ago, before being detained. He said he was treated well in detention but could hear other men being tortured. AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Jordan on his 12th visit to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year and his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad that has sparked new fears of instability in a region wracked by three conflicts despite a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Blinken was meeting in Aqaba with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday before traveling to Turkey for talks with Turkish officials on Friday. The meetings will focus largely on Syria but also touch on long-elusive hopes for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian territory since October 2023. Blinken is the latest senior U.S. official to visit the Middle East in the five days since Assad was deposed as the Biden administration navigates more volatility in the region in its last few weeks in office and as President-elect Donald Trump has said the U.S. should stay out of the Syrian conflict. Other include national security adviser Jake Sullivan and a top military commander who traveled there as the U.S. and Israel have launched airstrikes to prevent the Islamic State militant group from reconstituting and prevent materiel and suspected chemical weapons stocks from falling into militant hands. Blinken “will discuss the need for the transition process and new government in Syria to respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance, prevent Syria from being used as a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” the State Department said. The U.S. would be willing to recognize and fully support a new Syrian government that met those criteria. U.S. officials say they are not actively reviewing the foreign terrorist organization designation of the main Syrian rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, which was once an al-Qaida affiliate, but stressed they are not barred from speaking to its members. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces will remain in a Syrian buffer zone until a new force on the other side of the border can guarantee security. After the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israeli forces pushed into a buffer zone that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war. The military says it has seized additional strategic points nearby. Israeli officials have said the move is temporary, but Netanyahu’s conditions could take months or even years to fulfill as Syria charts its post-Assad future, raising the prospect of an open-ended Israeli presence in the country. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Thursday that Assad’s overthrow by jihadi rebels created a vacuum on the border. “Israel will not permit jihadi groups to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with October 7th style attacks,” it said, referring to Hamas’ 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there. “That is why Israeli forces entered the buffer zone and took control of strategic sites near Israel’s border.” The statement added that “this deployment is temporary until a force that is committed to the 1974 agreement can be established and security on our border can be guaranteed.” The buffer zone is adjacent to the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. The international community, except for the United States, views the Golan as occupied Syrian territory. JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Thursday that the attacker who fatally shot a 12-year-old Israeli boy in the occupied West Bank overnight turned himself in to authorities. The attacker opened fire on a bus near the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit, critically wounding the boy, who hospital authorities pronounced dead in the early morning. Three others were wounded in the attack, paramedics said. The shooting took place just outside Jerusalem in an area near major Israeli settlements. JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian government has evacuated 37 citizens from Syria following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government, officials said Thursday. The evacuees were taken by land from Damascus to Beirut, where they boarded three commercial flights to Jakarta, said Judha Nugraha, director of citizen protection at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The Indonesian Embassy in Damascus said all 1,162 Indonesian citizens in Syria were safe. Indonesian Ambassador to Syria Wajid Fauzi said the situation in Syria has gradually returned to normal. “I can say that 98% of people’s lives are back to normal, shops are open, public transportation has started running,” Fauzi said, adding that most Indonesian nationals living in Syria had chosen to stay. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. One of the strikes overnight and into Thursday flattened a house in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies at the hospital’s morgue. Two other strikes killed 15 men who were part of local committees established to secure aid convoys . The committees were set up by displaced Palestinians in coordination with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. The Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis received the bodies and an AP reporter counted them. The hospital said eight were killed in a strike near the southern border town of Rafah and seven others in a strike 30 minutes later near Khan Younis. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames U.N. agencies for not distributing it. The U.N. says Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order after Israel repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, make it extremely difficult to operate in the territory. UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved resolutions Wednesday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban . The votes in the 193-nation world body were 158-9 with 13 abstentions to demand a ceasefire now and 159-9 with 11 abstentions to support the agency known as UNRWA. The votes culminated two days of speeches overwhelmingly calling for an end to the 14-month war between Israel and the militant Hamas group . General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly. Israel and its close ally, the United States, were in a tiny minority speaking and voting against the resolutions.

Vance takes on a more visible transition role, working to boost Trump’s most contentious picks

