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AP News Summary at 6:50 p.m. ESTJimmy Carter, a peanut farmer and little-known Georgia governor who became the 39th president of the United States, promising “honest and decent” government to Watergate-weary Americans, and later returned to the world stage as an influential human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has died. He was 100. When his turbulent presidency ended after a stinging reelection loss in 1980, Carter retreated to Plains, his political career over. Over the four decades that followed, though, he forged a legacy of public service, building homes for the needy, monitoring elections around the globe and emerging as a fearless and sometimes controversial critic of governments that mistreated their citizens. He lived longer than any U.S. president in history and was still regularly teaching Bible classes at his hometown Maranatha Baptist Church well into his 90s. During his post-presidency, he also wrote more than 30 books, including fiction, poetry, deeply personal reflections on his faith, and commentaries on Middle East strife. Though slowed by battles with brain and liver cancer and a series of falls and hip replacement in recent years, he returned again and again to his charity work and continued to offer occasional political commentary, including in support of mail-in voting ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Carter was in his first term as Georgia governor when he launched his campaign to unseat President Ford in the 1976 election. At the time, the nation was still shaken by President Nixon’s resignation in the Watergate scandal and by the messy end of the Vietnam War. As a moderate Southern Democrat, a standard-bearer of what was then regarded as a more racially tolerant “new South,” Carter promised a government “as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people.” But some of the traits that had helped get Carter elected — his willingness to take on the Washington establishment and his preference for practicality over ideology — didn’t serve him as well in the White House. He showed a deep understanding of policy, and a refreshing modesty and disregard for the ceremonial trappings of the office, but he was unable to make the legislative deals expected of a president. Even though his Democratic Party had a majority in Congress throughout his presidency, he was impatient with the legislative give-and-take and struggled to mobilize party leaders behind his policy initiatives. His presidency also was buffeted by domestic crises — rampant inflation and high unemployment, as well as interminable lines at gas stations triggered by a decline in the global oil supply exacerbated by Iran’s Islamic Revolution. “Looking back, I am struck by how many unpopular objectives we pursued,” Carter acknowledged in his 2010 book, “White House Diary.” “I was sometimes accused of ‘micromanaging’ the affairs of government and being excessively autocratic,” he continued, “and I must admit that my critics probably had a valid point.” Carter’s signature achievements as president were primarily on the international front, and included personally brokering the Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel, which have endured for more than 40 years. But it was another international crisis — the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by Iranian revolutionaries and the government’s inability to win the release of 52 Americans taken hostage — that would cast a long shadow on his presidency and his bid for reelection. Carter authorized a secret military mission to rescue the hostages in April 1980, but it was aborted at the desert staging area; during the withdrawal, eight servicemen were killed when a helicopter crashed into a transport aircraft. The hostages were held for 444 days, a period that spanned Carter’s final 15 months in the White House. They were finally freed the day his successor, Ronald Reagan, took the oath of office. Near the end of Carter’s presidency, one poll put his job approval rating at 21% — lower than Nixon’s when he resigned in disgrace and among the lowest of any White House occupant since World War II. In a rarity for an incumbent president, Carter faced a formidable primary challenge in 1980 from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a favorite of the Democratic Party’s liberal wing. Although Carter prevailed, his nomination was in doubt until the party’s August convention. The enmity between Carter and Kennedy, two of the most important Democratic political figures of their generation, continued throughout their lives. In Kennedy’s memoir, published shortly after his death in 2009, he called Carter petty and guilty of “a failure to listen.” While promoting the publication of “White House Diary,” Carter said Kennedy had “deliberately” blocked Carter’s comprehensive healthcare proposals in the late 1970s in hopes of defeating the president in the primary. In the 1980 general election, Carter faced Reagan, then 69, who campaigned on a promise to increase military spending and rescue the economy by cutting taxes and decreasing regulation. Carter lost in a 51% to 41% thumping — he won just six states and the District of Columbia — that devastated the man known for his toothy smile and sent him back to his hometown, an ex-president at 56. A year later, he and Rosalynn founded the Carter Center, which pressed for peaceful solutions to world conflicts, promoted human rights and worked to eradicate disease in the poorest nations. The center, based in Atlanta, launched a new phase of Carter’s public life, one that would move the same historians who called Carter a weak president to label him one of America’s greatest former leaders. His post-presidential years were both “historic and polarizing,” as Princeton University historian Julian E. Zelizer put it in a 2010 biography of Carter. Zelizer said Carter “refused to be constrained politically when pursuing his international agenda” as an ex-president, and became “an enormously powerful figure on the international stage.” When Carter appeared on “The Colbert Report” in 2014, host Stephen Colbert asked him, “You invented the idea of the post-presidency. What inspired you to do that?” “I didn’t have anything else to do,” Carter replied. He traveled widely to mediate conflicts and monitor elections around the world, joined Habitat for Humanity to promote “sweat equity” for low-income homeownership, and became a blunt critic of human rights abuses. He angered conservatives and some liberals by advocating negotiations with autocrats — and his criticism of Israeli leaders and support for Palestinian self-determination angered many Jews. A prolific author, Carter covered a range of topics, including the Middle East crisis and the virtues of aging and religion. He penned a memoir on growing up in the rural South as well as a book of poems, and he was the first president to write a novel — “The Hornet’s Nest,” about the South during the Revolutionary War. He won three Grammy Awards as well for best spoken-word album, most recently in 2019 for “Faith: A Journey For All.” As with many former presidents, Carter’s popularity rose in the years after he left office. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts” and to advance democracy and human rights. By then, two-thirds of Americans said they approved of his presidency. “Jimmy Carter may never be rated a great president,” wrote Charles O. Jones, a University of Wisconsin political scientist, in his chronicle of the Carter presidency. “Yet it will be difficult in the long run to sustain censure of a president motivated to do what is right.” The journey for James Earl Carter Jr. began on Oct. 1, 1924, in the tiny Sumter County, Ga., town of Plains, home to fewer than 600 people in 2020. He was the first president born in a hospital, but he lived in a house without electricity or indoor plumbing until he was a teenager. His ancestors had been in Georgia for more than two centuries, and he was the fifth generation to own and farm the same land. His father, James Earl Carter Sr., known as Mr. Earl, was a strict disciplinarian and a conservative businessman of some means. His mother, known as Miss Lillian, had more liberal views — she was known for her charity work and for taking in transients and treating Black residents with kindness. (At the age of 70, she joined the Peace Corps, working in India.) Inspired by an uncle who was in the Navy, Carter decided as a first-grader that he wanted to go to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He became the first member of his family to finish high school, then attended Georgia Tech before heading for the academy, where he studied engineering and graduated in 1946, 59th in a class of 820. Before his last year in Annapolis, while home for the summer, he met Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, a friend of his sister Ruth’s. He and a friend invited the two young women to the movies, and when he returned home that night, he told his mother he had met “the girl I want to marry.” He proposed that Christmas, but Rosalynn declined because she felt she was too young (she was 18 and a sophomore in college). Several weeks later, while she was visiting Carter at the academy, he asked again. This time she said yes. Carter applied to America’s new nuclear-powered submarine program under the command of the icy and demanding Capt. (later Adm.) Hyman Rickover. During Carter’s interview, Rickover asked whether he had done his best at Annapolis. “I started to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ but ... I recalled several of the many times at the Academy when I could have learned more about our allies, our enemies, weapons, strategy and so forth,” Carter wrote in his autobiography. “... I finally gulped and said, ‘No, sir, I didn’t always do my best.’” To which Rickover replied: “Why not?” Carter got the job, and would later make “Why not the best?” his campaign slogan. The Carters had three sons, who all go by nicknames — John William “Jack,” James Earl “Chip” and Donnel Jeffrey “Jeff.” Carter and Rosalynn had wanted to have more children, but an obstetrician said that surgery Rosalynn had to remove a tumor on her uterus would make that impossible. Fifteen years after Jeffrey was born, the Carters had a daughter, Amy, who “made us young again,” Carter would later write. While in the Navy, Carter took graduate courses in nuclear physics and served as a submariner on the USS Pomfret. But his military career was cut short when his father died, and he moved back to Georgia in 1953 to help run the family business, which was in disarray. In his first year back on the farm, Carter turned a profit of less than $200, the equivalent of about $2,200 today. But with Rosalynn’s help, he expanded the business. In addition to farming 3,100 acres, the family soon operated a seed and fertilizer business, warehouses, a peanut-shelling plant and a cotton gin. By the time he began his campaign for the White House 20 years later, Carter had a net worth of about $800,000, and the revenue from his enterprises was more than $2 million a year. Carter entered electoral politics in 1962, and asked voters to call him “Jimmy.” He ran for a seat in the Georgia Senate against an incumbent backed by a local political boss who stuffed the ballot box. Trailing by 139 votes after the primary, Carter waged a furious legal battle, which he described years later in his book “Turning Point.” Carter got a recount, the primary result was reversed, and he went on to win the general election. The victory was a defining moment for Carter, the outsider committed to fairness and honesty who had successfully battled establishment politicians corrupted by their ties to special interests. In two terms in the Georgia Senate, Carter established a legislative record that was socially progressive and fiscally conservative. He first ran for governor in 1966, but finished third in the primary. Over the next four years, he made 1,800 speeches and shook hands with an estimated 600,000 people — a style of campaigning that paid off in the 1970 gubernatorial election and later in his bid for the White House. In his inaugural address as governor in 1971, Carter made national news by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” He had a portrait of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. hung in a hall at the Capitol in Atlanta. But when Carter launched his official campaign for the White House in December 1974, he was still so little-known outside Georgia that a celebrity panel on the TV show “What’s My Line?” couldn’t identify him. In the beginning, many scoffed at the temerity of a peanut farmer and one-term governor running for the highest office in the land. After Carter met with House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr., the speaker was asked whom he had been talking to. “Some fellow named Jimmy Carter from Georgia. Says he’s running for president,” O’Neill replied. In a meeting with editors of the Los Angeles Times in 1975, Carter said he planned to gain the presidency by building a network of supporters and by giving his candidacy an early boost by winning the Iowa caucuses. Until then, Iowa had been a bit player in the nominating process, mostly ignored by strategists. But Carter’s victory there vaulted him to front-runner status — and Iowa into a major role in presidential nominations. His emergence from the pack of Democratic hopefuls was helped by the release of his well-reviewed autobiography “Why Not the Best?” in which he described his upbringing on the farm and his traditional moral values. On the campaign trail, Carter came across as refreshingly candid and even innocent — an antidote to the atmosphere of scandal that had eroded confidence in public officials since the events leading to Nixon’s resignation on Aug. 9, 1974. A Baptist Sunday school teacher, Carter was among the first presidential candidates to embrace the label of born-again Christian. That was underscored when, in an interview with Playboy magazine, he made headlines by admitting, “I’ve looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me.” Carter had emerged from the Democratic National Convention in July with a wide lead over Ford, Nixon’s vice president and successor, but by the time of the Playboy interview in September, his numbers were tumbling. By election day, the contest was a dead heat. Carter, running on a ticket with Walter F. Mondale for his vice president, eked out a victory with one of the narrower margins in U.S. presidential history, winning 50.1% to 48% of the popular vote and 297 electoral votes, 27 more than needed. Many of Carter’s supporters hoped he would usher in a new era of liberal policies. But he saw his role as more of a problem-solver than a politician, and as an outsider who promised to shake things