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Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Wemby was playing chess. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama put out the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. People began showing up almost immediately. RELATED STORY | NCAA head warns of the dark side of college sports gambling Washington Square Park is a known spot for chess in New York — Bobby Fischer among others have famously played there, and it's been a spot used for multiple movie scenes featuring the game. Wembanyama was there for an hour in the rain, from about 10-11 a.m. He played four games, winning two and losing two before departing to catch the Spurs' flight. Wembanyama had been trying to get somewhere to play chess for the bulk of the team's time in New York — the Spurs played the Knicks on Christmas and won at Brooklyn on Friday night. The schedule never aligned, until Saturday morning. And even with bad weather, he bundled up to make it happen. He posed for photos with a couple of dozen people who showed up, braving a morning of cold rain to play chess with one of the NBA's biggest stars. “We need an NBA players only Chess tournament, proceeds go to the charity of choice of the winner,” he wrote on social media after his chess trip was over. RELATED STORY | LeBron and Bronny James make history as NBA's first father-son duo to play together Wembanyama is averaging 25.2 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, his second in the NBA after winning Rookie of the Year last season.Taylor Swift Thanks Fans for Making ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Apple Music’s Top Streamed AlbumDharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL), the company undertaking the ambitious plan of revamping Dharavi, Asia's largest slum in Mumbai, has renamed itself as Navbharat Mega Developers Pvt Ltd (NMDPL). ET Year-end Special Reads Take That: The gamechanger weapon's India acquired in 2024 10 big-bang policy moves Modi government made in 2024 How governments tried to rein in the social media beast The rebranding exercise has received the affirmation of its board of directors and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the company said. NMDPL is a special purpose vehicle between the Government of Maharashtra--through the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) / Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)--and the Adani Group . While an Adani Group entity holds 80% stake in the company, the government of Maharashtra controls the balance 20% stake. The change in name does not alter the government’s role in the project. The role of the government of Maharashtra remains unchanged and DRP continues to be the supervising authority for the ambitious project. Artificial Intelligence(AI) Java Programming with ChatGPT: Learn using Generative AI By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Basics of Generative AI: Unveiling Tomorrows Innovations By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Generative AI for Dynamic Java Web Applications with ChatGPT By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Mastering C++ Fundamentals with Generative AI: A Hands-On By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Master in Python Language Quickly Using the ChatGPT Open AI By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Performance Marketing for eCommerce Brands By - Zafer Mukeri, Founder- Inara Marketers View Program Office Productivity Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide 2024 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance A2Z Of Money By - elearnmarkets, Financial Education by StockEdge View Program Marketing Modern Marketing Masterclass by Seth Godin By - Seth Godin, Former dot com Business Executive and Best Selling Author View Program Astrology Vastu Shastra Course By - Sachenkumar Rai, Vastu Shashtri View Program Strategy Succession Planning Masterclass By - Nigel Penny, Global Strategy Advisor: NSP Strategy Facilitation Ltd. View Program Data Science SQL for Data Science along with Data Analytics and Data Visualization By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI and Analytics based Business Strategy By - Tanusree De, Managing Director- Accenture Technology Lead, Trustworthy AI Center of Excellence: ATCI View Program Web Development A Comprehensive ASP.NET Core MVC 6 Project Guide for 2024 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Pam Moore By - Pam Moore, Digital Transformation and Social Media Expert View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI-Powered Python Mastery with Tabnine: Boost Your Coding Skills By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Mastering Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and 365 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital marketing - Wordpress Website Development By - Shraddha Somani, Digital Marketing Trainer, Consultant, Strategiest and Subject Matter expert View Program Office Productivity Mastering Google Sheets: Unleash the Power of Excel and Advance Analysis By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Mastering Full Stack Development: From Frontend to Backend Excellence By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance Financial Literacy i.e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By - CA Rahul Gupta, CA with 10+ years of experience and Accounting Educator View Program Data Science SQL Server Bootcamp 2024: Transform from Beginner to Pro By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program According to the company, the rebranding exercise is not just to change the name DRPPL but also to avoid being mistaken for the government authority in the same space, which is Dharavi Redevelopment Authority (DRP), the special planning authority of the state government dealing with Dharavi’s redevelopment. In November 2022, Adani Properties, the realty development company owned by Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, had emerged as the highest bidder to bag the rights to undertake the Rs 20,000-crore project covering nearly 600 acres in the heart of the country's commercial capital. Nominations for ET MSME Awards are now open. The last day to apply is December 31, 2024. Click here to submit your entry for any one or more of the 22 categories and stand a chance to win a prestigious award. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )Awards season has arrived in the form of the Golden Globes nominations. The awards, which honor both movies and television programs, is often viewed as a preview of the upcoming Oscars. In this week's episode, co-hosts Bruce Miller and Terry Lipshetz go over the list, focusing largely on the movies, which tend to shine brightest at the ceremony. But they also take time to review a few of the TV shows, including the great, but rarely funny "The Bear," which is again in the comedy or musical category. We also have an interview with "Nickel Boys" director RaMell Ross, who spoke with Miller prior to the film receiving a nomination for best drama. Miller also talked with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who starred in the film. “Wicked”; “Anora”; “Emilia Perez”; “Challengers”; “A Real Pain”; “The Substance” “The Brutalist”; “A Complete Unknown,”; “Conclave”; “Dune: Part Two”; “Nickel Boys;” “September 5” Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain”; Hugh Grant, “Heretic”; Gabriel LaBelle, “Saturday Night; Jesse Plemons, “Kinds of Kindness”’ Glen Powell, “Hitman”; Sebastian Stan, “A Different Man” Amy Adams, “Nightbitch”; Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”; Karla Sofia Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”; Mikey Madison “Anora”; Demi Moore, “The Substance”; Zendaya, “Challengers” Pamela Anderson, “The Last Showgirl′′; Angelina Jolie, ”Maria”; Nicole Kidman, “Babygirl”; Tilda Swinton, “The Room Next Door”; Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”; Kate Winslet, “Lee” Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”; Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown’; Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”; Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”; Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice’’ “Alien: Romulus”; Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”; Deadpool & Wolverine”; “Gladiator II”; “Inside Out 2”; “Twisters”; “Wicked”; “The Wild Robot” “All We Imagine As Light′′; ”Emilia Pérez”; “The Girl With the Needle”; “I’m Still Here”; “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”; “Vermiglio” “Flow”; “Inside Out 2”; “Memoir of a Snail”; “Moana 2”; “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”; “The Wild Robot” Selena Gomez, ”Emilia Pérez”; Ariana Grande, “Wicked”; Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”; Margaret Qualley, “The Substance”; Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”; Zoe Saldaña, ”Emilia Pérez” Yura Borisov, “Anora”; Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”; Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”; Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”; Jeremy Strong, ”The Apprentice”; Denzel Washington, “Gladiator II” Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”; Sean Baker, ”Anora”; Edward Berger, “Conclave”; Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”; Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”; Payal Kapadia, “All We Imagine As Light” Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”; Sean Baker, ”Anora”; Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold, “The Brutalist”; Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain”; Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”; Peter Straughan, “Conclave” Volker Bertelmann, “Conclave”; Daniel Blumberg, “The Brutalist”; Kris Bowers, “The Wild Robot”; Clement Ducol, Camille “Emilia Pérez”; Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, “Challengers”; Hans Zimmer, “Dune: Part Two” “Beautiful That Way” from “The Last Showgirl” (music/lyrics by Andrew Wyatt, Miley Cyrus, Lykke Zachrisson); “Compress/Repress” from “Challengers’ (music/lyrics by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Luca Guadagnino; “El Mal” from EL MAL” from “Emilia Pérez” (music/lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard; “Forbidden Road” from ”Better Man′′ (music/lyrics by Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, Sacha Skarbek); “Kiss the Sky” from “The Wild Robot′′ (music/lyrics by Delacey, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi); ”Mi Camino′′ from “Emilia Pérez” (music/lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille) “Shogun”; “The Diplomat”; “Slow Horses”; “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”; “The Day of the Jackal”; “Squid Game” “Abbott Elementary”; “The Bear; “Hacks”; “Nobody Wants This”; “Only Murders in the Building”; “The Gentlemen” Donald Glover, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”; Jake Gyllenhaal, “Presumed Innocent”; Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”; Eddie Redmayne, “The Day of the Jackal”; Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shogun”; Billy Bob Thornton, “Landman” Kathy Bates, “Matlock”; Emma D’Arcy, “House of the Dragon”; Maya Erskine, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”; Keira Knightley, “Black Doves”; Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”; Anna Sawai, “Shogun” Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”; Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”; Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”; Kathryn Hahn, “Agatha All Along”; Jean Smart, “Hacks” Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”; Ted Danson, “A Man on the Inside”; Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”; Jason Segel, “Shrinking”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”; Jeremy All White, “The Bear” “Baby Reindeer”; Disclaimer"; “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”; “The Penguin”; “Ripley”; “True Detective: Night Country” Cate Blanchett, “Disclaimer''; Jodie Foster, ”True Detective: Night Country"; Cristin Milioti, “The Penguin''; Sofia Vergara, ”Griselda"; Naomi Watts, “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans”; Kate Winslet, “The Regime” Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”; Richard Gadd, “Baby Reindeer”; Kevin Kline, “Disclaimer”; Cooper Koch, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”; Ewan McGregor, “A Gentleman in Moscow”; Andrew Scott, “Ripley” Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”; Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”; Dakota Fanning, “Ripley”; Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer”; Allison Janney, “The Diplomat”; Kali Reis, “True Detective: Night Country” Tadanobu Asano, “Shogun''; Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”; Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”; Jack Lowden “Slow Horses”; Diego Luna, “La Maquina”; Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear” Jamie Foxx, “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was”; Nikki Glaser, “Nikki Glaser: Someday You'll Die”; Seth Meyers, “Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking”; Adam Sandler, "Adam Sandler: Love You"; Ali Wong, “Ali Wong: Single Lady”; Ramy Youssef, “Ramy Youssef: More Feelings” —List compiled by The Associated Press Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!
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Biden’s Top Aides Race to Middle East as Militias Wield Power in Syria
