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It's a well-worn meme at this point that the writing staff of "The Simpsons" must be time travelers with all the things they've managed to predict over the years. From Donald Trump's presidency to Disney buying out 20th Century Fox, things that are played for simple gags on the animated sitcom end up eerily coming to fruition. Of course, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why "The Simpsons" is able to do this. The show's been on the air for decades, with hundreds of episodes, so it's bound to get something right now and then. Add in the fact the show regularly dabbles in social satire, poking fun at things that are relevant at the time, and it only makes sense that history would wind up repeating itself to where it looks like the show was super prescient. Still, it's impressive to watch all the same, especially when it comes to how much advanced technology has been featured on the show years ago only to actually come out years later. Certain devices, like smartwatches, were bound to come out one way or another, but it's far more humorous when something like a baby translator ends up being made — sort of. Here's all the cool tech "The Simpsons" featured years before it was a reality. Consider it an incentive to check in with newer episodes of "The Simpsons" to see what society might get 20 years from now. On "The Simpsons" Season 9, Episode 12 — "Bart Carny" – Marge tries to get the kids to do some yard work. She's disappointed when they refuse, but Homer, as his usual oblivious self, ends up taking them all to the carnival anyways. Once there, they want to go on all fun rides, with Bart expressing his enthusiasm over trying the "Yard Work Simulator," despite his reluctance to perform any actual yard work earlier. The joke is clear — kids don't want to do anything productive, but they'll jump at the chance to perform manual labor if it's presented as a cool video game. That's pretty much the ideology behind "FarmVille," the Facebook game that took the world by storm in the 2010s. People could log on to plant crops and raise livestock, with the main feature being that your Facebook friends could visit your farm to help you out. It sounds like a lot of time and energy when one could learn actual skills like planting their own garden to become a little more self-sufficient in real life. Sadly, all that time invested into "FarmVille" was all for naught when the game shut down for good at the end of 2020. In a way, "The Simpsons" joke could be seen as predicting the prevalence of all sorts of mundane video game simulators, such as "Car Wash Simulator" and "PowerWash Simulator." At the very least, perhaps these simulators show people how fun and rewarding it can be to do these tasks in real life. When it comes to "The Simpsons" predictions, the Holy Grail remains the Donald Trump premonition in Season 11's "Bart to the Future." This is just a throwaway line in a flash forward episode showing Lisa as President of the United States, but before that, "The Simpsons" had a different peek into the future with Season 6's "Lisa's Wedding." It sees Lisa almost getting married to her first love, Hugh Parkfield. When his first attempt at a proposal goes wrong, he immediately speaks into a phone located on his wrist. It's easy to see this as a precursor to modern smartwatches where people can make calls and keep track of all sorts of important data right from their wrist. Of course, real-world smartwatches simply have little screens instead of flipping open like an old-fashioned phone, but Hugh's gadget does exude a certain old-school charm. To be fair, there's a long line of media predicting smartwatches before even "The Simpsons" was around. Arguably, the first well-known example came in the 1940s with "Dick Tracy" comics, with the titular character sporting a two-way radio on his wrist. "The Jetsons" and "Star Trek" followed suit, and there's the real-world forefather to smartwatches with the Hamilton Pulsar Time Computer . This device, which looks super futuristic and featured an LED display, came out all the way back in 1972. Hugh's smartwatch almost seems crude by comparison. "Lisa's Wedding" actually has quite a few technological predictions that were supposed to come out in the far-off year of 2010 — in case you need to be reminded of how long "The Simpsons" has been airing. After Hugh proposes, Lisa calls Marge on a video phone to tell her the good news. Much like Hugh's smartwatch featuring a flip phone, the video calling device has some old-school sensibilities, such as how you still need to input a number using a rotary dial. Still, it manages to predict how people could call one another and actually see who they're speaking with. It wouldn't take too long for this technology to appear, as smartphones with front-facing camera began making waves in the late 2000s. It's not bad for a TV episode that came out in 1995. However, the technology became far more commonplace with the introduction of the iPhone 4, which came with FaceTime, allowing even more people to partake in this futuristic novelty. In fact, FaceTime came out in – 2010? Okay, are we sure "The Simpsons" writers aren't actually time travelers with this one? The video conferencing scene on "Lisa's Wedding" is even more humorous with Marge not realizing she's on a video call, like crossing her fingers when promising Homer won't ruin Lisa's big day. Anyone who's ever had an awkward conversation with a parent who didn't quite understand these newfangled gadgets can surely relate. "The Simpsons" certainly didn't invent robots, and society has been hard at work trying to create these mechanical entities. Sometimes, this leads to useful inventions, but other times, it leads to some truly haunting robots getting put out into the world . In "Lisa's Wedding," the robots featured here — not counting the tin men seen toward the beginning — include a librarian whose face catches fire after crying. Roboticists may be hard at work creating more realistic humanoid robots, but we already have librarian robots to a degree. In 2016, the introduction of a robot named AuRoSS, which was developed by Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research, was widely reported on. It's an autonomous device that's capable of scanning the myriad bookshelves to find any pieces that are out of place. After doing the rounds, it can then inform the librarian staff of which books need to be moved manually. AuRoSS definitely can't do everything librarians do, but it helps take the busywork out of a more menial task. AuRoSS also can't cry when you remind it that it's just a robot, but that's probably for the best. Season 16's "Future-Drama," yet another peek into what could happen if the Simpson family ever aged, sees Bart and Lisa graduating high school. Marge takes a picture of the two before they go to prom, only for the photo to expand into a cake. Marge then exclaims, "It's so great. We can do anything now that scientists have invented magic." To explain this phenomenon in the real world, one could argue Marge making that cake through the process of 3D printing. Researchers have been trying to develop viable means of creating food, such as using food inks that preserve the nutrition and flavor of frozen and fresh vegetables . This relies on piping an edible paste into whatever structure the user wants, and it could be a great way to ensure individuals get the nutritional requirements they need. Unfortunately, the technology is still pretty expensive for in-home use, and it's not quite as easy as just taking a picture of whatever you want plastered on a cake. "Future-Drama" definitely has some more outlandish future technology compared to something like "Lisa's Wedding," which looks downright grounded by comparison. Chief Wiggum has gone full RoboCop and Moe has a clone. Still, bioengineered food is within the realm of possibility — even if it's not exactly magic. It often takes a more far-out framing device to see "The Simpsons" dabble with new technology. "Treehouse of Horror XII" includes a segment where the family gets a new smart home, tricked out by a nefarious AI voiced by Pierce Brosnan. It does everything for them, from cooking their favorite foods to cleaning the dinner table. Of course, the AI also falls in love with Marge and tries to kill Homer, but before that, it shows off some pretty nifty technology. Most people probably aren't giving their homes full chrome makeovers, but plenty of high-tech gadgets make it easier than ever to have a smart home of your very own. Much like the Simpsons family, you don't even need to be that rich, seeing as there are many affordable smart home devices to choose from. Ring Video Doorbells allow you to see who's at the front door before answering, smart thermostats allow you to control your house's inner temperature even when you're away. Plus, smart vacuums clean your house autonomously , which comes in handy even if it can't really help you clean the table after a meal. The Brosnan-voiced AI — which borrows heavily from HAL 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey" — even exemplifies many people's fears surrounding AI. Granted, the only human he wants to kill is Homer, but what if a highly advanced intelligence wanted something more than just marrying Marge? On Season 2 of "The Simpsons," we learn Homer has a half-brother named Herb, who is voiced by Danny DeVito. He's a successful businessman who loses his fortune by the end of the episode due to Homer's incompetence. Fortunately, he gets redemption in Season 3's "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes" when he borrows money from Homer for a gadget that'll put him back on top — a baby translator. Maggie Simpson makes for the perfect test subject, as he analyzes her coos to figure out what she's really trying to say. No doubt an actual baby translator would be a major asset to new parents who just want their child to stop fussing. In the modern AI era, there are numerous services that market the ability to translate a baby's cries into understandable demands. For example, the Cappella app states how it uses AI to translate a baby's cries to determine if they're hungry or sleepy. The app claims to be 95% accurate, but with membership costing $9.99/month, it's natural if parents are skeptical of whether it'll actually help them raise their kids. Similar apps include Nanny AI and ChatterBaby . Herb becomes rich through his invention, although he becomes broke again later in the series, so the money clearly dried up somehow. Maybe there was some kind of flaw in his baby translator that resulted in massive recalls. Or perhaps the general population got tired of hearing Herb's voice whenever their babies wanted to talk. Gone are the days when people need bulky cameras when they can capture solid footage and photos on just about any smartphone . Today, it's quite common for drivers to install cameras on their dashboards in the event of a car accident and for homeowners to put up video doorbells that monitor the outside of the home. Either way, the wide availability of hands-free cameras today makes people's lives easier in more ways than one. This idea of hands-free cameras can be seen in an episode of the "The Simpsons" called "Homer and Apu." Homer is tasked with capturing Apu's negligence on camera with a device so small it fits inside an oversized novelty hat. Of course, this camera is still huge, but Kent Brockman's news team manages to get the footage wirelessly. It's the kind of joke that only works in the context of the mid-'90s, as nowadays, Homer could've just clipped something to his shirt to prove that Apu sells dangerously expired food. Today, hands-free cameras are an asset even when you're not trying to narc on a small business owner. There's even an iPhone hack where you can turn it into a hands-free camera for greater accessibility. On Season 10, Episode 22 — "They Saved Lisa's Brain" – Lisa meets up with the smartest people in Springfield, and eventually, they're put in charge of running the town. Among them is Professor Frink, who frequently has all sorts of neat inventions to factor into the plot. At one point, he pulls out a sarcasm detector, although when it is confronted by the frequently sardonic Comic Book Guy, the device soon explodes due to a sarcasm overload. One would assume picking up sarcasm would be fairly simple in day-to-day conversations, but researchers have actually come out with an AI-powered sarcasm detector. The University of Groningen's Matt Coler told The Guardian , "When you start studying sarcasm, you become hyper-aware of the extent to which we use it as part of our normal mode of communication. But we have to speak to our devices in a very literal way, as if we're talking to a robot, because we are. It doesn't have to be this way." Ultimately, the application seems to mostly apply to humans speaking with AI models, which may be more inclined to take everything literally. There's really no need to use it on someone who's sarcastic in virtually every conversation like Comic Book Guy. Hopefully, this doesn't lead to people taking a bunch of bad advice from AI because it starts deciding to be sarcastic. The history of practical VR goes back decades, usually involving people wearing some kind of goggle-esque headset to see things that aren't really there. "The Simpsons" certainly didn't invent the aesthetic, but it's hard not to see similarities between the VR headsets featured in Season 28's "Friends and Family" and the Apple Vision Pro, which would come out eight years after the episode. Much of the episode centers on Mr. Burns acquiring a VR headset and using the Simpson family — minus Homer, that is — to create idyllic family scenes since he never had a family of his own. However, the most relatable scene from the episode likely comes at the end when everyone in Springfield is seemingly using the headsets as they go about their day. This often results in catastrophe, like when Agnes Skinner falls down a manhole. The Apple Vision Pro, despite having a Travel Mode, isn't really meant to be used outside, despite the presence of videos of people using them out in public. One of the biggest complaints of the Apple Vision Pro is the narrow field of vision compared to competitors like the Meta Quest 3. It poses many dangers, so it might appear that in addition to "The Simpsons" predicting the Apple Vision Pro, it also anticipated its major drawback. Perhaps that's the source of "The Simpsons" being able to predict so much — no matter what technology gets invented, people will find the most hilarious way to misuse it.In today’s fast-paced digital world, telecom application development plays a crucial role in enhancing your business’s service offerings. As customers demand more robust and seamless experiences, leveraging advanced app development for telecom can set you apart from competitors. 