up in Washington, he often acted unilaterally. A few weeks into his term, Carter announced that he was cutting off federal funding to 18 water projects around the country to save money and protect the environment. Lawmakers, surprised by the assault on their pet projects, were livid. He ultimately backed down on some of the cuts. But his relationship with Congress never fully healed. Members often complained that they couldn’t get in to see him, and that when they did he was in a rush to show them the door. His relationship with the media, as he acknowledged later in life, was similarly fraught. Carter’s image as a reformer also took a hit early in his presidency after he appointed Bert Lance, a longtime confidant, to head the Office of Management and Budget. Within months of the appointment, questions were raised about Lance’s personal financial affairs as a Georgia banker. Adamant that Lance had done nothing wrong, Carter dug in his heels and publicly told his friend, “Bert, I’m proud of you.” Still, Lance resigned under pressure, and although he was later acquitted of criminal charges, the damage to Carter had been done. As Mondale later put it: “It made people realize that we were no different than anybody else.” When Carter did score legislative victories, the cost was high. In 1978, he pushed the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties to eventually hand control of the canal over to Panama. But conservatives criticized the move as a diminution of U.S. strength, and even the Democratic National Committee declined to endorse it. Carter’s most significant foreign policy accomplishment was the 1978 Camp David agreement, a peace pact between Israel and Egypt. But he followed that with several unpopular moves, including his decree that the United States would not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, as a protest against the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. It was the only time in Olympic history that the United States had boycotted an Olympics; the Soviets responded by boycotting the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Carter had taken a series of largely symbolic steps to dispel the imperial image of the presidency. After he took the oath of office on a wintry day, he and the new first lady emerged from their motorcade and walked part of the way from the Capitol to the White House. He ended chauffeur-driven cars for top staff members, sold the presidential yacht, went to the White House mess hall for lunch with the staff and conducted town meetings around the country. He suspended the playing of “Hail to the Chief” whenever he arrived at an event, though he later allowed the practice to resume. On the domestic front, he was saddled with a country in crisis. Inflation galloped at rates up to 14%, and global gasoline shortages closed service stations and created high prices and long lines. Interest rates for home mortgages soared above 14%. In his first televised fireside chat, he wore a cardigan sweater and encouraged Americans to conserve energy during the winter by keeping their thermostats at 65 degrees in the daytime and 55 degrees at night. He also proposed a string of legislative initiatives to deal with the crisis, but many were blocked by Congress. In what would become a seminal moment in his presidency, Carter addressed the nation — and a television audience of more than 60 million — on a Sunday evening in 1979, saying the country had been seized by a “crisis of confidence ... that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will.” He outlined a series of proposals to develop new sources of energy. The address, widely known as the “malaise speech” even though Carter never used that word, was generally well-received at the time, though some bristled at the implication that Americans were to blame for the country’s problems. Any positive glow disappeared two days later, when Carter fired five of his top officials, including the Energy, Treasury and Transportation secretaries and his attorney general. The value of the dollar sank and the stock market tumbled. Sensing that Carter was politically vulnerable, Kennedy moved to present himself as an alternative for the 1980 Democratic nomination, publicly criticizing the president’s agenda. But Kennedy damaged his own candidacy in a prime-time interview with CBS’ Roger Mudd: Asked why he was running for president, Kennedy fumbled his answer, and critics cited it as evidence that the senator didn’t want the job so much as he felt obligated to seek it. A few months after the malaise speech, in late 1979, revolutionaries loyal to Iran’s spiritual leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. Weeks stretched into months, with Iran refusing all efforts to negotiate a hostage release. In April 1980, Carter approved Operation Eagle Claw, a secret Delta Force rescue mission. But it ended in disaster — mechanical trouble sidelined three helicopters and, after the mission was aborted, one of the remaining helicopters collided with a transport plane on the ground, killing eight soldiers. Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance resigned before the mission, believing the plan too risky. Negotiations to free the hostages resumed, and Carter desperately tried to win their release before the November election. But the Iranians prolonged the talks and the hostages weren’t released until Jan. 20, 1981, moments after Carter watched Reagan being sworn in. The journey home for Carter was painful. Of those who voted for Reagan in 1980, nearly 1 in 4 said they were primarily motivated by their dissatisfaction with Carter. Carter faced “an altogether new, unwanted and potentially empty life,” as he later put it. He sold the family farm-supply business, which had been placed in a blind trust during his presidency and was by then deeply in debt. Then, as Rosalynn later recalled, Carter awoke one night with an idea to build not just a presidential library but a place to resolve global conflicts. Together, they founded the nonprofit, nonpartisan Carter Center. His skill as a mediator made Carter a ready choice for future presidents seeking envoys to navigate crises. Republican President George H.W. Bush sent him on peace missions to Ethiopia and Sudan, and President Clinton, a fellow Democrat, dispatched him to North Korea, Haiti and what then was Yugoslavia. Carter described his relationship with President Obama as chilly, however, in part because he had openly criticized the administration’s policies toward Israel. He felt Obama did not strongly enough support a separate Palestinian state. “Every president has been a very powerful factor here in advocating this two-state solution,” Carter told the New York Times in 2012. “That is now not apparent.” As an election observer, he called them as he saw them. After monitoring presidential voting in Panama in 1989, he declared that Manuel Noriega had rigged the election. He also began building houses worldwide for Habitat for Humanity, and he wrote prodigiously. The Nobel committee awarded Carter the Peace Prize in 2002, more than two decades after he left the White House, praising him for standing by “the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation.” During his 70s, 80s and even into his 90s, the former president showed an energy that never failed to impress those around him. In his 1998 book “The Virtues of Aging,” he urged retirees to remain active and engaged, and he followed his own advice, continuing to jog, play tennis and go fly-fishing well into his 80s. When his “White House Diary” was published in 2010, he embarked on a nationwide book tour at 85, as he did in 2015 with the publication of “A Full Life: Reflections at 90.” When he told America he had cancer that had spread to his liver and brain, it was vintage Carter. Wearing a coat and tie and a pair of blue jeans, he stared into the television cameras and was unflinchingly blunt about his prognosis. “Hope for the best; accept what comes,” he said. “I think I have been as blessed as any human being in the world.” Former Times staff writers Jack Nelson, Robert Shogan and Johanna Neuman contributed to this report.
Hollywood child star looks unrecognisable 28 years after hit movie role and quitting fameUS added a strong 227,000 jobs in November in bounce-back from October slowdown WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from the previous month, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes had sharply diminished employers’ payrolls. Last month’s hiring growth was up considerably from a meager gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The government also revised up its estimate of job growth in September and October by a combined 56,000. Friday’s report also showed that the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.1% in October to a still-low 4.2%. The November data provided the latest evidence that the U.S. job market remains durable even though it has lost significant momentum from the 2021-2023 hiring boom, when the economy was rebounding from the pandemic recession. Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law - which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — is constitutional, rebuffing TikTok’s challenge that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and unfairly targeted the platform. TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Stock market today: Wall Street hits more records following a just-right jobs report NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to set its own record. Treasury yields eased after the jobs report showed stronger hiring than expected but also an uptick in the unemployment rate. Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass NEW YORK (AP) — In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the businesses consumers count on, Meta last year spent $24.4 million to surround CEO Mark Zuckerberg with security. But the fatal shooting this week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats. And experts say the task of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them is getting more difficult. One of the primary worries are loners whose rantings online are fed by others who are like-minded. It’s up to corporate security analysts to decide what represents a real threat. Police believe the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO quickly left NYC on a bus after shooting NEW YORK (AP) — Police officials say the gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer likely left New York City on a bus soon after fleeing the scene on a bicycle and hopping in a cab. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny says video of the gunman fleeing Wednesday’s shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson showed him riding through Central Park and later taking a taxi to a bus terminal, directly across from New Jersey. Police have video of the man entering the bus station but no video of him exiting. Investigators on Friday found a backpack in Central Park that was carried by the shooter, police said. USDA orders nationwide testing of milk for bird flu to halt the virus The U.S. government has ordered testing of the nation’s milk supply for bird flu to better monitor the spread of the virus in dairy cows. The Agriculture Department on Friday said raw or unpasteurized milk from dairy farms and processors nationwide must be tested on request starting Dec. 16. Testing will begin in six states — California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania. The move is aimed at eliminating the virus, which has infected more than 700 dairy herds in 15 states. Words on ammo in CEO shooting echo common phrase on insurer tactics: Delay, deny, defend A message left at the scene of an insurance executive’s fatal shooting echoes a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims. The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were written on the ammunition used to kill UnitedHealthcare's CEO. That's according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday. The words are similar to the phrase “delay, deny, defend.” That's how attorneys describe insurers denying services and payment, and the title of a 2010 book critical of the industry. Police haven’t officially commented on the words. But Thompson’s shooting and the messages on the ammunition have sparked outrage on social media and elsewhere, reflecting frustration Americans have over the cost and complexity of getting care. Michigan Democrats move to protect reproductive health data before GOP takes control of House LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democrats in Michigan are pressing to pass reproductive health care legislation before the party loses its majority with the new legislative session next year. A bill to protect digital reproductive health data including data logged on menstrual cycle tracking apps is a Democratic priority as lawmakers meet this month. Democratic women and supporters of the legislation say they are acting with new urgency before President-elect Donald Trump takes office because they don't believe his campaign promise to leave abortion to the states. The rush is also a reaction to Republicans taking control of the state House in January. Democrats kept control of the state Senate in the November election. Japan's Nippon Steel sets sights on a growing overseas market in its bid to acquire US Steel KASHIMA, Japan (AP) — The signs at Nippon Steel read: “The world through steel,” underlining why Japan’s top steelmaker is pursuing its $15 billion bid to acquire U.S. Steel. Japan's domestic market isn't growing, so Nippon Steel has its eyes on India, Southeast Asia and the United States, where populations are still growing. Nippon Steel gave reporters a tour of one of its plants in Japan on Friday. The bid for U.S. Steet is opposed by President-elect Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and American steelworkers. If the deal goes through, U.S. Steel will keep its name and its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but become subsidiary of Nippon Steel. China's ban on key high-tech materials could have broad impact on industries, economy BANGKOK (AP) — China has banned exports of key materials used for a wide range of products, including smartphones, electric vehicles, radar systems and CT scanners, swiping back at Washington after it expanded export controls to include dozens of Chinese companies that make equipment used to produce computer chips. Both sides say the controls are justified by national security concerns. Analysts say they could have a much wider impact on manufacturing in many industries and supply chains, depending on the ability of each side to compensate for loss of access to strategically important materials, equipment and components. Here's why this could be a tipping point in trade conflict between the two biggest economies.