The Commanders have activated defensive tackle Jonathan Allen from injured reserve, per a team announcement . Allen landed on IR in October after a pectoral injury that was originally thought to be season-ending. Optimism grew after doctors discovered during surgery that his pectoral was only partially torn. He was able to return to practice on Dec. 18 , giving him enough time to ramp up and return to the field before the end of the season. The two-time Pro Bowler was off to a slightly slower start than previous years, notching just 15 tackles and 2.0 sacks in his first six games. Washington’s run defense still suffered without him; the Commanders have surrendered 2,061 rushing yards so far this season, the fifth-most in the NFL. Washington has relied on two recent second-round picks — Phidarian Mathis and Jer’Zhan Newton — to fill the void left by Allen’s absence. The Commanders waived Mathis earlier on Saturday , signaling that Allen would soon be headed back to the active roster. He will rejoin fellow Pro Bowler Daron Payne on the interior of Washington’s defensive line. Payne has started all 15 games, though his 68% snap share is a career-low. Allen and Payne will hope to anchor the Commanders defense against the Falcons on Sunday night. A win would clinch Washington’s first playoff appearance since 2020, an impressive outcome after an organizational overhaul resulted in a new owner, head coach and rookie quarterback. This article first appeared on Pro Football Rumors and was syndicated with permission.
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WEST LAYFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Trey Kaufman-Renn had 18 points and Myles Colvin and Camden Heide each scored 13 to lead No. 6 Purdue to an 80-45 rout of Marshall on Saturday. Colvin and Heide were making their first starts of the season for Purdue (5-1). Braden Smith, who was averaging 14.6 points, was scoreless on an 0-for-4 shooting day. Smith had a team-high nine assists. Nate Martin led Marshall (3-2) with nine points, playing 24 minutes before fouling out with several minutes left in the game. The Boilermakers shot 55% in the first half to take a 39-24 halftime lead. However, Purdue made only one field goal in the final nine minutes of the first half. Purdue picked up the intensity in the second half, leading by as many as 41 points. The Boilermakers shot 50% for the game and held the Thundering Herd to 30%. No. 10 NORTH CAROLINA 87, HAWAII 69 HONOLULU (AP) — R.J. Davis scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half and No. 10 North Carolina pulled away from Hawaii. Elliot Cadeau had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, Seth Trimble scored 11 of his 13 points after halftime and Ian Jackson added 11 for the Tar Heels (3-1). Davis, an All-American guard, moved into fourth place on North Carolina’s all-time career scoring list. He overtook Sam Perkins with his free throw at the 11:59 mark of the first half. Gytis Nemeiksa led Hawaii with 16 points and had 10 rebounds. Akira Jacobs made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points off the bench. Tanner Christensen had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Green added 10 points for the Rainbow Warriors (4-1). No. 15 MARQUETTE 880, GEORGIA 69 NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — David Joplin scored a career-high 29 points and made six 3-pointers, Chase Ross had 14 points and five steals, and No. 15 Marquette beat Georgia. Joplin scored five straight Marquette points to begin a 12-3 run that Stevie Mitchell capped by banking in a shot with 1:33 remaining for a 78-66 lead. Mitchell made a steal at the other end to help seal it. Ben Gold scored a career-high 14 points and Kam Jones had 10 points and seven assists for Marquette (6-0). Jones was coming off the program’s third triple-double in more than 100 seasons when he had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in 36 minutes against No. 6 Purdue on Tuesday. Gold’s previous high was 12 points at UConn on Feb. 7, 2023, while Joplin’s was 28 at DePaul on Jan. 28, 2023. Blue Cain scored 17 points and Tyrin Lawrence added 15 for Georgia (5-1). Dakota Leffew had 11 and Silas Demary Jr. 10. The Bulldogs turned it over 18 times, leading to 27 points by Marquette. No. 18 CINCINNATI 81, GEORGIA TECH 58 ATLANTA (AP) — Dillon Mitchell had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, and No. 18 Cincinnati beat Georgia Tech. Jizzle James and Cole Hickman also scored 14 points apiece for the Bearcats (5-0), who passed the first true test of the young season against their first major conference opponent in the Yellow Jackets of the ACC. Naithan George made three 3-pointers while scoring 13 points for Georgia Tech (2-3). Duncan Powell added 10 points, while leading scorer Baye Ndogo finished with just five points. No. 25 ILLINOIS 87, Md-Eastern Shire 40 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Will Riley scored his 19 points in the second half and No. 25 Illinois beat Maryland Eastern Shore. Kylan Boswell added 13 points, Tomislav Ivisic had 11 and Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 10 for the Illini (4-1), who shot 25% (10 for 40) from 3-point range but committed just nine turnovers. Tre White grabbed 11 rebounds and Kasparas Jakucionis seven for Illinois, which outrebounded the Hawks 59-38. Jalen Ware scored 10 points and Christopher Flippin had 10 rebounds for Maryland Eastern Shore (2-6), which had its lowest point total of the season. The team’s previous low came in 102-63 loss to Vanderbilt on Nov. 4.
Israeli drone strikes hit Kamal Adwan Hospital on Tuesday, wounding three medical staff at one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the northernmost part of Gaza , the facility’s director said. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said the drones were dropping bombs, spraying shrapnel at the hospital. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. In Lebanon, a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has held despite Israeli forces carrying out several new drone and artillery strikes on Tuesday, killing a shepherd in the country's south. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed keep striking “with an iron fist” against perceived Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire. Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel last year in solidarity with Hamas militants who are fighting in the Gaza Strip. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage . Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians , more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war in Gaza has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times . Here's the Latest: WASHINGTON — U.S. forces conducted a self-defense strike Tuesday in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Euphrates, a U.S. base in eastern Syria, against three truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers, a T-64 tank and mortars that Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said presented “a clear and imminent threat” to U.S. troops. The self-defense strike occurred after rockets and mortars were fired that landed in the vicinity of the base, Ryder said. The Pentagon is still assessing who was responsible for the attacks — that there are both Iranian-backed militias and Syrian military forces that operate in the area. Ryder said the attack was not connected to the offensive that is ongoing in Aleppo, where Syrian jihadi-led rebels taken over the country’s largest city. The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria to conduct missions to counter the Islamic Stage group. CAIRO — Israeli drone strikes hit the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on Tuesday, wounding three medical personnel, the facility’s director said. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said the drones were dropping bombs, spraying shrapnel at the hospital, located in the town of Beit Lahiya. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. In comments released by Gaza’s Health Ministry, Abu Safiya said one of the injured was in critical condition and was undergoing a complex surgery. “The situation has become extremely dangerous,” he said. “We are exhausted by the ongoing violence and atrocities.” Kamal Adwan Hospital has been struck multiple times over the past two months as Israeli forces have waged a fierce offensive in the area, saying they are rooting out Hamas militants who regrouped there. In October, Israeli forces raided the hospital, saying that militants were sheltering inside and arrested a number of people, including some staff. Hospital officials denied the claim. Abu Safiya was wounded in his thigh and back by an Israeli drone strike on the hospital last month. TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli court has ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take the stand next week in his long-running corruption trial, ending a long series of delays. Netanyahu’s lawyers had filed multiple requests to put off the testimony, arguing first that the war in Gaza prevented him from properly preparing for his testimony, and later that his security could not be guaranteed in the court chamber. In Tuesday’s decision, judges in the Jerusalem district court said that following a security assessment, his testimony will be moved to the Tel Aviv district court. Israeli media said the session would take place in an underground chamber. His testimony in the trial, which began in 2020, is expected to begin on Dec. 10 and to last at least several weeks. Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate scandals involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies wrongdoing. NABATIYEH, Lebanon — In destroyed areas of southern Lebanon, residents clearing away rubble on Tuesday said they didn’t trust Israel to abide by the week-old ceasefire with Hezbollah. “The Israelis are breaching the ceasefire whenever they can because they are not committed,” said Hussein Badreddin, a vegetable seller in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, which was pummeled by Israeli airstrikes over several weeks. “This means that they (can) breach any resolution at any time.” Since it began last Wednesday, the U.S.- and French-brokered 60-day ceasefire has been rattled by near daily Israeli strikes, although Israel has been vague about the purported Hezbollah violations that prompted them. Imad Yassin, a trader who owns a clothing shop in Nabatiyeh, said Israel was constantly breaching the ceasefire because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to continue the displacement of residents of southern Lebanon. “The Israeli enemy was defeated and the truth is that he is trying to get revenge. Netanyahu is trying to displace us as citizens of southern Lebanon,” Yassin said. They spoke as bulldozers cleared streets strewn with rubble and debris from destroyed buildings. Electricians worked to fix power lines in an effort to restore electricity to the city. Both men were displaced by the war and returned to Nabatiyeh on Wednesday, the day the ceasefire went into effect. Yassin found his clothing shop had been destroyed. He said he would wait to see if the state will dispense compensation funds so that he can repair and reopen his business. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Two separate Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people in Gaza City on Tuesday, Palestinian medical authorities said. Six people, including two children, who were killed when an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced people Tuesday afternoon in the Zaytoun neighborhood, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency services. A second strike hit a residential building in the Sabra neighborhood, killing at least three people, the services said. Israeli forces have almost completely isolated northernmost Gaza since early October, saying they’re fighting regrouped Hamas militants there. That has pushed some families south to Gaza City, while hundreds of thousands more live in the territory's center and south in squalid tent camps, where they rely on international aid. JERUSALEM — Israel's military confirmed it killed a senior member of Hezbollah responsible for coordinating with Syria's army on rearming and resupplying the Lebanese militant group. Syrian state media said a drone strike on Tuesday hit a car in a suburb of the capital Damascus, killing one person, without saying who was killed. Israel's military said he was Salman Nemer Jomaa, describing him as “Hezbollah’s representative to the Syrian military,” and that killing him “degrades both Hezbollah’s presence in Syria and Hezbollah’s ongoing force-building efforts.” Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years. Israel rarely acknowledges its actions in Syria, but it has said that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups. Iran supports both Hezbollah and the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad, which is currently fighting to push back jihadi-led insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo . TUBAS, West Bank — Israeli soldiers opened fire inside a hospital in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday during a raid to seize the bodies of alleged militants targeted in earlier airstrikes, a Palestinian doctor working at the hospital told The Associated Press. Soldiers entered the Turkish Hospital complex in Tubas after the bodies of two Palestinians killed and one wounded in airstrikes in the northern West Bank on Tuesday were brought there, said Dr. Mahmoud Ghanam, who works in the hospital’s emergency department. The troops briefly handcuffed and arrested Ghanam and another doctor. “The army entered in a brutal way, and they were shooting inside the emergency department,” said Ghanam. “They handcuffed us and took me and my colleague.” The military confirmed that its troops were operating around the hospital searching for those targeted in the airstrikes, which they said had hit a militant cell near the Palestinian town of Al-Aqaba in the Jordan Valley. It denied that troops had entered the hospital building or fired gunshots inside. The soldiers left after learning that the wounded man had been transferred to another hospital, Ghanam said. The soldiers wanted to take the bodies of the two men killed in the strike, but the hospital’s manager refused to hand over the bodies, Ghanam said. Israeli raids on hospitals in the West Bank are rare but have grown more common since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. In Gaza, Israeli troops have systematically besieged, raided and damaged many hospitals. About 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israel has carried out near-daily military raids in the West Bank that it says are aimed at preventing attacks on Israelis — attacks which have also been on the rise. Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three territories for an independent state. CAIRO — Palestinian officials say Fatah and Hamas are closing in on an agreement to appoint a committee of politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip after the war . It would effectively end Hamas’ rule and could help advance ceasefire talks with Israel. The rival factions have made several failed attempts to reconcile since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. Israel has meanwhile ruled out any postwar role in Gaza for either Hamas or Fatah, which dominates the Western-backed Palestinian Authority . A Palestinian Authority official on Tuesday confirmed that a preliminary agreement had been reached following weeks of negotiations in Cairo. The official said the committee would have 12-15 members, most of them from Gaza. It would report to the Palestinian Authority, which is headquartered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and work with local and international parties to facilitate humanitarian assistance and reconstruction. A Hamas official said that Hamas and Fatah had agreed on the general terms but were still negotiating over some details and the individuals who would serve on the committee. The official said an agreement would be announced after a meeting of all Palestinian factions in Cairo, without providing a timeline. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media on the talks. There was no immediate comment from Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is dismantled and scores of hostages are returned. He says Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza , with civilian affairs administered by local Palestinians unaffiliated with the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. No Palestinians have publicly volunteered for such a role, and Hamas has threatened anyone who cooperates with the Israeli military. The United States has called for a revitalized Palestinian Authority to govern both the West Bank and Gaza ahead of eventual statehood. The Israeli government is opposed to Palestinian statehood. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed. NUSEIRAT REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip — Palestinians lined up for bags of flour distributed by the U.N. in central Gaza on Tuesday morning, some of them for the first time in months amid a drop in food aid entering the territory. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, gave out one 25-kilogram flour bag (55 pounds) to each family of 10 at a warehouse in the Nuseirat refugee camp, as well as further south in the city of Khan Younis. Jalal al-Shaer, among the dozens receiving flour at the Nuseirat warehouse, said the bag would last his family of 12 for only two or three days. “The situation for us is very difficult,” said another man in line, Hammad Moawad. “There is no flour, there is no food, prices are high ... We eat bread crumbs.” He said his family hadn’t received a flour allotment in five or six months. COGAT, the Israeli army body in charge of humanitarian affairs, said it facilitated entry of a shipment of 600 tons of flour on Sunday for the World Food Program. Still, the amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza since the beginning of October has been at nearly the lowest levels of the 15-month-old war. UNRWA’s senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge told The Associated Press that the flour bags being distributed Tuesday were not enough. “People are getting one bag of flour between an entire family and there is no certainty when they’ll receive the next food,” she said. Wateridge added that UNRWA has been struggling like other humanitarian agencies to provide much needed supplies across the Gaza Strip. The agency this week announced it was stopping delivering aid entering through the main crossing from Israel, Kerem Shalom, because its convoys were being robbed by gangs. UNRWA has blamed Israel in large part for the spread of lawlessness in Gaza. The International Criminal Court is seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over accusations of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel rejects the allegations and says it has been working hard to improve entry of aid. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war isn't over against Hezbollah and vowed to use "an iron fist" against the Lebanese militant group for any perceived violations of a week-old ceasefire. “At the moment we are in a ceasefire, I note — a ceasefire, not the end of the war," Netanyahu said at the start of the government meeting Tuesday. He said the military would retaliate for “any violation — minor or major.” Netanyahu also thanked U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for his recent demands for Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza. Trump posted on social media Monday that if the hostages are not freed before he takes office in January there would be “HELL TO PAY.” Netanyahu convened Tuesday's meeting in northern Israel, where around 45,000 Israelis had been displaced by the war as of last week, according to the prime minister’s office. Netanyahu said the government was focused on getting them back in their homes and rehabilitating the area. BERLIN — German authorities have arrested a Lebanese man accused of being a member of Hezbollah and working for groups controlled by the militant organization in Germany. Federal prosecutors said the suspect, identified only as Fadel R. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in the Hannover region on Tuesday. The man is suspected of membership in a foreign terrorist organization and is not accused of direct involvement in any violence. Prosecutors said he joined Hezbollah in the summer of 2008 or earlier and took part in leadership training courses in Lebanon. From 2009, he allegedly had leadership duties in two groups controlled by Hezbollah in the Hannover area, organizing appearances by preachers close to the militants. According to prosecutors, he was briefly a correspondent for a Hezbollah media outlet in 2017 and was tasked with coordinating building work at a mosque. Germany is a staunch ally of Israel. It is also home to a Lebanese immigrant community of more than 100,000. BEIRUT — The Lebanese army is looking for more recruits as it beefs up its presence in southern Lebanon after the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. Lebanon’s army is a respected national institution that kept to the sidelines during the nearly 14-month conflict. During an initial 60-day truce, thousands of Lebanese troops are supposed to deploy in southern Lebanon, where U.N. peacekeepers also have a presence. Hezbollah militants are to pull back from areas near the border as Israel withdraws its ground forces. The army said those interested in joining up have a one-month period to apply, starting Tuesday. The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, with around 5,000 of them deployed in the south. DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s state news agency says a drone strike hit a car in a suburb of the capital, Damascus, killing one person. The agency did not give further details or say who was killed. It said the attack occurred Tuesday on the road leading to the Damascus International Airport south of the city. The area is known to be home to members of Iran-backed militant groups. Israel is believed to have carried out a number of strikes in the area in recent months as it has battled Iran-backed Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge such strikes. JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister warned that if the shaky ceasefire with Hezbollah collapses, Israel will widen its strikes and target the Lebanese state itself. He spoke the day after Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes that killed nearly a dozen people. Those strikes came after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of projectiles as a warning over what it said were previous Israeli violations. Speaking to troops on the northern border Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said any violations of the agreement would be met with “a maximum response and zero tolerance.” He said if the war resumes, Israel will widen its strikes beyond the areas where Hezbollah’s activities are concentrated, and “there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon.” During the 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which came to an end last week with a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France, Israel largely refrained from striking critical infrastructure or the Lebanese armed forces, who kept to the sidelines . When Israeli strikes killed or wounded Lebanese soldiers, the Israeli military said it was accidental . The ceasefire agreement that took effect last week gives 60 days for Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and for Hezbollah militants to relocate north of the Litani River. The buffer zone is to be patrolled by Lebanese armed forces and U.N. peacekeepers. Israel has carried out multiple strikes in recent days in response to what it says are violations by Hezbollah. Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days by launching airstrikes, demolishing homes near the border and violating Lebanon’s airspace. Berri, a Hezbollah ally, had helped mediate the ceasefire. JERUSALEM — Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank has killed two Palestinians. Israel’s military said it struck a militant cell near the town of Al-Aqaba, in the Jordan Valley. It did not immediately give more details. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the two deaths and said a third person was moderately wounded. About 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israel has carried out near-daily military raids in the West Bank that it says are aimed at preventing attacks on Israelis, which have also been on the rise. Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for an independent state. BEIRUT — Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon made his first public appearance in Beirut since he was wounded in an attack involving exploding pagers in mid-September. Mojtaba Amani, who returned to Lebanon over the weekend after undergoing treatment in Iran, visited on Tuesday the scene south of Beirut where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sept. 27. Speaking about the airstrike that destroyed six buildings and killed Nasrallah and others, Amani said Israel should get for its act “the highest medal for sabotage, terrorism, blood and killing civilians.” Amani suffered serious injuries in his face and hands when a pager he was holding exploded in mid-September. The device was one of about 3,000 pagers that exploded simultaneously, killing and wounding many Hezbollah members. A day after the pager attack, a similar attack struck walkie-talkies. In total, the explosions killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 3,000, many of them civilians. Last month, a spokesperson for the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the pager attack was approved by Netanyahu.SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In an era of rising authoritarianism, at the heels of a six-hour martial law decree that unfolded while many South Koreans slept, something noteworthy happened: Democracy held. The past week in Seoul, officials and academics warn, is what a threat to democracy looks like in 2024. It's a democratically-elected president declaring martial law over the nation he leads, asserting sweeping powers to prevent opposition demonstrations, ban political parties and control the media. It's members of the military attempting to block lawmakers from exercising their power to vote on cancelling the power grab. And here's what it took to defeat President Yoon Suk Yeol 's lurch toward government by force: Unified popular support for democracy. Legislators storming the National Assembly past midnight, live-streaming themselves climbing over fences. A politician grabbing at a soldier's rifle and yelling “Aren't you ashamed?” until he retreated. And finally, decisively, Parliament assembling a quorum and voting unanimously to cancel martial law. It was a victory for a hard-won democracy — and for the idea that checks and balances among branches of government must work to counteract each other's ambitions, as the