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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction , arguing continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that dismissal is warranted because of the “overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on November 5, 2024.” They also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted of tax and gun charges . People are also reading... The real reason Corvallis' Pastega Lights moved to Linn County City officials admit Corvallis' flag is 'bad.' Will it change? OSU football: Three takeaways from Oregon State's loss at Boise State Prosecutor: Driver on laughing gas caused double fatal in Sweet Home OSU women's basketball: Marotte takes a more aggressive approach on offense Recently made-over park sees this change after Albany got an earful UPDATED: GAPS teacher strike NOT off after talks over returning to the classroom break down Corvallis chemical manufacturer eyes Albany for expansion OSU football: Boise State's pass rush is formidable Strike to end, GAPS reaches tentative deal with Albany teachers A busy day: A series of crashes in Sweet Home OSU football: Preview and prediction for regular-season finale against Boise State Agreement reached (again), GAPS teachers get new contract Philomath moves forward following July Nazi flag controversy More allegations against ex-OSU coach “President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ and ‘treated differently,’" Trump’s legal team wrote. The Manhattan district attorney, they claimed, engaged in the type of political theater "that President Biden condemned.” Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but indicated a willingness to delay the sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029. Former President Donald Trump walks to make comments to members of the news media May 30 after a jury convicted him of felony crimes for falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York. In their filing Monday, Trump's attorneys dismissed the idea of holding off sentencing until Trump is out of office as a “ridiculous suggestion.” Following Trump’s election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, previously scheduled for late November, to allow the defense and prosecution to weigh in on the future of the case. He also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. He says they did not and denies wrongdoing. Taking a swipe at Bragg and New York City, as Trump often did throughout the trial, the filing argues that dismissal would also benefit the public by giving him and “the numerous prosecutors assigned to this case a renewed opportunity to put an end to deteriorating conditions in the City and to protect its residents from violent crime.” Clearing Trump, the lawyers added, also would allow him to “to devote all of his energy to protecting the Nation.” The defense filing was signed by Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who represented Trump during the trial and since were selected by the president-elect to fill senior roles at the Justice Department. A dismissal would erase Trump’s historic conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office. Trump takes office Jan. 20. Merchan hasn’t set a timetable for a decision. Trump team signs agreement to allow Justice to conduct background checks on nominees, staff ZEKE MILLERAssociated Press Merchan could also decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option. Prosecutors cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him. Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels. Trump later reimbursed him, and Trump’s company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses — concealing what they really were, prosecutors alleged. Trump pledged to appeal the verdict if the case is not dismissed. He and his lawyers said the payments to Cohen were properly categorized as legal expenses for legal work. A month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for official acts — things they did in the course of running the country — and that prosecutors can’t cite those actions to bolster a case centered on purely personal, unofficial conduct. Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some improper evidence, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made during his first term. Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case. If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, Trump’s punishments would range from a fine to probation to up to four years in prison — but it’s unlikely he’d spend any time behind bars for a first-time conviction involving charges in the lowest tier of felonies. Because it is a state case, Trump would not be able to pardon himself once he returns to office. Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes. PHOTOS: Donald Trump's Election Day 2024 Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, with Melania Trump and Barron Trump, arrives to speak at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as Melania Trump looks on at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives with former first lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump at the Palm Beach County Convention Center during an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as former first lady Melania Trump listens after they voted on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as former first lady Melania Trump listens after they voted on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as former first lady Melania Trump listens after they voted on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks after voting on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks after voting on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as former first lady Melania Trump listens after they voted on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks after voting on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, joined by, from right, Melania Trump and Barron Trump, arrives to speaks at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives with =former first lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump at the Palm Beach County Convention Center during an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump walk after voting on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks after voting on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump visits his campaign headquarters, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump walk after voting on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.CALGARY, AB , Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Enbridge Inc. ENB ENB is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has appointed Douglas L. Foshee as a Director of Enbridge, effective January 1, 2025 . Mr. Foshee has more than 40 years of energy industry experience, including as Chair, President and CEO of El Paso Corporation from 2003 to 2012, as CFO and then COO of Halliburton Company from 2001 to 2003, and as Chair, President and CEO of Nuevo Energy from 1996-2001. "On behalf of the Board of Directors of Enbridge, we are very pleased to welcome Doug to the Enbridge Board. He has extensive energy industry and business experience and will be an excellent addition to our Board," stated Pamela Carter , the Chair of the Board of Directors of Enbridge. About Enbridge Inc. At Enbridge, we safely connect millions of people to the energy they rely on every day, fueling quality of life through our North American natural gas, oil and renewable power networks and our growing European offshore wind portfolio. We're investing in modern energy delivery infrastructure to sustain access to secure, affordable energy and building on more than a century of operating conventional energy infrastructure and two decades of experience in renewable power. We're advancing new technologies including hydrogen, renewable natural gas, carbon capture and storage. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta , Enbridge's common shares trade under the symbol ENB on the Toronto (TSX) and New York (NYSE) stock exchanges. To learn more, visit us at enbridge.com. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Media Toll Free: (888) 992-0997 Email: media@enbridge.com Investment Community Toll Free: (800) 481-2804 Email: investor.relations@enbridge.com View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/enbridge-appoints-new-director-to-its-board-302321529.html SOURCE Enbridge Inc. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Earlier this month, in a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump announced his incoming administration’s nomination to head the Social Security Administration (SSA). Should he be confirmed in the Senate, the SSA’s next commissioner will be the wealthy corporate CEO, Trump and Ron DeSantis donor and Wall Street “fixer,” Frank Bisignano. Bisignano is currently the CEO of Fiserv Inc., a leading payment processing service; he has also held positions at Shearson Lehman Brothers and Citigroup, and was formerly the co-COO of JP Morgan Chase. In 2017, he was the second-most highly compensated CEO in the nation, earning over $100 million that year. Among Social Security experts, advocates and recipients alike, this résumé has not inspired confidence in Bisignano’s prospective tenure. Republicans, of course, have long had designs on Social Security, and have sought ways to undermine the program and cut benefits at every turn. The next Trump presidency has presented an opportunity to press the matter and achieve cuts long considered politically impossible, thanks to the extreme unpopularity of such a proposal. There is no indication that Bisignano will refuse to aid Trump and the right as they test the waters and explore various means of sabotaging one of the nation’s most successful, longstanding and crucially important social programs. In response to the news of Bisignano’s appointment, Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, released a statement with pointed criticisms of the nominee: “Nothing in Mr. Bisignano’s career suggests that he understands the unique needs of older and disabled Americans. His record in the private sector doesn’t instill confidence that he will protect beneficiaries from plans to dismantle and replace the SSA workforce, [or that he might act as] a cheerleader for risky schemes like allowing investment firms and crypto corporations to gamble with the trust funds and benefits that Americans paid for and earned[.]” Fiesta is not alone in his disapproval of the pick. Truthout reached out to Nancy Altman, the president of Social Security Works, the leading advocacy organization for the administration. Altman, who is also the chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, is a former tax lawyer and pensions expert, congressional adviser and faculty member at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “He’s totally unqualified,” said Altman. “In terms of expertise, he has none. That’s the first issue.” The first of many. In his corporate career, Bisignano has practiced a kind of slash-and-burn leadership: He oversaw multiple waves of layoffs and cuts at Fiserv in 2022. Pumping a company’s stock price can often be accomplished by announcing these sorts of drastic reductions in the cost of labor — the news of potentially increased profits causes an uptick, enriching shareholders. Fiserv also spent $3.7 billion on buybacks from 2017 to 2019 , another costly tactic that boosts share value. In other words, Bisignano delivers for wealthy investors and shareholders, at any cost; he is especially willing to sacrifice workers. What else can we anticipate of Bisignano’s leadership style? Perhaps the following may be instructive: On December 6, just two days after Bisignano’s nomination was unveiled, Fiserv (with him still at the helm), laid off another 1,500 employees . Both before and after that event, numerous Fiserv employees, commenting on the anonymous testimonial site The Layoff , expressed outrage over Bisignano’s SSA appointment along with utter disgust over his tenure at Fiserv, with many citing his insensitivity and his heavy-handed role in its culture of overwork and intensive surveillance. Glassdoor reviews bode no better for the CEO. Bisignano is poised to run a highly complex federal agency of immense size, with 1,200 field offices and around 60,000 employees. He has done no work in the field of social services or public policy. “What he has done,” Altman continued, “doesn’t give me any confidence — because he’s overseen what they would call ‘ efficiency ,’ and what I would call ‘cutting off the workers at the neck.’” It is additionally difficult to imagine that Bisignano, a man who earns tens of millions of dollars a year (and reportedly has a net worth of almost $1 billion ), would understand the needs of elderly retirees in a nation where around half of senior Americans struggle to afford basic living expenses. Social Security aids over 70 million people, many of them living solely on SSA benefits — which, in 2024, averaged $1,862 a month . (SSA also provides disability benefits, survivor benefits and Supplemental Security Income to the very poor.) Diana Madoshi, 79, is a retired registered nurse, now living in a one-bedroom apartment in California. She shared some of her story with Truthout via phone: “I’ve been working since I was 17 years of age. I’ve been putting into Social Security system as part of my wages, and at one point in my life I had contributed to an IRA account.” “But then thanks to illness — which is expensive to have — I ended up having to use my IRA early. It was an autoimmune disease, lupus. Consequently, what I had left was just Social Security. Social Security is my lifeline. That is the only income that I have. If I don’t have my Social Security check coming to me, I would be homeless.” “It means a lot to me, and not only to me, but to a lot of other people. I really feel strongly, because this is something I’ve worked and I’ve put into. Social Security is not a welfare check. I worked hard and I paid into the system.” Madoshi described how she finds it difficult to watch the wealthy and powerful propose, with cavalier attitudes, to take her sole livelihood away from her. A critical, load-bearing social program, of the utmost importance to the well-being of Madoshi and tens of millions of retired Americans like her, is under incessant attack. These threats are soon to be intensified under the incoming Trump administration — with the probable collaboration of the agency’s own new commissioner. Slashing millions of seniors’ aid outright, though, will not be easy. Social Security is so popular that cutting benefits is seen as politically anathema. It is the proverbial “third rail” of American politics — untouchable, and practically suicidal for any politician who ventures that way. (This fact alone attests to the power of universal public benefits; their institution creates a ratcheting effect, such that revoking them guarantees colossal backlash.) Even the most hell-bent Republicans are obliged to pay lip service to the program publicly and dance around their real intent ( including Trump himself , who on December 8 said his administration is “not touching” Social Security). Congressional Republicans must seek more covert means of undermining it, or face a swift ousting. In a call with Wall Street analysts that was quoted in Bloomberg , Bisignano predictably declared the same: “I have no objective to cut the benefit of any American, I’m going to fix it by doing other things. I hope you guys root for me to do that in the way that I did other turnarounds.” Bloomberg noted that he gave no other details on his actual plans. Social Security has other defensive ramparts as well. Efforts to open SSA funds up to investment speculation would be difficult, though not impossible — there are legal barriers that would forestall a ransacking by private equity. The fund is forbidden from investing in anything other than federally backed treasury bonds; these investments make up 5.4 percent of SSA revenue . (The vast majority is from the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) , a payroll tax, which is the familiar charge contributed monthly by employees and employers.) It would require congressional legislation to change the treasury bonds investment requirement and open up funds to speculation. However, Altman notes, Bisignano “could certainly advocate for that [legislation], and try to get powerful people to push for it.” But there are more feasible means of undermining SSA. She went on: “They’ve been unsuccessful in even cutting the program, much less terminating it, destroying it. But they wouldn’t do it [overtly], so that anyone could tell. Instead, they would decimate it” by indirect means. “It’s really death by a thousand cuts.” The House Republican Study Committee, which comprises a large majority of Republican House members, has proposed making harsh reductions in SSA benefits by increasing the retirement age to 69. Why is the right so eager to slash the beloved program? “One [reason] is ideological: their idea that government is the problem. But the other reason is, there’s about a trillion dollars flowing through Social Security each year. Of that, the wealthy get zero,” Altman explained. “If the benefits were cut, to even have a chance of being able to retire, you’d have to accumulate the funds on your own. To do that, you’ll have to invest money in Wall Street, to buy stocks and bonds, and you’d have to pay high fees. There’s a lot of money to be made,” Altman continued. Eliminating SSA would essentially force the privatization of retirement. As such, “Conservatives have a solution in search of a problem. Every answer is, cut the benefits.” Indeed, there has been a longstanding ideological effort to convince the public to consent to cuts. In the media, doomsaying analyses professing the imminent demise of Social Security are commonplace. ( Bloomberg ’s December 7 article uncritically parrots findings on the necessity of SSA cuts from the “Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget,” an ostensibly nonpartisan group that has links to the tobacco industry and multiple billionaires and advocates for the diminution of social welfare spending.) This narrative — of the imminent bankruptcy and failure of the agency — is as pernicious and persistent as it is baseless. Social Security cuts are often proposed in the name of “fixing the deficit.” This is a smokescreen. “The important thing to know about Social Security is: it doesn’t add a penny to the deficit,” Altman said. “That’s also true of the associated administrative cost. It’s completely self-financed. It has no borrowing authority. In fact, it’s a creditor, not a debtor to the United States. But that’s the argument they use.” Credulous reporting and think-tank fearmongering have produced a narrative, widely believed, that Social Security is worsening the deficit, or is somehow insolvent or out of funds. The sleight of hand, Altman said, goes like this: “You tell old people, don’t worry, you’re going to get your benefits. You tell young people, you’ve got to retire using your private accounts [and can’t expect Social Security money].... This is how they’ll get people to turn against the program.” In truth, said Altman, Social Security is self-funding and abundantly secure. If it ever actually went insolvent, “we’d have way more serious problems than Social Security. It would mean that nobody is working. And I mean zero. One hundred percent unemployment.” Still, Social Security’s actuaries have predicted a potential shortfall in the 2030s — one that wasn’t supposed to occur until 2075. This is due to one of the actual impediments to Social Security: the rise of extreme wealth and income inequality. There is an earnings cap on Social Security’s funding payroll taxes, and high earners making over $160,200 (as of 2023) are exempt. This skewing of the tax structure , with the greater share of wealth going to the rich, is hurting Social Security’s FICA income, as the Economic Policy Institute has documented. Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office released a policy option report exploring methods of keeping SSA solvent by raising the cap, so that higher earners would pay more. “It’s destabilizing, this income inequality,” Altman said. But any shortfall could still easily be remedied — by taxing the high earners who have avoided contributing. “There’s a chance for meaningful tax reform by getting rid of the most egregious tax loopholes and giving that revenue to Social Security,” she went on. Cuts, in other words, are not a foregone conclusion, as many claim. In the scheme of things, not all that much is required: “Whether we expand benefits or cut benefits is really a matter of values. Currently, the program costs about 5 percent of GDP. By the end of the 21st century, it’ll cost 6 percent of GDP. That’s all we’re talking about.” What the right has been more successful in doing is in undermining the SSA’s effectiveness by limiting its administrative capabilities — with the aim of making it so frustrating to use that people turn on the program. “Already people die waiting to get their benefits.... Lots of Republican Congresses have starved the agency. It’s got large backlogs, it’s really understaffed, morale is very low,” said Altman. An inspector general audit of the SSA reported a backlog of 5.2 million pending actions, which are complex benefits decisions that must be processed by employees, not computers, at SSA processing centers (PCs). The backlog has resulted in delays and miscalculated overpayments and underpayments to beneficiaries. In August, the agency said that these problems are attributable to “unexpected staff reductions, increased workloads, and less than expected overtime funding that would have been used to pay employees to process more PC pending actions.” Bisignano’s favorite means of cost-slashing, the layoff, and his choice to forbid telework at Fiserv bode poorly for the chances of remediating these concerns. Altman also worries that “deficit hawk” liberals — Joe Biden himself, for instance, has consistently advocated SSA cuts to “balance the budget” over the course of his career — might aid the right’s efforts. While many congressional Democrats do continue to advocate for SSA expansion , there is a demonstrated history of centrist liberals’ willingness to compromise on the issue, as in 2013, when President Obama offered Republicans a “Grand Bargain” that included recalculating SSA payments to disburse lower benefits, drawing the ire of his progressive supporters . Should cuts be on the table, warned Altman, “centrist Democrats would say, ‘Oh, we’re concerned about the deficit, we hate this provision, but what can we do.’ That’s the real threat. That’s what our concern is: to make sure Democrats don’t agree in the name of deficits.” Social Security is one of the few remaining guarantees that the United States still makes to its citizens — the vestige of a time before the brutal austerity of the neoliberal consensus. It recalls the promise of the New Deal and a mid-century span of relatively fairer pay, social benefits and workers’ rights. Altman described Social Security’s centrality to the lives of working people, noting, “There are field offices in every neighborhood, and they’re like post offices. They’re really vital. They’re the face of the government to a lot of people. And that’s probably part of the reason I think Republicans have been starving it.” Diana Madoshi’s story — when her savings were eradicated by illness, the social safety net caught her — underscores the program’s fundamental humanity. “I’m very incensed that very well-heeled people, who’ve never done any decent work in their lives, like Mr. Trump, want to be going after Social Security,” Madoshi told Truthout. “Tomorrow,” she went on, “I’ll be 79 years old. And I did not anticipate celebrating my 79th birthday and being worried about some fools, who got more money than they need to, trying to cut Social Security, and being so blasé about saying we should all feel the pain. Well, they’re not feeling no pain. I’m not no billionaire.” “If I sound very passionate about it, I am. I’m scared. I am scared. I’m scared not only for myself, but for so many other people too.”LPGA's next commissioner will face sponsor issues, TV contracts and transgender rights debateUPDATE -- nCino to Participate in Upcoming Investor ConferencesNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks tiptoed to more records amid a mixed Tuesday of trading, tacking a touch more onto what’s already been a stellar year so far. The S&P 500 edged up by 2 points, or less than 0.1%, to set an all-time high for the 55th time this year. It’s climbed in 10 of the last 11 days and is on track for one of its best years since the turn of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 76 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to its own record set a day earlier. AT&T rose 4.6% after it boosted its profit forecast for the year. It also announced a $10 billion plan to send cash to its investors by buying back its own stock, while saying it expects to authorize another $10 billion of repurchases in 2027. On the losing end of Wall Street was U.S. Steel, which fell 8%. President-elect Donald Trump reiterated on social media that he would not let Japan’s Nippon Steel take over the iconic Pennsylvania steelmaker. Nippon Steel announced plans last December to buy the Pittsburgh-based steel producer for $14.1 billion in cash, raising concerns about what the transaction could mean for unionized workers, supply chains and U.S. national security. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden also came out against the acquisition. Tesla sank 1.6% after a judge in Delaware reaffirmed a previous ruling that the electric car maker must revoke Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package. The judge denied a request by attorneys for Musk and Tesla’s corporate directors to vacate her ruling earlier this year requiring the company to rescind the unprecedented pay package. All told, the S&P 500 rose 2.73 points to 6,049.88. The Dow fell 76.47 to 44,705.53, and the Nasdaq composite gained 76.96 to 19,480.91. In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. Continued strength there would raise optimism that the economy could remain out of a recession that many investors had earlier worried was inevitable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.23% from 4.20% from late Monday. Yields have seesawed since Election Day amid worries that Trump’s preferences for lower tax rates and bigger tariffs could spur higher inflation along with economic growth. But traders are still confident the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in two weeks. They’re betting on a nearly three-in-four chance of that, according to data from CME Group. Story continues below video Lower rates can give the economy more juice, but they can also give inflation more fuel. The key report this week that could guide the Fed’s next move will arrive on Friday. It’s the monthly jobs report , which will show how many workers U.S. employers hired and fired during November. It could be difficult to parse given how much storms and strikes distorted figures in October. Based on trading in the options market, Friday’s jobs report appears to be the biggest potential market mover until the Fed announces its next decision on interest rates Dec. 18, according to strategists at Barclays Capital. In financial markets abroad, the value of South Korea’s currency fell 1.1% against the U.S. dollar following a frenetic night where President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and then later said he’d lift it after lawmakers voted to reject military rule. Stocks of Korean companies that trade in the United States also fell, including a 1.6% drop for SK Telecom. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9% to help lead global markets. Some analysts think Japanese stocks could end up benefiting from Trump’s threats to raise tariffs , including for goods coming from China . Trade relations between the U.S. and China took another step backward after China said it is banning exports to the U.S. of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications. The counterpunch came swiftly after the U.S. Commerce Department expanded the list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls to include many that make equipment used to make computer chips, chipmaking tools and software. The 140 companies newly included in the so-called “entity list” are nearly all based in China. In China, stock indexes rose 1% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai amid unconfirmed reports that Chinese leaders would meet next week to discuss planning for the coming year. Investors are hoping it may bring fresh stimulus to help spur growth in the world’s second-largest economy. In France, the CAC 40 rose 0.3% amid continued worries about politics in Paris , where the government is battling over the budget. AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been appointed to lead a subcommittee dedicated to working with President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency. Known as a Republican firebrand and close ally of Trump, Greene has already set her sights on rooting out “every penny of waste and abuse.” “We’ll be looking at everything from government-funded media programs like NPR that spread nothing but Democrat propaganda, we’ll be going into grant programs that fund things like sex apps in Malaysia, toilets in