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slot games best DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally, Russian media said Sunday, hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of Damascus and ended his family’s 50 years of iron rule . Thousands of Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire and waved the revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war. The swiftly moving events raised questions about the future of the country and the wider region. “Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East," President Joe Biden said , crediting action by the U.S. and its allies for weakening Syria’s backers — Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He called the fall of Assad a “fundamental act of justice” but also a “moment of risk and uncertainty,” and said rebel groups are “saying the right things now” but the U.S. would assess their actions. Russia requested an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to discuss Syria, according to Dmitry Polyansky, its deputy ambassador to the U.N., in a post on Telegram. The arrival of Assad and his family in Moscow was reported by Russian agencies Tass and RIA, citing an unidentified source at the Kremlin. A spokesman there didn't immediately respond to questions. RIA also said Syrian insurgents had guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria. Earlier, Russia said Assad left Syria after negotiations with rebel groups and that he had given instructions to transfer power peacefully. The leader of Syria's biggest rebel faction, Abu Mohammed al-Golani , is poised to chart the country’s future. The former al-Qaida commander cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance. His Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the U.N. In his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, al-Golani visited the Umayyad Mosque and described Assad's fall as “a victory to the Islamic nation.” Calling himself by his given name, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and not his nom de guerre, he said Assad had made Syria “a farm for Iran’s greed.” The rebels face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a country ravaged by war and split among armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and the Islamic State group is still active in remote areas. Syrian state television broadcast a rebel statement saying Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been released. They urged people to preserve the institutions of “the free Syrian state,” and announced a curfew in Damascus from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m. An online video purported to show rebels freeing dozens of women at the notorious Saydnaya prison, where rights groups say thousands were tortured and killed . At least one small child was seen among them. “This happiness will not be completed until I can see my son out of prison and know where is he,” said one relative, Bassam Masr. "I have been searching for him for two hours. He has been detained for 13 years.” Rebel commander Anas Salkhadi appeared on state TV and sought to reassure religious and ethnic minorities, saying: “Syria is for everyone, no exceptions. Syria is for Druze, Sunnis, Alawites, and all sects.” “We will not deal with people the way the Assad family did," he added. Damascus residents prayed in mosques and celebrated in squares, calling, “God is great.” People chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked car horns. Teenage boys picked up weapons apparently discarded by security forces and fired into the air. Soldiers and police fled their posts and looters broke into the Defense Ministry. Families wandered the presidential palace, walking by damaged portraits of Assad. Other parts of the capital were empty and shops were closed. “It’s like a dream. I need someone to wake me up," said opposition fighter Abu Laith, adding the rebels were welcomed in Damascus with “love.” Rebels stood guard at the Justice Ministry, where Judge Khitam Haddad said he and colleagues were protecting documents. Outside, residents sought information about relatives who disappeared under Assad. The rebels “have felt the pain of the people,” said one woman, giving only her first name, Heba. She worried about possible revenge killings by the rebels, many of whom appeared to be underage. Syria’s historically pro-government newspaper al-Watan called it “a new page for Syria. We thank God for not shedding more blood.” It added that media workers should not be blamed for publishing past government statements ordered from above. A statement from the Alawite sect that formed the core of Assad's base called on young Syrians to be “calm, rational and prudent and not to be dragged into what tears apart the unity of our country.” The rebels mainly come from the Sunni Muslim majority in Syria, which also has sizable Druze, Christian and Kurdish communities. In Qamishli in the northeast, a Kurdish man slapped a statue of the late leader Hafez Assad with his shoe. The rebel advances since Nov. 27 were the largest in recent years, and saw the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs fall within days as the Syrian army melted away. The road to Damascus from the Lebanese border was littered with military uniforms and charred armored vehicles. Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, which provided crucial support to Assad, abandoned him as they reeled from other conflicts. The end of Assad’s rule was a major blow to Iran and its proxies, already weakened by conflict with Israel . Iran said Syrians should decide their future “without destructive, coercive, foreign intervention.” The Iranian Embassy in Damascus was ransacked after apparently having been abandoned. Hossein Akbari, Iran’s ambassador to Syria, said it was “effectively impossible” to help the Syrian government after it admitted the insurgents' military superiority. Speaking on Iranian state media from an undisclosed location, he said Syria's government decided Saturday night to hand over power peacefully. “When the army and the people could not resist, it was a good decision to let go to prevent bloodshed and destruction,” Akbari said, adding that some of his colleagues left Syria before sunrise. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking on state TV, said there were concerns about the “possibility of civil war, disintegration of Syria, total collapse and turning Syria into a shelter for terrorists.” Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali has said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and turn its functions over to a transitional government. A video on Syrian opposition media showed armed men escorting him from his office to a hotel. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, has called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” The Gulf nation of Qatar, a key regional mediator, hosted an emergency meeting of foreign ministers and top officials from eight countries with interests in Syria late Saturday, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey. Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said they agreed on the need “to engage all parties on the ground," including the HTS, and that the main concern is “stability and safe transition.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli troops had seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established in 1974, saying it was to protect Israeli residents after Syrian troops abandoned positions. Israel’s military later warned residents of five southern Syria communities to stay home for their safety, and didn’t respond to questions. Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it. The international community, except for the U.S., views it as occupied, and the Arab League on Sunday condemned what it called Israel’s efforts to take advantage of Assad’s downfall to occupy more territory. Sewell reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue, Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Samar Kassaballi, Omar Sanadiki and Ghaith Alsayed in Damascus; Jon Gambrell in Manama, Bahrain; Josef Federman in Doha, Qatar; and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem, contributed.Dig at Trump tariffs undermines Tory bridge-building

AP News Summary at 3:51 p.m. ESTThis photo provided by Brian Glenn shows what appears to be multiple drones flying over Bernardsville, New Jersey, on Dec. 5. | Brian Glenn/TMX/AP via CNN Newsource New York (CNN) — Federal agencies are facing intense pressure to give the public more details on unexplained drone sightings in the New York City metropolitan area and beyond that have been going on for weeks over residential neighborhoods as well as restricted sites and critical infrastructure. On Saturday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey posted on X about the “growing number of drone sightings” there, making her state the latest to report such sightings, joining New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Federal officials have sought to calm the concerns about the sightings, but without giving further details about what they might be. They say there’s no evidence of a public safety threat, and many of the reported sightings are cases of mistaken identity. “The bottom line is this: They’re not providing enough information to the public, and the public is concerned,” US Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat and member of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN’s Kate Bolduan Friday. “Believe me, I’m hearing from my constituents about this all the time, and I think it’s time for them to immediately get out there and brief.” A drone sighting prompted the temporary closure of runways at New York’s Stewart International Airport on Friday night, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the Orange County airport about 70 miles north of New York City. There were no impacts to the airport’s flight operations during the closure, which lasted about an hour, according to the Port Authority, which was alerted to the sighting by the Federal Aviation Administration. “This has gone too far,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Saturday, adding that last month she “directed the New York State Intelligence Center to actively investigate drone sightings and coordinate with federal law enforcement to address this issue.” Earlier Friday, New York Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis called the response to the sightings “outrageous,” saying there are “drones and unmanned aerial systems flying above us and our government is not telling us who’s operating them and for what purpose?” Malliotakis joined Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella in demanding answers. Fossella said the drones, often seen flying at night, have been spotted