NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE:ARI) today announced the Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.25 per share of common stock, which is payable on January 15, 2025 to common stockholders of record on December 31, 2024. About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE: ARI) is a real estate investment trust that primarily originates, acquires, invests in and manages performing commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. The Company is externally managed and advised by ACREFI Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an indirect subsidiary of Apollo Global Management, Inc., a high-growth, global alternative asset manager with approximately $733 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2024. Additional information can be found on the Company's website at www.apollocref.com . Please note that our URL address has changed. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Forward-looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the Company's control. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of the Company's business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans and objectives. When used in this release, the words believe, expect, anticipate, estimate, plan, continue, intend, should, may or similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the following subjects, among others, may be forward-looking: higher interest rates and inflation; market trends in the Company’s industry, real estate values, the debt securities markets or the general economy; the timing and amounts of expected future fundings of unfunded commitments; the return on equity; the yield on investments; the ability to borrow to finance assets; the Company’s ability to deploy the proceeds of its capital raises or acquire its target assets; and risks associated with investing in real estate assets, including changes in business conditions and the general economy. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements, and other risks, uncertainties and factors are based on the Company's beliefs, assumptions and expectations of its future performance, taking into account all information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Special counsel Jack Smith moves to dismiss Trump's election interference and classified documents cases
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Join our newsletter to get the latest military space news every Tuesday by veteran defense journalist Sandra Erwin. WASHINGTON — Supply chain challenges that have disrupted military satellite programs, while initially seen as temporary, have emerged as systemic and exposed gaps in the U.S. defense industrial base, said Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of Space Systems Command. “Coming out of COVID, we thought a lot of these supply chain issues were COVID issues,” he said last week during a meeting with reporters. “What we’re realizing is this is more than COVID; there are true industrial base concerns.” Garrant said the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) low Earth orbit constellation project has become a revealing case study of the difficulties vendors face when demand ramps up . As DoD transitions from traditional bespoke satellite programs to proliferated commercial-like constellations like the one SDA is building, that means “we need a lot more of those parts,” Garrant said. “That’s a rather simplistic view, but it’s very, very factual.” SDA Director Derek Tournear said the agency has taken unprecedented steps to address the problem by directly engaging with lower-tier suppliers and offering contracts to incentivize production capabilities. Similar problems have been identified across other sectors of the defense industry, from munitions to microelectronics. A major hurdle lies in the Pentagon’s limited oversight of its vast and fragmented supply chain. Prime contractors may be aware of their major suppliers but often lose sight of lower-tier subcontractors, which are crucial to production. This blind spot has left the military exposed to delays. The Defense Department also has become increasingly concerned about foreign dependency in critical supply chains, particularly those tied to adversaries like China. China has systematically built dominance in the production and processing of rare earth elements, lithium, and graphite — materials vital to defense systems and green technologies, said Frank Finelli, a senior advisor at the Carlyle Group. Speaking at last week’s Baird Defense & Government Conference, he said China’s global agreements have locked up supplies of these materials, putting the U.S. at a strategic disadvantage. “We have a lot of single-source Chinese suppliers in our supply chains, and in a lot of cases, we’re not aggressively doing anything about it,” Finelli said. Efforts to shore up the defense industrial base are gaining momentum but remain nascent. “We’re in the infancy of this,” said David Rader, a senior advisor to the Defense Innovation Unit, The recently launched Office of Strategic Capital, which offers loans to companies producing critical components, is one initiative aimed at filling gaps in the lower tiers of the supply base. “There’s a growing recognition of the link between capital and national security,” Rader said, citing emerging public-private partnerships and interdepartmental coordination. However, progress has been hindered by political disagreements over the government’s role in industrial policy, Rader noted. While Republicans in Congress often criticize such measures as government overreach, Democrats have labeled them as corporate welfare. The Pentagon is pushing for a more self-reliant domestic supply chain, as outlined in its newly released industrial base strategy. But achieving that vision will require sustained funding, bipartisan support, and collaboration with allies and private industry, Rader warned. “We see what China is doing, and we do not want to be on the wrong side of this.”For the second straight Major League Baseball offseason, a norm-shattering contract has been the talk of the winter , with Juan Soto agreeing with the New York Mets on a $765 million, 15-year deal that's the richest in baseball history. It comes almost exactly one year after the Los Angeles Dodgers forked out a princely sum of $700 million on a 10-year, heavily deferred deal for two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani. They are believed to be the two richest contracts in pro sports history. The way it's going, a contract approaching $1 billion doesn't seem out of the question. But several factors are working against it — at least in the near future. There's reason to believe the megadeals for Ohtani and Soto are unicorns in the baseball world. Both players are uniquely talented, surely, but both also had unusual circumstances propelling their value into the stratosphere. Ohtani is the greatest two-way player in baseball history, capable of improving any team on both sides of the ball. He's also the rare baseball player who has true international appeal . His every move ( like his unexpected marriage announcement ) is followed closely in his native Japan, adding another 125 million potential fans who buy merchandise, watch him play and help fill the Dodgers' coffers. Then there's Soto — a four-time All-Star and on-base machine who won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019. The X-factor for him is he became a free agent at the prime age of 26, which is extremely hard to do under current MLB rules. Players have to be in the big leagues for six years before testing free agency. The precocious Soto debuted at 19 with the Nats, making him part of a rare group of players who reached the highest level of professional baseball as a teenager. That accelerated his free agency timeline. It's rare for players to debut that young, and rarer still for them to develop into stars and test the open market the first chance they get. Two recent examples are Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, who both reached free agency in 2019. Machado signed a free-agent record $300 million contract with San Diego, and Harper overtook him days later with a $330 million contract to join the Phillies. Most players debut in the big leagues from ages 22 to 26, which means free