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Harris: Fine Gael ‘will gain seats’ amid further fragmentation of Irish politicsfishing stardew valley 。

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Russian state news agencies are reporting that ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad has arrived in Moscow with his family and given asylum. The agencies, Tass and RIA, cited an unidentified Kremlin source. The Associated Press was not immediately able to verify the reports but has contacted the Kremlin for comment. RIA also cited an anonymous Kremlin source that Moscow had received guarantees from Syrian insurgents of the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria. The report did not give further details. Assad reportedly left Syria early Sunday. Syrians have been pouring into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule . THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule but raising questions about the future of the country and the wider region. Joyful crowds gathered in squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian 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. Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and residence after President Bashar Assad and other top officials vanished, their whereabouts unknown. Russia, a close ally, said Assad left the country after negotiations with rebel groups and had given instructions to transfer power peacefully. Abu Mohammed al-Golani , a former al-Qaida commander who cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance, leads the biggest rebel faction and is poised to chart the country's future. In his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, al-Golani visited the sprawling Umayyad Mosque and called Assad's fall “a victory to the Islamic nation.” Calling himself by his given name, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and not his nom de guerre, he told hundreds of people that 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 still 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 some remote areas. Syrian state television broadcast a rebel statement early Sunday saying Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been released. They called on people to preserve the institutions of “the free Syrian state.” The rebels later announced a curfew in Damascus from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m. The rebels said they freed people held at the notorious Saydnaya prison, where rights groups say thousands were tortured and killed . A video circulating online purported to show rebels breaking open cell doors and freeing dozens of female prisoners, many of whom appeared shocked. 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 later appeared on state TV and sought to reassure Syria's 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. Revelers filled Umayyad Square, where the Defense Ministry is located. Some waved the three-starred Syrian flag that predates the Assad government and was adopted by the revolutionaries. Elsewhere, many parts of the capital were empty and shops were closed. Soldiers and police left their posts and fled, and looters broke into the Defense Ministry. Videos showed families wandering the presidential palace, some carrying stacks of plates and other household items. “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.” At the Justice Ministry, where rebels stood guard, Judge Khitam Haddad said they were protecting documents from the chaos. Outside, some 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 al-Watan newspaper, which was historically pro-government, wrote: “We are facing 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, saying it “only carried out the instructions.” A statement from the Alawite sect that has 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. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and turn its functions over to a transitional government. A video shared on Syrian opposition media showed armed men escorting him from his office and to the Four Seasons hotel on Sunday. Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told The Associated Press that Assad, 59, took a flight early Sunday from Damascus. A senior diplomat from the United Arab Emirates, which had sought to rehabilitate Assad's image and has welcomed high-profile exiles in recent years, declined to comment on his whereabouts. Anwar Gargash said Assad's destination at this point is a “footnote in history,” comparing it to the long exile of German Kaiser Wilhelm II after World War I. 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. Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which provided crucial support to Assad throughout the uprising, abandoned him as they reeled from other conflicts. The end of Assad’s rule was a major blow to Iran and its allies, already weakened by conflict with Israel . Iran, which had strongly backed him throughout the civil war, said Syrians should decide their future “without destructive, coercive, foreign intervention.” The Iranian Embassy in Damascus was ransacked after apparently having been abandoned. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile 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 United States, views it as occupied, and the Arab League on Sunday condemned what it called Israel’s efforts to take advantage of Assad’s downfall occupy more territory. The rebels are led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS , which has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations. Al-Golani, has sought to recast the group as a moderate and tolerant force. “Golani has made history and sparked hope among millions of Syrians," said Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group. "But he and the rebels now face a formidable challenge ahead.” The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called Saturday 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. They included 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.” Sewell reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue, Sarah El Deeb and 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.Timberwolves lose in Boston for 18th straight timeWith more than half of the 16 teams still mathematically alive to make the conference championship game, the Big 12 will command a lot of attention in the final week of the regular season. No. 14 Arizona State and No. 17 Iowa State would play for the Big 12 title and likely College Football Playoff spot on Dec. 7 if they both win Saturday and there's a four-way tie for first place. There are seven other teams that begin this week with hopes, slim in most cases, of getting into the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Last week it was No. 19 BYU and No. 23 Colorado that had the inside track to the championship game. Arizona State beat the Cougars and Kansas knocked off the Buffaloes, and here we are. "Everybody counted us out, I think, two weeks ago," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said after his team beat Utah 31-28. "We didn't flinch. We didn't waver. And we just keep fighting." The Cyclones were national darlings the first half of the season as they won seven straight games to match the best start in program history. Back-to-back losses to Texas Tech and Kansas followed. Now they've won two straight heading into "Farmageddon," their rivalry game against Kansas State at home. "Right now they've got the pen and they continue to write the story," Campbell said of his players, "and I hope they will continue to write it the way they've got the ability to write it. Unwavering. Tough, mentally tough, physically tough. This group has stood for it every step of the way." Arizona State has been an even better story than the Cyclones. The Sun Devils have six more wins than they did last season, when they went 3-9. They were picked to finish last in their first year in the Big 12. They'll go for their fifth straight victory when they play at Arizona on Saturday. "These guys came off no momentum and everybody doubting them, and everybody is still doubting them. That's what makes this special," second-year coach Kenny Dillingham said. "Hopefully the expectations become higher. I don't know if there's a way we can exceed expectations more than we're exceeding them right now." Checking in on five of the Top 25: The Ducks were idle Saturday after clinching a spot in the Big Ten championship game with their win at Wisconsin on Nov. 16. Oregon can go 12-0 in the regular season for the first time since 2010 if it beats Washington at home this week. Oregon's only two losses last season came against the Huskies, both decided by three points. The first was a top-10 matchup in the regular season and the second was a top-five matchup in the Pac-12 championship game. The Ducks are 19 1/2-point favorites this time, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The Buckeyes' showdown with upstart Indiana combined with Michigan's dropoff after winning the national championship have lowered the volume on this week's meeting with the Wolverines at the Horseshoe. If Michigan beats Ohio State a fourth straight time and it keeps the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten championship game and playoff ... well, there'll be lots of noise in Columbus then. The Lone Star Showdown returns to the gridiron for the first time since 2011, when Texas and Texas A&M were in the Big 12. The Longhorns head to No. 20 Texas A&M on a four-game win streak. The Aggies have lost two of three after Saturday's four-overtime loss at Auburn. The winner advances to the Southeastern Conference championship game against Georgia. The Broncos are tied with Notre Dame for the second-longest active win streak, at nine games, and they seem to have adopted a survive-and-advance mantra. They trailed 23-point underdog Wyoming in the fourth quarter before winning 17-13 and clinching a spot in the Mountain West championship game. They won their previous game, 42-21 against San Jose State, but didn't pull away until the fourth quarter. Two weeks ago they beat a three-win Nevada team 28-21. Just when you think Illinois is about to cash in for the season, they do what they did against Rutgers. The Illini were down 31-30 when they lined up for a 58-yard field goal with 14 seconds left. Ethan Moczulski missed. But wait. Rutgers called timeout before the snap, and Bret Bielema thought better of trying another kick and sent his offense back on the field. Luke Altmyer passed to Pat Bryant for the winning 40-yard touchdown. The Illini won't play for the Big Ten title, but they have a chance for nine wins and a nice bowl. Ohio State played in three of the five regular-season top-five matchups and won three of them. The Buckeyes lost to Oregon and beat Penn State and Indiana. ... Kansas' 37-21 win over Colorado made the Jayhawks the first FBS team with a losing record to beat three straight Top 25 opponents. The Jayhawks, who were 2-6 a month ago, will be bowl eligible if they win at Baylor. ... Nebraska ended the longest power conference bowl drought with its 44-25 win over Wisconsin. The Cornhuskers haven't played in a bowl since 2016. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Carolina Hurricanes (16-6-1, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Florida Panthers (14-9-1, in the Atlantic Division) Sunrise, Florida; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Panthers -123, Hurricanes +103; over/under is 6.5 BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes hit the ice in Eastern Conference action. Florida has gone 7-5-1 at home and 14-9-1 overall. The Panthers have a 3-0-1 record in one-goal games. Carolina has a 7-4-1 record on the road and a 16-6-1 record overall. The Hurricanes are 7-2-0 when they commit fewer penalties than their opponent. Saturday’s game is the second meeting between these teams this season. The Panthers won the previous matchup 6-3. TOP PERFORMERS: Sam Bennett has 11 goals and 11 assists for the Panthers. Sam Reinhart has seven goals and four assists over the last 10 games. Jack Roslovic has 12 goals and three assists for the Hurricanes. Seth Jarvis has four goals and six assists over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 4-6-0, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.6 assists, 4.1 penalties and 10.7 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game. Hurricanes: 6-3-1, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.3 assists, 2.7 penalties and 5.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game. INJURIES: Panthers: None listed. Hurricanes: None listed. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

As the postmaster of Chicago for the 606-608 ZIP codes, I want to assure you the U.S. Postal Service is primed and ready to deliver exceptional service during the 2024 holiday rush. Thanks to substantial progress USPS has made under the Delivering for America plan — a $40 billion investment aimed at revitalizing the national postal network — our operational, transportation and delivery processes have never been more finely tuned. My dedicated team and I are fully prepared to once again handle the peak holiday season surge. As you and your family prepare for the holidays, it’s always a good idea to ship it early! We encourage everyone to send their holiday mail and packages well in advance to ensure they reach their destinations on time, but we understand sometimes cards or packages are sent last minute. This year, our recommended send-by dates for expected holiday delivery within the continental U.S. before Dec. 25 are: Dec. 18: USPS Ground Advantage service; first-class mail Dec. 19: Priority Mail service Dec. 21: Priority Mail Express service For a complete list of recommended holiday mailing and shipping dates, please visit usps.com/holidayshippingdates . And remember: The earlier you send it, the better — Ship it Early! We are honored and grateful for your trust in the U.S. Postal Service. Your postal team in the city of Chicago is proud to be the most affordable, reliable way to send cheer this holiday season, and we’re ready to deliver exceptional service during the holidays and beyond. Jewel Morrow, Chicago postmaster Merge public transit agencies Thanks for publishing Bruce Mainzer’s opinion essay about merging northern Illinois’ transportation agencies. Reducing redundant administration costs will save money and speed up services. Also important is the transparency that would ensue. Dorval Carter needs to show what’s really happening. And thanks for the editorial about getting extremist Oath Keepers out of the Chicago Police Department. Whatever the reason, white supremacists have no role in CPD. Beth Najberg, Gold Coast Raise ‘senior freeze’ income limit There are many sides to the “senior freeze” coin. I and other law-abiding seniors lost our freeze because of high inflation and accompanying Social Security increases pushing people over the $65,000 household income. It would have been nice if the senior freeze income limit was indexed to Social Security increases. Ed Rios, Berwyn Bear of a game I have one question for the ownership of the Chicago Bears. Would it kill you to hire a coaching staff that actually knows how to win games? Steve Herr, West RidgeDallas plays Winnipeg after Marchment's 2-goal performance

Portugal winger Nani announces retirementATLANTA — As she checked into a recent flight to Mexico for vacation, Teja Smith chuckled at the idea of joining another Women’s March on Washington. As a Black woman, she just couldn’t see herself helping to replicate the largest act of resistance against then-President Donald Trump’s first term in January 2017. Even in an election this year where Trump questioned his opponent’s race, held rallies featuring racist insults and falsely claimed Black migrants in Ohio were eating residents’ pets, he didn’t just win a second term. He became the first Republican in two decades to clinch the popular vote, although by a small margin. “It’s like the people have spoken and this is what America looks like,” said Smith, the Los Angeles-based founder of the advocacy social media agency, Get Social. “And there’s not too much more fighting that you’re going to be able to do without losing your own sanity.” After Trump was declared the winner over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, many politically engaged Black women said they were so dismayed by the outcome that they were reassessing — but not completely abandoning — their enthusiasm for electoral politics and movement organizing. Black women often carry much of the work of getting out the vote in their communities. They had vigorously supported the historic candidacy of Harris, who would have been the first woman of Black and South Asian descent to win the presidency. Harris’ loss spurred a wave of Black women across social media resolving to prioritize themselves, before giving so much to a country that over and over has shown its indifference to their concerns. AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters, found that 6 in 10 Black women said the future of democracy in the United States was the single most important factor for their vote this year, a higher