Africa,” she said on a media appearance Sunday morning. The subcommittee will be under the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. “We want to make the government more efficient,” Comer said on a media appearance . “We want to work for the taxpayers, not the bureaucrats. We hate the deep state, we’ve dealt with the deep state, we’ve fought the deep state.” He added that Republicans are excited to implement the recommendations of DOGE, which, as an advisory committee, will have to work with Trump and Congress to change policies. “What Trump has ... are willing partners to make government more efficient,” Comer said of Congress. Elon Musk, CEO of X and Tesla Motors, and Vivek Ramaswamy are currently heading up DOGE. “Looking forward to working together with Congress,” Ramaswamy said on social media of Greene’s appointment . “Proper oversight of agencies and public transparency are critical.” DOGE has made it a key part of its plan to address the national debt of $36 trillion. That is $273,000 owed per taxpayer. “This trend must be reversed, and we must balance the budget,” DOGE posted . For her part, Greene has promised to “drain the swamp,” stating that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to holding government agencies like the Pentagon accountable. “Our government should steward every single cent of your hard-earned money,” Greene said. “The DOGE subcommittee will expose the waste and bring truth and transparency to the American people.” Bureaucrats and independent contractors will also be on the chopping block, in what Greene called a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make real transformational change to government to benefit the American people.” “In the private sector, if you’re not doing a good job, you get fired,” she said on social media . “But for some reason, in government, bad employees – whether they’re failing to do the job they were hired to do or working in roles that are no longer needed – never get fired. This is incredibly unfair to the hard-working taxpayers of our country, and it’s about to change.” Recently, an audit of the IRS found that its employees and contractors owe millions in taxes, all while the agency warned thousands of taxpayers that they could face jail time. “The same unelected IRS government employees and contractors, who owe $50 million in unpaid taxes, would throw Americans in jail for not paying their taxes,” Greene said of the audit . “Time to hold them all accountable.” Greene also addressed Democrats' accusations that the subcommittee will go after programs like Social Security. “No, Senator Warren, we are not going to take away a senior’s Social Security. That’s a lie,” Greene responded on social media . “We are going to investigate all areas of the federal government like CFPB, an ‘independent’ agency inside the federal government. Beholden to no one. Ran by unelected bureaucrats.”Putin apologizes for 'tragic incident' but stops short of saying Azerbaijani plane was shot down MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. He stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible. The Kremlin said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike as the plane attempted to land on Wednesday. Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.” The Kremlin also says Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. Israel detains the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals during a raid DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza's Health Ministry says Israel’s army has detained the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals. The announcement on Saturday came after health officials said Israeli troops stormed the hospital and forced many staff and patients outside and told them to strip in winter weather. Israel’s military alleges the hospital director is a suspected Hamas operative and says it detained over 240 others. It acknowledges it ordered people outside and that special forces entered the hospital. It says it “eliminated” militants who fired at its forces. Kamal Adwan officials have denied that Hamas operates in the hospital. Abortions are up in the US. It's a complicated picture as women turn to pills, travel Even with abortion bans in place in most Republican-controlled states, the number of people obtaining them has grown slightly. That's part of a complicated picture of the impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade two and a half years ago. Abortion pills are more common now. So is traveling to other states for care, often on journeys hundreds of miles long. Public support for the right to abortion has also increased since before the ruling. That's been reflected in most ballot measures to add the right to abortion to state constitutions being adopted. Drought, fires and deforestation battered Amazon rainforest in 2024 BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Amazon rainforest staggered through another difficult year in 2024. A second year of record drought contributed to wildfires that worsened deforestation across the massive forest, which spans Brazil, Peru, Colombia and other Latin American nations and is a critical counterweight to climate change. There were some bright spots. Both Brazil and Colombia reported lower levels of deforestation compared to prior years. Experts say Amazon countries need to do more to strengthen cross-border collaboration and that the global community who reap the benefits of commodities from the rainforest also need to pitch in. Bloodied Ukrainian troops risk losing more hard-won land in Kursk to Russia KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied by daily combat losses and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk. Some want to stay in the region at all costs. Others question the value of having gone in at all. Battles are so intense that commanders are unable to evacuate their dead. Lags in communication and poorly timed operations have cost lives and commanders say they have little way to counterattack. The overstretched Ukrainians have lost more than 40% of the territory they won in the lightning incursion that seized much of Kursk in August. Afghan forces target Pakistan in retaliation for deadly airstrikes Afghanistan's Defense Ministry says its forces hit several points inside Pakistan in retaliation for deadly airstrikes. Pakistan last Tuesday launched an operation to destroy a training facility and kill insurgents in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province. The strikes killed dozens of people. The ministry said Saturday that its forces hit points “serving as centers and hideouts for malicious elements and their supporters who organized and coordinated attacks in Afghanistan.” Pakistan accuses the Taliban of not doing enough to combat cross-border militant activity, a charge the Taliban government denies. Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who instituted economic reforms, cremated in New Delhi NEW DELHI (AP) — Manmohan Singh, the former Indian prime minister widely regarded as the architect of the country’s economic reform program, has been cremated after a state funeral. The veteran leader, who was also credited for a landmark nuclear deal with the United States, died late Thursday at age 92. Singh’s body was taken Saturday to the headquarters of his Congress party in New Delhi, where party leaders and activists paid tributes to him and chanted “Manmohan Singh lives forever.” Later, his body was transported to a crematorium ground for his last rites as soldiers beat drums. A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh was prime minister for 10 years until 2014. Sweden embarks on a sober search for more cemetery space in case of war GOTHENBURG, Sweden (AP) — Burial associations in Sweden are looking to acquire enough land for something they hope they’ll never have to do. And that's to bury thousands of people in the event of war. The search follows new crisis preparedness guidelines from the country's civil defense agency and the military. The issue is seen in a new light after Russia's invasion of Ukraine led formerly neutral Sweden to join NATO. Sweden and Finland sent out updated civil preparedness guides in November with instructions on how to survive in war. The guides are similar to those in Denmark and Norway, though they don't mention Russia by name. Olivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film 'Romeo and Juliet,' dies at 73 LONDON (AP) — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her family said on social media. She was 73. Hussey died on Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a statement posted to her Instagram account said. Hussey was 15 when director Franco Zeffirelli cast her in his adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy. “Romeo and Juliet” won two Oscars and Hussey won a Golden Globe for best new actress for her part as Juliet, opposite British actor Leonard Whiting. Decades later, the pair brought a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures over nude scenes in the film they said they were coerced to perform. The case was dismissed by a Los Angeles County judge in 2023. Winning ticket for $1.22 billion lottery jackpot sold in California, Mega Millions says At least one Mega Millions player has plenty of dough to ring in the New Year after drawing the winning number. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, a ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in California for the drawing Friday night. The California Lottery said the winning ticket was sold at Circle K (Sunshine Food and Gas) on Rhonda Rd. in Cottonwood. The winning ticket matched the white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and the gold Mega Ball 6. The identity of the winner or winners was not immediately known. The estimated jackpot was the fifth-highest ever for Mega Millions.