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Understanding the critical aspects of telecom application development can help you make informed decisions that enhance user experience and boost your business performance. Below are key considerations and insights related to this field. A telecom application should incorporate user-friendly navigation, quick loading times, and robust security features. Real-time notifications and a seamless user interface are also vital for engagement. Additionally, personalized content and support options can significantly improve the overall experience. Quality telecom software development leads to more reliable services and improved features. When your application performs well and meets user expectations, customer satisfaction increases. This ultimately fosters loyalty, as satisfied customers are more likely to stay and recommend your services to others. Custom telecom app development allows your business to differentiate itself in a crowded market. 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Quest Partners LLC Has $491,000 Position in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NVIDIA Co. ( NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report ) by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 125,514 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock after buying an additional 23,936 shares during the period. NVIDIA comprises 1.8% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in NVIDIA were worth $15,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its position in NVIDIA by 897.5% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 119,110 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $14,715,000 after purchasing an additional 107,169 shares in the last quarter. Truepoint Inc. raised its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 914.1% in the second quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 12,990 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $1,605,000 after buying an additional 11,709 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NVIDIA by 683.9% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 238,829 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $29,505,000 after buying an additional 208,362 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 884.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 213,127,959 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $26,329,751,000 after acquiring an additional 191,469,114 shares during the period. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd increased its holdings in NVIDIA by 1,106.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 532,285 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $65,758,000 after acquiring an additional 488,148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.27% of the company’s stock. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NVDA shares. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of NVIDIA in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of NVIDIA from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target on NVIDIA from $148.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on NVIDIA from $189.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on NVIDIA from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.15. Insiders Place Their Bets In other NVIDIA news, insider Donald F. Robertson, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.51, for a total value of $524,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 492,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,370,572.59. The trade was a 0.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink . Also, Director Mark A. Stevens sold 155,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.27, for a total transaction of $20,501,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,100,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,402,475.59. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders have sold a total of 2,156,270 shares of company stock worth $254,784,327 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock. NVIDIA Price Performance NVDA stock opened at $141.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 55.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.66. NVIDIA Co. has a 12 month low of $45.01 and a 12 month high of $152.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $134.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. NVIDIA ( NASDAQ:NVDA – Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The computer hardware maker reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.12. NVIDIA had a return on equity of 114.83% and a net margin of 55.69%. The business had revenue of $35.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that NVIDIA Co. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year. NVIDIA Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. NVIDIA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1.57%. NVIDIA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer hardware maker to buy up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued. NVIDIA Profile ( Free Report ) NVIDIA Corporation provides graphics and compute and networking solutions in the United States, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and internationally. The Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs, the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics; virtual GPU or vGPU software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; automotive platforms for infotainment systems; and Omniverse software for building and operating metaverse and 3D internet applications. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVDA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NVIDIA Co. ( NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report ). 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Breaking News Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Manchester City's crisis continued with a 2-0 defeat away to Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Pep Guardiola's old club Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund to clinch a spot in the knockout stage of Europe's elite club competition. Arsenal, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Lille, Feyenoord and Stuttgart were also victorious, but City's latest loss in a miserable run will dominate the headlines. The 2023 European champions succumbed in Turin as Dusan Vlahovic put Juventus ahead early in the second half when goalkeeper Ederson was unable to keep out his header. Ilkay Gundogan was denied an equaliser by a fine Michele Di Gregorio save, before Weston McKennie made it 2-0 with a fine acrobatic finish in the 75th minute. The result leaves Juventus on 11 points with two games left, a tally that is expected to be enough to guarantee them at least a place in the knockout phase play-offs. City, meanwhile, have now won just once in 10 in all competitions, with seven defeats in that time. With just eight points, they currently sit 22nd in the standings, in which the top 24 advance to the knockouts. Their next game will be crucial, as they travel to a Paris Saint-Germain side who sit a point beneath Guardiola's men. "We have to get points, we'll go to Paris to try and do that and the same goes for the final match at home (to Club Brugge)," Guardiola told Amazon Prime in Italy. Barcelona are second in the standings with 15 points, behind only Liverpool, after beating Dortmund 3-2 in a thriller in Germany, with Ferran Torres their hero. Raphinha fired Barca ahead with his 17th goal of the season, early in a remarkable second half. Serhou Guirassy equalised with a penalty on the hour mark, but substitute Torres put Barca back in front on 75 minutes, converting the loose ball after Fermin Lopez's shot was saved. Guirassy scored again for a quick equaliser, only for Torres to strike once more and win the game for Barca with five minutes left. Barcelona's tally leaves them, like Liverpool, ideally placed to finish in the top eight, which means direct progress to the last 16 without having to go through the play-offs. - Saka stars, Arsenal cruise - Arsenal are third in the standings on 13 points after easing to a 3-0 win over Monaco in London. Bukayo Saka scored twice, putting the Gunners ahead in the first half and making it 2-0 on 78 minutes as the hosts pounced on disastrous Monaco defending. Saka then turned provider for the late third, with substitute Kai Havertz credited with the final touch. Mikel Arteta's team are one of six sides on 13 points, with Lille also on that tally after edging Sturm Graz 3-2 in France thanks to a fine late winner from Hakon Haraldsson. Lille were 2-0 up through Osame Sahraoui and Mitchel Bakker, only for goals by Otar Kiteishvili and Mika Biereth to bring the Austrian champions back level. However, Icelandic midfielder Haraldsson secured Lille's fourth win of the campaign. Atletico eased to a 3-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava, with Antoine Griezmann scoring twice after Julian Alvarez had opened the scoring with an excellent strike. David Strelec pulled one back for the Slovaks, who are one of three teams already eliminated having lost six games out of six. The others are RB Leipzig and Young Boys. - Milan grab late winner - Milan defeated Red Star Belgrade 2-1 at San Siro with Tammy Abraham grabbing the winner three minutes from time. Rafael Leao had put Milan ahead only for Nemanja Radonjic to equalise for the Serbian side, who have lost five of their six games and are surely heading out. Benfica edged closer to a play-off spot with a 0-0 draw at home to Bologna of Italy, who have scored just one goal in six games and will go no further. Feyenoord stayed on course to go through after beating Sparta Prague 4-2 in Rotterdam, with Gernot Trauner, Igor Paixao, Anis Hadj Moussa and Santiago Gimenez netting their goals. Stuttgart kept alive their hopes of progress by coming from behind to beat Young Boys 5-1. Lukasz Lakomy put Young Boys ahead but Angelo Stiller levelled before Enzo Millot, Chris Fuehrich, Josha Vagnoman and Yannik Keitel all scored in the second half. The next round of Champions League games is scheduled for January 21 and 22, with the league phase concluding the following week. as/jc Originally published as Juve deepen Man City crisis, Barcelona into Champions League knockouts More related stories Sport ‘Privilege’: Sonny Bill’s shock career move A global sports star known for his deep faith and “passion for social equity” has made a surprising career change. Read more Breaking News ‘If I refuse?’: Violent man’s wild question A violent offender is back in the community, but a wild exchange with a Supreme Court justice suggests he might struggle to fit in. Read moreATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. As reaction poured in Sunday from around the world, former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary were among those praising Carter for a life devoted to helping others. “Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life. Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others — until the very end,” Clinton said, praising Carter for a commitment to civil rights, protecting natural resources, securing peace between Egypt and Israel, and other accomplishments. The son of the late Martin Luther King Jr., meanwhile, called Carter a “fighter who punched above his weight.” In a statement, Martin Luther King III added that “while history may have been hard on President Carter at times, today, he is remembered as a global human rights leader.” A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.”Capital City Bank Group, Inc. Announces Cash Dividend
The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved resolutions Wednesday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and expressing support for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, although they reflect world opinion. Israel has faced growing international criticism over its conduct in Gaza as it fights Hamas militants, especially when it comes to humanitarian aid for desperate people in the besieged and heavily destroyed territory. Israeli airstrikes in northern and central Gaza killed at least 33 people overnight and into Wednesday, Palestinian medical officials said. Hospital records show one Israeli strike in northern Gaza killed 19 people in a home, including a family of eight — four children, their parents and two grandparents. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas militant in the vicinity of the hospital, part of a blistering offensive in Gaza’s isolated and heavily destroyed north . The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people, including children and older adults. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials. They say women and children make up more than half the dead but do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their count. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. Here's the latest: JERUSALEM — Israeli hospital officials say a young boy is fighting for his life after a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank. An Israeli bus came under fire from a suspected Palestinian attacker late Wednesday, the military said, and Israeli forces are searching for the shooter. Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem says at least three people were wounded in the shooting, which took place just outside the city in an area near major Israeli settlements. The hospital says the boy, who is about 10, is in grave condition. It says two other people, ages 24 and 55, were also hurt. UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved resolutions Wednesday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban . The votes in the 193-nation world body were 158-9 with 13 abstentions to demand a ceasefire now and 159-9 with 11 abstentions to support the agency known as UNRWA. The votes culminated two days of speeches overwhelmingly calling for an end to the 14-month war between Israel and the militant Hamas group . General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly. Israel and its close ally, the United States, were in a tiny minority speaking and voting against the resolutions. BEIRUT — Israeli forces withdrew from a strategic town in southern Lebanon and handed it back to the Lebanese army in coordination with U.N. peacekeepers, the two militaries said Wednesday, marking an important test of the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants. It appeared to be Israel's first pullout from a Lebanese border town captured during this fall’s ground invasion, and comes as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire. The Lebanese army said Wednesday it has deployed units to five positions around the town of Khiam coinciding with the Israeli army’s withdrawal. Israel's military confirmed this was the first town it has turned over to the Lebanese army under the truce, which — if it endures — would end nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has said the truce deal gives it the right to use military force against perceived ceasefire violations. Israel has launched near-daily strikes, mostly in southern Lebanon, that have killed at least 28 people and wounded 25 others since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27. Still, the shaky truce appears to be holding. Five people were killed Wednesday by at least three Israeli strikes in different towns in the southern municipality of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said. The Lebanese army warned civilians to stay out of Khiam until it can clear the area of any unexploded munitions. The strategic hilltop town, located less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the border with Israel, saw some of the most intense fighting during the war. Thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war returned home two weeks ago after a ceasefire took hold , driving cars stacked with personal belongings and defying warnings from Lebanese and Israeli troops to avoid some areas. WASHINGTON — All Russian naval ships that were docked at the Syrian port of Tartus have left and it appears Moscow is now looking for a new base along the coast now that its key ally, Bashar Assad, has been ousted a ruler of Syria, a U.S. official said. It’s not clear where the ships will go, but Russia may seek a new port on the Mediterranean Sea along the African shoreline, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. assessments. The official did not say how many vessels Russia had in Syria at the time Assad was overthrown. Moscow has dedicated the bulk of its military assets to the war in Ukraine. Asked about Tartus on Wednesday, Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said that the U.S. is seeing some Russian forces and naval vessels leaving Syria. “They just had one of their key political allies, ousted,” said Singh. “We’re seeing Russia consolidate assets.” — By Lolita C. Baldor UNITED NATIONS – The Palestinians are urging United Nations member countries to vote in favor of resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and supporting the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, which Israel has moved to ban in Palestinian territories. The Palestinian mission to the United Nations issued the urgent appeal to the 193 U.N. member nations ahead of Wednesday afternoon’s votes on the resolutions in the General Assembly, whose members have has been listening to two days of speeches overwhelmingly supporting the measures. Israel and close ally the United States have spoken against the resolutions. The Palestinians and their supporters went to the General Assembly after the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution last month demanding an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza. It was supported by the 14 other Security Councilmember nations, but the U.S. objected because the resolution did not include a link to an immediate release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The General Assembly resolution being voted on Wednesday mirrors the Security Council language: It “demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire to be respected by all parties, and further reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” Unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly. But while council resolutions are legally binding, assembly resolutions are not, though they do reflect world opinion. The second resolution being voted on supports the mandate of the U.N. agency caring for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA which was established by the General Assembly in 1949. It “deplores” legislation adopted by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Oct. 28 banning UNRWA’s activities in the Palestinian territories, which takes effect in 90 days. It calls on the Israeli government “to abide by its international obligations, respect the privileges and immunities of UNRWA and uphold its responsibility to allow and facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip.” JERUSALEM — Israel has lifted restrictions on public gatherings and outdoor activities in areas near the Lebanese border in the northern Golan Heights, two weeks after a ceasefire with Hezbollah. The army’s Home Front Command said it was changing its public safety guidelines to “full activity” from “partial activity.” Israel had tightened restrictions on Nov. 25, reflecting concerns that fighting could intensify ahead of any possible cease-fire between Israel and Lebanese militants. The truce went into effect on Nov. 27. In recent days, Israeli tanks and troops have advanced out of Israeli-held territory in the Golan Heights and pushed into a buffer zone inside Syria — a move Israel said it took to prevent attacks on its citizens. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States. BEIRUT - Syria-based Palestinian factions have formed a unified delegation to meet with the country's new rebel-led authorities. The factions said in a statement after their meeting Wednesday at the Palestinian Embassy that they stand by the side of the Syrian people. The factions condemned Israel’s airstrikes on Syria over the past few days that have destroyed much of the assets of the Syrian army. The factions decided to form a joint committee to run the affairs of Palestinians in Syria as well as to be in contact with the new insurgent-led transitional government, following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in Syria, many of them refugees, and the factions that have been based in Damascus were close to Assad’s government. Hamas was based in Syria until it left in 2012 a year after the county's civil war began. PRETORIA, South Africa — The United Nations chief says the fall of Syria’s authoritarian government has brought hope to the troubled Middle East, and pledged the global body’s support to the country's new leaders to ensure a smooth transition. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that the U.N. wants to see “an inclusive political process in which the rights of all minorities will be fully respected, and paving the way towards a united sovereign Syria, with its territorial integrity fully re-established.” The jihadi-led Syrian rebels took control of the capital Damascus after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving many areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. A Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed force also controls large parts of northeastern Syria. Guterres said he fully trusts the people of Syria to be able “to choose their own destiny”. “I think it is our duty to do everything to support the different Syrian leaders in order to make sure that they come together and are able to guarantee a smooth transition, an inclusive transition in which all Syrians can feel that they belong," Guterres said. “The alternative does not make any sense.” Guterres is in South Africa to discuss the country’s role as it takes over the G20 presidency, among other issues. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike in central Gaza Strip killed four people and injured 16 others Wednesday, health officials said. Those killed and injured were taken to Awda Hospital after the strike hit a house in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the press center at the hospital. Since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October last year, at least 44,805 people have been killed and 106,257 others have been injured, according to the latest update by the Gaza Health ministry. BEIRUT — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was in Lebanon on Wednesday meeting with the head of the Lebanese army. In the wake of shocking overthrow of the government in neighboring Syria, the two military leaders discussed the security situation in Lebanon, a statement from the country's army said. U.S. Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, met with the head of the Lebanese army Gen. Joseph Aoun to discuss ongoing American support for the implementation of the U.S.-and French-brokered ceasefire agreement, which ended more than a year of war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel has said the truce deal gives it the right to use military force against perceived ceasefire violations. Israel has launched near-daily strikes, mostly in southern Lebanon, that have killed at least 28 people and wounded 25 others since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27. Still, the shaky truce appears to be holding. Five people were killed Wednesday by at least three Israeli strikes in different towns in the southern municipality of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said. On Tuesday, Kurilla was in eastern Syria visiting U.S. military bases and meeting with members of a Kurdish-led Syrian force that is backed by the U.S. He was assessing what CENTCOM described as efforts to counter a resurgence of the Islamic State group. He also visited Baghdad for talks with Iraqi officials on regional security and counter-IS operations. DAMASCUS — With the fall of Damascus, security forces of the deposed Bashar Assad government and staff withdrew from the Damascus International airport, grounding flights and stranding passengers. The airport has not been functional since. Now, security members of the rebel alliance in control of Syria have taken control of the airport, hoping to restore security, a sense of confidence, and the legitimacy needed to restart flights out of the capital, and from one of the country’s three international airports. “Damascus international airport is the heart of the city because it is the gateway for international delegations and missions,” Omar al-Shami, a security official with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the shock offensive that led to the fall of Assad, told The Associated Press, calling it "the passage for Syria to breathe.” Al-Shami said security was restored at the international airport nearly 12 hours after the fall of Damascus. The factions entered the capital before dawn, and security members of the rebel alliance took charge before sunset on Sunday. He said he hoped the airport would be operational in less than a week. On Wednesday, a handful of engineers were inspecting four planes that were on the tarmac. Cleaning staff were removing broken furniture, glass windows, and trash from ransacking by looters following the fall of Damascus. The attack, reportedly by mobs and looters from the neighboring areas, left parts of the airport halls destroyed, with smashed furniture and merchandise. “There was a lot damage in the airport’s equipment and facilities in 90% of the sections,” Anis Fallouh, the head of the airport, told the AP. Fallouh said the operations to clean up the airport aim to convince international airlines to resume their flights to Damascus. “Soon in the coming days, flights will resume when we reopen air traffic to Syria and inform countries that Damascus airport is operational. We may start with domestic or test flights to ensure that everything in the airport is operational and avoid any mistakes. Then we can resume international flights.” Engineers were inspecting the four planes on the tarmac, from two Syrian airlines. Some administrative staff were visiting the airport as the new administrators of Damascus work to convince state officials to return to their posts. “We are on the Airbus 320, the technical team. Because of the security vacuum that happened on Sunday, some ill-intentioned people tried to cause damage but thank God the plane is fine — the body, the engines and its systems. Some things are missing and we are trying to fix that,” said Bassam Radi, the engineer in charge of maintenance, said. BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday addressed Berlin's reservations but also willingness to work the Syrian militant group in control of Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. “Nobody overlooks the origins of HTS in the al-Qaeda ideology. It is therefore clear that we will measure HTS by its actions,” Baerbock told reporters in Berlin. “Any cooperation presupposes that ethnic and religious minorities are protected, women’s rights are respected and acts of revenge are prevented.” She said that “whether we like it or not, the HTS militia ... is one of the decisive actors for the future of Syria.” “Together with our partners, we are therefore looking for an adequate way of dealing with HTS, with whom many have had no direct contact for good reasons,” she added. Ahmad al-Sharaa, the insurgent leader also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has renounced longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicted himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike near the southern Lebanese town of Bin Jbeil killed one person and wounded another, the state news agency reported. National News Agency said Wednesday’s airstrike hit a home. It gave no further details and there was no immediate comment from Israeli military. More than a dozen people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since a ceasefire went into effect on Nov. 27, ending the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war. WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East this week on his 12th visit since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad . Assad's departure has sparked new fears of instability in the region now wracked by three conflicts despite a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Blinken will travel to Jordan and Turkey on Thursday and Friday for talks expected to focus largely on Syria but also touch on long-elusive hopes for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the territory since October 2023. The State Department said Blinken would meet Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II, in the port of Aqaba on Thursday before flying to Ankara for meetings with Turkish officials Friday. Other stops in the region are also possible, officials said. Blinken “will reiterate the United States’ support for an inclusive, Syrian-led transition to an accountable and representative government,” department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. BEIRUT — Insurgents have set on fire the tomb of Syria’s former President Hafez Assad in his hometown in the northwest, a war monitor and a local journalist said Wednesday. Hafez Assad had ruled Syria for 30 years until his death in 2000, when his son, Bashar, succeeded him. Both ruled Syria with an iron fist and were blamed for crackdowns that left tens of thousands dead, mainly in the central city of Hama in 1982, and in much of the country since the civil war in 2011. Bashar Assad was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia where he was given political asylum. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian journalist Qusay Noor told The Associated Press that the tomb was set on fire Wednesday in the town of Qardaha in Latakia province. JERUSALEM — The United Nations is asking donors for over $4 billion to fund humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, most of it earmarked for war-ravaged Gaza. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also called for the “lifting all impediments to the entry of aid” in its appeal issued Wednesday. U.N. agencies say aid operations in Gaza are hindered by Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames the U.N. for not distributing it within the territory. The appeal for 2025 includes $3.6 billion for Gaza and about $450 million for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel’s offensive, launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has destroyed vast areas of the besieged territory and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million. Many have been displaced multiple times and are now crammed into squalid tent camps with little in the way of food or other essentials. Most of the population relies on international aid. JERUSALEM — The president of Paraguay addressed the Israeli parliament Wednesday ahead of the reopening of the country’s embassy in Jerusalem. The decision to reopen the embassy in Jerusalem and recognize the city as the capital of Israel is a diplomatic win for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and puts Paraguay in a small group of countries that have taken the move. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1967 but it wasn't recognized by the international community, and most countries run their embassies out of Tel Aviv. “Without Jerusalem, the land of Israel is a body without a soul,” President Santiago Peña said in a speech to the Knesset. “So I say here today that without an embassy in Jerusalem, diplomatic relations with Israel do not have a real heart.” He said he hoped the move would inspire other countries to do the same. The embassy is set to open Thursday. Pena’s move was welcomed by Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, along with other Israeli leaders. “Tomorrow we will inaugurate together the embassy of Paraguay in our eternal capital, and that will happen not for the first time, but for the second time,” Netanyahu said. Paraguay had an embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, under Former President Horacio Cartes. That embassy was moved back to Tel Aviv by Cartes’ successor, Mario Abdo Benitez, prompting Israel to close its embassy in Asuncion. Israel reopened its embassy in September. MOSCOW — Russia said Wednesday it has maintained contacts with the new authorities in Syria. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “we are monitoring most closely what is happening in Syria.” “We, of course, maintain contacts with those who are currently controlling the situation in Syria,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “This is necessary because our bases are located there, our diplomatic mission is located there and, of course, the issue related to ensuring the security of these facilities is extremely important and of primary significance.” Peskov wouldn’t give details of those contacts, saying only that Russia has contacted “those who are controlling the situation on the ground.” He wouldn’t give the number of Russian troops in Syria. Asked to comment about Israel’s seizure of a buffer zone on the border with Syria, Peskov called them destabilizing. “The strikes and actions in the Golan Heights area, in the buffer zone area, are unlikely to help stabilize the situation in an already destabilized Syria,” he said. Russia has granted political asylum to ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family after they fled rebels who seized Damascus over the weekend. TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the recent events in Syria, including the fall of its government, were part of a joint plan by the United States and Israel. “There should be no doubt that what has happened in Syria is the result of a joint American and Zionist plan," Khamenei said in a speech in Tehran on Wednesday that was broadcast on state TV. “We have evidence, and this evidence leaves no room for doubt.” The Supreme leader added: “A neighboring state of Syria has played a clear role in this matter, and it continues to do so. Everyone can see this.” Khamenei also rejected speculation by analysts who have said that Iran will be weakened by the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government. “Those ignorant analysts are unaware of the meaning of resistance. They think that if resistance weakens, Islamic Iran will also weaken. But I say, with the help and power of God — by the will of Almighty Allah — Iran is powerful and it will become even more powerful," he said.Special teams doom Blues in 4-2 loss to SabresTop 25 Basketball Capsules: No. 6 Purdue routs Marshall, 80-45
Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders moved past Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka on Sunday to set the NFL record for most receiving yards by a tight end in his rookie season and also set the record for most receptions by a rookie, regardless of position. Bowers has 108 receptions to top the mark set last season by Puka Nacua (105) of the Los Angeles Rams. Bowers' yardage stands at 1,144 after having seven receptions for 77 yards in a 25-10 road victory over the New Orleans Saints. Bowers also set a franchise receptions for catches in a season, surpassing Darren Waller (107 in 2020). "It's awesome," Bowers said of the records in a postgame interview on Fox. "You never know what to expect coming up to the next level. It's been everything and more." Bowers' third catch on Sunday -- a 13-yard grab late in the second quarter against the Saints -- pushed his season total to 1,087 yards. Ditka totaled 1,076 receiving yards in 14 games with the Chicago Bears in 1961. Bowers, 22, set the record for receptions by a rookie tight end earlier this season by eclipsing the total of 86 reeled in by Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions in 2023. Bowers was selected by the Raiders with the 13th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. Despite all his catches, he has just four scoring receptions. While with Georgia, Bowers was the first back-to-back winner of the Mackey Award (2022, 2023), which is given to the top tight end in college football. --Field Level MediaThe much-anticipated second season of Squid Game is currently streaming on Netflix. The new season picks up three years after Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) leaves the airport with a mission to end the deadly games for good, even as they continue to lure unsuspecting players with promises of a massive cash prize. ET Year-end Special Reads What kept India's stock market investors on toes in 2024? India's car race: How far EVs went in 2024 Investing in 2025: Six wealth management trends to watch out for However, before the highly anticipated second season premiered, Netflix had to address a significant issue from the first season—a mistake that nearly turned one woman’s life upside down. The Blunder That Sparked Chaos In the very first episode of Squid Game, protagonist Gi-hun receives a mysterious business card with an eight-digit phone number. While it was intended to enhance the plot’s suspense, it turned out to be a real, active phone number when paired with South Korea’s mobile prefix, 010. This mistake led to a nightmare for Kim Gil-young, a resident of Seongju, South Korea, who had been using the number for over a decade. When the show became a global sensation in 2021—topping charts in 90 countries—curious fans began dialing the number to see if it was real. Gil-young told Money Today thatshe was bombarded with thousands of calls and messages around the clock. 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View Program Data Science SQL for Data Science along with Data Analytics and Data Visualization By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI and Analytics based Business Strategy By - Tanusree De, Managing Director- Accenture Technology Lead, Trustworthy AI Center of Excellence: ATCI View Program Web Development A Comprehensive ASP.NET Core MVC 6 Project Guide for 2024 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Pam Moore By - Pam Moore, Digital Transformation and Social Media Expert View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI-Powered Python Mastery with Tabnine: Boost Your Coding Skills By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Mastering Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and 365 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital marketing - Wordpress Website Development By - Shraddha Somani, Digital Marketing Trainer, Consultant, Strategiest and Subject Matter expert View Program Office Productivity Mastering Google Sheets: Unleash the Power of Excel and Advance Analysis By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Mastering Full Stack Development: From Frontend to Backend Excellence By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance Financial Literacy i.e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By - CA Rahul Gupta, CA with 10+ years of experience and Accounting Educator View Program Data Science SQL Server Bootcamp 2024: Transform from Beginner to Pro By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program “Since Squid Game aired, I’ve been receiving texts and calls 24 hours a day, to the point where it’s difficult to live my daily life,” she shared. “This is a number I’ve used for more than 10 years. I’ve had to delete over 4,000 numbers from my phone.” Her phone’s battery would drain within hours due to the constant influx of calls, and she initially had no idea what was happening until friends informed her that her number appeared in the show. Netflix Takes Action Unable to change her number because she used it for business, Gil-young reached out to Netflix and the production company, Siren Pictures , for help. Fortunately, the streaming giant acted quickly, editing out her phone number just weeks after the show’s release. The real digits were replaced with an unusable set: 010-034. Netflix and Siren Pictures also issued statements urging fans to stop making prank calls and sending messages. In Squid Game Season 2, the infamous business card makes a return, but this time, Netflix and the creators have taken extra precautions to avoid a repeat of the mistake. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
It's a well-worn meme at this point that the writing staff of "The Simpsons" must be time travelers with all the things they've managed to predict over the years. From Donald Trump's presidency to Disney buying out 20th Century Fox, things that are played for simple gags on the animated sitcom end up eerily coming to fruition. Of course, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why "The Simpsons" is able to do this. The show's been on the air for decades, with hundreds of episodes, so it's bound to get something right now and then. Add in the fact the show regularly dabbles in social satire, poking fun at things that are relevant at the time, and it only makes sense that history would wind up repeating itself to where it looks like the show was super prescient. Still, it's impressive to watch all the same, especially when it comes to how much advanced technology has been featured on the show years ago only to actually come out years later. Certain devices, like smartwatches, were bound to come out one way or another, but it's far more humorous when something like a baby translator ends up being made — sort of. Here's all the cool tech "The Simpsons" featured years before it was a reality. Consider it an incentive to check in with newer episodes of "The Simpsons" to see what society might get 20 years from now. On "The Simpsons" Season 9, Episode 12 — "Bart Carny" – Marge tries to get the kids to do some yard work. She's disappointed when they refuse, but Homer, as his usual oblivious self, ends up taking them all to the carnival anyways. Once there, they want to go on all fun rides, with Bart expressing his enthusiasm over trying the "Yard Work Simulator," despite his reluctance to perform any actual yard work earlier. The joke is clear — kids don't want to do anything productive, but they'll jump at the chance to perform manual labor if it's presented as a cool video game. That's pretty much the ideology behind "FarmVille," the Facebook game that took the world by storm in the 2010s. People could log on to plant crops and raise livestock, with the main feature being that your Facebook friends could visit your farm to help you out. It sounds like a lot of time and energy when one could learn actual skills like planting their own garden to become a little more self-sufficient in real life. Sadly, all that time invested into "FarmVille" was all for naught when the game shut down for good at the end of 2020. In a way, "The Simpsons" joke could be seen as predicting the prevalence of all sorts of mundane video game simulators, such as "Car Wash Simulator" and "PowerWash Simulator." At the very least, perhaps these simulators show people how fun and rewarding it can be to do these tasks in real life. When it comes to "The Simpsons" predictions, the Holy Grail remains the Donald Trump premonition in Season 11's "Bart to the Future." This is just a throwaway line in a flash forward episode showing Lisa as President of the United States, but before