hovering over critical infrastructures including Port Liberty New York near the Goethals Bridge, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and Fort Wadsworth, one of the oldest military installations in the country. Representatives of the federal agencies investigating the drones who have briefed local officials behind closed doors said the drones sometimes appear to fly in a coordinated pattern and can sometimes be in flight for up to six hours, according to Montvale, New Jersey, Mayor Mike Ghassali. And though federal officials have said there is no evidence the drone sightings pose a public safety threat, Belleville, New Jersey, Mayor Michael Melham has said he has received guidance police should call the county bomb squad if they encounter a downed drone. In addition, local fire departments should wear hazmat suits when they respond, Melham said, saying the information was shared by his Office of Emergency Management following recent state-level meetings. “We just don’t know what these things are, so we are being cautious,” Melham said. One New Jersey lawmaker is accusing federal officials of lying about the presence and purpose of the mysterious drones. “They’re lying. That’s the long and the short of it,” Republican Assemblyman Erik Peterson said in an interview Saturday with CNN’s Victor Blackwell. Like several other officials and lawmakers, Peterson said he’s personally seen drones hovering near his rural New Jersey home, where he said the absence of street lights and nearby flight paths allows for clear visibility. Peterson referenced the government’s response to the Chinese spy balloon that traversed over parts of the United States in 2023 to illustrate his point that the government is either embarrassed or unwilling to disclose the truth about the mystery drones due to security concerns. “Why would you lie? Either because the reason that this is happening is incredibly embarrassing to the administration or it’s an incredibly high security risk for the country and they don’t want to tell us,” he said. President-elect Donald Trump, meanwhile, has called on the Biden administration to either release any information it has about the mysterious sightings or shoot the drones out of the sky. “Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!! DJT,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday his agency knows of “no threat or of any nefarious activity” related to the sightings. Mayorkas pledged to be transparent “if we learn of any cause for concern.” Officials are currently prioritizing the use of sophisticated radio frequency technology that can geolocate the operator of a drone, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN. There are multiple technical capabilities authorities can use to try and “defeat” a drone, including jamming a signal, disconnecting it from the operator or remotely “hijack” a drone but every option can pose numerous risks, the source said. “Blowing it out of the sky is the last resort,” the source said, noting the option is always on the table if an aircraft presents a threat. Federal and state officials said using offensive techniques to bring down the drones poses an unnecessary risk to people on the ground and legal challenges, especially as they have not been deemed threatening, the source said. New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has formally requested additional resources from the Biden administration to better address the ongoing situation. “While I am sincerely grateful for your administration’s leadership in addressing this concerning issue, it has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy said in a letter dated Thursday. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. Murphy’s concerns come as Naval Weapons Station Earle, a US Navy base south of Middletown, New Jersey, acknowledged Friday it had spotted “several instances of unidentified drones entering the airspace” above the facility despite no direct threats being identified. “The base remains prepared to respond to any potential risks, leveraging robust security measures and advanced detection capabilities,” station spokesperson Bill Addison said in an email to CNN, adding there are airspace restrictions above the station. The energy company PSEG on Saturday said it has “contacted the appropriate authorities” about reports of drones flying over its Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants in New Jersey. Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey posted videos to his X account showing what appeared to be a cluster of drones over the Round Valley Reservoir Thursday night. “This has gone on for weeks,” Kim wrote. “It’s hard to understand how with the technology we have we aren’t able to track these devices to determine origin and this makes me much more concerned about our capabilities more broadly when it comes to drone detection and counter measures.” Morris County, about 30 miles west of New York City, issued a statement calling for “the federal government to marshal all federal resources at its disposal, including the military, to end the unauthorized flight of drones over our county and other parts of New Jersey.” “Morris County and our communities have deployed considerable resources daily since the first drones were spotted,” the statement continued. The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office similarly said in a Facebook post they had “increased