AUSTIN, Texas — Elon Musk has secured a permit to officially open his new Montessori school in Bastrop County. The permit was issued last week and officially allows the school, named Ad Astra, to begin teaching. The school's curriculum is focused on STEM-based education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) for children between the ages of 3 and 9. It is the first of many schools Musk hopes to open, which include multiple K-through-12 schools and a college. Ad Astra is a Latin phrase that translates as "to the stars." According to its website , the school's mission is to "foster curiosity, creativity and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders." "Ad Astra School admits students based on merit, regardless of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school," the school's website reads. The website further states that the school is centered on hands-on and project-based learning, where children are encouraged to explore, experiment and discover solutions to real-world problems. It also states that it will "tailor learning experiences to each child's unique needs, pace and interests." Ad Astra is the latest Musk-owned property to make its way to Central Texas, along with SpaceX, Tesla, The Boring Company, Neuralink and, most recently, the social media platform X . The South African billionaire also relocated the headquarters of SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to to the Brownsville area. The permit means the school can now enroll around 24 students, but will start with 16.Nashville Predators (7-11-3, in the Central Division) vs. New Jersey Devils (14-7-2, in the Metropolitan Division) Newark, New Jersey; Monday, 7 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: The Nashville Predators visit the New Jersey Devils after Roman Josi scored two goals in the Predators' 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets. New Jersey has a 5-3-2 record in home games and a 14-7-2 record overall. The Devils have a 14-2-2 record in games they score three or more goals. Nashville is 7-11-3 overall and 2-5-3 on the road. The Predators are 7-2-0 in games they score at least three goals. The teams meet Monday for the first time this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Nico Hischier has 10 goals and 11 assists for the Devils. Luke Hughes has over the last 10 games. Filip Forsberg has eight goals and eight assists for the Predators. Adam Wilsby has over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Devils: 7-3-0, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.6 assists, 3.6 penalties and 9.2 penalty minutes while giving up 1.9 goals per game. Predators: 3-5-2, averaging 2.1 goals, 3.2 assists, 4.9 penalties and 11 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game. INJURIES: Devils: None listed. Predators: None listed. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses LOS ANGELES, Dec. 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises United Parcel Service, Inc . ("UPS" or the "Company") (NYSE: UPS) investors of a class action representing investors that bought securities between January 30, 2024 and July 22, 2024 , inclusive (the "Class Period"). UPS investors have until December 9, 2024 to file a lead plaintiff motion. Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy , by phone 310-692-8883 or email : lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case. The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors’ options for pursuing claims to recover their losses. The complaint states that during the class period, the defendants misled investors by suggesting they had reliable information about the Company’s revenue and growth expectations, while downplaying risks from seasonal and economic changes. In reality, UPS’s positive reports about growth, plans to manage volume changes, and claims that the first quarter would have the worst margins were not accurate. The Company was not prepared to handle a surge in volume without a significant drop in operating margin. The plaintiff claims that the truth came out on July 23, 2024, when UPS released its second-quarter financial results, gave lower-than-expected guidance for the third quarter, and revised its margin expectations for the full fiscal year. The Company explained this by citing a shift in the U.S. volume mix towards lower-cost products. Following this announcement, UPS's stock price dropped from $145.18 per share on July 22 to $127.68 per share on July 23, a decrease of $17.50 per share, or about 12.05%. Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information. The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firm’s founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq. Admitted CA and NY Bar lesley@portnoylaw.com 310-692-8883 www.portnoylaw.com
Kunlavut Vitidsarn booked his berth in the men's singles quarter-finals of the US$1.15 million BWF China Masters 2024 in Shenzhen on Thursday. The Thai fifth seed defeated China's Wang Tzuwei 21-16, 21-17 in the last 16 of the World Tour Super 750 event. Kunlavut will play top seed Shi Yuqi of China in the last eight. Shi edged Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia 22-24, 21-13, 21-18. Olympic silver medallist Kunlavut defeated Shi in the quarter-finals at the Paris Games. Kunlavut is chasing his second title of the year. The reigning world champion claimed his first title of 2024 at the Korea Masters earlier this month. On-song Thai women's singles star Pornpawee Chochuwong also tasted success on Thursday as she marched into the quarter-finals of the tournament. After a relatively slow start, Pornpawee completely dominated Lin Hsiang-ti of Taiwan in the second game of her last-16 encounter before claiming an easy 21-17, 21-9 victory. Pornpawee is in contention for a place in the lucrative World Tour Finals along with compatriot Supanida Katethong, who was to take on Malvika Bansod of India in the last-16 round later yesterday. Earlier, mixed doubles pair Supak Jomkoh and Supsiree Taerattanachai bowed out in the last 16 after losing to eighth seeds Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang of Taiwan 23-21, 12-21, 18-21. Yang and Hu will play top seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping in the last eight. The Chinese pair went straight into the quarter-finals after they received a walkover win over Sumeeth B Reddy and Sikki Reddy of India. Meanwhile, women's top seed An Se-Young of South Korea battled past Sung Shuo-yun of Taiwan 21-23, 21-12, 21-12. An will play Zhang Yiman of China in the quarter-finals. Zhang also needed three games to overcome Michelle Li of Canada on Thursday. Japan's rising star Tomoko Yamazaki rallied to beat Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 17-21, 23-21, 21-10. She will next play Natsuki Nidaira of Japan or Anupama Upadhyaya of India in the last eight. In the men's singles event, top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark downed Weng Hongyang of China 21-16, 21-11 while sixth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia beat China's Lu Guangzu 21-8, 21-19.