The brutal 54-year reign of the Assad family in Syria looks to be over . In a matter of days, opposition forces took the major city of Aleppo before advancing southward into other government-controlled areas of Hama, Homs and finally, on Dec 7, 2024, the capital, Damascus . The offensive was all the more astonishing given that the 13-year civil war had largely been in a stalemate since a 2020 ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey. Reports suggest President Bashar al-Assad has resigned and left the country . But what has he left behind and what happens next? As an expert on Middle East security , I believe the opposition forces’ ability to maintain unity will be critical in the transition to a post-Assad Syria. Since the civil war started in 2011 , the many opposition factions in Syria have been fractured by ideological differences and the interests of external backers – and that remains true despite their current victory. Meanwhile, the rapid change of fortunes in Syria’s civil war poses serious questions for those countries that have backed one side or the other in the conflict. For Iran and Russia, the fall of their ally Assad will damage regional aspirations. For the backers of elements of the opposition – notably Turkey but also the U.S., both of which maintain a military presence in Syria – there will be challenges, too. Fears of a ‘catastrophic success’ Iran, the U.S., Russia and Turkey have been crucial players throughout Syria’s civil war. The recent opposition offensive came as Assad’s three key allies — Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah — were stretched thin. Russia’s focus on Ukraine and Iran’s setbacks from Israeli strikes have limited their ability to provide Assad robust support, while Hezbollah appeared hesitant to commit additional fighters, as it had done previously. Then, on Dec. 2, as opposition forces were on the move, Russia began withdrawing naval assets from its strategic Mediterranean base at Tartus, Syria. This erosion of external backing substantially undermined Assad’s capacity to regroup and mount an effective counteroffensive. Syrians celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in the town of Bar Elias, Lebanon, near the border with Syria, on Dec. 8, 2024. AP Photo/Hassan Ammar The U.S. will no doubt welcome this diminished Russian and Iranian influence in Syria. But concern in Washington has already been aired over a scenario of “ catastrophic success ” in which Assad is replaced by an Islamist group that many in the West see as terrorists. It was members of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that spearheaded much of the opposition gains in Syria, fighting alongside the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. And while Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has not directly targeted the U.S. troops stationed in the northeast – which is under the control of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – instability and the potential for clashes between opposition factions and U.S. allies could increase the risks for the 900 Syria-based American personnel. A fragmented landscape The fact that different opposition groups have taken control of various once-government-held areas points to a crucial fact: Syria is de facto partitioned. The northwest is controlled by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. The northeast is under the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the United States. Despite a shared goal of ousting Assad and the joint offensive on Aleppo, conflicts between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Syrian National Army are frequent. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Abu Mohammad al-Golani aims to assert control over opposition-held areas, including those currently managed by the Syrian National Army. And the Syrian National Army and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham maintain complex, often conflicting relationships with the Syrian Democratic Forces, shaped by ideological, territorial and strategic differences. The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army frequently engages in direct clashes with the Syrian Defense Forces, which Turkey views as a terrorist organization and an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party it has been fighting in southern Turkey for more than four decades. The opposition’s internal fragmentation may weaken its ability to bring stability to Syria in the long run. Adjustment problems Assad’s fall will have major implications for those countries that have a stake in the region. Iran’s grand strategy of preserving the “ Shia Crescent ” — connecting Tehran to Beirut through Baghdad and Damascus and in the process countering Sunni Islamist factions — has failed. For Washington, Assad’s departure doesn’t necessarily fit any hoped-for outcome. The U.S. has prioritized balancing, containing and potentially diminishing Russian and Iranian influence in Syria. But until recently that did not mean the removal of Assad. The Biden administration had even hinted in early December that it would be prepared to lift sanctions on Syria if Assad severed ties with Iran and Hezbollah. There was also talk of Assad’s government allying with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces . But as city after city fell to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, it became increasingly unlikely that the Kurdish group would align with the weakening Assad forces – especially as Kurdish forces themselves made significant territorial gains . Syrian Democratic Forces will need to adapt in response to the fall of Assad. This will be doubly true if, as many anticipate and President-elect Donald Trump has hinted at , the U.S. withdraws from Syria. Currently, the 900 U.S. troops are in eastern Syria, alongside a military base in Al-Tanf, located near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders. Should American forces withdraw, the Syrian Democratic Forces and the autonomous region it administers — known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria — would need to negotiate their autonomy with both different factions of the opposition and Syrian neighbor Turkey. A Kurdish and Islamist alliance? The precarious role of Syrian Democratic Forces in the transition to the post-Assad era could make for a significant foreign policy headache for the U.S. Given Turkey’s history of military incursions and campaigns against the Syrian Democratic Forces in northern cities like Afrin and Kobani, the Kurdish group may need to align with some factions of the opposition, likely Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, should the U.S. eventually withdraw. Of late, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has largely avoided antagonizing the Syrian Democratic Forces. Indeed, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s efforts to rebrand and moderate itself are notable , especially given its origins as a Salafist group with ties to al-Qaida. By adopting a range of policies like issuing an amnesty for Syrian army personnel, facilitating evacuation agreements and using the language of building an ethnically and religiously diverse governance structure, the Islamist group has attempted to soften its hardline image and gain favor – or at least neutrality – from international stakeholders, like the U.S. Yet skepticism about Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s ultimate objectives persists. Strategic calculations for Turkey Turkey’s position on Syria now is equally complex. Turkey is home to 3.6 million Syrian refugees — the largest refugee-hosting country globally. A prolonged economic downturn and rising anti-refugee sentiment had pressured Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to signal a willingness to engage with Assad prior to the opposition offensive. Turkey’s hope was that normalized relations with Syria would help facilitate refugee return and address concerns about a potential Kurdish state in northeastern Syria. But Assad dismissed such overtures, and intensified airstrikes on Idlib – triggering new waves of displacement near the Turkish border. Turkey’s Syria policy is also closely linked to its renewed peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. These talks reportedly include discussions about the potential release of imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party leader Abdullah Öcalan – whose influence runs deep in Kurdish-led regions in northern Syria. The chance for a new Syria The apparent end of Assad’s rule after half a century of brutal oppression signifies a pivotal moment for Syria – offering an opportunity to rebuild the nation on foundations of inclusivity, pluralism and stability. Achieving this vision depends on the opposition factions’ ability to navigate the immense challenges of transition. This includes fostering unity among diverse groups, addressing grievances from years of conflict and establishing governance structures that reflect Syria’s ethnic, religious and political diversity. That will be no easy task. Sefa Secen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.The premise: offer an artist, an eatery or retail entrepreneur the opportunity to prove themselves to a downtown St. Paul landlord through a temporary, sweetheart lease. After six months of renting a storefront for as little as $1 — and maybe insurance, utilities and incidentals — both parties can negotiate a longer-term contract, or go their separate ways. As a business sector, startups are notorious for rarely getting too far off the ground, but the best blossom and turn heads. The St. Paul Downtown Alliance, a partnership between City Hall and major downtown employers, launched the Grow Downtown program around May 2022 in hopes that at least a few new retailers will take seed, fill growing ground-level and skyway vacancies and draw needed foot traffic to downtown St. Paul’s commercial buildings. Not all the shops have stuck around, but organizers say the results have been even better than expected. Grow Downtown has matched 18 new businesses — almost all of them run by women and people of color — with property owners to date, filling more than 40,000 square feet of empty retail space. At least a dozen of those businesses are still open in their original locations, occupying a total of 27,000 square feet. The majority have either signed long-term leases or at least extended past their initial six-month agreements. A handful of shops remain in business in new locations or continue to host pop-up hours downtown or elsewhere. “For the most part, we haven’t really had a ton of ‘fatalities,’ for lack of a better term,” said Lee Krueger, a real estate consultant and former president and chief executive officer of the St. Paul Port Authority, who arranged the lease deals after studying similar efforts in Denver and Minneapolis. “Some of them are going to do just fine.” The right amount of space Downtowns everywhere have contracted since the onset of the pandemic, which heightened the move to remote work and online retail, and St. Paul’s skyway vacancies were growing even before the pandemic. Still, while some may hope that the capital city draws a Fortune 500 spin-off to employ locals and shore up its tax base, it’s perhaps more likely that the city’s fortunes rest with homegrown companies emerging organically from small-business startups in affordable commercial spaces. The challenge isn’t just a question of finding the right amount of square footage for a budding entrepreneur. A candle and lotion shop, for instance, might have a tough time situated next to a food court vendor selling fragrant recipes, Krueger said. Other vendors might need a restaurant hood and ventilation system or a washable tile ceiling. Renting too much space can be worse than too little when utility payments kick in. “My daughter works with me, and she’ll review business plans, financials,” Krueger said. “She’ll interview these people and say, ‘Hey Dad, I talked to this tenant.’ Jack and the Pack (which now sells dog-running harnesses at Wells Fargo Place), that was one she really liked. But we couldn’t put them in the skyway because people bring their dogs in. We needed a space with a concrete floor .” “One guy said, ‘What about this space?’ We said, ‘That’s 10,000 square feet. To heat and cool this space, it’s going to overwhelm you,'” Krueger added. “Sometimes we call people and say, ‘Do you have a business plan?’ And they’ll say, ‘A what?’ One guy said, ‘My plan is to be the best restaurant in St. Paul.’ OK, but .... We screen them. By the time we get them to these landlords, we’ve interviewed them, we’ve talked to them, we’ve got a business plan and some sales projections.” ‘It made sense’ Arrangements with landlords vary broadly — not every initial lease is free of charge — and some of the choicest locations have already been filled, meaning the next round of leases may be especially tricky, Krueger said. Still, Wells Fargo Place property manager Heide Kempf-Schwarze was happy to see Jack and the Pack find a following in a ground-floor space that had been vacant for upwards of 10 years. “That was the one I said, ‘I’m not quite sure how this will work out, but if it doesn’t we haven’t really lost anything.’ We aren’t spending a lot of money on a tenant improvement build-out. We aren’t having to pay broker’s commissions. It made sense.” Kempf-Schwarze said three of the building’s new storefronts — the Blue Hummingbird Woman Indigenous Gift Shop, Ramadhan Designs and Jack and the Pack — are woman-owned, and the fourth, Trinity House Coffee in a former McDonald’s space within the third-floor atrium, is owned by a man of color. All four tenants have now been in the building for at least two years. “You’re offering a low-barrier entry point to entrepreneurs who might not have the means to gain access by traditional means, and letting them get their feet on the ground and get stabilized, without having to figure out everything at once,” Kempf-Schwarze said. “It added some vibrancy I think we really needed in downtown. We were really strategic with the tenants we vetted in the first go-round.” Here’s a look at some of the businesses: Black Men Teach WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Black Men Teach is a nonprofit aimed at supporting and increasing the number of Black male teachers in Minnesota, located in the Osborn370 building, 370 N. Wabasha St., Suite 660. ON THE WEB: blackmenteach.org THEIR STORY: One school year from now, Black Men Teach, an organization whose goal is to “empower the growth of Black male teachers,” will be on track to have 20% of elementary teachers in the schools they partner with be Black males, according to executive director Markus Flynn. “It’s a very narrow focus, but the scope of work is broad,” he said. In partnership with “Thrive by 2035,” a coalition for the advancement of Black male educators, Black Men Teach has a longer-term goal. Within the next decade, they want Minnesota schools with a Black student body population of at least 40% to have 20% of their teaching staff be composed of Black men — a total of 450 Black male teachers in 90 elementary schools. “That’s over a 1000% increase of the number of Black men we have teaching in elementary school classrooms right now,” said Flynn, noting they’ve wanted to grow their footprint in the capital city, which he said provides strong opportunities for networking with collaborators. Blue Hummingbird Woman Indigenous Gift Shop WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Blue Hummingbird Woman Indigenous Gift Shop, which features various creations by Indigenous community members, opened in Wells Fargo Place, 30 E. Seventh St., Suite 285, in November 2022. A second location and traditional healing center, Eagle and Condor Native Wellness Center, opened at 790 E. Seventh St. in November 2023. ON THE WEB: bluehummingbirdwoman.com THEIR STORY: Tara Perron, known as Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ, has sold products of her own throughout the powwow circuit since she was young, but it wasn’t until she started writing books that it occurred to her to try to open her own shop. The store sells a variety of items made by both Perron and other Indigenous vendors, including beadwork, jewelry, clothing, various herbal remedies, wild teas, honey, oils and balms. Perron said one of the greatest joys in owning her store is getting to highlight and invest in Native American artists and their work. “People can come buy authentic, Native-made gifts, and sometimes people don’t know where to get them,” she said. “There’s always a story behind each creator and the gifts that they create, and I know (those) stories and so I love sharing them. That’s what makes a handmade gift so beautiful.” Cycling Museum of Minnesota WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Coming soon to the Securian building at 401 N. Robert St. Related Articles Business | Your Money: Building wealth in uncertain times: year-end planning moves Business | Working Strategies: Second Sunday Series: Jumping in with ChatGPT Business | Scrap metal industry sues state, saying new copper metal law will shut down its industry Business | What to consider when exchanging currency Business | US added a strong 227,000 jobs in November in bounce-back from October slowdown ON THE WEB: cmm.bike THEIR STORY: Using loaned and donated bicycle collections, the Cycling Museum of Minnesota has hosted traveling exhibits around the Twin Cities since 2012, and is currently showcasing America’s earliest-model mountain bikes at the Theodore Wirth Regional Park Trailhead in Minneapolis. Juston Anderson is working with his nonprofit board and other volunteers to finalize lease terms for the museum in the Securian building, with the oldest artifact set to go on display dating back to 1884. “We’ve got bikes from the very, very beginning of cycling in Minnesota, which are some antique and vintage high-wheel bikes with hard tires, and pneumatic safety bikes from when they were coming into fashion,” Anderson said. “As far as museums go, we’re just a baby. We’re just kind of getting started.” Eaton Art WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Eaton Art is a space for the six-month pop-up exhibit “Through the Window: Look. Pause. Discover.”, running from June through December on the skyway level of the Town Square complex at 445 Minnesota St. The exhibit features a series of four themed displays: “PRIDE: Pioneers and Progress,” “A Life In Art | Jim Smola 1950-2022,” “WORDS and Banned & Burned” and “You Can Quote Me.” For the final month, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 25, the space will function as a retail shop, featuring elements from each exhibit. ON THE WEB: throughthewindowdotblog.wordpress.com THEIR STORY: Anthony Eaton originally planned to use the space as a tribute to his late husband when he moved back home from Dallas, Texas, in 2022. When he was offered the space for six months, he decided to do a series of displays — one celebrating people significant to the LGBTQ+ community, one dedicated to his husband, one featuring writers and banned books and one for Eaton’s favorite inspirational quotes. Eaton, a St. Paul native and Lowertown artist, is looking for a permanent space for a retail store. “I care deeply about St. Paul because I consider it home,” he said. “I have witnessed the city grow and change. While we are facing some significant challenges, I want to be part of that solution through my work.” Jack and the Pack WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Jack and the Pack, which sells everything you’ll need to run with your dogs or harness them to a sled, skis, scooter or bicycle, opened in June 2023 on the ground level of Wells Fargo Place, 30 E. Seventh St., Suite 220. Open for in-person shopping at least twice a week, with seasonal fluctuation, and online. ON THE WEB: jackandthepack.com THEIR STORY: Alexandra “AJ” Johnson, a former school teacher turned Team USA competitor in dog-running sports, sold items related to “joring” — the Norwegian word for “pulling” — online, but longed to take Jack and the Pack to the next level. When the Grow Downtown program came along, Johnson opened her first bricks-and-mortar location within 4,000 square feet of ground-level storefront at Seventh and Wabasha streets, a seemingly choice location that had stood vacant for about 10 years, which she now shares with Brave the Snow, a woman-owned kicksled shop. Jack and the Pack suffered a break-in within its first few months but Johnson stayed the course, so to speak. “We haven’t had any issues since,” she said. Johnson doesn’t just sell harnesses — she also hosts group and individual classes and participates in regional competitions for a variety of dog-running sports, from sled races to bike-joring, which she blogs about on her website. Her dogs also compete in skiing through a friend. “I’m not the best skier,” she said with a laugh. La’Russe Boutique WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: La’Russe Boutique, a clothing boutique, opened in July in the Town Square complex at 444 Cedar St., just off the skyway over Fifth and Cedar streets. ON THE WEB: larussebotique.com THEIR STORY: When she learned she could launch her own business on a small lease, Laurarelle Patterson quit her day job of 12 years as a special-education instructor, gave up her apartment and moved in with her adult daughter to open La’Russe Boutique, which sells men’s and women’s clothing, including high school letterman jackets featuring customized pictures. Patterson, who still works nights in the health care field, said it’s been a tough road — damaged credit prevented her from getting loans, so she’s financed inventory acquisition herself. Her three daughters, all of them business-minded, inspire her to persevere. Her family tree, displayed prominently on the store wall, begins with its roots in Twin Cities civil rights advocate Nellie Stone Johnson, whom she calls a great-aunt, as well as Black car manufacturer Charles Richard Patterson, and winds up to one of her daughters, an esthetics instructor. Another daughter is in school to become a coroner. Next stop: San Francisco and New York, where Patterson plans to take a gander at the latest fashions, form partnerships and bring some coastal bling back to the Midwest. Lucille’s Bottleshop WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Lucille’s Bottleshop, an alcohol-free bottle shop and tasting room, aims to create opportunities for people to socialize without alcohol. Opened in July near the Palace Theatre at 24 W. Seventh Place. ON THE WEB: lucillesbottleshop.com THEIR STORY: Lucille’s owner Alexandra Zauner, who is 10 years alcohol-free, decided to explore non-alcoholic options a few years ago, yet found it odd that she and her sober friends still had to go to a liquor store to find them. Zauner said she was inspired by other bottle shops opening around the country and wanted to create opportunities for sober people to socialize in an alcohol-free space. Bottle shops “lean in and give people not just non-alcoholic as an afterthought, but as the main thought and focus,” she said. Lucille’s, named after Zauner’s grandmother Lucy, also hosts almost weekly alcohol-free events where those who are sober, sober-curious or just want a night away from alcohol can socialize and “see that you don’t need alcohol to be able to do that,” she said. Petek Trading Co. WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Petek Trading Co., a home goods retailer that sells ethically-sourced handmade woven goods from Turkey, opened in the Historic Hamm Building in September 2022 before moving to its current storefront at 327 W. Seventh St. ON THE WEB: petektradingco.com THEIR STORY: While working at Anthropologie during the early days of the pandemic, Melek Petek decided to strike out on her own and sell handmade goods that connect to her culture in a storefront that celebrates tradition. Originally from Turkey, Petek’s cultural pride is reflected in her inventory — rugs, stockings, coasters and pillow cases made from upcycled kilims, a traditional form of Turkish rug weaving. “If it weren’t for the (Grow Downtown) project, I wouldn’t have a storefront,” said Petek, noting the project likely cut at least two years off the timeline for launching her own shop. “It gave me a chance to talk to (a property manager) in a low-stakes way.” Soapy Toads WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Soapy Toads, a small-batch, handmade, all-natural bath and personal care product shop, located in the Pioneer Endicott building, 141 E. Fourth St., Suite 205. Established by Dragon Walker and Jake Walker. ON THE WEB: instagram.com/soapy_toads THEIR STORY: Six years ago, Dragon Walker began hand-making soap in her basement. Walker would gift the personal care products to loved ones, but when her hobby started to take over the house, her husband, Jake, said she either needed to stop making soap or start selling it. Jake is now her “Soapy Toads bath and personal care items” business partner, a dream Walker says couldn’t have been a reality without him. “Small businesses are not just businesses, small businesses are an act of love,” Walker said. She describes her soap as “moisturizing, gentle and earth-compatible,” though Soapy Toads carries everything from lip balms to candles to bug spray. She and her right-hand woman, Jaime Haas, agreed that what makes working downtown special is the people who visit and make the space lively. “It’s a retail space but it’s also a casual social space,” Haas said. “Which is kind of a great mix.” Trinity House Coffee WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Trinity House Coffee, a coffee shop that sources its roasts from Africa, opened in the former McDonald’s space in the third-floor atrium and former food court of Wells Fargo Place, 30 E. Seventh St., Suite 325, in January 2022. ON THE WEB: trinityhousecoffees.com THEIR STORY: Owner Gerry Exom has been in the coffee business for over 10 years. Exom, a military veteran who was once homeless, said running Trinity House Coffee fulfills his dream of catering to the affluent alongside the disadvantaged, offering both communities “the same high-quality coffee for the same affordable price, which kind of levels the playing field.” The biggest challenge so far has been what he deemed the “COVID-19 effect,” where remote work limits the amount of foot traffic walking by retail stores. Trinity is open Monday through Friday, but it still only draws healthy numbers of customers about three days per week, he said. Being situated near the Children’s Museum helps draw in some business, and his website introduces prospective customers to bags of Kenyan, Ethiopian and Congo-bean coffees. Related Articles
Colombia map. INQUIRER STOCK PHOTO BOGOTA — Colombian authorities on Friday denied a United Nations report claiming that the bodies of 20,000 people who were forcibly disappeared over decades of conflict were being kept at Bogota airport. On Thursday, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances stated that “thousands of unidentified bodies lie in poorly managed cemeteries or storage facilities,” citing “a hangar at Bogota airport where around 20,000 unidentified bodies are currently stored.” Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan denied the report that followed a visit by a UN delegation to Colombia. He asked the UN to substantiate its claims. Isabelita Mercado, senior advisor on peace and reconciliation at Bogota town hall, told the W station the city’s cemeteries held the bodies of around 5,500 unidentified missing people or people who had been identified but whose bodies have not been claimed. READ: Colombia turns drug-fumigation planes into fire fighters The UN said its report was based on information it had received from local authorities but didn’t say which ones. A press officer did not respond to Agence France-Presse’s requests for comment. The UN’s special envoy to Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, also questioned the report. He told Noticias Caracol news channel that its authors did “not represent any United Nations entity” and asked them to “clarify” the report and possibly “rectify” it. READ: From Colombia’s jungle to the world’s fish tanks The Search Unit for Persons Reported Missing, which is in charge of locating and identifying the thousands of people who disappeared over the course of six decades of conflict, said it had “no information” on the existence of a “site of forensic interest” near the airport. The organization has counted more than 104,000 people who went missing during the conflict between security forces, guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug cartels which began in the 1960s. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . The biggest guerrilla group, FARC, laid down arms after signing a peace deal in 2016 but a handful of armed groups remain active in the country.Build-A-Bear Workshop ( NYSE:BBW – Get Free Report ) had its price target lifted by analysts at Northland Securities from $38.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Northland Securities’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 34.08% from the company’s current price. Separately, StockNews.com raised Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. View Our Latest Analysis on Build-A-Bear Workshop Build-A-Bear Workshop Stock Performance Build-A-Bear Workshop ( NYSE:BBW – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a return on equity of 37.81% and a net margin of 10.36%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Build-A-Bear Workshop will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year. Build-A-Bear Workshop announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 11th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 23.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued. Insider Activity at Build-A-Bear Workshop In related news, Director George Carrara sold 2,500 shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.27, for a total value of $90,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $668,129.67. This trade represents a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . Also, CFO Vojin Todorovic sold 12,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.42, for a total transaction of $447,531.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,212,416.90. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold 80,734 shares of company stock valued at $2,844,217 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,047,261 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,282,000 after acquiring an additional 6,913 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,055 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 1.4% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 34,467 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 3.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 111,069 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 211.8% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares in the last quarter. 79.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Build-A-Bear Workshop ( Get Free Report ) Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc operates as a multi-channel retailer of plush animals and related products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Direct-to-Consumer, Commercial, and International Franchising. Its merchandise comprises various styles of plush products to be stuffed, pre-stuffed plush products, and sounds and scents that can be added to the stuffed animals, as well as range of clothing, shoes and accessories, and other toy and novelty items, including family sleepwear. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Build-A-Bear Workshop Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Build-A-Bear Workshop and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