vigilance” at sensitive locations and “are analyzing data and information on a daily basis.” New York State Police said Friday afternoon in a post on X they had received “numerous reports of drone sightings over the past 24 hours” and they were investigating the reports. “We have no evidence at this time that any of the reported sightings pose a public safety threat,” reads the post. Connecticut State Police announced Friday they have deployed a drone detection system to assist in investigative efforts into unauthorized drone sightings reported over Fairfield County. “It’s very unsettling to public safety and security, both here in Fairfield and elsewhere,” Republican state Sen. Tony Hwang said in a statement Friday. “What we have is a lack of information at all levels of government. It’s really a breakdown of communication. Without that vital communication, you lose the public’s confidence, you get speculation and you get fear,” he said. And in Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration is “aware of” the reported drone sightings and is taking them seriously. The Democratic governor said Friday evening he directed the Pennsylvania State Police to look further into the sightings, and police will be flying helicopters to try to “determine where these drones are originating from and what the purpose of these drones are.” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby, in a press briefing Thursday, said there was “no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus.” Kirby added many of “the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.” Mayorkas echoed Kirby’s explanation Friday, telling CNN some reported drone sightings were cases of “mistaken identity.” Addressing calls to shoot down unidentified drones, he said, “It’s not as though anyone can just take down a drone in the sky. That in and of itself would be dangerous.” Mayorkas added he has been in communication with New Jersey’s governor daily. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI briefed top committees in the House and Senate as well as a delegation of New Jersey lawmakers on the reported drone sightings, a source familiar with the situation tells CNN. The source said while there have been eyewitness reports of what appear to be drones over New Jersey, agency officials stressed in meetings Thursday many videos on social media appear to be civilian airplanes or helicopters. “I don’t believe with all of these sightings, none of them are drones,” Gottheimer said, adding, “You can’t have the Wild West of drones out there,” with unmanned aircraft threatening infrastructure. The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness said there was “an active federal investigation” into the drone sightings, but elected officials want to hear more. “We should be doing smart intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” US Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Thursday. “They should be shot down, if necessary, because they’re flying over sensitive areas.” Residents in New York’s Rockland County reported drone sightings starting as early as November. County Executive Ed Day sent a letter to President Joe Biden Friday seeking answers and urging his administration, along with the FAA and FBI, to investigate and provide clarity on the matter. “The fact that this issue has persisted for weeks without clear answers is completely unacceptable — not just to the people of Rockland County, but to communities across the nation,” Day said in the letter. “It’s time for the Federal government to step up, take responsibility, and provide the answers we all deserve.” Malliotakis said the situation “is creating havoc, people are confused, they’re concerned, they have anxiety, they don’t know what’s going on.” The US intelligence community and federal law enforcement do not suspect foreign involvement in the drone sightings across New Jersey, security officials told members of Congress Thursday at one private briefing. Key lawmakers assigned to congressional national security committees were told investigators do not currently believe the sightings involved an overseas connection, the use of foreign drones, nor an operator on the ground connected to a foreign government, according to a source familiar with the briefing conducted by representatives from the FBI, FAA and the Department of Homeland Security. Officials said sighted drones have been observed with FAA-required anticollision lights and are not believed to have entered any restricted airspaces, according to the source. While authorities have not yet identified the origin of the mysterious drone flights, the source said an active FBI investigation remains underway to identify the person or persons operating them, and to determine whether any criminal violations of law have occurred. Some of the more recent drone operations may be from copycats trying to play on people’s worries as the sightings get more news coverage, former FBI supervisory special agent Tom Adams told CNN. He said there are often innocent explanations, as well. “I can tell you from my firsthand experience conducting operations for the FBI, as well as investigations into the suspected sighting of drones at critical infrastructure, it was fairly common for planets, crewed aircraft and even low Earth orbit satellites to be misidentified as drones at night,” Adams said. Drones – unmanned aerial vehicles – are widely owned