agency comes in their late 20s or early 30s. A typical example is Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is one of this generation's great players but didn't hit the market until he was 30. Judge played three seasons of college baseball for Fresno State before getting drafted by the Yankees in 2013 at age 21 — already two years older than Soto was when he made his MLB debut. It took a few years for the budding superstar to reach the majors, and he was 25 when he had his breakout season in 2018, smashing 52 homers to earn AL Rookie of the Year honors. By the time he reached free agency after the 2022 season, he had already passed age 30. It's a major factor that led to him signing a $360 million, nine-year deal with the Yankees, which seems downright reasonable these days after the Ohtani and Soto deals. Two major trends are colliding that will make it harder for guys like Soto to hit free agency in their mid 20s. First, MLB teams have been more likely in recent years to take college players early in the draft, betting on more experienced talents. Just 10 high school players were drafted among the top 30 picks in the 2024 draft . Second, teams are more eager to lock up young, premium talent on long-term deals very early in their careers, well before they hit free agency. Sometimes before they even reach the majors. Since Soto, just two players have debuted in MLB before their 20th birthday — Elvis Luciano and Junior Caminero. Luciano hasn't been back to the majors since his 2019 cup of coffee. Caminero is now 21 and has only played in 50 big league games. Among those that debuted at 20: Fernando Tatis Jr. signed a $340 million, 14-year deal with San Diego in 2021, years before reaching the open market. Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio got an $82 million, eight-year deal before even reaching the big leagues. Young stars Corbin Carroll ($111 million, eight years with Arizona), Bobby Witt Jr. ($288 million, 11 years with Kansas City) and Julio Rodriguez ($209.3 million, 12 years with Seattle) also got massive guarantees early in their 20s to forgo an early free agency. The exception and wild card: Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be a 26-year-old free agent next offseason. Guerrero hasn't been as consistent in his young career as Soto, but a standout 2025 season could position him to threaten Soto's deal. More likely is that the player to pass Soto isn't in the majors yet — and might not even be in pro baseball. When 25-year-old Alex Rodriguez signed his record $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas in 2001, it took over a decade for another player to match that total, when Albert Pujols got $240 million over 10 years from the Angels in 2012. For many players, passing up life-changing money in their early or mid 20s is too enticing, even if it means that they might not maximize their value on the free agent market later in their careers. Soto was determined to test the market. He famously turned down a $440 million, 15-year offer to stay with the Washington Nationals in 2022, betting that he could make even more as a free agent. Not many players would turn down that kind of cash. Then again, that's what makes Soto so unique. And it's also why his $765 million deal could be the industry standard for some time. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
After spending months watching them from a distance, a leopard breeding center in Saudi Arabia announced the birth of triplet cubs, a “major milestone” for the species. The Arabian leopards, a critically endangered leopard subspecies, were born over the summer , according to a Dec. 11 news release from The Royal Commission for Alula’s (RCU) Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center and Panthera, a wild cat conservation organization. The litter includes two male and one female leopard, the organizations said. “Carefully observed via CCTV so as not to disturb them, the cubs are already displaying distinctive personalities, with the two males proving to be particularly boisterous, climbing rocks in their enclosure and play fighting with each other,” RCU and Panthera said. “The female, on the other hand, is much shyer and more attached to their mother.” According to available records, their birth marks the third Arabian leopard triplets to be born in captivity in the past three decades, the organization said, and the first triplet birth in Saudi Arabia. Wildlife staff may watch the cubs through video, but all three babies have also had their first vaccinations and health checks, including the determination of their sexes, according to the organizations. “Despite their young age, individual social behaviors are emerging between the cubs, with the males described by staff as ‘naughty, rough-and-tumble,’ while the female is ‘sweet and attentive,’” RCU and Panthera said. Arabian leopards spend around a year and a half with their mothers, establishing a social hierarchy and learning to live with one another as they age, the organizations said. The cubs also join some other new arrivals. “The center has enjoyed something of a baby boom recently, with the triplets’ arrival coming less than a month after twin cubs were born on earlier in the year,” RCU and Panthera said. “The twins, one male and one female, are both attached to each other and to their mother, following her everywhere. They are growing and getting braver, spending the majority of their time hiding between rocks and playing together.” The center now houses 32 leopards, nearly doubling their starting population of 14 in 2020. Arabian leopards have been classified as critically endangered since 1996, with around 100 estimated to still live in the wild, RCU and Panthera said. Seven leopards were born last year, and the center has welcomed five so far in 2024. The animal care team uses cameras in order to limit the amount of human interaction the leopards have, with hopes that they can be reintroduced into the wild, Stephen Browne, vice president of wildlife and natural heritage at the center, said in the release. “These efforts will ultimately lead to Arabian leopards once again roaming free in Alula’s protected nature reserves,” Browne said. The Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center is in west-central Saudi Arabia, just east of the Red Sea. Tiny endangered cheetah cubs cuddle up in Ohio zoo’s nursery. See them snuggle ‘Playful’ and curious baby baboon delights visitors at NC Zoo. See him jump around This story was originally published December 12, 2024, 2:06 PM.In addition to getting J.T. Miller back in the fold , the Canucks will also have defenseman Derek Forbort in the lineup Thursday against the Panthers, head coach Rick Tocchet told Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650 . He’s coming off injured reserve, which the Canucks have the roster space to do without a corresponding move. Forbort has spent most of his brief time in Vancouver on the injured list. After signing a one-year, $1.5M deal in free agency, Forbort played three games before taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. He then sustained a knee injury in his return to the lineup on Nov. 2 that did not require surgery but has nonetheless kept him out since. He began skating with the team in a regular jersey earlier this week, per Batchelor, signaling a return was imminent. The veteran shutdown presence averaged 16:30 per game when in the lineup earlier this season, posting an assist and a -2 rating. Vancouver did control 51.8% of shot attempts with Forbort on the ice at even strength, but his minutes were quantity over quality — they lost the expected goal battle 2.7 to 1.4. Before signing in Vancouver, the 2010 first-round pick had spent the last three years with the Bruins. His final season in Beantown was nothing to write home about, posting just four assists in 35 games while averaging under 18 minutes per game for the second season in a row. He joined Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen as UFAs who left Boston for Vancouver. Forbort will play a bottom-pairing role alongside Mark Friedman in his return to the lineup, multiple reports indicate. Erik Brännström and Vincent Desharnais are projected to be healthy scratches. This article first appeared on Pro Hockey Rumors and was syndicated with permission.