NASHVILLE — The Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider for the first time whether states can ban certain gender transition medical treatments for young people – a closely watched case brought by three transgender teens, their parents and a doctor, all seeking to ensure health care access they say is critical. At issue is a Tennessee law barring transgender minors from using puberty blockers and hormones, treatments the state characterizes as risky and unproven. Lawmakers said the state should instead encourage adolescents to “appreciate their sex, particularly as they undergo puberty.” The court’s ruling might have implications for the more than 100,000 transgender adolescents living in Tennessee or one of the 23 other states that has banned using the drugs to treat minors with gender dysphoria. The question of whether and how to medically treat young people whose gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth has become a polarizing issue, one President-elect Donald Trump seized on in advertisements targeting transgender people during his campaign. The Supreme Court in 2020 extended employment protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, but it has yet to rule on the constitutionality of lower court decisions involving bathroom access, athletes and medical treatment for transgender minors like 16-year-old L.W., one of the Tennessee teens behind the case at the high court. Her parents, Brian and Samantha Williams, now drive her five hours to receive care in North Carolina. The teen started gender care treatments when she was 12 and said they have allowed her to “get to be myself a little bit more.” “It took a huge stressor off my back,” L.W. said in an interview. “I have more friends now because I’m more confident, and I’m more able to socialize.” The Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union are representing the parents and teens, who are referred to in court filings by their initials or a pseudonym to protect their identity. The families say the Tennessee law amounts to unconstitutional sex discrimination and a broad restriction on treatments that nearly every major medical association says are appropriate and effective for minors. ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, who is arguing on behalf of the families, will be the first openly transgender lawyer to present a case before the Supreme Court. Tennessee’s Republican attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti says in court filings that states have long had the power to regulate medicine and that there is nothing unconstitutional about restricting the use of a drug for certain purposes, even when it can be used for treating other conditions, or imposing age limits for health treatments when the risks and rewards are too uncertain. One potential wild card in the resolution of the case is the incoming Trump administration and the possibility that the next solicitor general will flip the federal government’s position to align with Tennessee’s view. If that were to happen, the court could allow the ACLU to continue challenging the law on its own, which would keep the justices on track to issue a ruling by the end of June. Trump transition officials did not immediately respond to questions about the case before the court, but his team has said Trump intends to fulfill his campaign promises, which included a crackdown on gender transition care for minors. PATIENTS AND LAWMAKERS CLASH L.W. said she began to suspect she was trans in 2019, when she was 11. She’d long felt as if she were “drowning,” but she didn’t understand why. She wore baggy clothes to obscure her body, and she panicked the first time she saw a few facial hairs above her lip. She was so uncomfortable in boys bathrooms, she avoided ever using one at school. Eventually, she developed urinary tract infections. After a cousin came out as trans, L.W. began researching on YouTube and Google. But she was scared, so she didn’t tell her parents she thought she was trans until just after Thanksgiving in 2020, more than a year after she’d first put a name to her feelings. Brian and Samantha Williams both had gay friends, and they told L.W. they supported her, but neither felt comfortable immediately taking her to a doctor. L.W. was 12, and Brian worried the distress she felt might be normal puberty angst. “It’s not like we took this thing lightly and just did it,” Brian said. The family went to a progressive church, and the church had a therapist on staff who specialized in trans youth, so Samantha and Brian signed L.W. up for counseling. After roughly six months, the therapist diagnosed L.W. with gender dysphoria and recommended a team of doctors at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. At Vanderbilt, L.W. underwent tests, then, in the summer of 2021, her doctors prescribed the drug Lupron to stop her body from going through male puberty. The medication, which has been used for at least 30 years on patients who start puberty too early, is largely reversible, but it can affect a young person’s bone density if taken long term without hormone therapy. The teen said she felt instantly relieved. To her, the benefits “strongly outweighed” any side effects. At the time, no state had banned trans adolescents from receiving the kind of care Vanderbilt’s team offered. Doctors nationwide had been treating a few thousand young people a year with hormones and puberty blockers, according to data compiled for Reuters – a tiny fraction of America’s adolescent population. They faced little pushback. Multiple peer-reviewed studies have found that a majority of trans adolescents experience “satisfaction,” “confidence” and “improvements in psychosocial functioning” after such treatment. Almost as soon as L.W. left her first appointment, she asked to start estrogen, but her doctors and her parents decided to wait. L.W. went in for regular evaluations, and in September 2022, more than a year after she started Lupron, her doctors agreed to prescribe estrogen. Hormone therapy made life feel possible in ways it never had before, L.W. said. She started hugging her family. She recorded music and built Lego models. She and her younger brother staged Airsoft matches with other teenagers. Neighbors even told Samantha that L.W. talked to them for the first time. L.W.’s journey felt personal to her, a singular distress followed by her own unique wins. But her time at Vanderbilt coincided with a historic rise in gender dysphoria diagnoses. In 2021, about 42,000 young people nationwide received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, nearly triple the number in 2017, according to data the technology company Komodo Health Inc. compiled for Reuters. The vast majority were not prescribed hormones or puberty blockers, the data shows. Still, as the numbers rose, lawmakers and activists across the country began to raise questions about gender clinics and the treatments doctors were offering. The same month L.W. started estrogen, the conservative podcast host Matt Walsh accused Vanderbilt of castrating, sterilizing and mutilating children for profit. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) promised to investigate the hospital. That fall, Walsh and a group of Republican state legislators held a “Rally to End Child Mutilation” in downtown Nashville. Only Arkansas and Alabama had passed bans on transition-related care at that point. But lawmakers in other conservative states signaled that they intended to prioritize similar restrictions. In March 2023, Tennessee adopted the legislation now before the Supreme Court. The law, known as SB 1, prohibits health-care providers from prescribing any puberty blocker or hormone for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify or live as “a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.” Providers who violate the law can be fined $25,000 for each prohibited treatment and are subject to disciplinary measures and potential civil liability in private lawsuits. Throughout the hearings on the legislation, Republican lawmakers treated gender dysphoria as if it were an illusion. A co-sponsor of the House bill described transitioning as a “fiction” and “fantasy.” Another representative said, “If you don’t know what you are, a boy or girl, male or female, just go in the bathroom and take your clothes off and look in the mirror and you’ll find out.” The Williams family watched the hearings, and Brian was infuriated. The lawmakers didn’t know his daughter. He and