share than for other demographic groups. But now, with Trump set to return to office in two months, some Black women are renewing calls to emphasize rest, focus on mental health and become more selective about what fight they lend their organizing power to. “America is going to have to save herself,” said LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of the national voting rights group Black Voters Matter. She compared Black women’s presence in social justice movements as “core strategists and core organizers” to the North Star, known as the most consistent and dependable star in the galaxy because of its seemingly fixed position in the sky. People can rely on Black women to lead change, Brown said, but the next four years will look different. “That’s not a herculean task that’s for us. We don’t want that title. ... I have no goals to be a martyr for a nation that cares nothing about me,” she said. AP VoteCast paints a clear picture of Black women’s concerns. Black female voters were most likely to say that democracy was the single most important factor for their vote, compared to other motivators such as high prices or abortion. More than 7 in 10 Black female voters said they were “very concerned” that electing Trump would lead the nation toward authoritarianism, while only about 2 in 10 said this about Harris. About 9 in 10 Black female voters supported Harris in 2024, according to AP VoteCast, similar to the share that backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Trump received support from more than half of white voters, who made up the vast majority of his coalition in both years. Like voters overall, Black women were most likely to say the economy and jobs were the most important issues facing the country, with about one-third saying that. But they were more likely than many other groups to say that abortion and racism were the top issues, and much less likely than other groups to say immigration was the top issue. Despite those concerns, which were well-voiced by Black women throughout the campaign, increased support from young men of color and white women helped expand Trump’s lead and secured his victory. Politically engaged Black women said they don’t plan to continue positioning themselves in the vertebrae of the “backbone” of America’s democracy. The growing movement prompting Black women to withdraw is a shift from history, where they are often present and at the forefront of political and social change. One of the earliest examples is the women’s suffrage movement that led to ratification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Black women, however, were prevented from voting for decades afterward because of Jim Crow-era literacy tests, poll taxes and laws that blocked the grandchildren of slaves from voting. Most Black women couldn’t vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Black women were among the organizers and counted among the marchers brutalized on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, during the historic march in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery that preceded federal legislation. Decades later, Black women were prominent organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police and vigilantes. In his 2024 campaign, Trump called for leveraging federal money to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government programs and discussions of race, gender or sexual orientation in schools. His rhetoric on immigration, including false claims that Black Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating cats and dogs, drove support for his plan to deport millions of people. Tenita Taylor, a Black resident of Atlanta who supported Trump this year, said she was initially excited about Harris’ candidacy. But after thinking about how high her grocery bills have been, she feels that voting for Trump in hopes of finally getting lower prices was a form of self-prioritization. “People say, ‘Well, that’s selfish, it was gonna be better for the greater good,”’ she said. “I’m a mother of five kids. ... The things that (Democrats) do either affect the rich or the poor.” Some of Trump’s plans affect people in Olivia Gordon’s immediate community, which is why she struggled to get behind the “Black women rest” wave. Gordon, a New York-based lawyer who supported the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s presidential nominee, Claudia de la Cruz, worries about who may be left behind if the 92% of Black women voters who backed Harris simply stopped advocating. “We’re talking millions of Black women here. If millions of Black women take a step back, it absolutely leaves holes, but for other Black women,” she said. “I think we sometimes are in the bubble of if it’s not in your immediate circle, maybe it doesn’t apply to you. And I truly implore people to understand that it does.” Nicole Lewis, an Alabama-based therapist who specializes in treating Black women’s stress, said she’s aware that Black women withdrawing from social impact movements could have a fallout. But she also hopes that it forces a reckoning for the nation to understand the consequences of not standing in solidarity with Black women. “It could impact things negatively because there isn’t that voice from the most empathetic group,” she said. “I also think it’s going to give other groups an opportunity to step up. ... My hope is that they do show up for themselves and everyone else.” Brown said a reckoning might be exactly what the country needs, but it’s a reckoning for everyone else. Black women, she said, did their job when they supported Harris in droves in hopes they could thwart the massive changes expected under Trump. “This ain’t our reckoning,” she said. “I don’t feel no guilt.”