TORONTO — Shoppers flocked to malls on Thursday to take advantage of Boxing Day deals made more enticing by the federal government’s GST holiday, but some say the lower prices aren’t enough to keep up with the country’s cost of living. For two months, a slew of items including children’s toys, video games and consoles, snacks, wine and restaurant food are GST- or HST-free, depending on the province. The tax break has incentivized some consumers to take advantage of Boxing Day sales at their local retailers. Nakul Singal said he came to Fairview Mall in Toronto on Thursday morning with his partner to hunt for deals. "Every year, we generally get good deals,” said Singal, who added he’d been waiting for Boxing Day to get new earphones. “It’s good to shop around during this time.” He added that while the tax break has helped his family with food prices, he would like the government to do more to help Canadians with the high costs of living, especially housing. “I hope that they could stop inflation,” he said. “We are struggling right now." The vice-president of federal government relations for the Retail Council of Canada, Matt Poirier, told The Canadian Press last week that Boxing Day in particular is expected to get a boost amid the temporary break. However, he said businesses, including ones with older payment systems, have faced hurdles trying to implement the tax break on short notice and even figuring out which items qualify. An RBC Economics report from earlier this month showed retail spending slowed in November, with holiday spending slightly below 2023 levels over the Black Friday weekend. Spending on hobbies, toys and games scaled back notably after Nov. 21, wrote RBC economist Carrie Freestone — the day the tax break was announced. "Typically, spending on popular children’s gifts builds as the holiday season approaches," wrote Freestone. But even with November's decline, Canada is likely on track for a slight uptick in per-person retail spending in the fourth quarter for the first time since mid-2022, she wrote. Joey Comia-Orellano, an assistant store manager at a GameStop in north Toronto, said the store has seen an influx of customers since the tax break was announced. Shoppers have been eager to benefit from the tax holiday, he said. “We’ve been getting shoppers before Boxing Day,” he said. Comia-Orellano added that he expects the store to get busier on Thursday as consumers look to save with Boxing Day deals combined with the tax break. “I did notice a lot of people buying more games, a lot of controllers, and definitely a lot of consoles, too," he said. Meanwhile, Raj Jeetu, another shopper at Fairview Mall on Thursday, said while he has already taken advantage of the tax break at restaurants multiple times, he’s skeptical of what it will do for Canadians in the long-term. “I don’t know if it’ll help much. I guess the prices really need to come down,” he said. For Comia-Orellano, one thing he has heard from customers is that while the tax break and Boxing Day deals might not help with the overall affordability crisis, it’s still worthwhile for savings. “It's necessary, it gets hard around the holidays,” he said. “This is almost like a small break for people when it comes to taxes, so not necessarily making things a little bit more affordable." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2024. Rianna Lim, The Canadian PressTulane vs. Wyoming Predictions & Picks: Spread, Total – November 26OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton point guard Steven Ashworth likely won't play Tuesday in the No. 21 Bluejays' game against San Diego State in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Ashworth sprained his right ankle late in a loss to Nebraska on Friday, and coach Greg McDermott said he didn't know how long he would be out. “He stepped on a guy's foot on a 3-point shot and you're defenseless in that situation," McDermott said after the game. "He torqued it pretty good.” An athletic department spokesman said Monday that Ashworth's status was doubtful for the game against the Aztecs. Ashworth is Creighton's second-leading scorer with 16 points per game and leads the team with 6.4 assists per game. He also is 23 of 23 on free throws. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP collegebasketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Replica enables Fortune 100 financial, business and healthcare institutions and Federal agencies such as the US Army and Defense Innovation Unit to securely engage in high risk cyber activities without compromising productivity. FALLS CHURCH, Va. , Nov. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Grey Market Labs (dba Replica Cyber ), a pioneering leader in cybersecurity solutions, proudly announces it has secured $8M in Series A funding led by Capri Ventures, with participation from Blu Ventures and AFG to accelerate adoption of its groundbreaking platform - Replica. This strategic investment will enable the company to advance its mission of delivering Secure Environments-as-a-Service, bringing unparalleled privacy and security in an increasingly vulnerable digital landscape. With this round, Andy Brown , CEO of SandHill East , former CTO of UBS, and current board member of ZScaler and PureStorage, will be joining the Board of Directors as will Dennis Shaya , Partner at Capri Ventures. In addition, Don Duet , Former Head of Technology at Goldman Sachs, and Tim Estes , founder of Angel Kids AI and former CEO at Digital Reasoning, will be joining the advisory board, complementing an already strong team including: Christopher Caine (CEO – Mercator XXI), Gary Cubbage (fmr. EVP – Booz Allen Hamilton ), Nick Donofrio (fmr. EVP Innovation – IBM), Todd Helfrich (VP Federal – Censys). The Replica platform offers Secure Environments-as-a-Service, revolutionizing how organizations protect and enable high risk activities. This includes targeting Russian misinformation campaigns in Ukraine , safe testing of new tech with proprietary data, disrupting financial scams and fraud aimed at seniors, and identifying and mitigating insider threats within organizations, among other scenarios. By integrating patented technology, intelligence tradecraft, and Zero Trust architecture, Replica quickly creates realistic IT environments that encompass hardware, operating systems, applications, networks, and data layers. This innovative solution not only protects user and organizational privacy but also delivers the data, tools and workflows needed for users to be productive in their most sensitive work. Kristopher Schroeder , CEO of Grey Market Labs, emphasized the significance of this funding round: "Replica is the culmination of over 20 years of experience in embedded tradecraft, intelligence operations, and cutting edge software. Our engineering team, with extensive backgrounds in offensive and defensive cyber warfare, has developed a product that is comprehensive with the protection and efficiency needed for today's enterprises and their users." Schroeder goes on to say, "This funding will allow Grey Marketing Labs to accelerate our vision to deliver even more impactful solutions for our customers." Capri Ventures, the lead investor in this funding round, expressed their excitement about partnering with Replica. "We are thrilled to support Grey Market Labs in their mission to redefine cybersecurity with the Replica platform," said Dennis Shaya , Partner with Capri Ventures. "Their innovative approach and deep expertise position them as a frontrunner in the industry, especially financial services, and we believe this partnership will drive significant advancements in digital privacy and security." Available as both a SaaS product and a hosted service, Replica enables secure work even in a global ecosystem, while reducing burden on the IT organization. The platform's flexible architecture supports rapid deployments (noted as some of the fastest in Financial Services), continuous updates, and seamless integration with existing enterprise services, including single-sign-on, proxies, and data governance. Additionally, Replica offers rich audit and reporting functionalities to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and provide the critical observability needed for leadership. Replica has solved critical problems for major Banks, Health Systems, Global Consulting, and Governments with use cases like: Protected Research (deep/dark web, social, automated collects, OSINT), Isolating Acquired (M&A) tech and activities, Advanced Sandboxing for Malware/ Unknown Files , Complex Training Environments, Enabling Fraud /Cyber Investigations, Secure DevOps with Data Controls, Intellectual Property Sharing and Protection, and more. With this new round of funding, Replica is poised to expand its value to customers, enhance its offerings, and further solidify its position as a leader redefining how to protect and enable high-risk activities. For more information about Replica, please visit ReplicaCyber.com . About Grey Market Labs Founded as Grey Market Labs® (dba Replica Cyber ), a Certified B-Corp with the mission to protect life online. Our work protecting the United States from foreign intelligence evolved to the creation of ReplicaTM, the world's first Secure Environments-as-a-Service platform. This patented SaaS platform simplifies creation of comprehensive hybrid-computing systems, delivering privacy and security while giving control to business users and reducing the burden on IT by 99.73%. We have solved critical problems for major Banks, Health Systems, Global Consulting, and Governments with use cases like: Protected Research (deep/dark web, social, automated collects, OSINT), Isolating Acquired (M&A) tech and activities, Advanced Sandboxing for Malware/ Unknown Files , Complex Training Environments, Enabling Fraud /Cyber Investigations, Secure DevOps with Data Controls, and more. For anyone that has tried to build complex, secure systems and platforms - Replica replaces this expensive work with the automation of secure environments. About Capri Ventures Capri Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm focused on Enterprise Technology. The team is composed of former software executives and leaders from Fortune 500 enterprises, bringing significant resources early in a company's lifecycle to help drive commercialization and market adoption. About AFG Partners AFG Partners < https://www.afgvc.com/ > is an Asian-based VC fund investing in B2B fintech and enabling tech startups addressing the critical needs of financial institutions and corporates globally, particularly in Asia . A core part of the strategy is to invest and help companies in Europe and the US who are interested in expanding across Asia via our network of LPs and ecosystem partners. Previous investments of the principals include N26, Unit, Blockdaemon, Airbnb, Transferwise, Gocardless and Wefox amongst others. About Blu Ventures Blu Ventures, a venture capital firmed based in Washington, DC , provides strategic funding and expert guidance in Seed to Series A companies in cybersecurity, healthtech, and B2B software startups. Blu leverages the deep domain expertise of its partners—all former operators with extensive industry experience—to empower visionary entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.bluventureinvestors.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grey-market-labs-announces-8m-series-a-funding-led-by-capri-ventures-to-accelerate-growth-of-its-replica-platform---first-of-its-kind-secure-environment-as-a-service-302313584.html SOURCE Grey Market Labs