Meta, la empresa matriz de Facebook e Instagram, anunció la donación de un millón de dólares al fondo de toma de posesión del presidente electo, Donald Trump. Esto ocurre pocas semanas después de que el CEO de Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, se reuniera en privado con Trump en Mar-a-Lago. Un portavoz de la empresa confirmó el donativo el jueves. La noticia fue divulgada inicialmente por The Wall Street Journal. Stephen Miller, nombrado subjefe de despacho para el segundo mandato de Trump, dijo que Zuckerberg, al igual que otros líderes empresariales, desea apoyar los planes económicos de Trump. El CEO tecnológico ha buscado cambiar la percepción de su compañía entre la derecha tras una complicada relación con Trump. Trump fue expulsado de Facebook tras el ataque del 6 de enero de 2021 al Capitolio de Estados Unidos. La compañía restauró su cuenta a principios de 2023. Durante la campaña de 2024, Zuckerberg no respaldó a ningún candidato a la presidencia, pero ha adoptado una postura más positiva hacia Trump. A principios de este año, elogió la reacción del entonces candidato ante su primer intento de asesinato. Sin embargo, Trump continuó atacando públicamente a Zuckerberg durante la campaña. En julio, publicó un mensaje en su propia red social, Truth Social, amenazando con enviar a los defraudadores electorales a la cárcel, en parte, citando un apodo que usó para el CEO de Meta. “¡ZUCKERBUCKS, ten cuidado!”, escribió Trump, usando un juego de palabras con el apellido de Zuckerberg y “bucks”, palabra informal para designar a los dólares. Tradicionalmente, las corporaciones han conformado una gran parte de los donantes para las ceremonias de toma de posesión de los presidentes, con la excepción de 2009, cuando el entonces presidente electo, Barack Obama, se negó a aceptar donaciones corporativas. Cambió de postura para su segunda toma de posesión en 2013. Facebook no hizo ningún donativo para la toma de posesión de Biden en 2021 ni la de Trump en 2017. Google donó 285.000 dólares para la primera toma de posesión de Trump y para la de Biden, según registros de la Comisión Federal de Elecciones. Las comisiones de toma de posesión están obligadas a revelar la fuente de su financiación, pero no cómo gastan el dinero. Microsoft dio un millón de dólares para la segunda toma de posesión de Obama, pero solo 500.000 dólares para la de Trump en 2017 y la de Biden en 2021.

As the stock market has moved higher, one victim has been dividend yields . With the average payout for the S&P 500 down to just 1.25%, such stocks have lost a bit of appeal at a time when investors can earn a guaranteed return of around 5% in some certificates of deposit. Nonetheless, you don't need to look far to find stocks with high, sustainable dividends and significant potential for stock price growth. Even with a budget of $3,000, a $1,000 investment in each of these stocks can bring a quick stream of dividend income without undermining the potential for stock price growth. Start Your Mornings Smarter! Wake up with Breakfast news in your inbox every market day. Sign Up For Free » AT&T Admittedly, AT&T 's (NYSE: T) recent dividend history may make its stock a strange choice at first glance. In 2022, the company abandoned a 35-year streak of payout hikes, slashing the dividend by 45%. It has remained at the $1.11-per-share level since then, yielding 4.8% at current prices. AT&T also carries a massive total debt of $129 billion, a huge burden considering its $116 billion in stockholders' equity . However, the dividend is holding up well considering this challenge. The debt fell by $8 billion over the previous nine months. Additionally, thanks to its $17 billion to $18 billion in free cash flow forecast for 2024, AT&T can pay for debt reduction while covering the $8 billion annual dividend cost. Moreover, because of a near-exclusive focus on its wireless network and fiber, AT&T has added nearly 1.2 million wireless net customers and over 700,000 fiber net customers in the first nine months of 2024. That growing customer base allows AT&T to solidify its business. Investors are taking notice of such improvements, and the stock price has risen 45% over the last year. With a relatively low P/E ratio of 19, investors may have an added incentive to buy AT&T stock now before the rising stock price further reduces its dividend yield. Innovative Industrial Properties The idea of buying a cannabis-related real estate investment trust (REIT) like Innovative Industrial Properties (IIP) (NYSE: IIPR) may seem counterintuitive right now. Although IIP serves only medical cannabis growers, the Republican sweep in the 2024 elections could slow a continued legalization process. Also, in recent quarters, a rapid growth rate came to a halt amid problems with some non-paying tenants on its 108 properties. However, IIP proved itself adept at managing such properties by either unloading them or finding new tenants to take their places. The company has also hiked its dividend at least once per year since beginning its dividend in 2017. Consequently, its $7.60-per-share annual payout yields 7.2%. That was less than $8.11 per share in funds from operations (FFO) income over the last 12 months, meaning it can sustain its dividend. Even with the significant pullback after the election, IIP stock is still up 33% for the year. Thanks to that discounted stock price, IIP stock sells at a price-to-FFO ratio of around 13. Between that valuation and the massive dividend yield, IIP offers a huge incentive to wait on a likely recovery from the recent pullback. Realty Income Realty Income (NYSE: O) is a REIT specializing in single-tenant commercial properties. It rents such buildings on a net lease arrangement, meaning the tenant pays for the taxes, insurance, and maintenance of the properties. This means the company can retain more of the revenue from the properties as profit. Moreover, nearly 99% of the company's approximately 15,500 properties have tenants. Hence, it continues to develop and acquire more property to raise its revenue over time. Admittedly, the higher interest rates over the last few years have weighed on the stock and its profitability. Nonetheless, the lower price has also increased the dividend yield. Its $3.16-per-share annual payout yields about 5.6%, far surpassing the S&P 500 average. Also, higher rates have not stopped the company from raising its payout, and its dividend has increased at least once per year since its inception in 1994. Finally, while higher rates have had Realty Income stock trading more than 30% below its 2020 high, the falling rates should increase the company's profitability. At a price-to-FFO ratio of about 14, that could set up investors to benefit from a sizable dividend and, later, a long-awaited stock recovery. Should you invest $1,000 in AT&T right now? Before you buy stock in AT&T, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and AT&T wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $869,885 !* Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of November 18, 2024 Will Healy has positions in Innovative Industrial Properties. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Realty Income. The Motley Fool recommends Innovative Industrial Properties. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . The Smartest Dividend Stocks to Buy With $3,000 Right Now was originally published by The Motley FoolRico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title with the Atlanta Braves, has died