Man accused in burning death of a woman on New York subway appears in court

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander overcame a slow start to score 41 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder powered to a 123-105 home win over the Washington Wizards on Monday. The Thunder extended their regular-season winning streak to eight, their longest winning streak since January 2018. Oklahoma City hasn’t had a longer streak since the 2013-14 season. Though the Monday game featured the Thunder, with the top record in the Western Conference, against the team with the worst record in the NBA, it was far from a cake walk. Gilgeous-Alexander had just two points in the first quarter, when he attempted just three shots. However, Gilgeous-Alexander got going in the second quarter, including kicking off a 15-0 Oklahoma City run with a 3-pointer. The surge turned the Wizards’ eight-point lead into a seven-point margin for the Thunder. It was a lead Oklahoma City would not relinquish, though Washington kept it close deep into the third quarter. The Wizards pulled within one with less than three minutes remaining in the third, but Gilgeous-Alexander attacked the basket at the other end, converting a three-point play to stretch the margin. The play wound up kickstarting a 22-2 run as Washington went more than eight minutes without a field goal. Gilgeous-Alexander finished 14 of 25 from the field and made all 10 of his free throws. Jalen Williams added 17 points for Oklahoma City, scoring 11 in the first quarter. Isaiah Hartenstein (16 points, 11 rebounds) and rookie Ajay Mitchell (16 points, 12 rebounds, both career highs) each had a double-double. It was Mitchell’s first career double-double and the 10th in 13 games this season for Hartenstein. Jordan Poole led Washington with 31 points and seven assists. Carlton Carrington scored 14 points, Jonas Valanciunas logged 12 points and 16 rebounds, Malcolm Brogdon also had 12 and Kyshawn George scored 11. Oklahoma City outscored the Wizards 66-36 in the paint. The Wizards have lost 21 of their last 23 and have dropped 12 consecutive road games. Oklahoma City has won three consecutive games since falling in the NBA Cup final to the Milwaukee Bucks. That loss did not count in the regular-season standings. Washington was without a couple of key pieces. Bilal Coulibaly, who has been surging of late, missed the game because of right groin soreness while rookie Alexandre Sarr was out due to lower back soreness. Related Story AFG College with University of Aberdeen holds alumni gala dinner Alfardan Medical with Northwestern Medicine provides outstanding healthcare in Qatar

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Percentages: FG .327, FT .889. 3-Point Goals: 5-22, .227 (Zurliene 2-4, Duggan 1-3, Dorsey 1-5, Sinani 1-7, Frank 0-1, Gregory 0-1, Gudmundsson 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: None. Turnovers: 14 (Dorsey 3, Gregory 3, Duggan 2, Frank 2, Sinani 2, Van Der Heijden, Zurliene). Steals: 9 (Dorsey 4, Cook, Frank, Gregory, Sinani, Zurliene). Technical Fouls: None. Percentages: FG .451, FT .700. 3-Point Goals: 6-24, .250 (Pozzato 2-3, Haffner 2-9, Hundley 1-1, Comer 1-7, Hughes 0-4). Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 4 (Berridge, Cuff, Day, Turnbull). Turnovers: 11 (Pozzato 4, Comer 3, Hughes 2, Berridge, Turnbull). Steals: 11 (Cuff 5, Haffner 2, Berridge, Comer, Pozzato, Turnbull). Technical Fouls: Pozzato, 2:41 first. A_3,823 (10,000).With the first quarter of the 2024-25 NBA season already gone, some believe the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks have already separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the Western Conference. An opposing general manager told ESPN's Tim MacMahon last week that the Thunder and Mavericks "are clearly the two best West teams." The Thunder rank first in the West with a 23-5 record and have won each of their last eight games. Oklahoma City fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup championship but appears driven to contend for an NBA title this season. Star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is once again in the running for NBA MVP, ranking third in the league with 30.6 points per game. Following a slow start that saw them open the year with a 7-7 record, the Mavs appear to have rounded into form and rank fourth in the West at 19-10. Perhaps even more impressively, Dallas has gone 6-2 in games that star point guard Luka Dončić has missed, as MacMahon called this "the best the roster has looked" in his seven-year career. The Mavs are set to face the Minnesota Timberwolves (14-14) on Christmas Day in a rematch of the 2024 Western Conference Finals. The Thunder will be back in action on Thursday against the Indiana Pacers (15-15). Dallas and Oklahoma City split their first two meetings of the season and will face each other again on Jan. 17.