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump was on the verge of backing a 16-week federal abortion ban earlier this year when aides staged an intervention. According to Time magazine's cover story on his selection as its 2024 Person of the Year, Trump's aides first raised concerns in mid-March that the abortion cutoff being pushed by some allies would be stricter than existing law in numerous states. It was seen as a potential political liability amid ongoing fallout over the overturning of Roe v. Wade by a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that includes three justices nominated by Trump in his first term. Trump political director James Blair went to work assembling a slide deck — eventually titled “How a national abortion ban will cost Trump the election" — that argued a 16-week ban would hurt the Republican candidate in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the magazine reported. “After flipping through Blair’s presentation" on a flight to a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in April, Trump dropped the idea, according to the report. "So we leave it to the states, right?" Trump was quoted as saying. He soon released a video articulating that position. At the time, Trump’s campaign denied that he was considering supporting the 16-week ban, calling it “fake news” and saying Trump planned to “negotiate a deal” on abortion if elected to the White House. Here are other highlights from the story and the president-elect's 65-minute interview with the magazine: Jan. 6 pardons could start in the ‘first nine minutes’ Trump reaffirmed his plans to pardon most of those convicted for their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. “It’s going to start in the first hour,” he said of the pardons. “Maybe the first nine minutes.” Trump said he would look at individuals on a “case-by-case" basis, but that “a vast majority of them should not be in jail.” More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the riot that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory . More than 1,000 defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial of charges, including misdemeanor trespassing offenses, assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy. Trump is open to holding detained migrants in camps Trump insisted he has the authority to use the military to assist with his promised mass deportations , even though, as his interviewers noted, the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the use of the military in domestic law enforcement. “It doesn’t stop the military if it’s an invasion of our country, and I consider it an invasion of our country," he said. “I’ll only do what the law allows, but I will go up to the maximum level of what the law allows. And I think in many cases, the sheriffs and law enforcement is going to need help." Trump did not deny that camps would be needed to hold detained migrants as they are processed for deportation. “Whatever it takes to get them out. I don’t care," he said. “I hope we’re not going to need too many because I want to get them out and I don’t want them sitting in camp for the next 20 years.” Trump told Time he does not plan to restore the policy of separating children from their families to deter border crossings, but he did not rule it out. The practice led to thousands of children being separated from their parents and was condemned around the globe as inhumane. “I don’t believe we’ll have to because we will send the whole family back,” he said. “I would much rather deport them together, yes, than separate.” Musk prioritizes the country over his business interests, Trump insists Trump dismissed the idea that Elon Musk will face conflicts of interest as he takes the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency , an advisory group that Trump has selected him to lead. The panel is supposed to find waste and cut regulations, including many that could affect Musk's wide-ranging interests , which include electric cars, rockets and telecommunications. “I don’t think so," Trump said. “I think that Elon puts the country long before his company. ... He considers this to be his most important project." Trump acknowledges the difficulty of lowering grocery prices Trump lowered expectations about his ability to drive down grocery prices. “I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard. But I think that they will,” he said. Trump plans ‘virtual closure’ of the Education Department Trump said he is planning “a virtual closure" of the "Department of Education in Washington.” “You’re going to need some people just to make sure they’re teaching English in the schools," he said. “But we want to move education back to the states.” Yet Trump has proposed exerting enormous influence over schools. He has threatened to cut funding for schools with vaccine mandates while forcing them to “teach students to love their country" and promote “the nuclear family,” including “the roles of mothers and fathers” and the “things that make men and women different and unique.” Trump offers conflicting answers on future of abortion pills Asked to clarify whether he was committed to preventing the Food and Drug Administration from stripping access to abortion pills , Trump replied, “It’s always been my commitment.” But Trump has offered numerous conflicting stances on the issue, including to Time. Earlier in the interview, he was asked whether he would promise that his FDA would not do anything to limit access to medication abortion or abortion pills. "We’re going to take a look at all of that,” he said, before calling the prospect “very unlikely.” “Look, I’ve stated it very clearly and I just stated it again very clearly. I think it would be highly unlikely. I can’t imagine, but with, you know, we’re looking at everything, but highly unlikely. I guess I could say probably as close to ruling it out as possible, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to do anything now.” Trump says US support for Ukraine will be leverage for a deal with Russia Pressed on whether he would abandon Ukraine in its efforts to stave off Russia's invasion , Trump said he would use U.S. support for Kyiv as leverage against Moscow in negotiating an end to the war. “I want to reach an agreement,” he said, “and the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon.” Does he trust Netanyahu? ‘I don’t trust anybody' Trump would not commit to supporting a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state alongside Israel, as he had previously. “I support whatever solution we can do to get peace," he said. "There are other ideas other than two state, but I support whatever, whatever is necessary to get not just peace, a lasting peace. It can’t go on where every five years you end up in tragedy. There are other alternatives.” Asked whether he trusted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , he told Time: “I don’t trust anybody.” War with Iran? ‘Anything can happen,’ he says Trump would not rule out the possibility of war with Iran during his second term. “Anything can happen. It’s a very volatile situation," he said. Trump mum on conversations with Putin Asked if he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since the Nov. 5 election, Trump continued to play coy: "I can’t tell you. It’s just inappropriate.” Trump insists he had the votes to confirm Gaetz as attorney general Trump insisted that his bid to install Matt Gaetz as attorney general ”wasn’t blocked. I had the votes (in the Senate) if I needed them, but I had to work very hard.” When the scope of resistance to the former Republican congressman from Florida became clear, Trump said, “I talked to him, and I said, ‘You know, Matt, I don’t think this is worth the fight.'" Gaetz pulled out amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations, and Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the Cabinet post. Trump is open to changes for childhood vaccines Trump, who has named anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, did not rule out the possibility of eliminating some childhood vaccinations even though they have been proved safe in extensive studies and real world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades and are considered among the most effective public health measures in modern history. Pressed on whether “getting rid of some vaccinations” — neither Trump nor the interviewers specified which ones — might be part of the plan to improve the health of the country, Trump responded: “It could if I think it’s dangerous, if I think they are not beneficial, but I don’t think it’s going to be very controversial in the end.” Trump weighs in on family political dynasty “I think there could be, yeah," Trump said of the prospect of others in his family continuing in his footsteps. He pointed to daughter-in-law Lara Trump , who served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee and is now being talked about as a potential replacement for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump has chosen for secretary of state. Melania Trump will return to the White House, he says Trump said the former and soon-to-be first lady Melania Trump will be joining him at the White House during second term and will "be active, when she needs to be.” “Oh yes,” he said. “She’s very beloved by the people, Melania. And they like the fact that she’s not out there in your face all the time for many reasons.”