that, "The Simpsons" had a different peek into the future with Season 6's "Lisa's Wedding." It sees Lisa almost getting married to her first love, Hugh Parkfield. When his first attempt at a proposal goes wrong, he immediately speaks into a phone located on his wrist. It's easy to see this as a precursor to modern smartwatches where people can make calls and keep track of all sorts of important data right from their wrist. Of course, real-world smartwatches simply have little screens instead of flipping open like an old-fashioned phone, but Hugh's gadget does exude a certain old-school charm. To be fair, there's a long line of media predicting smartwatches before even "The Simpsons" was around. Arguably, the first well-known example came in the 1940s with "Dick Tracy" comics, with the titular character sporting a two-way radio on his wrist. "The Jetsons" and "Star Trek" followed suit, and there's the real-world forefather to smartwatches with the Hamilton Pulsar Time Computer . This device, which looks super futuristic and featured an LED display, came out all the way back in 1972. Hugh's smartwatch almost seems crude by comparison. "Lisa's Wedding" actually has quite a few technological predictions that were supposed to come out in the far-off year of 2010 — in case you need to be reminded of how long "The Simpsons" has been airing. After Hugh proposes, Lisa calls Marge on a video phone to tell her the good news. Much like Hugh's smartwatch featuring a flip phone, the video calling device has some old-school sensibilities, such as how you still need to input a number using a rotary dial. Still, it manages to predict how people could call one another and actually see who they're speaking with. It wouldn't take too long for this technology to appear, as smartphones with front-facing camera began making waves in the late 2000s. It's not bad for a TV episode that came out in 1995. However, the technology became far more commonplace with the introduction of the iPhone 4, which came with FaceTime, allowing even more people to partake in this futuristic novelty. In fact, FaceTime came out in – 2010? Okay, are we sure "The Simpsons" writers aren't actually time travelers with this one? The video conferencing scene on "Lisa's Wedding" is even more humorous with Marge not realizing she's on a video call, like crossing her fingers when promising Homer won't ruin Lisa's big day. Anyone who's ever had an awkward conversation with a parent who didn't quite understand these newfangled gadgets can surely relate. "The Simpsons" certainly didn't invent robots, and society has been hard at work trying to create these mechanical entities. Sometimes, this leads to useful inventions, but other times, it leads to some truly haunting robots getting put out into the world . In "Lisa's Wedding," the robots featured here — not counting the tin men seen toward the beginning — include a librarian whose face catches fire after crying. Roboticists may be hard at work creating more realistic humanoid robots, but we already have librarian robots to a degree. In 2016, the introduction of a robot named AuRoSS, which was developed by Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research, was widely reported on. It's an autonomous device that's capable of scanning the myriad bookshelves to find any pieces that are out of place. After doing the rounds, it can then inform the librarian staff of which books need to be moved manually. AuRoSS definitely can't do everything librarians do, but it helps take the busywork out of a more menial task. AuRoSS also can't cry when you remind it that it's just a robot, but that's probably for the best. Season 16's "Future-Drama," yet another peek into what could happen if the Simpson family ever aged, sees Bart and Lisa graduating high school. Marge takes a picture of the two before they go to prom, only for the photo to expand into a cake. Marge then exclaims, "It's so great. We can do anything now that scientists have invented magic." To explain this phenomenon in the real world, one could argue Marge making that cake through the process of 3D printing. Researchers have been trying to develop viable means of creating food, such as using food inks that preserve the nutrition and flavor of frozen and fresh vegetables . This relies on piping an edible paste into whatever structure the user wants, and it could be a great way to ensure individuals get the nutritional requirements they need. Unfortunately, the technology is still pretty expensive for in-home use, and it's not quite as easy as just taking a picture of whatever you want plastered on a cake. "Future-Drama" definitely has some more outlandish future technology compared to something like "Lisa's Wedding," which looks downright grounded by comparison. Chief Wiggum has gone full RoboCop and Moe has a clone. Still, bioengineered food is within the realm of possibility — even if it's not exactly magic. It often takes a more far-out framing device to see "The Simpsons" dabble with new technology. "Treehouse of Horror XII" includes a segment where the family gets a new smart home, tricked out by a nefarious AI voiced by Pierce Brosnan. It does everything for them, from cooking their favorite foods to cleaning the dinner table. Of course, the AI also falls in love with Marge and tries to kill Homer, but before that, it shows off some pretty nifty technology. Most people probably aren't giving their homes full chrome makeovers, but plenty of high-tech gadgets make it easier than ever to have a smart home of your very own. Much like the Simpsons family, you don't even need to be that rich, seeing as there are many affordable smart home devices to choose from. Ring Video Doorbells allow you to see who's at the front door before answering, smart thermostats allow you to control your house's inner temperature even when you're away. Plus, smart vacuums clean your house autonomously , which comes in handy even if it can't really help you clean the table after a meal. The Brosnan-voiced AI — which borrows heavily from HAL 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey" — even exemplifies many people's fears surrounding AI. Granted, the only human he wants to kill is Homer, but what if a highly advanced intelligence wanted something more than just marrying Marge? On Season 2 of "The Simpsons," we learn Homer has a half-brother named Herb, who is voiced by Danny DeVito. He's a successful businessman who loses his fortune by the end of the episode due to Homer's incompetence. Fortunately, he gets redemption in Season 3's "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes" when he borrows money from Homer for a gadget that'll put him back on top — a baby translator. Maggie Simpson makes for the perfect test subject, as he analyzes her coos to figure out what she's really trying to say. No doubt an actual baby translator would be a major asset to new parents who just want their child to stop fussing. In the modern AI era, there are numerous services that market the ability to translate a baby's cries into understandable demands. For example, the Cappella app states how it uses AI to translate a baby's cries to determine if they're hungry or sleepy. The app claims to be 95% accurate, but with membership costing $9.99/month, it's natural if parents are skeptical of whether it'll actually help them raise their kids. Similar apps include Nanny AI and ChatterBaby . Herb becomes rich through his invention, although he becomes broke again later in the series, so the money clearly dried up somehow. Maybe there was some kind of flaw in his baby translator that resulted in massive recalls. Or perhaps the general population got tired of hearing Herb's voice whenever their babies wanted to talk. Gone are the days when people need bulky cameras when they can capture solid footage and photos on just about any smartphone . Today, it's quite common for drivers to install cameras on their dashboards in the event of a car accident and for homeowners to put up video doorbells that monitor the outside of the home. Either way, the wide availability of hands-free cameras today makes people's lives easier in more ways than one. This idea of hands-free cameras can be seen in an episode of the "The Simpsons" called "Homer and Apu." Homer is tasked with capturing Apu's negligence on camera with a device so small it fits inside an oversized novelty hat. Of course, this camera is still huge, but Kent Brockman's news team manages to get the footage wirelessly. It's the kind of joke that only works in the context of the mid-'90s, as nowadays, Homer could've just clipped something to his shirt to prove that Apu sells dangerously expired food. Today, hands-free cameras are an asset even when you're not trying to narc on a small business owner. There's even an iPhone hack where you can turn it into a hands-free camera for greater accessibility. On Season 10, Episode 22 — "They Saved Lisa's Brain" – Lisa meets up with the smartest people in Springfield, and eventually, they're put in charge of running the town. Among them is Professor Frink, who frequently has all sorts of neat inventions to factor into the plot. At one point, he pulls out a sarcasm detector, although when it is confronted by the frequently sardonic Comic Book Guy, the device soon explodes due to a sarcasm overload. One would assume picking up sarcasm would be fairly simple in day-to-day conversations, but researchers have actually come out with an AI-powered sarcasm detector. The University of Groningen's Matt Coler told The Guardian , "When you start studying sarcasm, you become hyper-aware of the extent to which we use it as part of our normal mode of communication. But we have to speak to our devices in a very literal way, as if we're talking to a robot, because we are. It doesn't have to be this way." Ultimately, the application seems to mostly apply to humans speaking with AI models, which may be more inclined to take everything literally. There's really no need to use it on someone who's sarcastic in virtually every conversation like Comic Book Guy. Hopefully, this doesn't lead to people taking a bunch of bad advice from AI because it starts deciding to be sarcastic. The history of practical VR goes back decades, usually involving people wearing some kind of goggle-esque headset to see things that aren't really there. "The Simpsons" certainly didn't invent the aesthetic, but it's hard not to see similarities between the VR headsets featured in Season 28's "Friends and Family" and the Apple Vision Pro, which would come out eight years after the episode. Much of the episode centers on Mr. Burns acquiring a VR headset and using the Simpson family — minus Homer, that is — to create idyllic family scenes since he never had a family of his own. However, the most relatable scene from the episode likely comes at the end when everyone in Springfield is seemingly using the headsets as they go about their day. This often results in catastrophe, like when Agnes Skinner falls down a manhole. The Apple Vision Pro, despite having a Travel Mode, isn't really meant to be used outside, despite the presence of videos of people using them out in public. One of the biggest complaints of the Apple Vision Pro is the narrow field of vision compared to competitors like the Meta Quest 3. It poses many dangers, so it might appear that in addition to "The Simpsons" predicting the Apple Vision Pro, it also anticipated its major drawback. Perhaps that's the source of "The Simpsons" being able to predict so much — no matter what technology gets invented, people will find the most hilarious way to misuse it.In today’s fast-paced digital world, telecom application development plays a crucial role in enhancing your business’s service offerings. As customers demand more robust and seamless experiences, leveraging advanced app development for telecom can set you apart from competitors. As you explore the landscape of telecom services, understanding the critical features that boost application effectiveness is essential. Tailoring solutions to meet specific user needs not only enhances service delivery but also fosters loyalty. By focusing on user experience and integrating intelligent features, you can significantly elevate your telecom offerings. You have the opportunity to harness technology in ways that directly impact your business growth. Engaging with cutting-edge telecom application development tools allows you to streamline processes and deliver personalized experiences. Emphasizing these strategic features positions your telecom business to thrive in a rapidly evolving market. When developing , several vital features directly impact user experience and business performance. Focusing on user interface design, security, scalability, and integration can enhance the effectiveness and reach of your applications. A user-friendly interface is essential for any telecom application. It determines how easily users can navigate the app and access its features. Intuitive design encourages engagement, minimizing the learning curve for new users. Key aspects to consider include: Ensure that menus and options are logical and easily accessible, allowing users to find functions without difficulty. Adapting to different screen sizes is crucial, especially for mobile solutions. Your app should function seamlessly on smartphones and tablets. Utilize colors, fonts, and icons that convey your brand identity while maintaining clarity. A visually appealing app keeps users interested and encourages longer usage. Security is paramount in telecom application development. With increasing cyber threats, incorporating robust security measures protects user data and builds trust. Implement the following strategies: Encrypt sensitive data both in transit and at rest to safeguard against breaches. Employ multi-factor authentication to verify user identity, ensuring only authorized individuals can access the app. Frequent security updates address vulnerabilities promptly, enhancing the overall protection of your telecom app. Scalability is a critical feature in telecom app development. As your user base grows, the application must handle increased demands without sacrificing performance. Consider these factors: Hosting your app on a scalable cloud platform allows seamless growth. You can easily adjust resources based on user traffic. Building your application in a modular fashion enables you to add new features without overhauling the entire system. This flexibility promotes continuous improvement and innovation. Use analytics tools to monitor app performance, allowing you to anticipate scaling needs before they become critical issues. Integrating telecom applications with existing systems enhances efficiency. 