California urges Buttigeg to grant last-minute cash for LA-SF bullet train as DOGE looms
Alabama A&M football player on life support a month after suffering head injury in gameIn new satellite imagery, Russia's military appears to be packing up equipment at a key airbase in Syria. The images show transport aircraft ready to load cargo at the Hmeimim Air Base on Friday. Russia's military footprint in Syria fell into uncertainty after rebel forces ousted Bashar Assad. Russia appears to be packing up military equipment at one of its bases in Syria, new satellite images show. They are the latest indication that Moscow is scaling down, if not withdrawing, its footprint from the country following the stunning collapse of the Assad regime. Advertisement Images captured Friday by Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider show two An-124 heavy transport aircraft at Russia's Hmeimim Air Base. The front of the planes are lifted, indicating that they are ready to load equipment or cargo. A Russian An-124 heavy transport aircraft, right, preparing to load equipment at Hmeimim on December 13. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies A second An-124 heavy transport aircraft preparing to load equipment at Hmeimim on December 13. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies In another image of the Hmeimim base, a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter is seen being taken apart and likely prepared for transport, according to Maxar. The company said elements of an S-400 air-defense unit are also being prepared for departure from the weapon's previous deployment site near the coastal city of Latakia. Advertisement A Ka-52 helicopter, spotted in the center of the image, is seen being disassembled and prepared for transport at Hmeimim on December 13. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies Elements of an S-400 unit preparing to depart Hmeimim on December 13. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies Additional imagery collected Friday shows Russia's warships are still missing from its base in Tartus , a port city south of Hmeimim on the Mediterranean Sea. Several frigates, replenishment oilers, and a submarine could be seen at the facility earlier in the month, but they were all gone by Monday. Some of the vessels have been spotted several miles off the coast. It's unclear whether the warships will return to Tartus; their presence at sea could be for safety reasons rather than a full evacuation. An overview of the naval facility at Tartus on December 13. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies The US has not confirmed any major Russian military withdrawal from Syria but has pointed out that some forces are, in fact, departing. Advertisement "What we're seeing is a consolidation of assets, including some Russian forces leaving Syria," Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters Wednesday. "What they're doing with their facilities and bases, that's for them to speak to." Analysts, likewise, have called attention to the latest activity. "A larger number of Russian transport aircraft can now be seen at Khmeimim," Michael Kofman, a Russia expert and senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a social media post. Advertisement "The S-400 battery is packing up for transport. While tactical aviation is still there, RF appears to be consolidating at Khmeimim and Tartus," he said. "In short, a withdrawal is under way." Even if Russia is moving forces out of its bases in Syria, it may only be a partial military withdrawal and not a complete evacuation. A Russian frigate in the Mediterranean near Tartus on December 13. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies The new satellite imagery comes a day after Ukraine's military intelligence agency, known as the HUR, said Moscow was evacuating its bases in Syria and has been flying multiple military transport aircraft between Hmeimim and Russia every day. Advertisement BI was unable to independently verify Kyiv's assessment. Russia's military presence in Syria became tenuous last weekend as rebel forces captured Damascus and ousted Bashar Assad, the country's longtime dictator. Assad has since fled to Moscow with his family. Russia supported Assad in Syria's civil war for years, in return securing a foothold in the country, but the rebels now have the upper hand. They control the province where Tartus and Hmeimim are located. The Kremlin is engaging in efforts to ensure the security of its facilities with the new Syrian leadership, but it's unclear if any arrangements are official. Advertisement Losing both Tartus and Hmeimim would be a setback for the Kremlin, which relies heavily on the bases to project its power across the region and beyond. Tartus is Russia's main naval base overseas, providing the country with critical access to a warm-water port. Moscow uses Hmeimim to move military forces in and out of Africa. That makes these bases strategically valuable. War analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, wrote on Thursday that Russia "is very likely hesitant to completely evacuate all military assets from Syria in the event that it can establish a relationship with Syrian opposition forces and the transitional government and continue to ensure the security of its basing and personnel in Syria."