Reacting to a flurry of Donald Trump Truth Social attacks launched on Christmas day, MSNBC host Chris Jansing asked her panel how Republican lawmakers plan to deal with four more years of erratic proclamations from president-elect. Speaking to NBC political correspondent Jonathan Allen, she asked, "Jonathan, look, he's not even president yet, obviously he is the president-elect. But if you're a member of the U.S. Senate and you just got re-elected to a six-year term and he's going to be gone in four years, I mean, do you think that there's any doubt that we're going to have these situations where Donald Trump wants something and it's either going to be fish or cut bait?" "Well, Chris, let me say if I was a United States senator who just got elected to a six-year term, I'd be asking for time off for good behavior because that seems like a terrible body to be serving in right now," he replied which led to laughter from the panel. ALSO READ: We're watching the largest and most dangerous 'cult' in American history "Yeah they going to have to make determinations all the time about not only what do they do in terms of the places where they have power but what do they say about what the new president is now doing himself," he added. "We have seen moments where they stood up to him and basically told him to take a flying leap when he nominated Matt Gaetz to be attorney general ." RELATED: 'Guess what? Trump can't primary all of us': GOP lawmakers threaten revolt over bullying "We may see other nominees fall by the wayside," he predicted. "You have to wait and see what happens in January. But, yeah, I mean these senators are going to be put in a bad position and for the Republican senators they're going to be put in a bad position of, you know, having to break with the Trump base every time they break with him and his outside allies, which have seen this before, Steve Bannon and others, who put tremendous pressure on those senators who are breaking with him every time they do it." You can watch below or at the link. - YouTube youtu.beCapitol Notebook: Sen. Janice Weiner selected to lead Iowa Senate Democrats
Popular Kilkenny catering and food retail company Mise En Place is celebrating an impressive two decade in business – having survived and thrived through a recession and a global pandemic. Local entrepreneurs Robert Cowley and Nora O’Malley are the hard-working owners of Mise En Place, a brand synonymous with creating magical meals, dessert and sauces from their Drakelands base since 2004. In 2004, the talented chefs set up Mise En Place as a catering business to serve the southeast, having worked in some of the world’s finest five-star hotels and restaurants such as the Monaco’s Hotel du Paris, Four Seasons Hotel London, the Merrion Hotel, and Hayfield Manor. The Covid pandemic saw them reimagine their business by launching a retail arm. It was an instant hit and today their Drakelands shop is a destination onto itself with customers constantly coming and going to stock up on the Mise En Place ready meals, desserts, fresh breads, salads, cakes and sauces. “It could be a very different story if we didn’t pivot during Covid and change our offering. It paid off for us and we have never looked back. We even had to build on a car park to cater for our growing customers”, commented Nora O’Malley. Located just two kilometres from Kilkenny City off the Kilcreene Road, the retail shop at Mise en Place is open from Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and a staff of eight assist Robert and Nora in providing a range of all the catering outfit’s most popular dishes, alongside a selection of new offerings, pastries, salads, quiches and sweet treats. “At the start, we wondered how many people would make the journey out to us but thanks to a loyal customer base, combined with ease of parking we always have a steady stream every day. Whilst the shop is busy and the main day-to-day part of the business, we still cater for larger family events and groups. Larger pre-booked quantities of food can be collected from the shop with heating instructions”, said Nora. “Our foods are simple to heat and serve. We wanted to provide everyday dishes – Lasagne, cottage pie, stroganoff, tagine, Rogan Josh, beef Guinness, alongside salads soups, fishcakes, tarts, our own preserves, vinaigrettes and granola. We also stock a range of local Kilkenny products. Everyone has a favourite but one thing is for sure – if we ran out of Thai curry, there would be a riot!” laughed Rob Cowley. Twenty years in, Robert says they still love what they do. “We want to thank all the people who have helped us along the way, from our loyal customers, brilliant staff and of course our families – they put up with us in the crazy busy periods!” said Robert. Quality and convenience is ever-important for today’s busy customers and one of the biggest successes of recent years and has been Mise En Place’s Christmas menu. “We offer everything bar the turkey and ham – starters, prepared vegetables, potatoes, stuffing, gravy and a range of desserts, mince pies and pudding. We will be working right up to Christmas Eve afternoon. Then we can rest up with our own families knowing that our foods are on hundreds of tables around Kilkenny over Christmas”, said Nora. Visit miseenplace.ie or phone 056 7702936
Four possible centre-back options for Reading at Barnsley with Amadou Mbengue outBirmingham fairground ride ‘collapses’ with pic showing mangled seats – as cops and ambulances rush to scene
Not only is the 22-year-old carrying a knock, which would have seen him miss the match regardless, the fan favourite is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card at London Road. The Tykes, who lost to Wigan Athletic on Saturday, sit above the Royals on goal difference with both fighting for a top six position heading into December. With a thin squad as it is, the defensive line is set to get even younger at Oakwell with possible replacements for Mbengue. Take a look below at four possible options to replace the Senegalese youngster for the trip to South Yorkshire. (Image: ©Jason Dawson) Jeriel Dorsett 22-year-old Dorsett has made a name for himself at full-back, notching up over 60 appearances and proving particularly impressive since his return from injury this month. An option which will require some shifting of the backline, Dorsett featured at centre-back throughout his youth career and played from the start against Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup at centre-back. With 16-year-old Andre Garcia a more than adequate left-back, Dorsett could be moved more centrally in place of Mbengue and Garcia fill in out wide. (Image: ©Jason Dawson) Abraham Kanu 19-year-old Kanu replaced Mbengue on the day at Peterborough to make his league debut and put in a real shift under intense pressure from Posh. Highly-regarded during pre-season, a tough match at Colchester in August and an injury has limited his minutes so far this season. However, now firmly back in the picture and involved regularly with the squad, the teenager could make his first league start tomorrow. (Image: ©Jason Dawson) Harlee Dean Vastly experienced at Championship level, former Brentford and Birmingham City captain Dean has been out injured but is set to return to the fold at Oakwell. Only starting two cup games this season, there could be question marks over the 33-year-old's readiness among some in the fanbase but he present a safer pair of hands for what is already an inexperienced backline consisting of 19-year-old Tyler Bindon and two out-of-position full-backs. Without a start in League One since a 3-2 defeat to Portsmouth on October 28, 2023, it would be a bold move from Ruben Selles but a big opportunity for Dean. (Image: ©Jason Dawson) Louie Holzman A bold choice seeing as Holzman is yet to make his league debut for the club, youngster Holzman has been around the first-team for a number of years despite his limited appearances. Making his debut at the ill-fated FA Cup exit to Kidderminster Harriers back in 2021, the 21-year-old has five appearances for his hometown club in the three years since. From good stock, with family members Mark Holzman and Jake Cooper former regulars in days gone by, Louie could add to his three cup appearances this campaign and be given his league bow at Oakwell.