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This data can be analyzed to identify user preferences and trends, enabling personalized service offerings. By using analytics tools, you can segment your customer base accurately. This segmentation helps in targeting marketing efforts more effectively, boosting customer engagement and retention. You can tailor promotions, notifications, and recommendations based on individual usage patterns. Enhanced data utilization leads to more refined service delivery and better customer experiences. Telecom applications significantly impact customer relationship management (CRM). With integrated CRM features, you can streamline interactions and maintain comprehensive customer profiles. This capability helps you manage customer inquiries, service requests, and feedback efficiently. Utilizing automation within your CRM can enhance response times and service accuracy. It allows for proactive communication, reducing customer frustration and increasing satisfaction. Effective CRM strategies can lead to higher customer loyalty and more personalized service, which supports your goals in enhancing telecom services. Operational efficiency is critical in the telecom industry, and apps can play a vital role here. By automating routine processes, you reduce manual work, leading to faster service delivery. Telecom apps can also facilitate better resource management. For example, applications that monitor network performance can help quickly identify outages or issues, enabling prompt resolution. Additionally, real-time updates and notifications ensure that your team is always informed, which enhances collaboration and responsiveness. Incorporating these features allows you to optimize your workforce and reduce costs. By focusing on operational efficiencies, you position your business to respond more agilely to market demands. This not only streamlines operations but also enhances the overall customer experience. Understanding the critical aspects of telecom application development can help you make informed decisions that enhance user experience and boost your business performance. Below are key considerations and insights related to this field. A telecom application should incorporate user-friendly navigation, quick loading times, and robust security features. Real-time notifications and a seamless user interface are also vital for engagement. Additionally, personalized content and support options can significantly improve the overall experience. Quality telecom software development leads to more reliable services and improved features. When your application performs well and meets user expectations, customer satisfaction increases. This ultimately fosters loyalty, as satisfied customers are more likely to stay and recommend your services to others. Custom telecom app development allows your business to differentiate itself in a crowded market. Tailored solutions can address specific customer needs and preferences, which can enhance user satisfaction. Moreover, you can leverage unique functionalities that competitors may not offer, giving you a competitive edge. When selecting a development provider, consider their experience in the telecom industry, technical expertise, and portfolio of successful projects. Communication skills and their approach to project management are also important. Ensure they understand your business goals and can provide ongoing support after deployment. Advancements in software engineering enable more efficient service delivery and enhanced functionality. Technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning can optimize network management and resource allocation. These improvements lead to better performance and reliability, directly benefiting end-users. Integrating technologies like IoT, cloud computing, and big data analytics can significantly enhance your telecom services. These technologies allow for real-time data analysis and more efficient operations. Consequently, you can offer innovative features, improve service delivery, and better meet customer demands.
Quest Partners LLC Has $491,000 Position in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NVIDIA Co. ( NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report ) by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 125,514 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock after buying an additional 23,936 shares during the period. NVIDIA comprises 1.8% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in NVIDIA were worth $15,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its position in NVIDIA by 897.5% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 119,110 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $14,715,000 after purchasing an additional 107,169 shares in the last quarter. Truepoint Inc. raised its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 914.1% in the second quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 12,990 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $1,605,000 after buying an additional 11,709 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NVIDIA by 683.9% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 238,829 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $29,505,000 after buying an additional 208,362 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 884.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 213,127,959 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $26,329,751,000 after acquiring an additional 191,469,114 shares during the period. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd increased its holdings in NVIDIA by 1,106.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 532,285 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $65,758,000 after acquiring an additional 488,148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.27% of the company’s stock. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NVDA shares. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of NVIDIA in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of NVIDIA from $140.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target on NVIDIA from $148.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on NVIDIA from $189.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on NVIDIA from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.15. Insiders Place Their Bets In other NVIDIA news, insider Donald F. Robertson, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.51, for a total value of $524,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 492,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,370,572.59. The trade was a 0.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink . Also, Director Mark A. Stevens sold 155,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.27, for a total transaction of $20,501,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,100,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,402,475.59. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders have sold a total of 2,156,270 shares of company stock worth $254,784,327 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock. NVIDIA Price Performance NVDA stock opened at $141.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 55.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.66. NVIDIA Co. has a 12 month low of $45.01 and a 12 month high of $152.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $134.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 3.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. NVIDIA ( NASDAQ:NVDA – Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The computer hardware maker reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.12. NVIDIA had a return on equity of 114.83% and a net margin of 55.69%. The business had revenue of $35.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that NVIDIA Co. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year. NVIDIA Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. NVIDIA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1.57%. NVIDIA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 28th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer hardware maker to buy up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued. NVIDIA Profile ( Free Report ) NVIDIA Corporation provides graphics and compute and networking solutions in the United States, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and internationally. The Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs, the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics; virtual GPU or vGPU software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; automotive platforms for infotainment systems; and Omniverse software for building and operating metaverse and 3D internet applications. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVDA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NVIDIA Co. ( NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report ). 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Breaking News Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Manchester City's crisis continued with a 2-0 defeat away to Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Pep Guardiola's old club Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund to clinch a spot in the knockout stage of Europe's elite club competition. Arsenal, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Lille, Feyenoord and Stuttgart were also victorious, but City's latest loss in a miserable run will dominate the headlines. The 2023 European champions succumbed in Turin as Dusan Vlahovic put Juventus ahead early in the second half when goalkeeper Ederson was unable to keep out his header. Ilkay Gundogan was denied an equaliser by a fine Michele Di Gregorio save, before Weston McKennie made it 2-0 with a fine acrobatic finish in the 75th minute. The result leaves Juventus on 11 points with two games left, a tally that is expected to be enough to guarantee them at least a place in the knockout phase play-offs. City, meanwhile, have now won just once in 10 in all competitions, with seven defeats in that time. With just eight points, they currently sit 22nd in the standings, in which the top 24 advance to the knockouts. Their next game will be crucial, as they travel to a Paris Saint-Germain side who sit a point beneath Guardiola's men. "We have to get points, we'll go to Paris to try and do that and the same goes for the final match at home (to Club Brugge)," Guardiola told Amazon Prime in Italy. Barcelona are second in the standings with 15 points, behind only Liverpool, after beating Dortmund 3-2 in a thriller in Germany, with Ferran Torres their hero. Raphinha fired Barca ahead with his 17th goal of the season, early in a remarkable second half. Serhou Guirassy equalised with a penalty on the hour mark, but substitute Torres put Barca back in front on 75 minutes, converting the loose ball after Fermin Lopez's shot was saved. Guirassy scored again for a quick equaliser, only for Torres to strike once more and win the game for Barca with five minutes left. Barcelona's tally leaves them, like Liverpool, ideally placed to finish in the top eight, which means direct progress to the last 16 without having to go through the play-offs. - Saka stars, Arsenal cruise - Arsenal are third in the standings on 13 points after easing to a 3-0 win over Monaco in London. Bukayo Saka scored twice, putting the Gunners ahead in the first half and making it 2-0 on 78 minutes as the hosts pounced on disastrous Monaco defending. Saka then turned provider for the late third, with substitute Kai Havertz credited with the final touch. Mikel Arteta's team are one of six sides on 13 points, with Lille also on that tally after edging Sturm Graz 3-2 in France thanks to a fine late winner from Hakon Haraldsson. Lille were 2-0 up through Osame Sahraoui and Mitchel Bakker, only for goals by Otar Kiteishvili and Mika Biereth to bring the Austrian champions back level. However, Icelandic midfielder Haraldsson secured Lille's fourth win of the campaign. Atletico eased to a 3-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava, with Antoine Griezmann scoring twice after Julian Alvarez had opened the scoring with an excellent strike. David Strelec pulled one back for the Slovaks, who are one of three teams already eliminated having lost six games out of six. The others are RB Leipzig and Young Boys. - Milan grab late winner - Milan defeated Red Star Belgrade 2-1 at San Siro with Tammy Abraham grabbing the winner three minutes from time. Rafael Leao had put Milan ahead only for Nemanja Radonjic to equalise for the Serbian side, who have lost five of their six games and are surely heading out. Benfica edged closer to a play-off spot with a 0-0 draw at home to Bologna of Italy, who have scored just one goal in six games and will go no further. Feyenoord stayed on course to go through after beating Sparta Prague 4-2 in Rotterdam, with Gernot Trauner, Igor Paixao, Anis Hadj Moussa and Santiago Gimenez netting their goals. Stuttgart kept alive their hopes of progress by coming from behind to beat Young Boys 5-1. Lukasz Lakomy put Young Boys ahead but Angelo Stiller levelled before Enzo Millot, Chris Fuehrich, Josha Vagnoman and Yannik Keitel all scored in the second half. The next round of Champions League games is scheduled for January 21 and 22, with the league phase concluding the following week. as/jc Originally published as Juve deepen Man City crisis, Barcelona into Champions League knockouts More related stories Sport ‘Privilege’: Sonny Bill’s shock career move A global sports star known for his deep faith and “passion for social equity” has made a surprising career change. Read more Breaking News ‘If I refuse?’: Violent man’s wild question A violent offender is back in the community, but a wild exchange with a Supreme Court justice suggests he might struggle to fit in. Read moreATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. As reaction poured in Sunday from around the world, former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary were among those praising Carter for a life devoted to helping others. “Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life. Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others — until the very end,” Clinton said, praising Carter for a commitment to civil rights, protecting natural resources, securing peace between Egypt and Israel, and other accomplishments. The son of the late Martin Luther King Jr., meanwhile, called Carter a “fighter who punched above his weight.” In a statement, Martin Luther King III added that “while history may have been hard on President Carter at times, today, he is remembered as a global human rights leader.” A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.”Capital City Bank Group, Inc. Announces Cash Dividend