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs secured their 10th win of the 2024 NFL season after defeating Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers 30-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both quarterbacks delivered solid performances in a game that came down to the final seconds. Mahomes finished by completing 27-of-37 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns while adding another 60 yards with his feet. He also led Kansas City to a game-winning drive, setting up kicker Spencer Shrader for a go-ahead field goal as time expired. Young, on the other hand, after being benched earlier in the year, had led Carolina to two straight wins prior to Week 12. Against the Chiefs, the former Alabama Crimson Tide star completed 21-of-35 passes for 263 yards and a score. Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images After the game, Mahomes spoke to the media in a postgame press conference. The two-time NFL MVP had high praise for Young following a close battle. "I thought he played his tail off, man," Mahomes said of Young. "You know, its funny, I think Texas Tech was the first one to offer him when he was in eighth grade. And I was at Texas Tech so I remember watching his highlight tapes and knew he was going to be a great player. Obviously, he went to Bama, was the first draft pick." Mahomes then commented on Young's play over the last couple of weeks. "It's been cool to see him bounce back these last few weeks and play some great football because I know he has it," Mahomes added. "I've seen it for a long time, and he gave us a scare today because he played his tail off." Finally, a reporter asked if Mahomes felt threatened by an eighth-grade Young. "I was hoping to be out of there before he got there," Mahomes commented. "He's been a great player for a long time and won a lot of football games." Pat Mahomes says Bryce Young “played his tail off” and gave the Chiefs a scare. pic.twitter.com/DJ9YvYSm5L Week 12 marked the first meeting between Mahomes and Young in their football careers, and now the Chiefs quarterback has a 1-0 advantage. Still, it appears Young is finally starting to prove why Carolina made such a big trade to acquire him. Related: Brittany Mahomes' One-Word Message To Patrick Mahomes After Chiefs-PanthersWeld County’s assessed value slides 20% due to price drops in oil and gas industryBEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents' stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels' moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. As they have advanced, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands rushed the Syria border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those that remained open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some shops were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reach the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. Amid the developments, Syria’s state media denied rumors flooding social media that Assad has left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. Assad's chief international backer, Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine, and Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up his forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran, meanwhile, has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. Pedersen said a date for the talks in Geneva on the implementation of U.N. Resolution 2254 would be announced later. The resolution, adopted in 2015, called for a Syrian-led political process, starting with the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. Syria’s military, meanwhile, sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth largest city. HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani told CNN in an interview Thursday from Syria that the aim is to overthrow Assad’s government. The Britain-based Observatory said Syrian troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces and are sending reinforcements to Homs, where a battle is looming. If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where the president enjoys wide support. The Syrian army said in a statement Saturday that it has carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists.” The army said it is setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south. The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011. After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces remained in control of five provincial capitals — Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. Tartus is home to the only Russian naval base outside the former Soviet Union while Latakia is home to a major Russian air base. In the gas-rich nation of Qatar, the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey met to discuss the situation in Syria. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels. Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process. After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces remained in control of five provincial capitals — Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. On Friday, U.S.