Formula 1 has agreed a deal in principle with General Motors and its Cadillac brand to enter the series in 2026 as an 11th team. The deal will see the GM-supported outfit join as a customer team in 2026, while developing its own in-house power units for 2028 and beyond, using the existing Andretti Global project in Silverstone as its backbone. In a statement on Monday, F1 confirmed that GM/Cadillac and the series have agreed a deal in principle for it to join its ranks in 2026. "With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport," said outgoing Liberty Media CEO and president Greg Maffei. "We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula 1. We are excited to move forward with the application process for the GM/Cadillac team to enter the Championship in 2026." GM's president Mark Reuss added: "As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence. It’s an honour for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s premier racing series, and we’re committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world. This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM’s engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level." GM officials had been in attendance at the Las Vegas Grand Prix to discuss a deal with F1 and Liberty Media over an entry as an 11th team as early as 2026. The American manufacturer had long been working with Andretti Global on a prospective F1 bid, which was accepted by the governing body the FIA but refused entry by F1 itself because the bid wasn't deemed to add enough value to the series. There had also been tension between the organisation's figurehead Michael Andretti and F1 executives over Andretti's aggressive campaigning to force its way in, which included involving US Congress and the Department of Justice. But in the wake of Andretti stepping back from his eponymous organisation and ceding control to majority owner Dan Towriss in September, Towriss and GM continued their efforts to present a more compelling bid with a bigger commitment from the American OEM as a constructor, a bid that has now been approved in principle. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the governing body was "fully supportive" of the latest development: "General Motors is a huge global brand and powerhouse in the OEM world and is working with impressive partners. "I am fully supportive of the efforts made by the FIA, Formula 1, GM and the team to maintain dialogue and work towards this outcome of an agreement in principle to progress this application to bring a GM/Cadillac branded team onto the grid for the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship. All parties, including the FIA, will continue to work together to ensure the process progresses smoothly." Despite F1's initial rejection, Andretti Global continued building up its F1 programme at its Silverstone factory, where the team had been hiring numerous staff and producing a wind tunnel model of a 2026 car. Senior arrivals include former F1 stalwart Pat Symonds and a number of former Alpine employees, with former Renault engine tech boss Rob White the latest to join the project as its COO . In order to be ready for 2026, the Cadillac-branded GM effort will have to take over the existing Andretti Global project because of the short lead times involved. GM also won't have enough time to supply works engines before 2028, so the squad will have to do a deal for customer engines for the first two seasons. Its most likely options are Ferrari and Honda, with Andretti's previous engine partner Renault abandoning its 2026 power unit project . There has been speculation over GM taking over Renault's 2026 engine IP, but it is now expected the US manufacturer will develop and build its own engines for 2028.Fine Gael won 35 seats in the 2020 election, but 18 of those TDs did not seek re-election in Friday’s poll. An exit poll puts the party’s support at 21%, a fraction of a percentage