Samantha had taken L.W. to experts. They’d had what felt like a million hard conversations, and they’d followed the best evidence available. “All of a sudden to have a state come down and say that that’s not the right thing to do, that’s it’s abusive, that it’s wrongheaded, it’s just infuriating because I feel like I’m doing all the right stuff,” Brian said. EXPERIMENTATION OR DISCRIMINATION? After the bill became law, everyone in the Williams family agreed that discontinuing care wasn’t an option. L.W. was happy in ways she’d never been before she transitioned. If she stopped taking puberty blockers and estrogen, her body would begin to go through male puberty. She told her parents that was too painful to contemplate, let alone experience. Moving didn’t feel possible either. L.W.’s brother sobbed every time he thought about leaving his friends, and Brian’s elderly parents live in Nashville and rely on his help. That spring, Samantha saw an ACLU form that invited families to describe how they’d been affected by the legislation. She didn’t imagine, as she filled out the form, that she was signing up for a lawsuit that would eventually make its way to the Supreme Court. She only knew that she wanted to protect her daughter and she didn’t want to feel helpless anymore. Tennessee gave families four months to wean kids like L.W. off the medications, but in June, before the ban even took effect, Vanderbilt shut down its clinic. In June 2023, a District Court judge temporarily blocked the law, saying it discriminates based on sex and treats some teens differently because they are transgender. The judge said the benefits of the treatments are well-established and noted that Tennessee’s law bans the medications for a small subset of minors while making them available for adolescents who use them for other health issues. “If Tennessee wishes to regulate access to certain medical procedures,” wrote U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson, a Trump nominee, “it must do so in a manner that does not infringe on the rights conferred by the United States Constitution, which is of course supreme to all other laws of the land.” A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit soon reversed Richardson’s decision, rejecting the families’ claims of discrimination and allowing the state to enforce the law while litigation continues. Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton said the law regulates gender transition treatments for all minors, regardless of sex, and concluded that Tennessee lawmakers could have rationally determined that the law was an appropriate response to perceived risks associated with the treatments. Sutton, a nominee of George W. Bush, also said courts should be wary of intervening in a highly contested political dispute. Judge Helene N. White, another Bush nominee, agreed with the majority that the Constitution envisions states acting as laboratories for democracies to resolve political debates, but dissented from the majority ruling. “When a fundamental right or freedom from discrimination is involved, experimentation has no place,” she wrote. At the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar is asking the justices to return the case to the 6th Circuit to apply a more stringent level of review, which she says should be triggered by a law that discriminates based on sex. The state, she wrote, ignores the benefits of gender-transition care and overstates the health risks. She also said the law’s stated goal of having teens “appreciate their sex” is based on stereotypical understandings of gender and cannot be used to justify the ban. Skrmetti, the Tennessee attorney general, said the state has the authority to protect minors from the risks of gender-transition treatment, and the federal government should not discount lawmakers’ concerns. He also objected to Prelogar’s characterization of the law as driven by stereotypes. It is not unconstitutional discrimination, Skrmetti argued, to say that drugs can be prescribed for one reason, but not another. L.W. will be in the courtroom on Wednesday, but she said she can’t comprehend the gravity of the case she’s a part of. Mostly, she has tried to continue to live the life gender care has made possible. The day the ACLU filed its petition, she went to high school, and she only told a few people in the Gender-Sexualities Alliance, or GSA, about the case. That night, she worried, briefly, that her name would be on a case that might be remembered along the same lines as Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 Supreme Court case that ruled it was constitutional for states to enact segregation laws. Eventually, L.W. decided it was out of her control, and plus, she had the drivers’ test for her learner’s permit to worry about, so she set aside her fears and let her lawyers handle the hard parts. She is a junior in high school now. She DJed a party this Halloween. She has broadened her social life, and she adopted a kitten the family named Mushroom. She wants to spend her free time traveling to look at colleges with aviation programs, but for now, she and her mother still make regular trips to get treatment in North Carolina. Traveling out of state for health-care she’d rather get at home is arduous. Until recently, her mother had to take unpaid time off work, and L.W. has to call in sick to the magnet high school where she takes three Advanced Placement classes. “I hate taking days off school, it’s, like, the worst thing ever,” she said. “I have very, very difficult classes. So I’ve got a lot to catch up on if I miss a single day.” The drive used to take five hours each way, but Hurricane Helene washed out one of the roads they take, and now, the journey will be much longer. Comments are not available on this story. Send questions/comments to the editors. « Previous Next »What's On Tap in Chicago Bulls news ? Welcome to the 56th edition of "Tasting Flight," a daily newsletter to keep fans updated on all the latest news in Bulls Nation. Bulls NBA Cup Quest Continues in Washington The Bulls play their next NBA Cup game Tuesday when they visit the Washington Wizards. Chicago enters the NBA Cup contest with a 1-1 record in East Group C. For the Bulls to advance to the NBA Cup Knockout Round, they must either win their group or the Eastern Conference's wild-card seed . Tip-off is at 6 p.m. CT and the game will air on Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) . Going for our second Cup Night W. ⏰: 6:00 pm CT : https://t.co/dLgvAjfc2T : @670TheScore @MotorolaUS | #SeeRed pic.twitter.com/tK6hEbABhv Lonzo Ball Sets Sights on Return from Wrist Injury Per CHSN's K.C. Johnson, Lonzo Ball is eyeing a return to game action Wednesday when the Bulls visit the Magic. Ball has missed 14 games since suffering a sprained right wrist on Oct. 28. Lonzo return soon? pic.twitter.com/h5kdPv3dTb 3 NBA Bigs Tabbed as Bulls' Midseason Trade Targets Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz mentioned Walker Kessler of the Utah Jaz, Nic Claxton of the Brooklyn Nets, and Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons as three frontcourt players the Bulls should target at the 2025 NBA trade deadline. Bleacher Report names three big men who they think the Chicago Bulls should be targeting this upcoming trade deadline. What are your thoughts? #SeeRed pic.twitter.com/guwPCVS652 Bulls' Desire to Move Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic Reaffirmed Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reiterated previous reporting regarding the Bulls' intent to trade Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic . Can the Bulls defense keep them bad enough to stay in the top 8 of the draft? They better hope so, as the class starts to emerge and form a pecking order. Read it: https://t.co/rxQ61c5Ewh As the Bulls look to fully embrace their youth movement, their continued desire to trade their two former All-Stars is logical. However, with the Bulls 18 games into the season, has LaVine and Vucevic's play restored their trade value to finally deliver a satisfactory return in the eyes of the front office? If not, the Bulls could pivot to shopping shopping Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White as a plan B, according to Cowley's previous reporting. The Bulls' trade plot also thickened this past Friday when NBA insider Jake Fischer reported the Bulls are open to trading Patrick Williams . This article first appeared on On Tap Sports Net and was syndicated with permission.