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AP News Summary at 6:50 p.m. ESTJimmy Carter, a peanut farmer and little-known Georgia governor who became the 39th president of the United States, promising “honest and decent” government to Watergate-weary Americans, and later returned to the world stage as an influential human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has died. He was 100. When his turbulent presidency ended after a stinging reelection loss in 1980, Carter retreated to Plains, his political career over. Over the four decades that followed, though, he forged a legacy of public service, building homes for the needy, monitoring elections around the globe and emerging as a fearless and sometimes controversial critic of governments that mistreated their citizens. He lived longer than any U.S. president in history and was still regularly teaching Bible classes at his hometown Maranatha Baptist Church well into his 90s. During his post-presidency, he also wrote more than 30 books, including fiction, poetry, deeply personal reflections on his faith, and commentaries on Middle East strife. Though slowed by battles with brain and liver cancer and a series of falls and hip replacement in recent years, he returned again and again to his charity work and continued to offer occasional political commentary, including in support of mail-in voting ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Carter was in his first term as Georgia governor when he launched his campaign to unseat President Ford in the 1976 election. At the time, the nation was still shaken by President Nixon’s resignation in the Watergate scandal and by the messy end of the Vietnam War. As a moderate Southern Democrat, a standard-bearer of what was then regarded as a more racially tolerant “new South,” Carter promised a government “as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people.” But some of the traits that had helped get Carter elected — his willingness to take on the Washington establishment and his preference for practicality over ideology — didn’t serve him as well in the White House. He showed a deep understanding of policy, and a refreshing modesty and disregard for the ceremonial trappings of the office, but he was unable to make the legislative deals expected of a president. Even though his Democratic Party had a majority in Congress throughout his presidency, he was impatient with the legislative give-and-take and struggled to mobilize party leaders behind his policy initiatives. His presidency also was buffeted by domestic crises — rampant inflation and high unemployment, as well as interminable lines at gas stations triggered by a decline in the global oil supply exacerbated by Iran’s Islamic Revolution. “Looking back, I am struck by how many unpopular objectives we pursued,” Carter acknowledged in his 2010 book, “White House Diary.” “I was sometimes accused of ‘micromanaging’ the affairs of government and being excessively autocratic,” he continued, “and I must admit that my critics probably had a valid point.” Carter’s signature achievements as president were primarily on the international front, and included personally brokering the Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel, which have endured for more than 40 years. But it was another international crisis — the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by Iranian revolutionaries and the government’s inability to win the release of 52 Americans taken hostage — that would cast a long shadow on his presidency and his bid for reelection. Carter authorized a secret military mission to rescue the hostages in April 1980, but it was aborted at the desert staging area; during the withdrawal, eight servicemen were killed when a helicopter crashed into a transport aircraft. The hostages were held for 444 days, a period that spanned Carter’s final 15 months in the White House. They were finally freed the day his successor, Ronald Reagan, took the oath of office. Near the end of Carter’s presidency, one poll put his job approval rating at 21% — lower than Nixon’s when he resigned in disgrace and among the lowest of any White House occupant since World War II. In a rarity for an incumbent president, Carter faced a formidable primary challenge in 1980 from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a favorite of the Democratic Party’s liberal wing. Although Carter prevailed, his nomination was in doubt until the party’s August convention. The enmity between Carter and Kennedy, two of the most important Democratic political figures of their generation, continued throughout their lives. In Kennedy’s memoir, published shortly after his death in 2009, he called Carter petty and guilty of “a failure to listen.” While promoting the publication of “White House Diary,” Carter said Kennedy had “deliberately” blocked Carter’s comprehensive healthcare proposals in the late 1970s in hopes of defeating the president in the primary. In the 1980 general election, Carter faced Reagan, then 69, who campaigned on a promise to increase military spending and rescue the economy by cutting taxes and decreasing regulation. Carter lost in a 51% to 41% thumping — he won just six states and the District of Columbia — that devastated the man known for his toothy smile and sent him back to his hometown, an ex-president at 56. A year later, he and Rosalynn founded the Carter Center, which pressed for peaceful solutions to world conflicts, promoted human rights and worked to eradicate disease in the poorest nations. The center, based in Atlanta, launched a new phase of Carter’s public life, one that would move the same historians who called Carter a weak president to label him one of America’s greatest former leaders. His post-presidential years were both “historic and polarizing,” as Princeton University historian Julian E. Zelizer put it in a 2010 biography of Carter. Zelizer said Carter “refused to be constrained politically when pursuing his international agenda” as an ex-president, and became “an enormously powerful figure on the international stage.” When Carter appeared on “The Colbert Report” in 2014, host Stephen Colbert asked him, “You invented the idea of the post-presidency. What inspired you to do that?” “I didn’t have anything else to do,” Carter replied. He traveled widely to mediate conflicts and monitor elections around the world, joined Habitat for Humanity to promote “sweat equity” for low-income homeownership, and became a blunt critic of human rights abuses. He angered conservatives and some liberals by advocating negotiations with autocrats — and his criticism of Israeli leaders and support for Palestinian self-determination angered many Jews. A prolific author, Carter covered a range of topics, including the Middle East crisis and the virtues of aging and religion. He penned a memoir on growing up in the rural South as well as a book of poems, and he was the first president to write a novel — “The Hornet’s Nest,” about the South during the Revolutionary War. He won three Grammy Awards as well for best spoken-word album, most recently in 2019 for “Faith: A Journey For All.” As with many former presidents, Carter’s popularity rose in the years after he left office. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts” and to advance democracy and human rights. By then, two-thirds of Americans said they approved of his presidency. “Jimmy Carter may never be rated a great president,” wrote Charles O. Jones, a University of Wisconsin political scientist, in his chronicle of the Carter presidency. “Yet it will be difficult in the long run to sustain censure of a president motivated to do what is right.” The journey for James Earl Carter Jr. began on Oct. 1, 1924, in the tiny Sumter County, Ga., town of Plains, home to fewer than 600 people in 2020. He was the first president born in a hospital, but he lived in a house without electricity or indoor plumbing until he was a teenager. His ancestors had been in Georgia for more than two centuries, and he was the fifth generation to own and farm the same land. His father, James Earl Carter Sr., known as Mr. Earl, was a strict disciplinarian and a conservative businessman of some means. His mother, known as Miss Lillian, had more liberal views — she was known for her charity work and for taking in transients and treating Black residents with kindness. (At the age of 70, she joined the Peace Corps, working in India.) Inspired by an uncle who was in the Navy, Carter decided as a first-grader that he wanted to go to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He became the first member of his family to finish high school, then attended Georgia Tech before heading for the academy, where he studied engineering and graduated in 1946, 59th in a class of 820. Before his last year in Annapolis, while home for the summer, he met Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, a friend of his sister Ruth’s. He and a friend invited the two young women to the movies, and when he returned home that night, he told his mother he had met “the girl I want to marry.” He proposed that Christmas, but Rosalynn declined because she felt she was too young (she was 18 and a sophomore in college). Several weeks later, while she was visiting Carter at the academy, he asked again. This time she said yes. Carter applied to America’s new nuclear-powered submarine program under the command of the icy and demanding Capt. (later Adm.) Hyman Rickover. During Carter’s interview, Rickover asked whether he had done his best at Annapolis. “I started to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ but ... I recalled several of the many times at the Academy when I could have learned more about our allies, our enemies, weapons, strategy and so forth,” Carter wrote in his autobiography. “... I finally gulped and said, ‘No, sir, I didn’t always do my best.’” To which Rickover replied: “Why not?” Carter got the job, and would later make “Why not the best?” his campaign slogan. The Carters had three sons, who all go by nicknames — John William “Jack,” James Earl “Chip” and Donnel Jeffrey “Jeff.” Carter and Rosalynn had wanted to have more children, but an obstetrician said that surgery Rosalynn had to remove a tumor on her uterus would make that impossible. Fifteen years after Jeffrey was born, the Carters had a daughter, Amy, who “made us young again,” Carter would later write. While in the Navy, Carter took graduate courses in nuclear physics and served as a submariner on the USS Pomfret. But his military career was cut short when his father died, and he moved back to Georgia in 1953 to help run the family business, which was in disarray. In his first year back on the farm, Carter turned a profit of less than $200, the equivalent of about $2,200 today. But with Rosalynn’s help, he expanded the business. In addition to farming 3,100 acres, the family soon operated a seed and fertilizer business, warehouses, a peanut-shelling plant and a cotton gin. By the time he began his campaign for the White House 20 years later, Carter had a net worth of about $800,000, and the revenue from his enterprises was more than $2 million a year. Carter entered electoral politics in 1962, and asked voters to call him “Jimmy.” He ran for a seat in the Georgia Senate against an incumbent backed by a local political boss who stuffed the ballot box. Trailing by 139 votes after the primary, Carter waged a furious legal battle, which he described years later in his book “Turning Point.” Carter got a recount, the primary result was reversed, and he went on to win the general election. The victory was a defining moment for Carter, the outsider committed to fairness and honesty who had successfully battled establishment politicians corrupted by their ties to special interests. In two terms in the Georgia Senate, Carter established a legislative record that was socially progressive and fiscally conservative. He first ran for governor in 1966, but finished third in the primary. Over the next four years, he made 1,800 speeches and shook hands with an estimated 600,000 people — a style of campaigning that paid off in the 1970 gubernatorial election and later in his bid for the White House. In his inaugural address as governor in 1971, Carter made national news by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” He had a portrait of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. hung in a hall at the Capitol in Atlanta. But when Carter launched his official campaign for the White House in December 1974, he was still so little-known outside Georgia that a celebrity panel on the TV show “What’s My Line?” couldn’t identify him. In the beginning, many scoffed at the temerity of a peanut farmer and one-term governor running for the highest office in the land. After Carter met with House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr., the speaker was asked whom he had been talking to. “Some fellow named Jimmy Carter from Georgia. Says he’s running for president,” O’Neill replied. In a meeting with editors of the Los Angeles Times in 1975, Carter said he planned to gain the presidency by building a network of supporters and by giving his candidacy an early boost by winning the Iowa caucuses. Until then, Iowa had been a bit player in the nominating process, mostly ignored by strategists. But Carter’s victory there vaulted him to front-runner status — and Iowa into a major role in presidential nominations. His emergence from the pack of Democratic hopefuls was helped by the release of his well-reviewed autobiography “Why Not the Best?” in which he described his upbringing on the farm and his traditional moral values. On the campaign trail, Carter came across as refreshingly candid and even innocent — an antidote to the atmosphere of scandal that had eroded confidence in public officials since the events leading to Nixon’s resignation on Aug. 9, 1974. A Baptist Sunday school teacher, Carter was among the first presidential candidates to embrace the label of born-again Christian. That was underscored when, in an interview with Playboy magazine, he made headlines by admitting, “I’ve looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me.” Carter had emerged from the Democratic National Convention in July with a wide lead over Ford, Nixon’s vice president and successor, but