2024 in pop culture: In a bruising year, we sought out fantasy, escapism — and cute little animalsShielding Adani: On the U.S. indictment, the Indian government’s standPEP GUARDIOLA is really finding Manchester City’s current slump difficult to swallow. The Catalan admitted a run like this can affect everything — from the amount of sleep he gets to his diet. Recently, he has just been having soup for his evening meal as he is struggling to digest much else due to the nerves. With his kids grown up and his wife Cristina back in Barcelona, Pep admits it can be a lonely business being a coach during a bad run. He said this week: “You have people by your side but the pain of defeat only happens to one. “It’s true your friends are there but when you go to sleep and you turn off the light, there’s no consolation possible. Read More in Football “You have to swallow on it, spend a day or two and then come back.” But by and large Guardiola says his frame of mind is not much different to how it was in the spring, when his team were crowned champions for a fourth straight year. That is despite a run of seven defeats in the last ten matches — the same number as City suffered in the previous 105 games up until the end of April. The decline in his all-conquering team has been sudden and alarming and left many people scratching their head. Most read in Football FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS That includes Pep himself, who showed up for his press conference after the draw with Feyenoord last month with marks on his head and a cut on his nose. At the time he put it down to his nails getting too long — although he explained this week there was another factor. PEP GUARDIOLA admitted he is having sleepless nights as he endures his worst-ever spell as a manager. Here are the three-time defending Premier League champions' nightmare last 10 games... Oct 30: Tottenham 2 Man City 1 - DEFEAT Nov 2: Bournemouth 2 Man City 1 - DEFEAT Nov 5: Sporting Lisbon 4 Man City 1 - DEFEAT Nov 9: Brighton 2 Man City 1 - DEFEAT Nov 23 - Man City 0 Tottenham 4 - DEFEAT Nov 26: Man City 3 Feyenoord 3 - DRAW Dec 1: Liverpool 2 Man City 0 - DEFEAT Dec 4: Man City 3 Nottingham Forest - WIN Dec 7: Crystal Palace 2 Man City 2 - DRAW Dec 11: Juventus 2 Man City 0 - DEFEAT TOTAL - WINS 1, DRAWS 2, DEFEATS 7 He said: “I have a skin problem. I have to take antihistamine for the last two or three years. The nails, yes, I did them on my nose. But the rest was that.” Guardiola turns 54 next month and said in a recent interview he does not have the energy to take another club job after he leaves the Etihad. The question some have been asking since is whether he has enough within him for the rebuilding job needed at City. Some of the older players who have achieved so much for him — the likes of Kevin De Bruyne , Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan — are reaching the end of the road. And having achieved pretty much everything he set out to — and even more — with City, some wonder if he has the drive to go again. Yet is easy to forget amid the chaos of the last seven weeks, that he signed a new two-year contract at the Etihad in the middle of it all. It was Pep who indicated he was ready to talk — despite a run of four straight losses before then — and the deal was concluded in a couple of hours. Given what has happened since and the problems he is facing, he may be asking himself whether he did the right thing. Those around him say he has no regrets and is more determined than ever to turn the season around. He accepted the challenge of staying on less than four weeks ago and there is no way he has changed his mind already. I have a skin problem. I have to take antihistamine for the last two or three years. The nails, yes, I did them on my nose. But the rest was that. His feeling all season has been that this was not the right time for him to hand over the keys to his successor and three months in, he was sure of it. The imminent verdict on the 130 charges of financial wrong-doing was a factor, as he has previously said he would not desert the club he loves in their hour of need. But the Club World Cup in the USA in the summer was also a consideration, as it will make the start of next season extremely difficult to navigate. Guardiola felt he wanted to navigate City through this tricky period and he remains determined to do that. In any case, Pep had predicted this would be a tough start to the season — partly due to strain of their recent success and the summer of international duty at Euro 2024 for most of his stars. He did not quite expect it to be this tough, though, as the injuries have made the early months of the season even more challenging. But he remains convinced that once his trusted players are back, he will be able to turn them back into a force. Nothing that has happened since things started to unravel at the end of October has changed his mind. He said: “I have learned with football, not to go against feelings, what you feel at that moment. READ MORE SUN STORIES “If I am sad, I am sad but I know it will pass. That’s how I see it.” A derby win over United on Sunday would help it to pass very quickly.