across the US. A total of 791,597 drones are registered with the FAA, split almost evenly between commercial drones and recreational drones. Although the drones often display flashing lights, they frequently turn off the lights and evade police helicopters when approached, Mayor Michael Melham of Belleville Township said in a Facebook video update on Wednesday. The FAA issued temporary flight restrictions over the Picatinny Arsenal, a US military research facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster after drones were spotted in those areas, one week after the FAA received its first report of an unauthorized drone operation in the New York metro area on November 18. “Until you know the origin and what these drones’ intent is, how can you tell me there’s no imminent threat?” Mayor Tony Perry of Middletown, New Jersey, told CNN Thursday. The sense that local officials are being left in the dark is partially a result of outdated laws keeping regulation of the skies entirely in federal hands, according to the chief executive of a company tracking unauthorized drone flights. “The laws that regulate aircraft are not built to empower police to deal with the drones,” Axon CEO Rick Smith told CNN News Central Friday, “so if your local state fair has a drone coming towards it that police believe might be dangerous, right now there’s nothing they can do about it.” Hochul, the Democratic New York governor, called on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, which she said would give state and local authorities more power in dealing with unmanned aircraft systems and strengthen the FAA’s oversight of drones. The governor said that until these “powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people.” FAA regulations allow operators of recreational drones to fly up to 400 feet above the ground in airspace not controlled by FAA air traffic controllers. The FAA does grant waivers on a case-by-case basis to those wanting to operate drones in more congested airspace or at higher altitudes. Giving local law enforcement more authority over drones is under consideration, Smith said, because traditional aircraft tracking technology is ineffective for vehicles hovering only a few hundred feet off the ground. “The same radar and tracking system you use for a 747 just doesn’t work,” said Smith. CNN’s Gloria Pazmino, Zoe Sottile, Taylor Romine, Kate Sullivan, Alayna Treene, Brynn Gingras, Samantha Waldenberg, Ted Barrett, Holmes Lybrand, Maria Aguilar Prieto, Polo Sandoval, Lauren Mascarenhas, Elizabeth Wolfe, Haley Britzky, Hanna Park, Omar Jimenez and Dakin Andone contributed to this report. The-CNN-Wire TM & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. To remove this article -

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New Jersey fines firms $40K for sports betting violationsATHENS, Ga. — Carson Beck had surgery on his elbow Monday, officially ending his season and making Gunner Stockton the Georgia starting quarterback for the College Football Playoff. The news was expected but formally announced by the program on Monday afternoon. “A full recovery is expected with throwing to begin spring of 2025,” the team said in a statement, adding that the surgery was performed by Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. Advertisement Beck suffered an injury to his UCL during the SEC championship on Dec. 7. An MRI the next morning left open whether it would require surgery or if he could let it heal. The degree of the injury was never officially announced, but any UCL injury was going to make it hard to return for the Sugar Bowl, an expert told The Athletic. While surgery was not done immediately, as time went on the pessimism increased; Georgia returned to practice but Beck remained in Jacksonville with his family and advisers to decide on a next move. Georgia has been preparing as if Beck would not be available. Beck was injured on the final play of the first half of the SEC championship. He returned for one final play: The winning touchdown when Beck handed off to Trevor Etienne after Stockton was forced from the game because his helmet came off. Handing off on one play was one thing, but being able to pass was another. While he technically has one more year of eligibility, Beck is expected to declare for the NFL Draft, where his injury status and performance this season make projecting him hard. Beck entered the season as a possible No. 1 overall pick after passing for 3,941 yards in his first season as Georgia’s starter. But his accuracy dipped, throwing 11 interceptions over a five-game span, while his completion percentage and passing yards decreased. Still, he offered a strong arm, big-game experience and knowledge of the system. It’s not ideal for the Bulldogs as they try to win a third national championship in four years. Before the news on Beck was made official, coach Kirby Smart was asked how practice this month helped get Stockton ready. “Well, I would say just experience, right?” Smart said. “I do think knowing when you get ready for an opponent like Notre Dame , you need time. ... We prepared for some of that prior to that because we knew it would be one of two opponents. But I think the biggest thing is just competition and practice. The situations we put him in. All those things allow him to get better as a quarterback.” Required reading (Photo: Corey Perrine / Florida Times-Union / USA Today via Imagn Images)