by the time of the Playboy interview in September, his numbers were tumbling. By election day, the contest was a dead heat. Carter, running on a ticket with Walter F. Mondale for his vice president, eked out a victory with one of the narrower margins in U.S. presidential history, winning 50.1% to 48% of the popular vote and 297 electoral votes, 27 more than needed. Many of Carter’s supporters hoped he would usher in a new era of liberal policies. But he saw his role as more of a problem-solver than a politician, and as an outsider who promised to shake things up in Washington, he often acted unilaterally. A few weeks into his term, Carter announced that he was cutting off federal funding to 18 water projects around the country to save money and protect the environment. Lawmakers, surprised by the assault on their pet projects, were livid. He ultimately backed down on some of the cuts. But his relationship with Congress never fully healed. Members often complained that they couldn’t get in to see him, and that when they did he was in a rush to show them the door. His relationship with the media, as he acknowledged later in life, was similarly fraught. Carter’s image as a reformer also took a hit early in his presidency after he appointed Bert Lance, a longtime confidant, to head the Office of Management and Budget. Within months of the appointment, questions were raised about Lance’s personal financial affairs as a Georgia banker. Adamant that Lance had done nothing wrong, Carter dug in his heels and publicly told his friend, “Bert, I’m proud of you.” Still, Lance resigned under pressure, and although he was later acquitted of criminal charges, the damage to Carter had been done. As Mondale later put it: “It made people realize that we were no different than anybody else.” When Carter did score legislative victories, the cost was high. In 1978, he pushed the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties to eventually hand control of the canal over to Panama. But conservatives criticized the move as a diminution of U.S. strength, and even the Democratic National Committee declined to endorse it. Carter’s most significant foreign policy accomplishment was the 1978 Camp David agreement, a peace pact between Israel and Egypt. But he followed that with several unpopular moves, including his decree that the United States would not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, as a protest against the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. It was the only time in Olympic history that the United States had boycotted an Olympics; the Soviets responded by boycotting the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Carter had taken a series of largely symbolic steps to dispel the imperial image of the presidency. After he took the oath of office on a wintry day, he and the new first lady emerged from their motorcade and walked part of the way from the Capitol to the White House. He ended chauffeur-driven cars for top staff members, sold the presidential yacht, went to the White House mess hall for lunch with the staff and conducted town meetings around the country. He suspended the playing of “Hail to the Chief” whenever he arrived at an event, though he later allowed the practice to resume. On the domestic front, he was saddled with a country in crisis. Inflation galloped at rates up to 14%, and global gasoline shortages closed service stations and created high prices and long lines. Interest rates for home mortgages soared above 14%. In his first televised fireside chat, he wore a cardigan sweater and encouraged Americans to conserve energy during the winter by keeping their thermostats at 65 degrees in the daytime and 55 degrees at night. He also proposed a string of legislative initiatives to deal with the crisis, but many were blocked by Congress. In what would become a seminal moment in his presidency, Carter addressed the nation — and a television audience of more than 60 million — on a Sunday evening in 1979, saying the country had been seized by a “crisis of confidence ... that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will.” He outlined a series of proposals to develop new sources of energy. The address, widely known as the “malaise speech” even though Carter never used that word, was generally well-received at the time, though some bristled at the implication that Americans were to blame for the country’s problems. Any positive glow disappeared two days later, when Carter fired five of his top officials, including the Energy, Treasury and Transportation secretaries and his attorney general. The value of the dollar sank and the stock market tumbled. Sensing that Carter was politically vulnerable, Kennedy moved to present himself as an alternative for the 1980 Democratic nomination, publicly criticizing the president’s agenda. But Kennedy damaged his own candidacy in a prime-time interview with CBS’ Roger Mudd: Asked why he was running for president, Kennedy fumbled his answer, and critics cited it as evidence that the senator didn’t want the job so much as he felt obligated to seek it. A few months after the malaise speech, in late 1979, revolutionaries loyal to Iran’s spiritual leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. Weeks stretched into months, with Iran refusing all efforts to negotiate a hostage release. In April 1980, Carter approved Operation Eagle Claw, a secret Delta Force rescue mission. But it ended in disaster — mechanical trouble sidelined three helicopters and, after the mission was aborted, one of the remaining helicopters collided with a transport plane on the ground, killing eight soldiers. Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance resigned before the mission, believing the plan too risky. Negotiations to free the hostages resumed, and Carter desperately tried to win their release before the November election. But the Iranians prolonged the talks and the hostages weren’t released until Jan. 20, 1981, moments after Carter watched Reagan being sworn in. The journey home for Carter was painful. Of those who voted for Reagan in 1980, nearly 1 in 4 said they were primarily motivated by their dissatisfaction with Carter. Carter faced “an altogether new, unwanted and potentially empty life,” as he later put it. He sold the family farm-supply business, which had been placed in a blind trust during his presidency and was by then deeply in debt. Then, as Rosalynn later recalled, Carter awoke one night with an idea to build not just a presidential library but a place to resolve global conflicts. Together, they founded the nonprofit, nonpartisan Carter Center. His skill as a mediator made Carter a ready choice for future presidents seeking envoys to navigate crises. Republican President George H.W. Bush sent him on peace missions to Ethiopia and Sudan, and President Clinton, a fellow Democrat, dispatched him to North Korea, Haiti and what then was Yugoslavia. Carter described his relationship with President Obama as chilly, however, in part because he had openly criticized the administration’s policies toward Israel. He felt Obama did not strongly enough support a separate Palestinian state. “Every president has been a very powerful factor here in advocating this two-state solution,” Carter told the New York Times in 2012. “That is now not apparent.” As an election observer, he called them as he saw them. After monitoring presidential voting in Panama in 1989, he declared that Manuel Noriega had rigged the election. He also began building houses worldwide for Habitat for Humanity, and he wrote prodigiously. The Nobel committee awarded Carter the Peace Prize in 2002, more than two decades after he left the White House, praising him for standing by “the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation.” During his 70s, 80s and even into his 90s, the former president showed an energy that never failed to impress those around him. In his 1998 book “The Virtues of Aging,” he urged retirees to remain active and engaged, and he followed his own advice, continuing to jog, play tennis and go fly-fishing well into his 80s. When his “White House Diary” was published in 2010, he embarked on a nationwide book tour at 85, as he did in 2015 with the publication of “A Full Life: Reflections at 90.” When he told America he had cancer that had spread to his liver and brain, it was vintage Carter. Wearing a coat and tie and a pair of blue jeans, he stared into the television cameras and was unflinchingly blunt about his prognosis. “Hope for the best; accept what comes,” he said. “I think I have been as blessed as any human being in the world.” Former Times staff writers Jack Nelson, Robert Shogan and Johanna Neuman contributed to this report.
Hollywood child star looks unrecognisable 28 years after hit movie role and quitting fameUS added a strong 227,000 jobs in November in bounce-back from October slowdown WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from the previous month, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes had sharply diminished employers’ payrolls. Last month’s hiring growth was up considerably from a meager gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The government also revised up its estimate of job growth in September and October by a combined 56,000. Friday’s report also showed that the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.1% in October to a still-low 4.2%. The November data provided the latest evidence that the U.S. job market remains durable even though it has lost significant momentum from the 2021-2023 hiring boom, when the economy was rebounding from the pandemic recession. Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law - which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — is constitutional, rebuffing TikTok’s challenge that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and unfairly targeted the platform. TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Stock market today: Wall Street hits more records following a just-right jobs report NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to set its own record. Treasury yields eased after the jobs report showed stronger hiring than expected but also an uptick in the unemployment rate. Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass NEW YORK (AP) — In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the businesses consumers count on, Meta last year spent $24.4 million to surround CEO Mark Zuckerberg with security. But the fatal shooting this week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats. And experts say the task of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them is getting more difficult. One of the primary worries are loners whose rantings online are fed by others who are like-minded. It’s up to corporate security analysts to decide what represents a real threat. Police believe the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO quickly left NYC on a bus after shooting NEW YORK (AP) — Police officials say the gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer likely left New York City on a bus soon after fleeing the scene on a bicycle and hopping in a cab. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny says video of the gunman fleeing Wednesday’s shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson showed him riding through Central Park and later taking a taxi to a bus terminal, directly across from New Jersey. Police have video of the man entering the bus station but no video of him exiting. Investigators on Friday found a backpack in Central Park that was carried by the shooter, police said. USDA orders nationwide testing of milk for bird flu to halt the virus The U.S. government has ordered testing of the nation’s milk supply for bird flu to better monitor the spread of the virus in dairy cows. The Agriculture Department on Friday said raw or unpasteurized milk from dairy farms and processors nationwide must be tested on request starting Dec. 16. Testing will begin in six states — California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania. The move is aimed at eliminating the virus, which has infected more than 700 dairy herds in 15 states. Words on ammo in CEO shooting echo common phrase on insurer tactics: Delay, deny, defend A message left at the scene of an insurance executive’s fatal shooting echoes a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims. The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were written on the ammunition used to kill UnitedHealthcare's CEO. That's according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday. The words are similar to the phrase “delay, deny, defend.” That's how attorneys describe insurers denying services and payment, and the title of a 2010 book critical of the industry. Police haven’t officially commented on the words. But Thompson’s shooting and the messages on the ammunition have sparked outrage on social media and elsewhere, reflecting frustration Americans have over the cost and complexity of getting care. Michigan Democrats move to protect reproductive health data before GOP takes control of House LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democrats in Michigan are pressing to pass reproductive health care legislation before the party loses its majority with the new legislative session next year. A bill to protect digital reproductive health data including data logged on menstrual cycle tracking apps is a Democratic priority as lawmakers meet this month. Democratic women and supporters of the legislation say they are acting with new urgency before President-elect Donald Trump takes office because they don't believe his campaign promise to leave abortion to the states. The rush is also a reaction to Republicans taking control of the state House in January. Democrats kept control of the state Senate in the November election. Japan's Nippon Steel sets sights on a growing overseas market in its bid to acquire US Steel KASHIMA, Japan (AP) — The signs at Nippon Steel read: “The world through steel,” underlining why Japan’s top steelmaker is pursuing its $15 billion bid to acquire U.S. Steel. Japan's domestic market isn't growing, so Nippon Steel has its eyes on India, Southeast Asia and the United States, where populations are still growing. Nippon Steel gave reporters a tour of one of its plants in Japan on Friday. The bid for U.S. Steet is opposed by President-elect Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and American steelworkers. If the deal goes through, U.S. Steel will keep its name and its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but become subsidiary of Nippon Steel. China's ban on key high-tech materials could have broad impact on industries, economy BANGKOK (AP) — China has banned exports of key materials used for a wide range of products, including smartphones, electric vehicles, radar systems and CT scanners, swiping back at Washington after it expanded export controls to include dozens of Chinese companies that make equipment used to produce computer chips. Both sides say the controls are justified by national security concerns. Analysts say they could have a much wider impact on manufacturing in many industries and supply chains, depending on the ability of each side to compensate for loss of access to strategically important materials, equipment and components. Here's why this could be a tipping point in trade conflict between the two biggest economies.