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CARB should cancel e-bike subsidiesAmid reports that Gaza cease-fire talks may be resuming, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz expressed optimism that “this time, we can truly advance a hostage deal.” A Qatari newspaper reported that an Israeli delegation—headed by Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar—was set to travel to Cairo on Dec. 5 for talks on a potential deal over hostages and a cease-fire. Katz, speaking to soldiers at an air force base in central Israel, attributed the improved outlook to Israeli military pressure on Hamas. The development comes after a Lebanon cease-fire began on Nov. 27. On Dec. 2, President-elect Donald Trump said there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if hostages held in Gaza were not released before his inauguration. Trump’s nominee for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, was set to meet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer on Dec. 4. Hezbollah, which had previously refused to consider a cease-fire unless Israel pulled out of Gaza, was hard hit in recent months. The Israeli army eliminated many of the terrorist group’s top leaders, including longtime head Hassan Nasrallah, with targeted air strikes. And in an audacious strike on Sept. 17, thousands of pagers exploded on their Hezbollah users simultaneously—followed by a second wave of exploding handheld radios the next day—further crippling its leadership ranks. At least 39 people were killed in the blasts, and Lebanon said nearly 3,000 others were wounded. Hamas, in more than a year of warfare started by its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, has suffered the same kinds of losses. Trump’s impending return to power may be loosening a diplomatic logjam lasting more than a year. The United States, Egypt, and Qatar have tried unsuccessfully to broker a cease-fire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for the return of around 100 hostages, a third of whom are believed dead, still held by Hamas after having been taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023. “Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked him in a Dec. 3 post on X. “I want to thank President Trump for his strong statement yesterday about the need for Hamas to release the hostages, the responsibility of Hamas, and this adds another force to our continued effort to release all the hostages.” Israeli ministers also thanked the president-elect. “How refreshing it is to hear clear and morally sound statements that do not create a false equivalence or call for addressing ‘both sides’, but rather clarify who are the good and who are the bad,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “This is the way to bring back the hostages: by increasing the pressure and the costs for Hamas and its supporters, and defeating them, rather than giving in to their absurd demands,” he said. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said simply on X: “Thank you, President Trump.” A senior Hamas official interpreted Trump’s words as directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Basem Naim said Netanyahu had sabotaged all efforts to secure a deal that involved exchanging the hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Naim said Trump’s message was intended to pressure Netanyahu to “end this evil game.” A Gaza political analyst, Ramiz Moghani, said Trump’s words might embolden Israel not only to expel Palestinians from Gaza but also to annex the West Bank, which many Israelis refer to as Judea and Samaria. An eight-day cease-fire took place in late November 2023, during which more than 100 Israeli hostages were released. Since then, little progress has been made, with each side blaming the other. Meanwhile, fighting has continued across Gaza. On Dec. 4, an Israeli strike on a camp housing hundreds of thousands of displaced people near Khan Yunis killed 21 people and wounded 29, a Palestinian health official said. Gaza health authorities do not distinguish between civilians and fighters from Hamas and other terrorist groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Fighting was also reported in Rafah and near a hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. Further Hamas threats against the hostages have come to light. In an internal statement on Nov. 22, Hamas told its operatives Israel intended to carry out a hostage rescue operation and threatened to “neutralize” the captives in that event. Hamas told its operatives not to consider any repercussions of following the instructions.
OpenAI and military defense technology company Anduril Industries said Wednesday that they would work together to use artificial intelligence for “national security missions.” The ChatGPT-maker and Anduril will focus on improving defenses against drone attacks, the companies said in a joint release. The partnership comes nearly a year after OpenAI did away with wording in its policies that banned use of its technology for military or warfare purposes. Founded in 2017, Anduril is a technology company that builds command and control systems and a variety of drones, counting the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom among its customers, according to its website. OpenAI said in October that it was collaborating with the US military’s research arm DARPA on cyber defenses for critical networks. “AI is a transformational technology that can be used to strengthen democratic values or to undermine them,” OpenAI said in a post at the time. “With the proper safeguards, AI can help protect people, deter adversaries, and even prevent future conflict.” The companies said the deal would help the United States maintain an edge over China, a goal that OpenAI chief Sam Altman has spoken of in the past. “Our partnership with Anduril will help ensure OpenAI technology protects US military personnel, and will help the national security community understand and responsibly use this technology to keep our citizens safe and free,” Altman said in Wednesday’s release. Anduril was co-founded by Palmer Luckey, after Facebook bought his previous company Oculus VR in a $2 billion deal. The new partnership will bring together OpenAI’s advanced AI models with Anduril systems and software, according to the companies. “Our partnership with OpenAI will allow us to utilize their world-class expertise in artificial intelligence to address urgent Air Defense capability gaps across the world,” Anduril co-founder and chief executive Brian Schimpf said in the release. Schimpf said the collaboration would allow “military and intelligence operators to make faster, more accurate decisions in high-pressure situations.” With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.