SYM INVESTOR DEADLINE: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Announces that Symbotic Inc. Investors with Substantial Losses Have Opportunity to Lead Class Action LawsuitPSG beats Toulouse 3-0 and Akliouche double gives Monaco home win over Brest

By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001. If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing. “It’s a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?” said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Here’s what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back. Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company’s collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered $60 billion in Enron stock worthless. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector. Twenty-four Enron executives , including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling , were eventually convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Ken Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial. On Monday — the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing — a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release that it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle In the minute-long video that was full of generic corporate jargon, the company talks about “growth” and “rebirth.” It ends with the words, “We’re back. Can we talk?” Enron’s new website features a company store, where various items featuring the brand’s tilted “E” logo are for sale, including a $118 hoodie. In an email, company spokesperson Will Chabot said the new Enron was not doing any interviews yet, but that “We’ll have more to share soon.” Signs point to the comeback being a joke. In the “terms of use and conditions of sale” on the company’s website, it says “the information on the website about Enron is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.” Documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that College Company, an Arkansas-based LLC, owns the Enron trademark. The co-founder of College Company is Connor Gaydos, who helped create a joke conspiracy theory that claims all birds are actually surveillance drones for the government. Peters said that since learning about the “relaunch” of Enron, she has spoken with several other former employees and they are also upset by it. She said the apparent stunt was “in poor taste.” “If it’s a joke, it’s rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,” Peters said. Peters, who is 74 years old, said she is still working in information technology because “I lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn’t always take care of things I need done.” “Enron’s downfall taught us critical lessons about corporate ethics, accountability, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Enron’s legacy was the employees in the trenches. Leave Enron buried,” she said. Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70

China bans exports to U.S. of gallium, germanium, antimony in response to chip sanctionsRyan Day spoke to the media after the game about Caleb Downs’ performance and that last touchdown drive. On getting safety Caleb Downs more involved in the game Ryan: We made the decision a couple weeks ago after the Oregon game, we just felt like Caleb needs to be more involved and make more of an impact on games...We felt like as a punt returner, he was dynamic with the ball in his hands. When you're in the Special Teams with meetings every day and putting the work in that these guys are putting in. It’s a great example to the other players that you may not see the results but if you trust the process, good things are going to happen...Just some great effort on that play to go turn good into great. [It was] a game-changing play. The end of the game offensively for you, that was an interesting sequence. Trey goes down at the one yard line and you decide to run two plays anyways to score. What was that decision all about? Ryan: We decided to at least milk 45 seconds off the clock. We’re on the one yard line and we just felt like we wanted to put an exclamation point on the win by going ahead and sneaking it in.AIMIM wins Malegaon Central seat by 162 votes

Middle East latest: Israeli strikes in Gaza kill more than 50 people, including kidsArtificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way companies market their products, enabling them to target consumers in personalized and interactive ways that not long ago seemed like the realm of science fiction. Marketers use AI-powered algorithms to scour vast amounts of data that reveals individual preferences with unrivaled accuracy. This allows companies to precisely target content – ads, emails, social media posts – that feels tailor-made and helps cultivate companies’ relationships with consumers. As a researcher who studies technology in marketing, I joined several colleagues in conducting new research that shows AI marketing overwhelmingly neglects its potential negative consequences. Our peer-reviewed study reviewed 290 articles that had been published over the past 10 years from 15 high-ranking marketing journals. We found that only 33 of them addressed the potential “dark side” of AI marketing. This matters because the imbalance creates a critical gap in understanding the full impact of AI. AI marketing can perpetuate harmful stereotypes, such as producing hypersexualized depictions of women, for example. AI can also infringe on the individual rights of artists. And it can spread misinformation through deepfakes and “hallucinations,” which occur when AI presents false information as if it were true, such as inventing historical events. It can also negatively affect mental health. The prevalence of AI-powered beauty filters on social media, for instance, can foster unrealistic ideals and trigger depression. These concerns loom large, prompting anxiety about the potential misuse of this powerful technology. Many people experience these worries, but young women are notably vulnerable. As AI apps gain acceptance, beauty standards are moving further from reality. Our research finds there is an urgent need to address AI’s ethical considerations and potential negative consequences. Our intent is not to discredit AI. It’s to make sure that AI marketing benefits everyone, not just a handful of powerful companies. I believe researchers should consider exploring the ethical problems with AI more thoroughly, and how to use it safely and responsibly. This is important because AI is suddenly being used everywhere – from social media to self-driving cars to making health decisions. Understanding its potential negative effects empowers the public to be informed consumers and call for responsible AI use. Lauren Labrecque is Professor of Marketing, University of Rhode Island. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.