The brutal 54-year reign of the Assad family in Syria looks to be over . In a matter of days, opposition forces took the major city of Aleppo before advancing southward into other government-controlled areas of Hama, Homs and finally, on Dec 7, 2024, the capital, Damascus . The offensive was all the more astonishing given that the 13-year civil war had largely been in a stalemate since a 2020 ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey. Reports suggest President Bashar al-Assad has resigned and left the country . But what has he left behind and what happens next? As an expert on Middle East security , I believe the opposition forces’ ability to maintain unity will be critical in the transition to a post-Assad Syria. Since the civil war started in 2011 , the many opposition factions in Syria have been fractured by ideological differences and the interests of external backers – and that remains true despite their current victory. Meanwhile, the rapid change of fortunes in Syria’s civil war poses serious questions for those countries that have backed one side or the other in the conflict. For Iran and Russia, the fall of their ally Assad will damage regional aspirations. For the backers of elements of the opposition – notably Turkey but also the U.S., both of which maintain a military presence in Syria – there will be challenges, too. Fears of a ‘catastrophic success’ Iran, the U.S., Russia and Turkey have been crucial players throughout Syria’s civil war. The recent opposition offensive came as Assad’s three key allies — Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah — were stretched thin. Russia’s focus on Ukraine and Iran’s setbacks from Israeli strikes have limited their ability to provide Assad robust support, while Hezbollah appeared hesitant to commit additional fighters, as it had done previously. Then, on Dec. 2, as opposition forces were on the move, Russia began withdrawing naval assets from its strategic Mediterranean base at Tartus, Syria. This erosion of external backing substantially undermined Assad’s capacity to regroup and mount an effective counteroffensive. Syrians celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in the town of Bar Elias, Lebanon, near the border with Syria, on Dec. 8, 2024. AP Photo/Hassan Ammar The U.S. will no doubt welcome this diminished Russian and Iranian influence in Syria. But concern in Washington has already been aired over a scenario of “ catastrophic success ” in which Assad is replaced by an Islamist group that many in the West see as terrorists. It was members of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that spearheaded much of the opposition gains in Syria, fighting alongside the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. And while Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has not directly targeted the U.S. troops stationed in the northeast – which is under the control of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – instability and the potential for clashes between opposition factions and U.S. allies could increase the risks for the 900 Syria-based American personnel. A fragmented landscape The fact that different opposition groups have taken control of various once-government-held areas points to a crucial fact: Syria is de facto partitioned. The northwest is controlled by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. The northeast is under the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the United States. Despite a shared goal of ousting Assad and the joint offensive on Aleppo, conflicts between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Syrian National Army are frequent. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Abu Mohammad al-Golani aims to assert control over opposition-held areas, including those currently managed by the Syrian National Army. And the Syrian National Army and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham maintain complex, often conflicting relationships with the Syrian Democratic Forces, shaped by ideological, territorial and strategic differences. The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army frequently engages in direct clashes with the Syrian Defense Forces, which Turkey views as a terrorist organization and an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party it has been fighting in southern Turkey for more than four decades. The opposition’s internal fragmentation may weaken its ability to bring stability to Syria in the long run. Adjustment problems Assad’s fall will have major implications for those countries that have a stake in the region. Iran’s grand strategy of preserving the “ Shia Crescent ” — connecting Tehran to Beirut through Baghdad and Damascus and in the process countering Sunni Islamist factions — has failed. For Washington, Assad’s departure doesn’t necessarily fit any hoped-for outcome. The U.S. has prioritized balancing, containing and potentially diminishing Russian and Iranian influence in Syria. But until recently that did not mean the removal of Assad. The Biden administration had even hinted in early December that it would be prepared to lift sanctions on Syria if Assad severed ties with Iran and Hezbollah. There was also talk of Assad’s government allying with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces . But as city after city fell to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, it became increasingly unlikely that the Kurdish group would align with the weakening Assad forces – especially as Kurdish forces themselves made significant territorial gains . Syrian Democratic Forces will need to adapt in response to the fall of Assad. This will be doubly true if, as many anticipate and President-elect Donald Trump has hinted at , the U.S. withdraws from Syria. Currently, the 900 U.S. troops are in eastern Syria, alongside a military base in Al-Tanf, located near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders. Should American forces withdraw, the Syrian Democratic Forces and the autonomous region it administers — known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria — would need to negotiate their autonomy with both different factions of the opposition and Syrian neighbor Turkey. A Kurdish and Islamist alliance? The precarious role of Syrian Democratic Forces in the transition to the post-Assad era could make for a significant foreign policy headache for the U.S. Given Turkey’s history of military incursions and campaigns against the Syrian Democratic Forces in northern cities like Afrin and Kobani, the Kurdish group may need to align with some factions of the opposition, likely Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, should the U.S. eventually withdraw. Of late, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has largely avoided antagonizing the Syrian Democratic Forces. Indeed, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s efforts to rebrand and moderate itself are notable , especially given its origins as a Salafist group with ties to al-Qaida. By adopting a range of policies like issuing an amnesty for Syrian army personnel, facilitating evacuation agreements and using the language of building an ethnically and religiously diverse governance structure, the Islamist group has attempted to soften its hardline image and gain favor – or at least neutrality – from international stakeholders, like the U.S. Yet skepticism about Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s ultimate objectives persists. Strategic calculations for Turkey Turkey’s position on Syria now is equally complex. Turkey is home to 3.6 million Syrian refugees — the largest refugee-hosting country globally. A prolonged economic downturn and rising anti-refugee sentiment had pressured Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to signal a willingness to engage with Assad prior to the opposition offensive. Turkey’s hope was that normalized relations with Syria would help facilitate refugee return and address concerns about a potential Kurdish state in northeastern Syria. But Assad dismissed such overtures, and intensified airstrikes on Idlib – triggering new waves of displacement near the Turkish border. Turkey’s Syria policy is also closely linked to its renewed peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. These talks reportedly include discussions about the potential release of imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party leader Abdullah Öcalan – whose influence runs deep in Kurdish-led regions in northern Syria. The chance for a new Syria The apparent end of Assad’s rule after half a century of brutal oppression signifies a pivotal moment for Syria – offering an opportunity to rebuild the nation on foundations of inclusivity, pluralism and stability. Achieving this vision depends on the opposition factions’ ability to navigate the immense challenges of transition. This includes fostering unity among diverse groups, addressing grievances from years of conflict and establishing governance structures that reflect Syria’s ethnic, religious and political diversity. That will be no easy task. Sefa Secen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.The premise: offer an artist, an eatery or retail entrepreneur the opportunity to prove themselves to a downtown St. Paul landlord through a temporary, sweetheart lease. After six months of renting a storefront for as little as $1 — and maybe insurance, utilities and incidentals — both parties can negotiate a longer-term contract, or go their separate ways. As a business sector, startups are notorious for rarely getting too far off the ground, but the best blossom and turn heads. The St. Paul Downtown Alliance, a partnership between City Hall and major downtown employers, launched the Grow Downtown program around May 2022 in hopes that at least a few new retailers will take seed, fill growing ground-level and skyway vacancies and draw needed foot traffic to downtown St. Paul’s commercial buildings. Not all the shops have stuck around, but organizers say the results have been even better than expected. Grow Downtown has matched 18 new businesses — almost all of them run by women and people of color — with property owners to date, filling more than 40,000 square feet of empty retail space. At least a dozen of those businesses are still open in their original locations, occupying a total of 27,000 square feet. The majority have either signed long-term leases or at least extended past their initial six-month agreements. A handful of shops remain in business in new locations or continue to host pop-up hours downtown or elsewhere. “For the most part, we haven’t really had a ton of ‘fatalities,’ for lack of a better term,” said Lee Krueger, a real estate consultant and former president and chief executive officer of the St. Paul Port Authority, who arranged the lease deals after studying similar efforts in Denver and Minneapolis. “Some of them are going to do just fine.” The right amount of space Downtowns everywhere have contracted since the onset of the pandemic, which heightened the move to remote work and online retail, and St. Paul’s skyway vacancies were growing even before the pandemic. Still, while some may hope that the capital city draws a Fortune 500 spin-off to employ locals and shore up its tax base, it’s perhaps more likely that the city’s fortunes rest with homegrown companies emerging organically from small-business startups in affordable commercial spaces. The challenge isn’t just a question of finding the right amount of square footage for a budding entrepreneur. A candle and lotion shop, for instance, might have a tough time situated next to a food court vendor selling fragrant recipes, Krueger said. Other vendors might need a restaurant hood and ventilation system or a washable tile ceiling. Renting too much space can be worse than too little when utility payments kick in. “My daughter works with me, and she’ll review business plans, financials,” Krueger said. “She’ll interview these people and say, ‘Hey Dad, I talked to this tenant.’ Jack and the Pack (which now sells dog-running harnesses at Wells Fargo Place), that was one she really liked. But we couldn’t put them in the skyway because people bring their dogs in. We needed a space with a concrete floor .” “One guy said, ‘What about this space?’ We said, ‘That’s 10,000 square feet. To heat and cool this space, it’s going to overwhelm you,'” Krueger added. “Sometimes we call people and say, ‘Do you have a business plan?’ And they’ll say, ‘A what?’ One guy said, ‘My plan is to be the best restaurant in St. Paul.’ OK, but .... We screen them. By the time we get them to these landlords, we’ve interviewed them, we’ve talked to them, we’ve got a business plan and some sales projections.” ‘It made sense’ Arrangements with landlords vary broadly — not every initial lease is free of charge — and some of the choicest locations have already been filled, meaning the next round of leases may be especially tricky, Krueger said. Still, Wells Fargo Place property manager Heide Kempf-Schwarze was happy to see Jack and the Pack find a following in a ground-floor space that had been vacant for upwards of 10 years. “That was the one I said, ‘I’m not quite sure how this will work out, but if it doesn’t we haven’t really lost anything.’ We aren’t spending a lot of money on a tenant improvement build-out. We aren’t having to pay broker’s commissions. It made sense.” Kempf-Schwarze said three of the building’s new storefronts — the Blue Hummingbird Woman Indigenous Gift Shop, Ramadhan Designs and Jack and the Pack — are woman-owned, and the fourth, Trinity House Coffee in a former McDonald’s space within the third-floor atrium, is owned by a man of color. All four tenants have now been in the building for at least two years. “You’re offering a low-barrier entry point to entrepreneurs who might not have the means to gain access by traditional means, and letting them get their feet on the ground and get stabilized, without having to figure out everything at once,” Kempf-Schwarze said. “It added some vibrancy I think we really needed in downtown. We were really strategic with the tenants we vetted in the first go-round.” Here’s a look at some of the businesses: Black Men Teach WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Black Men Teach is a nonprofit aimed at supporting and increasing the number of Black male teachers in Minnesota, located in the Osborn370 building, 370 N. Wabasha St., Suite 660. ON THE WEB: blackmenteach.org THEIR STORY: One school year from now, Black Men Teach, an organization whose goal is to “empower the growth of Black male teachers,” will be on track to have 20% of elementary teachers in the schools they partner with be Black males, according to executive director Markus Flynn. “It’s a very narrow focus, but the scope of work is broad,” he said. In partnership with “Thrive by 2035,” a coalition for the advancement of Black male educators, Black Men Teach has a longer-term goal. Within the next decade, they want Minnesota schools with a Black student body population of at least 40% to have 20% of their teaching staff be composed of Black men — a total of 450 Black male teachers in 90 elementary schools. “That’s over a 1000% increase of the number of Black men we have teaching in elementary school classrooms right now,” said Flynn, noting they’ve wanted to grow their footprint in the capital city, which he said provides strong opportunities for networking with collaborators. Blue Hummingbird Woman Indigenous Gift Shop WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Blue Hummingbird Woman Indigenous Gift Shop, which features various creations by Indigenous community members, opened in Wells Fargo Place, 30 E. Seventh St., Suite 285, in November 2022. A second location and traditional healing center, Eagle and Condor Native Wellness Center, opened at 790 E. Seventh St. in November 2023. ON THE WEB: bluehummingbirdwoman.com THEIR STORY: Tara Perron, known as Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ, has sold products of her own throughout the