DENVER (AP) — So you’re the most valuable player of that annual Thanksgiving Day backyard flag football game. Or played tackle football on any level. Or ran track. Or dabbled in basketball. Or toyed with any sport, really. Well, this may be just for you: is holding talent identification camps all over the country to find that next flag football star. It’s “America’s Got Talent” meets “American Idol,” with and the grand prize a chance to compete for a spot on a national team. Because it’s never too early to start planning for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where flag football will make its Summer Games debut. Know this, though — it’s not an easy team to make. The are at “Dream Team” status given the men’s side has captured six of the last seven world championships and the women three in a row. To remain on top, the sport’s national governing body is scouring every football field, park, track, basketball court and gym to find hidden talent to cultivate. USA Football has organized camps and tryouts from coast to coast for anyone ages 11 to 23. There are more than a dozen sites set up so far, ranging from Dallas (Sunday) to Chicago (Dec. 14) to Tampa (March 29) to Los Angeles (TBD) and the Boston area (April 27), where it will be held at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. The already partnered with the NFL on flag football initiatives and programs. The numbers have been through the roof, with engagement on social media platforms increasing by 86% . The participation of boys and girls ages 6 to 17 in flag football last year peaked at more than 1.6 million, according to USA Football research. “We pride ourselves on elevating the gold standard across the sport,” said Eric Mayes, the managing director of the high performance and national teams for USA Football. “We want to be the best in the world — and stay the best in the world.” Flag football was added to the LA28 program. The already soaring profile of American football only figures to be enhanced by an Olympic appearance. Imagine, say, a few familiar faces take the field, too. Perhaps even NFL stars such as Tyreek Hill or Patrick Mahomes, maybe even past pro football greats donning a flag belt for a country to which they may have ties. Soon after flag football’s inclusion, there was chatter of NFL players possibly joining in on the fun. Of course, there are logistical issues to tackle before their inclusion at the LA Olympics, which open July 14, 2028. Among them, training camp, because the Olympics will be right in the middle of it. The big question is this: Will owners permit high-priced players to duck out for a gold-medal pursuit? No decisions have yet been made on the status of NFL players for the Olympics. For now, it’s simply about growing the game. There are currently 13 states that sanction girls flag football as a high school varsity sport. Just recently, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles helped pave the way to get it adopted in Pennsylvania. Around the world, it’s catching on, too. The women’s team from Japan took third at the recent word championships, while one of the best players on the . “Could flag football globally become the new soccer? That’s something to aspire to,” said , the NFL’s vice president of flag football. This type of flag football though, isn’t your Thanksgiving Day game with family and friends. There’s a learning curve. And given the small roster sizes, versatility is essential. Most national team members need to be a version of Colorado’s Travis Hunter. Forget bump-and-run coverage, too, because there’s no contact. None. That took some adjusting for Mike Daniels, a defensive back out of West Virginia who earned a rookie minicamp invitation with the Cleveland Browns in 2017. “If a receiver is running around, I’m thinking, ‘OK, I can kind of bump him here and there and nudge him,’” Daniels explained. “They’re like, ‘No, you can’t.’ I’m just like, ‘So I’m supposed to let this guy just run?!’ I really rebelled at the idea at first. But you learn.” The competition for an Olympic roster spot is going to be fierce because only 10 players are expected to make a squad. The best 10 will earn it, too, as credentials such as college All-American or NFL All-Pro take a backseat. “I would actually love” seeing NFL players try out, said Daniels, who’s also a personal trainer in Miami. “I’m not going to let you just waltz in here, thinking, ‘I played NFL football for five years. I’m popular. I have a huge name.’ I’m still better than you and I’m going to prove it — until you prove otherwise.” Around the house, Bruce Mapp constantly swivels his hips when turning a hallway corner or if his daughter tries to reach for a hug. It’s his way of working on avoiding a “defender” trying to snare the flag. That approach has earned the receiver out of Coastal Carolina four gold medals with USA Football. The 31-year-old fully plans on going for more gold in Los Angeles. “You grow up watching Usain Bolt (win gold) and the ‘Redeem Team’ led by Kobe Bryant win a gold medal, you’re always thinking, ‘That’s insane.’ Obviously, you couldn’t do it in your sport, because I played football,” said Mapp, who owns a food truck in the Dallas area. “With the Olympics approaching, that (gold medal) is what my mind is set on.” It’s a common thought, which is why everything — including talent camps — starts now. “Everybody thinks, ‘Yeah, the U.S. just wins,’” Daniels said. “But we work hard all the time. We don’t just walk in. We don’t just get off the bus thinking, ‘We’re going to beat people.’” ___ AP NFL: andAAP FACTCHECK – Jaguar’s stock price did not hit an all-time low following its recent rebrand, despite claims on social media. The car manufacturer has made headlines in recent weeks following its “ Copy nothing ” advertisement relaunch as it looks to enter the electric vehicle market. While the advert has been widely ridiculed, Jaguar’s stock price did not hit an all-time low in the aftermath. In fact, the Jaguar brand does not have a stock price. The claim appears to have originated from an article published by The People’s Voice, a site AAP FactCheck has debunked numerous times. A Facebook post shows a photograph of the article, with its headline: “Jaguar Stock Price Plummets to All-Time Low Following Woke Rebrand.” The article provided no evidence to support the claim in the headline. The Jaguar advertisement , released on November 18, highlighted the brand’s shift towards electric with the clip designed to express abstract and avant-garde themes. It features strikingly dressed models but does not show any cars. Critics have branded it the latest in “woke” marketing, with many likening it to an April 2023 advert for Bud Light in which a transgender influencer promoted the product. The claims in the article and posts are nevertheless false. Stephen Taylor , an expert in financial econometrics at Lancaster University in the UK, explained that Jaguar does not have its shares. Instead, the brand is owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata Motors . Professor Taylor said Tata’s share price is influenced by various factors, with the company owning several brands beyond Jaguar, including Land Rover. Peter Swan , a banking and finance expert at UNSW, said Jaguar makes up a tiny part of Tata’s total sales, adding: “Good or bad news about the brand has very little impact on the Tata price.” Professor Swan said Tata’s share price following the announcement was far from its all-time low. “From the 18th to 19th, Tata Motors price actually rose slightly (781.75 to 799.90 [Indian rupees]) and has remained at that level until today [November 26],” he told AAP FactCheck . “Tata has been much lower in the past (November 28, 2023) at 677.45 and much higher (August 12, 2024) at 1079.90.” Tata’s most recent (December 3) share price was 801.25. 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The Growing Importance of Agritech Startups India’s agricultural sector is the backbone of its economy, employing nearly half of the workforce and contributing significantly to GDP. With challenges such as climate change, resource constraints, and the need for sustainable practices, Agritech Startups have emerged as the torchbearers of innovation in agriculture. These startups are leveraging technology to empower farmers, optimize supply chains, and ensure food security. Here, we explore the top 10 best agritech startups in India in 2025 that are transforming the agricultural landscape. 1. Ninjacart Ninjacart has redefined agricultural supply chains by directly connecting farmers with retailers and businesses, eliminating middlemen. This Bengaluru-based startup ensures better prices for farmers and fresh produce for consumers. Key Features : Data-driven supply chain optimization Reduced wastage with efficient logistics Quick payouts for farmers Ninjacart has become a trusted name in agricultural marketing and logistics, making it a pioneer among agritech startups. 2. DeHaat DeHaat provides end-to-end agricultural services, from crop advisory and financial services to inputs and market linkages. Its AI-driven platform simplifies farming for small and medium farmers. Highlights : Personalized crop advisory via app Access to quality seeds, fertilizers, and machinery Digital marketplace for selling produce DeHaat’s impact on enhancing farmer incomes and promoting sustainable practices has made it one of India’s most impactful agritech startups. 3. AgroStar AgroStar empowers farmers by offering agricultural products and expert advice through a simple mobile application. It bridges the knowledge gap and provides a seamless platform for buying inputs. Key Benefits : Multilingual app for farmer convenience Expert agronomy support Doorstep delivery of farm inputs AgroStar’s user-friendly platform has won the trust of millions of farmers across India. 4. Stellapps Focusing on the dairy sector, Stellapps leverages IoT and big data to enhance productivity and transparency in the dairy supply chain. From milking to distribution, it offers end-to-end solutions. Notable Features : IoT-based wearable devices for livestock health Milk quality analysis tools Supply chain digitization Stellapps has revolutionized India’s dairy industry, making it a standout player among agritech startups. 5. CropIn CropIn provides intelligent farm management solutions to help farmers and agribusinesses make data-driven decisions. Its platform uses AI and satellite imagery to improve agricultural efficiency. Core Features : Real-time farm monitoring Predictive analytics for better yields Traceability solutions for exports CropIn’s technology-driven approach ensures improved productivity and transparency, benefiting both farmers and agribusinesses. 6. Bijak Bijak simplifies the agricultural trade by offering a digital platform for B2B transactions. It aims to build trust among stakeholders through ratings and transparent payments. Key Offerings : Seamless buyer-seller matching Credit and payment tracking Reduced risks in agricultural trade Bijak’s innovative approach has enhanced efficiency in agricultural commerce, making it a significant player in the agritech ecosystem. 