-backed fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured wide parts of the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq as well as the provincial capital that carries the same name. The capture of areas in Deir el-Zour is a blow to Iran’s influence in the region as the area is the gateway to the corridor linking the Mediterranean to Iran, a supply line for Iran-backed fighters, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. With the capture of a main border crossing with Iraq by the SDF and after opposition fighters took control of the Naseeb border crossing to Jordan in southern Syria, the Syrian government's only gateway to the outside world is the Masnaa border crossing with Lebanon. Karam reported from London. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol avoided an opposition-led attempt to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law, as most ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers. The scrapping of the motion is expected to intensify protests calling for Yoon's ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president's impeachment. Yoon's martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party, but the party is also determined to oppose Yoon's impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals. After the motion fell through, members of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party rallied inside the National Assembly, chanting slogans calling for Yoon's impeachment or resignation. The party's floor leader, Park Chan-dae, said it will soon prepare for a new impeachment motion. Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment motion after a new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday. "We'll surely impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, who is the greatest risk to Republic of Korea," party leader Lee Jae-myung said. "We'll surely bring back this country to normal before Christmas Day or year's end." Many experts worry Yoon won't be able to serve out his remaining 2 years in office. They say some PPP lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties' efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands for it grow further. The ruling party risks "further public outrage and national confusion if they don't find a formula fast for Yoon's departure," said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. PPP chair Han Dong-hun said his party will seek Yoon's "orderly" early exit but didn't say when he can resign. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people packed several blocks of roads leading to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing. Protesters also gathered in front of PPP's headquarters near the Assembly, shouting for its lawmakers to vote to impeach Yoon. A smaller crowd of Yoon's supporters, which still seemed to be in the thousands, rallied elsewhere in Seoul, calling the impeachment attempt unconstitutional. Impeaching Yoon required support from 200 of the National Assembly's 300 members. The Democratic Party and five other small opposition parties, which filed the motion, have 192 seats combined. But only three lawmakers from PPP participated in the vote. The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes didn't reach 200. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result "very regrettable" and an embarrassing moment for the country's democracy. If Yoon is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must take place within 60 days. Earlier Saturday, Yoon issued an apology over the martial law decree, saying he won't shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose it. He said would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country's political turmoil, "including matters related to my term in office." "The declaration of this martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot," Yoon said. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a "den of criminals" bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate "shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces." The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. The turmoil has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners like the U.S. and Japan. "Yoon's credibility overseas has been undermined by declaring martial law, so he won't be able to exercise leadership in his foreign policies especially when his days are numbered," Kim, the analyst, said. "Its government bureaucracy will need to continue business as usual for existing alliance and foreign policy initiatives as best it can because there is a lot of important work to do globally." Tuesday night saw special forces troops encircling the parliament building and army helicopters hovering over it, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly unanimously voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before daybreak Wednesday. Eighteen lawmakers from the ruling party voted to reject Yoon's martial law decree along with opposition lawmakers. PPP later decided to oppose Yoon's impeachment motion. Yoon's speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for a constitutional amendment to shorten his term, instead of accepting impeachment, as a way to ease public anger over the marital law and facilitate Yoon's early exit from office. Lee told reporters that Yoon's speech was "greatly disappointing" and that the only way forward is his immediate resignation or impeachment. His party called Yoon's martial law "unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup." Lawmakers on Saturday first voted on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate stock price manipulation allegations surrounding Yoon's wife. On Friday, Han, who criticized Yoon's martial law declaration, said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country's defense counterintelligence commander to arrest unspecified key politicians based on accusations of "anti-state activities." Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea's spy agency, told lawmakers Friday that Yoon had ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians including Han, Lee and Woo. The Defense Ministry said Friday it suspended three military commanders including the head of the defense counterintelligence unit over their involvement in enforcing martial law. Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho has told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly. Opposition parties accused Kim of recommending to Yoon to enforce martial law. Kim Yong Hyun resigned Thursday, and prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him.