powwow circuit since she was young, but it wasn’t until she started writing books that it occurred to her to try to open her own shop. The store sells a variety of items made by both Perron and other Indigenous vendors, including beadwork, jewelry, clothing, various herbal remedies, wild teas, honey, oils and balms. Perron said one of the greatest joys in owning her store is getting to highlight and invest in Native American artists and their work. “People can come buy authentic, Native-made gifts, and sometimes people don’t know where to get them,” she said. “There’s always a story behind each creator and the gifts that they create, and I know (those) stories and so I love sharing them. That’s what makes a handmade gift so beautiful.” Cycling Museum of Minnesota WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Coming soon to the Securian building at 401 N. Robert St. Related Articles Business | Your Money: Building wealth in uncertain times: year-end planning moves Business | Working Strategies: Second Sunday Series: Jumping in with ChatGPT Business | Scrap metal industry sues state, saying new copper metal law will shut down its industry Business | What to consider when exchanging currency Business | US added a strong 227,000 jobs in November in bounce-back from October slowdown ON THE WEB: cmm.bike THEIR STORY: Using loaned and donated bicycle collections, the Cycling Museum of Minnesota has hosted traveling exhibits around the Twin Cities since 2012, and is currently showcasing America’s earliest-model mountain bikes at the Theodore Wirth Regional Park Trailhead in Minneapolis. Juston Anderson is working with his nonprofit board and other volunteers to finalize lease terms for the museum in the Securian building, with the oldest artifact set to go on display dating back to 1884. “We’ve got bikes from the very, very beginning of cycling in Minnesota, which are some antique and vintage high-wheel bikes with hard tires, and pneumatic safety bikes from when they were coming into fashion,” Anderson said. “As far as museums go, we’re just a baby. We’re just kind of getting started.” Eaton Art WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Eaton Art is a space for the six-month pop-up exhibit “Through the Window: Look. Pause. Discover.”, running from June through December on the skyway level of the Town Square complex at 445 Minnesota St. The exhibit features a series of four themed displays: “PRIDE: Pioneers and Progress,” “A Life In Art | Jim Smola 1950-2022,” “WORDS and Banned & Burned” and “You Can Quote Me.” For the final month, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 25, the space will function as a retail shop, featuring elements from each exhibit. ON THE WEB: throughthewindowdotblog.wordpress.com THEIR STORY: Anthony Eaton originally planned to use the space as a tribute to his late husband when he moved back home from Dallas, Texas, in 2022. When he was offered the space for six months, he decided to do a series of displays — one celebrating people significant to the LGBTQ+ community, one dedicated to his husband, one featuring writers and banned books and one for Eaton’s favorite inspirational quotes. Eaton, a St. Paul native and Lowertown artist, is looking for a permanent space for a retail store. “I care deeply about St. Paul because I consider it home,” he said. “I have witnessed the city grow and change. While we are facing some significant challenges, I want to be part of that solution through my work.” Jack and the Pack WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Jack and the Pack, which sells everything you’ll need to run with your dogs or harness them to a sled, skis, scooter or bicycle, opened in June 2023 on the ground level of Wells Fargo Place, 30 E. Seventh St., Suite 220. Open for in-person shopping at least twice a week, with seasonal fluctuation, and online. ON THE WEB: jackandthepack.com THEIR STORY: Alexandra “AJ” Johnson, a former school teacher turned Team USA competitor in dog-running sports, sold items related to “joring” — the Norwegian word for “pulling” — online, but longed to take Jack and the Pack to the next level. When the Grow Downtown program came along, Johnson opened her first bricks-and-mortar location within 4,000 square feet of ground-level storefront at Seventh and Wabasha streets, a seemingly choice location that had stood vacant for about 10 years, which she now shares with Brave the Snow, a woman-owned kicksled shop. Jack and the Pack suffered a break-in within its first few months but Johnson stayed the course, so to speak. “We haven’t had any issues since,” she said. Johnson doesn’t just sell harnesses — she also hosts group and individual classes and participates in regional competitions for a variety of dog-running sports, from sled races to bike-joring, which she blogs about on her website. Her dogs also compete in skiing through a friend. “I’m not the best skier,” she said with a laugh. La’Russe Boutique WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: La’Russe Boutique, a clothing boutique, opened in July in the Town Square complex at 444 Cedar St., just off the skyway over Fifth and Cedar streets. ON THE WEB: larussebotique.com THEIR STORY: When she learned she could launch her own business on a small lease, Laurarelle Patterson quit her day job of 12 years as a special-education instructor, gave up her apartment and moved in with her adult daughter to open La’Russe Boutique, which sells men’s and women’s clothing, including high school letterman jackets featuring customized pictures. Patterson, who still works nights in the health care field, said it’s been a tough road — damaged credit prevented her from getting loans, so she’s financed inventory acquisition herself. Her three daughters, all of them business-minded, inspire her to persevere. Her family tree, displayed prominently on the store wall, begins with its roots in Twin Cities civil rights advocate Nellie Stone Johnson, whom she calls a great-aunt, as well as Black car manufacturer Charles Richard Patterson, and winds up to one of her daughters, an esthetics instructor. Another daughter is in school to become a coroner. Next stop: San Francisco and New York, where Patterson plans to take a gander at the latest fashions, form partnerships and bring some coastal bling back to the Midwest. Lucille’s Bottleshop WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Lucille’s Bottleshop, an alcohol-free bottle shop and tasting room, aims to create opportunities for people to socialize without alcohol. Opened in July near the Palace Theatre at 24 W. Seventh Place. ON THE WEB: lucillesbottleshop.com THEIR STORY: Lucille’s owner Alexandra Zauner, who is 10 years alcohol-free, decided to explore non-alcoholic options a few years ago, yet found it odd that she and her sober friends still had to go to a liquor store to find them. Zauner said she was inspired by other bottle shops opening around the country and wanted to create opportunities for sober people to socialize in an alcohol-free space. Bottle shops “lean in and give people not just non-alcoholic as an afterthought, but as the main thought and focus,” she said. Lucille’s, named after Zauner’s grandmother Lucy, also hosts almost weekly alcohol-free events where those who are sober, sober-curious or just want a night away from alcohol can socialize and “see that you don’t need alcohol to be able to do that,” she said. Petek Trading Co. WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Petek Trading Co., a home goods retailer that sells ethically-sourced handmade woven goods from Turkey, opened in the Historic Hamm Building in September 2022 before moving to its current storefront at 327 W. Seventh St. ON THE WEB: petektradingco.com THEIR STORY: While working at Anthropologie during the early days of the pandemic, Melek Petek decided to strike out on her own and sell handmade goods that connect to her culture in a storefront that celebrates tradition. Originally from Turkey, Petek’s cultural pride is reflected in her inventory — rugs, stockings, coasters and pillow cases made from upcycled kilims, a traditional form of Turkish rug weaving. “If it weren’t for the (Grow Downtown) project, I wouldn’t have a storefront,” said Petek, noting the project likely cut at least two years off the timeline for launching her own shop. “It gave me a chance to talk to (a property manager) in a low-stakes way.” Soapy Toads WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Soapy Toads, a small-batch, handmade, all-natural bath and personal care product shop, located in the Pioneer Endicott building, 141 E. Fourth St., Suite 205. Established by Dragon Walker and Jake Walker. ON THE WEB: instagram.com/soapy_toads THEIR STORY: Six years ago, Dragon Walker began hand-making soap in her basement. Walker would gift the personal care products to loved ones, but when her hobby started to take over the house, her husband, Jake, said she either needed to stop making soap or start selling it. Jake is now her “Soapy Toads bath and personal care items” business partner, a dream Walker says couldn’t have been a reality without him. “Small businesses are not just businesses, small businesses are an act of love,” Walker said. She describes her soap as “moisturizing, gentle and earth-compatible,” though Soapy Toads carries everything from lip balms to candles to bug spray. She and her right-hand woman, Jaime Haas, agreed that what makes working downtown special is the people who visit and make the space lively. “It’s a retail space but it’s also a casual social space,” Haas said. “Which is kind of a great mix.” Trinity House Coffee WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: Trinity House Coffee, a coffee shop that sources its roasts from Africa, opened in the former McDonald’s space in the third-floor atrium and former food court of Wells Fargo Place, 30 E. Seventh St., Suite 325, in January 2022. ON THE WEB: trinityhousecoffees.com THEIR STORY: Owner Gerry Exom has been in the coffee business for over 10 years. Exom, a military veteran who was once homeless, said running Trinity House Coffee fulfills his dream of catering to the affluent alongside the disadvantaged, offering both communities “the same high-quality coffee for the same affordable price, which kind of levels the playing field.” The biggest challenge so far has been what he deemed the “COVID-19 effect,” where remote work limits the amount of foot traffic walking by retail stores. Trinity is open Monday through Friday, but it still only draws healthy numbers of customers about three days per week, he said. Being situated near the Children’s Museum helps draw in some business, and his website introduces prospective customers to bags of Kenyan, Ethiopian and Congo-bean coffees. Related Articles
Colombia map. INQUIRER STOCK PHOTO BOGOTA — Colombian authorities on Friday denied a United Nations report claiming that the bodies of 20,000 people who were forcibly disappeared over decades of conflict were being kept at Bogota airport. On Thursday, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances stated that “thousands of unidentified bodies lie in poorly managed cemeteries or storage facilities,” citing “a hangar at Bogota airport where around 20,000 unidentified bodies are currently stored.” Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan denied the report that followed a visit by a UN delegation to Colombia. He asked the UN to substantiate its claims. Isabelita Mercado, senior advisor on peace and reconciliation at Bogota town hall, told the W station the city’s cemeteries held the bodies of around 5,500 unidentified missing people or people who had been identified but whose bodies have not been claimed. READ: Colombia turns drug-fumigation planes into fire fighters The UN said its report was based on information it had received from local authorities but didn’t say which ones. A press officer did not respond to Agence France-Presse’s requests for comment. The UN’s special envoy to Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, also questioned the report. He told Noticias Caracol news channel that its authors did “not represent any United Nations entity” and asked them to “clarify” the report and possibly “rectify” it. READ: From Colombia’s jungle to the world’s fish tanks The Search Unit for Persons Reported Missing, which is in charge of locating and identifying the thousands of people who disappeared over the course of six decades of conflict, said it had “no information” on the existence of a “site of forensic interest” near the airport. The organization has counted more than 104,000 people who went missing during the conflict between security forces, guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug cartels which began in the 1960s. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . The biggest guerrilla group, FARC, laid down arms after signing a peace deal in 2016 but a handful of armed groups remain active in the country.Build-A-Bear Workshop ( NYSE:BBW – Get Free Report ) had its price target lifted by analysts at Northland Securities from $38.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Northland Securities’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 34.08% from the company’s current price. Separately, StockNews.com raised Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. View Our Latest Analysis on Build-A-Bear Workshop Build-A-Bear Workshop Stock Performance Build-A-Bear Workshop ( NYSE:BBW – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a return on equity of 37.81% and a net margin of 10.36%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Build-A-Bear Workshop will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year. Build-A-Bear Workshop announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 11th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 23.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued. Insider Activity at Build-A-Bear Workshop In related news, Director George Carrara sold 2,500 shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.27, for a total value of $90,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $668,129.67. This trade represents a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . Also, CFO Vojin Todorovic sold 12,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.42, for a total transaction of $447,531.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,212,416.90. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold 80,734 shares of company stock valued at $2,844,217 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,047,261 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,282,000 after acquiring an additional 6,913 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,055 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 1.4% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 34,467 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 3.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 111,069 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 211.8% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares in the last quarter. 79.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Build-A-Bear Workshop ( Get Free Report ) Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc operates as a multi-channel retailer of plush animals and related products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Direct-to-Consumer, Commercial, and International Franchising. Its merchandise comprises various styles of plush products to be stuffed, pre-stuffed plush products, and sounds and scents that can be added to the stuffed animals, as well as range of clothing, shoes and accessories, and other toy and novelty items, including family sleepwear. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Build-A-Bear Workshop Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Build-A-Bear Workshop and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
New pro-European coalition approved in Romania amid period of political turmoil
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