The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved resolutions Wednesday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and expressing support for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, although they reflect world opinion. Israel has faced growing international criticism over its conduct in Gaza as it fights Hamas militants, especially when it comes to humanitarian aid for desperate people in the besieged and heavily destroyed territory. Israeli airstrikes in northern and central Gaza killed at least 33 people overnight and into Wednesday, Palestinian medical officials said. Hospital records show one Israeli strike in northern Gaza killed 19 people in a home, including a family of eight — four children, their parents and two grandparents. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas militant in the vicinity of the hospital, part of a blistering offensive in Gaza’s isolated and heavily destroyed north . The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people, including children and older adults. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials. They say women and children make up more than half the dead but do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their count. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. Here's the latest: JERUSALEM — Israeli hospital officials say a young boy is fighting for his life after a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank. An Israeli bus came under fire from a suspected Palestinian attacker late Wednesday, the military said, and Israeli forces are searching for the shooter. Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem says at least three people were wounded in the shooting, which took place just outside the city in an area near major Israeli settlements. The hospital says the boy, who is about 10, is in grave condition. It says two other people, ages 24 and 55, were also hurt. UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved resolutions Wednesday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban . The votes in the 193-nation world body were 158-9 with 13 abstentions to demand a ceasefire now and 159-9 with 11 abstentions to support the agency known as UNRWA. The votes culminated two days of speeches overwhelmingly calling for an end to the 14-month war between Israel and the militant Hamas group . General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly. Israel and its close ally, the United States, were in a tiny minority speaking and voting against the resolutions. BEIRUT — Israeli forces withdrew from a strategic town in southern Lebanon and handed it back to the Lebanese army in coordination with U.N. peacekeepers, the two militaries said Wednesday, marking an important test of the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants. It appeared to be Israel's first pullout from a Lebanese border town captured during this fall’s ground invasion, and comes as part of the initial phase of the ceasefire. The Lebanese army said Wednesday it has deployed units to five positions around the town of Khiam coinciding with the Israeli army’s withdrawal. Israel's military confirmed this was the first town it has turned over to the Lebanese army under the truce, which — if it endures — would end nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has said the truce deal gives it the right to use military force against perceived ceasefire violations. Israel has launched near-daily strikes, mostly in southern Lebanon, that have killed at least 28 people and wounded 25 others since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27. Still, the shaky truce appears to be holding. Five people were killed Wednesday by at least three Israeli strikes in different towns in the southern municipality of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said. The Lebanese army warned civilians to stay out of Khiam until it can clear the area of any unexploded munitions. The strategic hilltop town, located less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the border with Israel, saw some of the most intense fighting during the war. Thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war returned home two weeks ago after a ceasefire took hold , driving cars stacked with personal belongings and defying warnings from Lebanese and Israeli troops to avoid some areas. WASHINGTON — All Russian naval ships that were docked at the Syrian port of Tartus have left and it appears Moscow is now looking for a new base along the coast now that its key ally, Bashar Assad, has been ousted a ruler of Syria, a U.S. official said. It’s not clear where the ships will go, but Russia may seek a new port on the Mediterranean Sea along the African shoreline, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. assessments. The official did not say how many vessels Russia had in Syria at the time Assad was overthrown. Moscow has dedicated the bulk of its military assets to the war in Ukraine. Asked about Tartus on Wednesday, Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said that the U.S. is seeing some Russian forces and naval vessels leaving Syria. “They just had one of their key political allies, ousted,” said Singh. “We’re seeing Russia consolidate assets.” — By Lolita C. Baldor UNITED NATIONS – The Palestinians are urging United Nations member countries to vote in favor of resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and supporting the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, which Israel has moved to ban in Palestinian territories. The Palestinian mission to the United Nations issued the urgent appeal to the 193 U.N. member nations ahead of Wednesday afternoon’s votes on the resolutions in the General Assembly, whose members have has been listening to two days of speeches overwhelmingly supporting the measures. Israel and close ally the United States have spoken against the resolutions. The Palestinians and their supporters went to the General Assembly after the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution last month demanding an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza. It was supported by the 14 other Security Councilmember nations, but the U.S. objected because the resolution did not include a link to an immediate release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The General Assembly resolution being voted on Wednesday mirrors the Security Council language: It “demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire to be respected by all parties, and further reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” Unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly. But while council resolutions are legally binding, assembly resolutions are not, though they do reflect world opinion. The second resolution being voted on supports the mandate of the U.N. agency caring for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA which was established by the General Assembly in 1949. It “deplores” legislation adopted by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Oct. 28 banning UNRWA’s activities in the Palestinian territories, which takes effect in 90 days. It calls on the Israeli government “to abide by its international obligations, respect the privileges and immunities of UNRWA and uphold its responsibility to allow and facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip.” JERUSALEM — Israel has lifted restrictions on public gatherings and outdoor activities in areas near the Lebanese border in the northern Golan Heights, two weeks after a ceasefire with Hezbollah. The army’s Home Front Command said it was changing its public safety guidelines to “full activity” from “partial activity.” Israel had tightened restrictions on Nov. 25, reflecting concerns that fighting could intensify ahead of any possible cease-fire between Israel and Lebanese militants. The truce went into effect on Nov. 27. In recent days, Israeli tanks and troops have advanced out of Israeli-held territory in the Golan Heights and pushed into a buffer zone inside Syria — a move Israel said it took to prevent attacks on its citizens. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States. BEIRUT - Syria-based Palestinian factions have formed a unified delegation to meet with the country's new rebel-led authorities. The factions said in a statement after their meeting Wednesday at the Palestinian Embassy that they stand by the side of the Syrian people. The factions condemned Israel’s airstrikes on Syria over the past few days that have destroyed much of the assets of the Syrian army. The factions decided to form a joint committee to run the affairs of Palestinians in Syria as well as to be in contact with the new insurgent-led transitional government, following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in Syria, many of them refugees, and the factions that have been based in Damascus were close to Assad’s government. Hamas was based in Syria until it left in 2012 a year after the county's civil war began. PRETORIA, South Africa — The United Nations chief says the fall of Syria’s authoritarian government has brought hope to the troubled Middle East, and pledged the global body’s support to the country's new leaders to ensure a smooth transition. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that the U.N. wants to see “an inclusive political process in which the rights of all minorities will be fully respected, and paving the way towards a united sovereign Syria, with its territorial integrity fully re-established.” The jihadi-led Syrian rebels took control of the capital Damascus after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving many areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. A Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed force also controls large parts of northeastern Syria. Guterres said he fully trusts the people of Syria to be able “to choose their own destiny”. “I think it is our duty to do everything to support the different Syrian leaders in order to make sure that they come together and are able to guarantee a smooth transition, an inclusive transition in which all Syrians can feel that they belong," Guterres said. “The alternative does not make any sense.” Guterres is in South Africa to discuss the country’s role as it takes over the G20 presidency, among other issues. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike in central Gaza Strip killed four people and injured 16 others Wednesday, health officials said. Those killed and injured were taken to Awda Hospital after the strike hit a house in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the press center at the hospital. Since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October last year, at least 44,805 people have been killed and 106,257 others have been injured, according to the latest update by the Gaza Health ministry. BEIRUT — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was in Lebanon on Wednesday meeting with the head of the Lebanese army. In the wake of shocking overthrow of the government in neighboring Syria, the two military leaders discussed the security situation in Lebanon, a statement from the country's army said. U.S. Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, met with the head of the Lebanese army Gen. Joseph Aoun to discuss ongoing American support for the implementation of the U.S.-and French-brokered ceasefire agreement, which ended more than a year of war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel has said the truce deal gives it the right to use military force against perceived ceasefire violations. Israel has launched near-daily strikes, mostly in southern Lebanon, that have killed at least 28 people and wounded 25 others since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27. Still, the shaky truce appears to be holding. Five people were killed Wednesday by at least three Israeli strikes in different towns in the southern municipality of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said. On Tuesday, Kurilla was in eastern Syria visiting U.S. military bases and meeting with members of a Kurdish-led Syrian force that is backed by the U.S. He was assessing what CENTCOM described as efforts to counter a resurgence of the Islamic State group. He also visited Baghdad for talks with Iraqi officials on regional security and counter-IS operations. DAMASCUS — With the fall of Damascus, security forces of the deposed Bashar Assad government and staff withdrew from the Damascus International airport, grounding flights and stranding passengers. The airport has not been functional since. Now, security members of the rebel alliance in control of Syria have taken control of the airport, hoping to restore security, a sense of confidence, and the legitimacy needed to restart flights out of the capital, and from one of the country’s three international airports. “Damascus international airport is the heart of the city because it is the gateway for international delegations and missions,” Omar al-Shami, a security official with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the shock offensive that led to the fall of Assad, told The Associated Press, calling it "the passage for Syria to breathe.” Al-Shami said security was restored at the international airport nearly 12 hours after the fall of Damascus. The factions entered the capital before dawn, and security members of the rebel alliance took charge before sunset on Sunday. He said he hoped the airport would be operational in less than a week. On Wednesday, a handful of engineers were inspecting four planes that were on the tarmac. Cleaning staff were removing broken furniture, glass windows, and trash from ransacking by looters following the fall of Damascus. The attack, reportedly by mobs and looters from the neighboring areas, left parts of the airport halls destroyed, with smashed furniture and merchandise. “There was a lot damage in the airport’s equipment and facilities in 90% of the sections,” Anis Fallouh, the head of the airport, told the AP. Fallouh said the operations to clean up the airport aim to convince international airlines to resume their flights to Damascus. “Soon in the coming days, flights