American founders wrote in the Federalist Papers in 1788. But as the drama played out in Seoul, the scaffolding of democracy rattled around the world. In other countries, the grab for power might have worked. Other would-be authoritarians might have been better prepared than Yoon. In deeply polarized societies — the United States, for example, where Republicans are staunchly loyal to president-elect Donald Trump — there might not have been decisive support from the public or the opposition. The military might have used force. And the members of the legislature might not have voted as one to snuff out the attempted takeover. “President Yoon's attempt to declare martial law reveals the fragility of the rule of law in divided societies, especially those with governments in which the chief executive cannot be easily dismissed by the legislature," said Tom Pepinsky, a government professor at Cornell University who studies backsliding among democracies in Southeast Asia. Notably, he said in an email, “No members of President Yoon’s own party were willing to defend his actions in public." Nevertheless, Yoon’s surprise attempt to impose martial law revealed both the fragility and resilience of the country’s democratic system. Within three hours of his stunning announcement to impose military rule — claiming the opposition was “paralyzing” state affairs — 190 lawmakers voted to cancel his actions. In so doing, they demonstrated the strength of the country’s democratic checks and balances. Yoon’s authoritarian push, carried out by hundreds of heavily armed troops with Blackhawk helicopters and armored vehicles sent to the National Assembly, harked back to an era of dictatorial presidents. The country’s democratic transition in the late 1980s came after years of massive protests by millions that eventually overcame violent suppressions by military rulers. Civilian presence was again crucial in shaping the events following Yoon’s late night television announcement on Tuesday. Thousands of people flocked to the National Assembly, shouting slogans for martial law to be lifted and Yoon to step down from power. There were no reports of violent clashes as troops and police officers. “We restored democracy without having a single casualty this time,” said Seol Dong-hoon, a sociology professor at South Korea’s Jeonbuk National University. It’s virtually impossible for any leader of a democracy to pull off a transition toward martial law without a public willing to support it, or at least tolerate it. Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, attracted millions of views as he began live-streaming his journey to the National Assembly, pleading for people to converge to the parliament to help lawmakers get inside. The shaky footage later shows him exiting his car climbing over a fence to get onto the grounds. The vote at the National Assembly was also broadcast live on the YouTube channel of Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, who also had to scale a fence to get in. Yoon’s sense of crisis clearly wasn’t shared by the public, whose opinions, Seol said, were shaped predominantly by the shocking videos broadcast to their devices. “Ultimately, democracy is all about moving public opinion,” he said. “What was most crucial in this case was that everything was broadcast live on smartphones, YouTube and countless other media.” Opposition lawmakers are now pushing to remove Yoon from office, saying he failed to meet the constitutional requirement that martial law should only be considered in wartime or a comparable severe crisis — and that he unlawfully deployed troops to the National Assembly. On Saturday, an opposition-led impeachment motion failed after most lawmakers from Yoon’s party boycotted the vote. Yet the president’s troubles persist: The vote’s defeat is expected to intensify nationwide protests and deepen South Korea’s political turmoil, with opposition parties preparing to introduce another impeachment motion when parliament reconvenes next Wednesday. Han Sang-hie, a law professor at Seoul’s Konkuk University, said the martial law debacle highlights what he sees as the most crucial flaw of South Korea’s democracy: that it places too much power in the hands of the president, which is easily abused and often goes unchecked. Political scientists call what happened in South Korea an “autogolpe” — a “self-coup” — defined as one led by incumbent leaders themselves, in which an executive takes or sponsors illegal actions against others in the government. Yoon qualifies because he used troops to try to shut down South Korea's legislature. Self-coups are increasing, with a third of the 46 since 1945 occurring in the past decade, according to a study by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Penn State University. About 80% of self-coups succeed, they reported. In 2021, a power grab by Tunisian President Kais Saied raised similar concerns around the world after the country designed a democracy from scratch and won a Nobel Peace Prize after a largely bloodless revolution. In the United States, some have expresed worry about similar situations arising during the second administration of Donald Trump. He has vowed, after all, to shake some of democracy's pillars . He's mused that he would be justified if he decided to pursue “the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” That’s in contrast to the oath of office he took in 2017, and will again next year, to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” as best he can. Nearly half of voters in the Nov. 5 election, which Trump won, said they were “very concerned” that another Trump presidency would bring the U.S. closer to authoritarianism, according to AP Votecast survey data. Asked before a live audience on Fox News Channel in 2023 to assure Americans that he would not abuse power or use the presidency to seek retribution against anyone, Trump replied, “except for day one," when he'll close the border and “drill, drill, drill.” After that, Trump said, "I'm not a dictator.” Kellman reported from London.