behind the main opposition party Sinn Fein. Mr Harris, the outgoing Taoiseach, was elected with 16,869 first preference votes, well above the quota. He celebrated with his wife Caoimhe, his parents Bart and Mary, his sister Gemma and his political team at the count centre in Greystones, Co Wicklow. Ahead of his re-election, Mr Harris told reporters he was “cautiously optimistic” about the election result and said it was “clear that my party will gain seats”. “It’s also clear that Fine Gael will top the poll in at least 10 constituencies, many more than we did the last time, that we will gain seats in constituencies where we haven’t had seats in many years, like Tipperary South and Waterford, and that we will add second seats in other constituencies as well,” he said. “I think the people of Ireland have now spoken. We now have to work out exactly what they have said, and that is going to take a little bit of time.” In one of the five consecutive broadcast media rounds he did from the Greystones count centre, he said there were a lot of areas where there were “straight shoot-outs” between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael for final seats. He described the Sinn Fein vote as “pretty significantly down”, the Fianna Fail vote as “marginally down” and the Fine Gael vote as “static” compared with its 2020 vote. He said it was “a very close, a very competitive election” and that “we haven’t seen a Sinn Fein surge or anything like it”. He said: “It was predicted by many that I would become the Taoiseach for a brief period of time, take over from Leo Varadkar, and then have to rebuild my party from the opposition benches as Sinn Fein led a government. “We don’t know what’s going to happen on government formation yet, but that is now looking less likely than it was.” He acknowledged that it was “a very difficult day” for the Green Party and paid tribute to their work in the coalition government, alongside his party and Fianna Fail. “Definitely, politics in Ireland has gotten much more fragmented,” he said. Fine Gael minister Helen McEntee said that her party’s campaign had been “positive”. “The feeling on the doors was very much that people were relatively happy with the government,” she said on RTE Radio. “It will come down to the last seats and it will come down to transfers,” she said of the final result, adding that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael were performing better than the exit poll estimated.Elon Musk has publicly expressed his agreement with DOGE advisor Ron Paul ‘s proposal to completely end foreign aid, emphasizing its relevance in the current economic climate. What Happened : On Saturday Musk replied to a post on X about Paul’s proposal of the total elimination of foreign aid. Paul argues that it takes money from the poor and middle class in the U.S. and gives it to the wealthy in impoverished nations, with a portion going to intermediaries. Musk, in his retweet, simply stated, “Ron is not wrong.” This brief endorsement indicates his support for Paul’s stance on the issue. Ron is not wrong https://t.co/WYhYclMyJ0 Earlier on Saturday, Paul called for an end to foreign aid, citing both its economic and moral consequences. In a post on X, he criticized the transfer of funds from American taxpayers to wealthy individuals in less developed countries. Also Read: Elon Musk’s DOGE Job Applications Require X Premium Subscription He argued that foreign aid disproportionately impacts the U.S. poor and middle class, funneling their money to affluent entities overseas while benefiting intermediaries along the way. Here's an easy one for @DOGE ! ELIMINATE foreign aid! It's taking money from the poor and middle class in the US and giving it to the rich in poor countries – with a cut to the facilitators in between! Americans don't want their government to borrow more money to spend on... pic.twitter.com/hbjfUNGWGW He described the practice as economically harmful, morally indefensible, and unconstitutional. Why It Matters : Musk’s agreement with Paul’s viewpoint is significant given his influence in the tech and business world. His endorsement could potentially sway public opinion and impact discussions around foreign aid policies. Paul’s proposal and Musk’s support come at a time when debates around wealth distribution, both domestically and internationally, are increasingly prevalent. The suggestion to end foreign aid entirely