will resume when we reopen air traffic to Syria and inform countries that Damascus airport is operational. We may start with domestic or test flights to ensure that everything in the airport is operational and avoid any mistakes. Then we can resume international flights.” Engineers were inspecting the four planes on the tarmac, from two Syrian airlines. Some administrative staff were visiting the airport as the new administrators of Damascus work to convince state officials to return to their posts. “We are on the Airbus 320, the technical team. Because of the security vacuum that happened on Sunday, some ill-intentioned people tried to cause damage but thank God the plane is fine — the body, the engines and its systems. Some things are missing and we are trying to fix that,” said Bassam Radi, the engineer in charge of maintenance, said. BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday addressed Berlin's reservations but also willingness to work the Syrian militant group in control of Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. “Nobody overlooks the origins of HTS in the al-Qaeda ideology. It is therefore clear that we will measure HTS by its actions,” Baerbock told reporters in Berlin. “Any cooperation presupposes that ethnic and religious minorities are protected, women’s rights are respected and acts of revenge are prevented.” She said that “whether we like it or not, the HTS militia ... is one of the decisive actors for the future of Syria.” “Together with our partners, we are therefore looking for an adequate way of dealing with HTS, with whom many have had no direct contact for good reasons,” she added. Ahmad al-Sharaa, the insurgent leader also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has renounced longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicted himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike near the southern Lebanese town of Bin Jbeil killed one person and wounded another, the state news agency reported. National News Agency said Wednesday’s airstrike hit a home. It gave no further details and there was no immediate comment from Israeli military. More than a dozen people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since a ceasefire went into effect on Nov. 27, ending the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war. WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East this week on his 12th visit since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad . Assad's departure has sparked new fears of instability in the region now wracked by three conflicts despite a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Blinken will travel to Jordan and Turkey on Thursday and Friday for talks expected to focus largely on Syria but also touch on long-elusive hopes for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the territory since October 2023. The State Department said Blinken would meet Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II, in the port of Aqaba on Thursday before flying to Ankara for meetings with Turkish officials Friday. Other stops in the region are also possible, officials said. Blinken “will reiterate the United States’ support for an inclusive, Syrian-led transition to an accountable and representative government,” department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. BEIRUT — Insurgents have set on fire the tomb of Syria’s former President Hafez Assad in his hometown in the northwest, a war monitor and a local journalist said Wednesday. Hafez Assad had ruled Syria for 30 years until his death in 2000, when his son, Bashar, succeeded him. Both ruled Syria with an iron fist and were blamed for crackdowns that left tens of thousands dead, mainly in the central city of Hama in 1982, and in much of the country since the civil war in 2011. Bashar Assad was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia where he was given political asylum. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian journalist Qusay Noor told The Associated Press that the tomb was set on fire Wednesday in the town of Qardaha in Latakia province. JERUSALEM — The United Nations is asking donors for over $4 billion to fund humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, most of it earmarked for war-ravaged Gaza. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also called for the “lifting all impediments to the entry of aid” in its appeal issued Wednesday. U.N. agencies say aid operations in Gaza are hindered by Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames the U.N. for not distributing it within the territory. The appeal for 2025 includes $3.6 billion for Gaza and about $450 million for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel’s offensive, launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has destroyed vast areas of the besieged territory and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million. Many have been displaced multiple times and are now crammed into squalid tent camps with little in the way of food or other essentials. Most of the population relies on international aid. JERUSALEM — The president of Paraguay addressed the Israeli parliament Wednesday ahead of the reopening of the country’s embassy in Jerusalem. The decision to reopen the embassy in Jerusalem and recognize the city as the capital of Israel is a diplomatic win for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and puts Paraguay in a small group of countries that have taken the move. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1967 but it wasn't recognized by the international community, and most countries run their embassies out of Tel Aviv. “Without Jerusalem, the land of Israel is a body without a soul,” President Santiago Peña said in a speech to the Knesset. “So I say here today that without an embassy in Jerusalem, diplomatic relations with Israel do not have a real heart.” He said he hoped the move would inspire other countries to do the same. The embassy is set to open Thursday. Pena’s move was welcomed by Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, along with other Israeli leaders. “Tomorrow we will inaugurate together the embassy of Paraguay in our eternal capital, and that will happen not for the first time, but for the second time,” Netanyahu said. Paraguay had an embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, under Former President Horacio Cartes. That embassy was moved back to Tel Aviv by Cartes’ successor, Mario Abdo Benitez, prompting Israel to close its embassy in Asuncion. Israel reopened its embassy in September. MOSCOW — Russia said Wednesday it has maintained contacts with the new authorities in Syria. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “we are monitoring most closely what is happening in Syria.” “We, of course, maintain contacts with those who are currently controlling the situation in Syria,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “This is necessary because our bases are located there, our diplomatic mission is located there and, of course, the issue related to ensuring the security of these facilities is extremely important and of primary significance.” Peskov wouldn’t give details of those contacts, saying only that Russia has contacted “those who are controlling the situation on the ground.” He wouldn’t give the number of Russian troops in Syria. Asked to comment about Israel’s seizure of a buffer zone on the border with Syria, Peskov called them destabilizing. “The strikes and actions in the Golan Heights area, in the buffer zone area, are unlikely to help stabilize the situation in an already destabilized Syria,” he said. Russia has granted political asylum to ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family after they fled rebels who seized Damascus over the weekend. TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the recent events in Syria, including the fall of its government, were part of a joint plan by the United States and Israel. “There should be no doubt that what has happened in Syria is the result of a joint American and Zionist plan," Khamenei said in a speech in Tehran on Wednesday that was broadcast on state TV. “We have evidence, and this evidence leaves no room for doubt.” The Supreme leader added: “A neighboring state of Syria has played a clear role in this matter, and it continues to do so. Everyone can see this.” Khamenei also rejected speculation by analysts who have said that Iran will be weakened by the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government. “Those ignorant analysts are unaware of the meaning of resistance. They think that if resistance weakens, Islamic Iran will also weaken. But I say, with the help and power of God — by the will of Almighty Allah — Iran is powerful and it will become even more powerful," he said.Special teams doom Blues in 4-2 loss to SabresTop 25 Basketball Capsules: No. 6 Purdue routs Marshall, 80-45
Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders moved past Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka on Sunday to set the NFL record for most receiving yards by a tight end in his rookie season and also set the record for most receptions by a rookie, regardless of position. Bowers has 108 receptions to top the mark set last season by Puka Nacua (105) of the Los Angeles Rams. Bowers' yardage stands at 1,144 after having seven receptions for 77 yards in a 25-10 road victory over the New Orleans Saints. Bowers also set a franchise receptions for catches in a season, surpassing Darren Waller (107 in 2020). "It's awesome," Bowers said of the records in a postgame interview on Fox. "You never know what to expect coming up to the next level. It's been everything and more." Bowers' third catch on Sunday -- a 13-yard grab late in the second quarter against the Saints -- pushed his season total to 1,087 yards. Ditka totaled 1,076 receiving yards in 14 games with the Chicago Bears in 1961. Bowers, 22, set the record for receptions by a rookie tight end earlier this season by eclipsing the total of 86 reeled in by Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions in 2023. Bowers was selected by the Raiders with the 13th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. Despite all his catches, he has just four scoring receptions. While with Georgia, Bowers was the first back-to-back winner of the Mackey Award (2022, 2023), which is given to the top tight end in college football. --Field Level MediaThe much-anticipated second season of Squid Game is currently streaming on Netflix. The new season picks up three years after Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) leaves the airport with a mission to end the deadly games for good, even as they continue to lure unsuspecting players with promises of a massive cash prize. ET Year-end Special Reads What kept India's stock market investors on toes in 2024? India's car race: How far EVs went in 2024 Investing in 2025: Six wealth management trends to watch out for However, before the highly anticipated second season premiered, Netflix had to address a significant issue from the first season—a mistake that nearly turned one woman’s life upside down. The Blunder That Sparked Chaos In the very first episode of Squid Game, protagonist Gi-hun receives a mysterious business card with an eight-digit phone number. While it was intended to enhance the plot’s suspense, it turned out to be a real, active phone number when paired with South Korea’s mobile prefix, 010. This mistake led to a nightmare for Kim Gil-young, a resident of Seongju, South Korea, who had been using the number for over a decade. When the show became a global sensation in 2021—topping charts in 90 countries—curious fans began dialing the number to see if it was real. Gil-young told Money Today thatshe was bombarded with thousands of calls and messages around the clock. 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View Program Data Science SQL for Data Science along with Data Analytics and Data Visualization By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI and Analytics based Business Strategy By - Tanusree De, Managing Director- Accenture Technology Lead, Trustworthy AI Center of Excellence: ATCI View Program Web Development A Comprehensive ASP.NET Core MVC 6 Project Guide for 2024 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Pam Moore By - Pam Moore, Digital Transformation and Social Media Expert View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI-Powered Python Mastery with Tabnine: Boost Your Coding Skills By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Mastering Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and 365 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital marketing - Wordpress Website Development By - Shraddha Somani, Digital Marketing Trainer, Consultant, Strategiest and Subject Matter expert View Program Office Productivity Mastering Google Sheets: Unleash the Power of Excel and Advance Analysis By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Mastering Full Stack Development: From Frontend to Backend Excellence By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance Financial Literacy i.e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By - CA Rahul Gupta, CA with 10+ years of experience and Accounting Educator View Program Data Science SQL Server Bootcamp 2024: Transform from Beginner to Pro By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program “Since Squid Game aired, I’ve been receiving texts and calls 24 hours a day, to the point where it’s difficult to live my daily life,” she shared. “This is a number I’ve used for more than 10 years. I’ve had to delete over 4,000 numbers from my phone.” Her phone’s battery would drain within hours due to the constant influx of calls, and she initially had no idea what was happening until friends informed her that her number appeared in the show. Netflix Takes Action Unable to change her number because she used it for business, Gil-young reached out to Netflix and the production company, Siren Pictures , for help. Fortunately, the streaming giant acted quickly, editing out her phone number just weeks after the show’s release. The real digits were replaced with an unusable set: 010-034. Netflix and Siren Pictures also issued statements urging fans to stop making prank calls and sending messages. In Squid Game Season 2, the infamous business card makes a return, but this time, Netflix and the creators have taken extra precautions to avoid a repeat of the mistake. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
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