Holiday hosting can feel like an Olympic sport — but it doesn’t have to blow your budget. A one-year Sam’s Club membership for $25 makes stocking up for gatherings, gifting, and everyday needs more affordable and convenient, all under one roof. If you’re ready to become a member right away, . With this membership, you’ll gain access to exclusive deals on groceries, household essentials, and holiday must-haves. Whether it’s bulk baking ingredients, party platters, or a last-minute gift, Sam’s Club has you covered. Their expansive selection and competitive pricing mean you can tackle your entire shopping list without hopping from store to store. The savings don’t stop at the holidays. Sam’s Club memberships deliver value all year long with perks like discounts on fuel, prescriptions, and everyday items. For families, businesses, or anyone who enjoys snagging a deal, this membership offers practical benefits that quickly add up. As a member, you can take advantage of Scan & Go for a faster, easier checkout experience or get doorstep convenience with same-day delivery options on select items. And with the Auto-Renew feature, you won’t have to worry about missing out on any of these perks when your year is up. Don’t wait for holiday stress to hit — for $25 and start enjoying the benefits today.
Manmohan Singh: A forthright Finance MinisterAn Israeli airstrike flattened a multistory building in central Gaza, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens more, according to Palestinian medical officials, after strikes Thursday across the Gaza Strip killed at least 28 others. The latest deadly strike hit the urban Nuseirat refugee camp just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Jerusalem that the recent ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for a potential deal to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the deadly strike in Nuseirat. Israel says it is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza . The Israeli military says Hamas militants hide among Gaza’s civilian population. The fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine in some of the hardest-hit parts of the territory. Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Here's the latest: DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, Palestinian medics said, just hours after President Joe Biden’s national security adviser raised hopes about a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. Photos from the scene of the blast that circulated on social media showed a completely collapsed building with people walking through its mangled and charred remains, smoke rising from piles of belongings strewn over the rubble. Officials at two hospitals in the Gaza Strip, al-Awda Hospital in the north and al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, reported they received a combined total of 25 bodies from an Israeli strike on a multistory residential building in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp. Palestinian medics also reported that over 40 people, most of them children, were receiving treatment at the two hospitals. The al-Aqsa Hospital said that the Israeli attack also damaged several nearby houses in Nuseirat. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the deadly strike. Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza . The Israeli military says Hamas militants hide among Gaza’s civilian population. Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames U.N. agencies for not distributing it. The U.N. says Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order after Israel repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, make it extremely difficult to operate in the territory. UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. food agency is trying to deal with massive needs in Syria not only from escalating war-related food insecurity and an upsurge in displaced people fleeing Lebanon but also the dramatically new environment following the ouster of Bashar Assad, a senior U.N. official says. “It’s a triple crisis and the needs are going to be massive,” said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, in an interview with The Associated Press late Wednesday. The WFP estimated that 3 million people in Syria were “acutely food insecure” and very hungry. However, that estimate was made before the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon pushed many Syrian refugees back to their home country, plus the instability caused by the overthrow of Assad. Due to funding cuts, the WFP had been targeting only 2 million of those people, he said. Because WFP has been working in Syria during the 13-year civil war, he said, it has pre-positioned food in the country. It has 500 staff in seven offices nationwide and has operated across conflict lines, across borders, and with all different parties, he said. Skau said Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main rebel group now in control of Syria, has promised to provide security for WFP warehouses. Humanitarian aid supplies had been looted at U.N. warehouses in the disorder after Assad fell. “We’re not really up and running in Damascus because of the continued kind of uncertainty there,” he said. WFP initially thought of relocating non-essential staff but the situation in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, has been “quite calm and orderly," he said. In the short term, Skau said, “what we’re seeing is that markets are disrupted, the value of the currency dropped dramatically, food prices are going up, transport lines don’t work,” and it’s unclear who will stamp required papers for imports and exports. This means that a bigger humanitarian response is needed initially, he said, but in the next phase, the U,N. will be looking at contributing to Syria’s recovery, and ultimately the country will need reconstruction. Skau said he expects a new funding appeal for Syria and urged donors to be generous. JERUSALEM — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Jerusalem on Thursday that Israel’s ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for another deal to end the war in Gaza. He plans to travel next to Qatar and Egypt — key mediators in the ceasefire talks — as the Biden administration makes a final push on negotiations before Donald Trump is inaugurated. Sullivan said “Hamas’ posture at the negotiating table did adapt” after Israel decimated the leadership of its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and reached a ceasefire there. “We believe it puts us in a position to close this negotiation,” he said. Sullivan dismissed speculation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was waiting for Trump to take office to finalize a deal. He the U.S. believes there are three American hostages still alive in Gaza, but it’s hard to know for sure. He also said “the balance of power in the Middle East has changed significantly” since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, especially with the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally of Hezbollah and Iran. “We are now faced with a dramatically reshaped Middle East in which Israel is stronger, Iran is weaker, its proxies decimated, and a ceasefire that is new and will be lasting in Lebanon that ensures Israel’s security over the long term,” he said. KHIAM, Lebanon — An Israeli strike killed at least one person Thursday in the Lebanese border town of Khiam, the Health Ministry said, less than a day after Israeli troops handed the hilltop village back to the Lebanese army in coordination with U.N. peacekeepers, Khiam is the first Lebanese town Israel has pull out of since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants began two weeks ago, and marks an important test of the fragile truce . Lebanon's Health Ministry and state news agency did not provide details on who was killed, and did not report airstrikes elsewhere on Thursday. The Israeli military said an airstrike targeted Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, without saying if the strike was in Khiam. Lebanese troops deployed in the northern section of the town on Thursday morning and were coordinating with U.N. peacekeepers to finalize Israel’s withdrawal before fully entering into other neighborhoods. An Associated Press reporter who visited Khiam on Thursday observed widespread destruction, with most houses reduced to rubble. Entire neighborhoods were flattened, with collapsed walls and debris scattered across the streets. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, sharply criticized Israel for striking the town less than 24 hours after the Lebanese army returned, saying it was “a violation of the pledges made by the parties that sponsored the ceasefire agreement, who must act to curb Israeli aggression.” The truce was brokered by the U.S. and France. Israel has previously said the ceasefire deal allows it to use military force against perceived violations. Near-daily attacks by Israel during the ceasefire, mostly in southern Lebanon, have killed at least 29 people and wounded 27 others. Khiam, which sits on a ridge less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the border with Israel, saw some of the most intense fighting during the war. The Lebanese army was clearing debris and reopening roads in the northern section of the town. Civilian access to other areas remained challenging as the army clears roads and works alongside the U.N. peacekeepers to ensure the area is free of unexploded ordnance. AQABA, Jordan -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is urging the many players in Syria to avoid taking any steps that could lead to further violence. Blinken spoke to reporters in Jordan on Thursday shortly after meeting King Abdullah II as he opened a trip in the region to discuss Syria's future after former President Bashar Assad's ouster. Blinken will next visit Turkey, a NATO ally and a main backer of Syrian rebel groups. Blinken called this “a time of both real promise but also peril for Syria and for its neighbors.” He said he was focused on coordinating efforts in the region “to support the Syrian people as they transition away from Assad’s brutal dictatorship” and establish a government that isn’t dominated by one religion or ethnic group or outside power. Blinken was asked about Israel’s incursion into a buffer zone that had been demilitarized for the past half century. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the move is temporary and defensive, but also indicated Israel will remain in the area for a long time. Blinken declined to say whether the U.S. supports the move, but said the U.S. would be speaking to Israel and other partners in the region. “I think, across the board, when it comes to any actors who have real interests in Syria, it’s also really important at this time that, we all try to make sure that we’re not sparking any additional conflicts,” he said. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, arrived in Damascus on Thursday, according to Turkish media reports. Kalin was seen arriving at the Umayyad Mosque to pray, surrounded by a large crowd, according to video shown on Turkish television. The visit is highly symbolic. Turkish officials, who supported the opposition against Syria’s government, had predicted at the start of the civil war in 2011 that President Bashar Assad’s government would fall, allowing them to pray at the Umayyad Mosque. JERUSALEM — Paraguay reopened its embassy in Jerusalem Thursday, becoming one of a small handful of nations to recognize the city as Israel’s capital and marking a diplomatic victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s international isolation has increased as the war in Gaza drags on, and Paraguay was the first country to move its embassy to Jerusalem since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that kickstarted the war. The United States, Honduras, Guatemala, Kosovo, and Papua New Guinea are among the few countries with Jerusalem embassies. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1967 but it wasn’t recognized by the international community, and most countries run their embassies out of Tel Aviv. Spirits were high at the ceremony marking the embassy’s inauguration Thursday, with Netanyahu and Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar lavishing praise on Paraguayan President Santiago Pena. “My good friend Santiago,” said Netanyahu, addressing Pena. “We’re a small nation. You’re a small nation. We suffered horrible things but we overcame the odds of history...we can win and we are winning.” Paraguay had an embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, under Former President Horacio Cartes. That embassy was moved back to Tel Aviv by Cartes’ successor, Mario Abdo Benitez, prompting Israel to close its embassy in Asuncion. Saar said Israel and Paraguay shared a “friendship based not only on interests but also values and principles.” He and the Paraguayan foreign minister, Rubén Ramírez Lezcano, signed a series of bilateral agreements and Saar said he would soon visit Asunción with a delegation from the Israeli private sector. “Israel is going to win and the countries we are standing next to Israel, we are going to win," Pena said. AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is renewing calls for Syria’s new leadership to respect women and minority rights, prevent extremists from gaining new footholds in the country and keeping suspected chemical weapons stocks secure as he makes his first visit to the Mideast since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad . Making his 12th trip to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war erupted lasted year but amid fresh concerns about security following the upheaval in Syria, Blinken emphasized Thursday to Jordan’s King Abdullah II U.S. “support for an inclusive transition that can lead to an accountable and representative Syrian government chosen by the Syrian people,” the State Department said. Blinken also repeated the importance the outgoing Biden administration puts on respect for human rights and international law, the protection of civilians and stopping terrorist groups from reconstituting. Blinken met with the monarch and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Aqaba before traveling to Turkey for talks with Turkish officials on the situation in Syria and the urgency of securing a long-elusive deal to release hostages and end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian territory since October 2023. Abdullah told Blinken that “the first step to reach comprehensive regional calm is to end the Israeli war on Gaza." GENEVA — The U.N. envoy for Syria is calling on authorities to save evidence from detention centers that were a hub of “unimaginable barbarity” that Syrians have faced for many years and cooperate with international investigators looking into such crimes. Geir Pederson referred to new images from the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital, Damascus, after President Bashar Assad fled Syria as armed groups stormed in to overthrow his government over the weekend. “The images from Saydnaya and other detention facilities starkly underscore the unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured and reported for years,” Pedersen said in a statement. Documentation and testimonies “only scratch the surface of the carceral system’s horrors,” he added. Pedersen urged authorities to cooperate with U.N. bodies like an independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was created in 2011, and an independent group known as the IIIM that was set up five years later to also compile evidence of crimes. ROME — Leaders of the Group of 7 industrialized nations offered their full support for an inclusive political transition in Syria and invited all parties to preserve the country’s territorial integrity. In a message released by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office, the leaders said they were ready to support a transition that “leads to a credible government, inclusive and not sectarian, that guarantees respect for the state of law, universal human rights, including rights for women, (and) the protection of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities.” The leaders also underlined the importance that ousted President Bashar Assad’s government is held responsible for crimes, citing “decades of atrocities.” They said they would also cooperate with groups working to prohibit chemical weapons “to secure, declare and destroy” remaining chemical arms in Syria. Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the G-7, which also includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it struck Hamas militants in two locations in the southern Gaza Strip who planned to hijack aid convoys. Palestinian Health officials had earlier said that the two strikes killed 15 men who were part of local committees established to secure aid deliveries. The committees have been organized in cooperation with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza. It was not possible to independently confirm either account of the strikes, which occurred overnight into Thursday. Israel has long accused Hamas of hijacking humanitarian aid deliveries, while U.N. officials have said there is no systemic diversion of aid . U.N. agencies and aid groups say deliveries are held up by Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid and movement within Gaza, as well as the breakdown of law and order more than 14 months into the war between Israel and Hamas. Israel has repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, which maintained internal security before the war. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, said a U.N. convoy of 70 trucks carrying humanitarian aid in southern Gaza “was involved in a serious incident,” resulting in just one of the trucks reaching its destination. It did not provide further details on the incident but said the same route had been used successfully two days earlier. Israel’s offensive, launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, leaving the territory heavily reliant on international food aid. DAMASCUS, Syria — An American who turned up in Syria on Thursday says he was detained after crossing into the country by foot on a Christian pilgrimage seven months ago. Travis Timmerman appears to have been among thousands of people released from the country’s notorious prisons after rebels reached Damascus over the weekend, overthrowing President Bashar Assad and ending his family’s 54-year rule. As video emerged online of Timmerman on Thursday, he was initially mistaken by some for Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago. In the video, Timmerman could be seen lying on a mattress under a blanket in what appeared to be a private house. A group of men in the video said he was being treated well and would be safely returned home. The Biden administration is working to bring Timmerman home, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Aqaba, Jordan, without offering details, citing privacy. Timmerman later gave an interview with the Al-Arabiya TV network, saying he had illegally crossed into Syria on foot from the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle seven months ago, before being detained. He said he was treated well in detention but could hear other men being tortured. AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Jordan on his 12th visit to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year and his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad that has sparked new fears of instability in a region wracked by three conflicts despite a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Blinken was meeting in Aqaba with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday before traveling to Turkey for talks with Turkish officials on Friday. The meetings will focus largely on Syria but also touch on long-elusive hopes for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian territory since October 2023. Blinken is the latest senior U.S. official to visit the Middle East in the five days since Assad was deposed as the Biden administration navigates more volatility in the region in its last few weeks in office and as President-elect Donald Trump has said the U.S. should stay out of the Syrian conflict. Other include national security adviser Jake Sullivan and a top military commander who traveled there as the U.S. and Israel have launched airstrikes to prevent the Islamic State militant group from reconstituting and prevent materiel and suspected chemical weapons stocks from falling into militant hands. Blinken “will discuss the need for the transition process and new government in Syria to respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance, prevent Syria from being used as a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” the State Department said. The U.S. would be willing to recognize and fully support a new Syrian government that met those criteria. U.S. officials say they are not actively reviewing the foreign terrorist organization designation of the main Syrian rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, which was once an al-Qaida affiliate, but stressed they are not barred from speaking to its members. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces will remain in a Syrian buffer zone until a new force on the other side of the border can guarantee security. After the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israeli forces pushed into a buffer zone that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war. The military says it has seized additional strategic points nearby. Israeli officials have said the move is temporary, but Netanyahu’s conditions could take months or even years to fulfill as Syria charts its post-Assad future, raising the prospect of an open-ended Israeli presence in the country. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Thursday that Assad’s overthrow by jihadi rebels created a vacuum on the border. “Israel will not permit jihadi groups to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with October 7th style attacks,” it said, referring to Hamas’ 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there. “That is why Israeli forces entered the buffer zone and took control of strategic sites near Israel’s border.” The statement added that “this deployment is temporary until a force that is committed to the 1974 agreement can be established and security on our border can be guaranteed.” The buffer zone is adjacent to the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. The international community, except for the United States, views the Golan as occupied Syrian territory. JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Thursday that the attacker who fatally shot a 12-year-old Israeli boy in the occupied West Bank overnight turned himself in to authorities. The attacker opened fire on a bus near the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit, critically wounding the boy, who hospital authorities pronounced dead in the early morning. Three others were wounded in the attack, paramedics said. The shooting took place just outside Jerusalem in an area near major Israeli settlements. JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian government has evacuated 37 citizens from Syria following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government, officials said Thursday. The evacuees were taken by land from Damascus to Beirut, where they boarded three commercial flights to Jakarta, said Judha Nugraha, director of citizen protection at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The Indonesian Embassy in Damascus said all 1,162 Indonesian citizens in Syria were safe. Indonesian Ambassador to Syria Wajid Fauzi said the situation in Syria has gradually returned to normal. “I can say that 98% of people’s lives are back to normal, shops are open, public transportation has started running,” Fauzi said, adding that most Indonesian nationals living in Syria had chosen to stay. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. One of the strikes overnight and into Thursday flattened a house in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies at the hospital’s morgue. Two other strikes killed 15 men who were part of local committees established to secure aid convoys . The committees were set up by displaced Palestinians in coordination with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. The Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis received the bodies and an AP reporter counted them. The hospital said eight were killed in a strike near the southern border town of Rafah and seven others in a strike 30 minutes later near Khan Younis. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The fighting has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames U.N. agencies for not distributing it. The U.N. says Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order after Israel repeatedly targeted the Hamas-run police force, make it extremely difficult to operate in the territory. UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved resolutions Wednesday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban . The votes in the 193-nation world body were 158-9 with 13 abstentions to demand a ceasefire now and 159-9 with 11 abstentions to support the agency known as UNRWA. The votes culminated two days of speeches overwhelmingly calling for an end to the 14-month war between Israel and the militant Hamas group . General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly. Israel and its close ally, the United States, were in a tiny minority speaking and voting against the resolutions.