The State Bank of Pakistan has issued a new regulatory framework for exchange companies, effective from January 1, 2025, ARY News reported. According to reports, under this framework, exchange companies are required to adjust their policies and systems in accordance with the new regulations by June 30, 2025. The minimum paid-up capital for exchange companies has been increased to Rs. 1 billion. Full implementation of this paid-up capital requirement is expected by 2027. By December 2025, exchange companies must ensure their paid-up capital reaches Rs. 600 million, and by December 2026, it should be Rs. 800 million. Furthermore, exchange companies are required to maintain 15 percent of their regulatory reserves as cash security with the State Bank. Exchange company shareholders and directors must seek State Bank approval before withdrawing company funds or taking loans. Read More: State Bank launches new eCIB system State Bank has also mandated that exchange companies can only use financing for vehicle-related loans. Exchange companies must report their returns, regulatory reserves, and documents to the State Bank for framework compliance. The new framework is designed to increase transparency within exchange companies and is aimed at strengthening investor confidence, according to the State Bank. Earlier, the State Bank of Pakistan launched a new version of the Electronic Credit Information Bureau (eCIB) system V2 in Karachi. According to reports, the new eCIB system, will be operational from January 1, 2025. The newly introduced V2 aligns with technological advancements and reporting standards. It introduces several updates and amendments to credit information reports. What is eCIB? The Credit Information Bureau (CIB) of the State Bank of Pakistan, established in 1992 under Section 25(A) of the Banking Companies Ordinance-1962, plays a crucial role in credit risk management and promoting a sound credit culture within the financial system. Initially, CIB’s activities were focused on collecting and organizing data of borrowers with loans of Rs. 500,000 and above on a quarterly basis. However, the system evolved significantly with the introduction of eCIB online facilities in 2003, making CIB the first in the region to offer such services. The revamped eCIB, operational since September 2005, now incorporates a wider scope by removing the minimum reporting threshold, capturing data from more than 4 million borrowers across about 100 member institutions. This new system uses advanced technology, including high-capacity servers, security measures, and point-to-point encryption, improving efficiency, speed, and reliability. The enhancements enable financial institutions to make informed lending decisions, assess credit risks more accurately, and expand access to credit across diverse borrower categories like SMEs, agriculture, and consumer finance sectors. The strengthened CIB contributes to the financial stability and promotes international standards in Pakistan’s financial system.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After getting outgained by 315 yards and shutout in the first half, the Chicago Bears showed life on the opening drive of the third quarter. The Bears crossed the 50-yard line for the first time all afternoon on their longest drive (16 plays) of the game. Quarterback Caleb Williams found DJ Moore for a 10-yard reception, which was also the longest play generated the Bears offense, which is averaging 2.2 yards per play. Eleven plays later, Williams found fellow rookie Rome Odunze in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Elite concentration to get the feet down 💯 @RomeOdunze pic.twitter.com/ictHsM5ZdD Odunze, the No. 9 pick in the 2024 draft, leapt into the air and came down with two feet in bounds for Chicago's lone points of the day. The Bears went for two, but Williams' pass over the middle was caught and then dropped by Cole Kmet .Lider Electric Shares Black Friday Week Deals on High-End Electrical Products
Rufat Safarov, a prominent human rights defender from Azerbaijan, was one of the recipients of the U.S. secretary of state’s 2024 Human Rights Defender Award. He did not attend Tuesday's ceremony in Washington, because he'd been arrested December 3, hours after visiting the U.S. Embassy in Baku to receive his visa to travel to the United States. During the ceremony, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, pointing to the empty chair reserved for Safarov, called for his immediate release. “Now, one chair, as you will have noted, is empty on this stage. ... It belongs to Rufat Safarov, the Azerbaijani human rights defender that I spoke of just a few moments ago,” he said. “The government of Azerbaijan should release Rufat — and release him immediately — as well as all the other journalists, human rights defenders, political opponents and others that are unjustly detained.” At the end of the ceremony, Blinken presented awards to human rights defenders from Bolivia, Colombia, Eswatini, Ghana, Kuwait, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, and he posed for a photo with them. Later, Blinken approached the empty seat reserved for Safarov and took a commemorative photo with his award. Blinken issued another statement Wednesday calling on the Azerbaijani government to release Safarov, as well as others unjustly detained for their work in the field of human rights. “The United States is deeply concerned not only by these detentions, but by the increasing crackdown on civil society and media in Azerbaijan,” the statement read. Safarov, a former prosecutor who heads the Defense Line human rights organization, issued a statement expressing his gratitude for the award. “Unfortunately, Baku arrested me in order to prevent me from personally receiving that award and to punish me for my human rights advocacy,” he said in the statement sent to VOA from prison. Safarov said he was proud of his work defending universal values as a human rights activist "despite all the slander and pressure" from the government. "In fact, I have accepted my arrest as a reward from the government for human rights advocacy. Human rights are not an internal affair of any country. İt is a universal concept. “Without human rights, not only the state, but even the society cannot exist. I call on everyone to stand in solidarity in the defense of human rights," the statement read. Last week, Safarov was charged with fraud and hooliganism and put on four months of pretrial detention. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Internal Affairs told VOA that Safarov's detention was related to a conflict between him and an individual over a land purchase, an allegation he denied. Safarov was previously sentenced to jail for bribery in 2016 and served three years before being pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev. His arrest coincides with a new crackdown in Azerbaijan following a recent climate change conference held November 11-22 in Baku. The arrests prompted Western concerns about the state of human rights in the country. In his statement Wednesday, Blinken called on Azerbaijani authorities to end the crackdown on civil society and the media. “We urge the government of Azerbaijan to release those unjustly detained for their advocacy on behalf of human rights, cease its crackdown on civil society, respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, and fulfill the commitments it made when it joined the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,” Blinken said. This story originated in VOA’s Azerbaijani Service.