7. FarMart FarMart focuses on input distribution and crop advisory services, enabling retailers and farmers to access resources and knowledge efficiently. Its tech-first approach ensures inclusivity and scalability. Distinct Advantages : Digital marketplace for input retailers Crop-specific advisory via app Partnerships with major agribusinesses FarMart’s mission to digitize input distribution has made a remarkable impact on Indian agriculture. 8. EM3 AgriServices EM3 AgriServices promotes the concept of “Farming as a Service” (FaaS), offering mechanized solutions to farmers on a pay-per-use basis. It addresses challenges related to the high cost of farm machinery. Key Features : Affordable access to advanced farm machinery On-demand services for plowing, sowing, and harvesting Mobile app for booking services EM3 AgriServices’ innovative FaaS model empowers small farmers, ensuring increased productivity at minimal costs. 9. Gramophone Gramophone is a one-stop solution for farmers, offering crop inputs, advisory services, and digital tools to enhance productivity. Its mobile platform simplifies decision-making for farmers. What Makes It Unique : Comprehensive database for pest and disease management E-commerce platform for agricultural inputs Community engagement for shared learning Gramophone’s farmer-centric approach ensures better outcomes and profitability for its users. 10. BharatAgri BharatAgri offers subscription-based precision farming solutions, using AI and machine learning to provide real-time farming advice. It helps farmers increase yields and reduce costs. Standout Features : Customized advisory based on farm data Weather-based recommendations Affordable subscription plans BharatAgri’s focus on precision farming has established it as a leader in agricultural innovation. Why Agritech Startups Are Crucial for India Agritech startups address key challenges faced by India’s agricultural sector, such as: Low Productivity : Solutions like precision farming and IoT-based monitoring enhance efficiency. Market Linkages : Platforms connect farmers with buyers, reducing dependence on middlemen. Sustainability : Technologies promote resource conservation and eco-friendly practices. These startups play a pivotal role in empowering farmers, ensuring food security, and boosting India’s agricultural economy. The Future of Agritech Startups in India With advancements in AI, IoT, and blockchain, agritech startups are set to revolutionize Indian agriculture further. Policies supporting innovation and the growing demand for sustainable practices will drive the sector’s growth. Startups like these are not only enhancing farmer incomes but also contributing to a resilient and self-reliant agricultural ecosystem. To learn more about agritech innovations and their impact, visit Ninjacart’s official website . Conclusion The top 10 best agritech startups in India for 2025 are reshaping the agricultural landscape through innovative technologies and sustainable practices. From optimizing supply chains to empowering farmers with real-time insights, these startups are ensuring a brighter future for Indian agriculture. As they continue to grow and innovate, their impact will undoubtedly make India’s agricultural sector more efficient, profitable, and sustainable .

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City's players were booed by their own fans Tuesday after blowing a three-goal lead against Feyenoord in the Champions League to extend their winless run to six games. Jeers rang around the Etihad Stadium after the final whistle of a dramatic 3-3 draw. After five-straight losses in all competitions, City looked to be cruising to victory after going three up inside 50 minutes. But Feyenoord mounted an improbable comeback and leveled the game in the 89th minute to leave the home crowd stunned. While the worst losing streak of Guardiola’s managerial career was brought to an end, his wait for a first win since Oct. 26 goes on. Erling Haaland had scored twice, with Ilkay Gundogan also on target to put City in control. But goals from Anis Hadj Moussa in the 75th, Santiago Gimenez in the 82nd and David Hancko in the 89th turned the game on its head. City's players, including Bernardo Silva, Josko Gvardiol and Haaland looked visibly frustrated as they left the field to cheers of the delirious traveling Dutch fans in the away section of the stadium. City plays Premier League leader Liverpool on Sunday — defeat would leave it 11 points adrift of its title rival. James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerHere's when Unitas knocks off for Christmas - and how to get an emergency repair

JERUSALEM — Israel approved a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. In the hours leading up to the Cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah in the final hours before any ceasefire takes hold. Israel's security Cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement late Tuesday after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East, but neither he nor Netanyahu have proposed a postwar solution for the Palestinian territory, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. Israel says it will ‘attack with might’ if Hezbollah breaks truce Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed a series of accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran, which backs both groups. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” Netanyahu's office later said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but "reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides’ compliance. But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state” of Lebanon, he said. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” In this screen grab image from video provide by the Israeli Government Press Office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a televised statement Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Jerusalem, Israel. Warplanes bombard Beirut and its southern suburbs Even as Israeli, U.S, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah’s military capabilities. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city’s downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs killed at least one person and wounded 13, it said. Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure. Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site that is around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah's financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead. Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate. A police bomb squad officer inspects the site where a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in a backyard in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024. Israeli forces reach Litani River in southern Lebanon The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometers (miles) from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since. Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

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JERUSALEM — Israel approved a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants on Tuesday that would end nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the war in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire, starting at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday, would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza , where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Hours before the ceasefire with Hezbollah was to take effect, Israel carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities. Another huge airstrike shook Beirut shortly after the ceasefire was announced. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. Bilal Hussein - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS There appeared to be lingering disagreement over whether Israel would have the right to strike Hezbollah if it believed the militants had violated the agreement, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted was part of the deal but which Lebanese and Hezbollah officials have rejected. Israel's security Cabinet approved the U.S.-France-brokered ceasefire agreement after Netanyahu presented it, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza but the talks repeatedly sputtered to a halt . President-elect Donald Trump vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. In this screen grab image from video provide by the Israeli Government Press Office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a televised statement Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Jerusalem, Israel. Uncredited - hogp, ASSOCIATED PRESS Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” The ceasefire deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” A police bomb squad officer inspects the site where a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in a backyard in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024. Leo Correa - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS Netanyahu’s office said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but “reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the ceasefire and described it as a crucial step toward stability and the return of displaced people. Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state," he said, referring to Israel's demand for freedom of action. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Rescuers and residents search for victims Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut, Lebanon. Hassan Ammar, Associated Press Even as ceasefire efforts gained momentum in recent days, Israel continued to strike what it called Hezbollah targets across Lebanon while the militants fired rockets, missiles and drones across the border. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in central Beirut — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets linked to Hezbollah's financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously were not targeted. The warnings sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, with mattresses tied to some cars. Dozens of people, some wearing pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed overhead. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said peacekeepers will not evacuate. The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few miles from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 20 miles north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have exchanged barrages ever since. Israeli security officers and army soldiers inspect the site Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024, where a rocket fired from Lebanon landed in a backyard in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel. Leo Correa, Associated Press Israel escalated its bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut and Federman from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed.Best Buy CEO on potential Trump tariffs: Consumers will bear the bruntNeuberger Berman sells $10.1 million in Getty Images stock