is a radical one, and it remains to be seen how this will influence policy discussions going forward. Read Next What A Second Trump Presidency Would Mean For Elon Musk And His Many Ventures © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Marcos urges Filipinos to live a meaningful lifeWith more than half of the 16 teams still mathematically alive to make the conference championship game, the Big 12 will command a lot of attention in the final week of the regular season. No. 14 Arizona State and No. 17 Iowa State would play for the Big 12 title and likely College Football Playoff spot on Dec. 7 if they both win Saturday and there's a four-way tie for first place. There are seven other teams that begin this week with hopes, slim in most cases, of getting into the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Last week it was No. 19 BYU and No. 23 Colorado that had the inside track to the championship game. Arizona State beat the Cougars and Kansas knocked off the Buffaloes, and here we are. "Everybody counted us out, I think, two weeks ago," Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said after his team beat Utah 31-28. "We didn't flinch. We didn't waver. And we just keep fighting." The Cyclones were national darlings the first half of the season as they won seven straight games to match the best start in program history. Back-to-back losses to Texas Tech and Kansas followed. Now they've won two straight heading into "Farmageddon," their rivalry game against Kansas State at home. "Right now they've got the pen and they continue to write the story," Campbell said of his players, "and I hope they will continue to write it the way they've got the ability to write it. Unwavering. Tough, mentally tough, physically tough. This group has stood for it every step of the way." Arizona State has been an even better story than the Cyclones. The Sun Devils have six more wins than they did last season, when they went 3-9. They were picked to finish last in their first year in the Big 12. They'll go for their fifth straight victory when they play at Arizona on Saturday. "These guys came off no momentum and everybody doubting them, and everybody is still doubting them. That's what makes this special," second-year coach Kenny Dillingham said. "Hopefully the expectations become higher. I don't know if there's a way we can exceed expectations more than we're exceeding them right now." Checking in on five of the Top 25: The Ducks were idle Saturday after clinching a spot in the Big Ten championship game with their win at Wisconsin on Nov. 16. Oregon can go 12-0 in the regular season for the first time since 2010 if it beats Washington at home this week. Oregon's only two losses last season came against the Huskies, both decided by three points. The first was a top-10 matchup in the regular season and the second was a top-five matchup in the Pac-12 championship game. The Ducks are 19 1/2-point favorites this time, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The Buckeyes' showdown with upstart Indiana combined with Michigan's dropoff after winning the national championship have lowered the volume on this week's meeting with the Wolverines at the Horseshoe. If Michigan beats Ohio State a fourth straight time and it keeps the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten championship game and playoff ... well, there'll be lots of noise in Columbus then. The Lone Star Showdown returns to the gridiron for the first time since 2011, when Texas and Texas A&M were in the Big 12. The Longhorns head to No. 20 Texas A&M on a four-game win streak. The Aggies have lost two of three after Saturday's four-overtime loss at Auburn. The winner advances to the Southeastern Conference championship game against Georgia. The Broncos are tied with Notre Dame for the second-longest active win streak, at nine games, and they seem to have adopted a survive-and-advance mantra. They trailed 23-point underdog Wyoming in the fourth quarter before winning 17-13 and clinching a spot in the Mountain West championship game. They won their previous game, 42-21 against San Jose State, but didn't pull away until the fourth quarter. Two weeks ago they beat a three-win Nevada team 28-21. Just when you think Illinois is about to cash in for the season, they do what they did against Rutgers. The Illini were down 31-30 when they lined up for a 58-yard field goal with 14 seconds left. Ethan Moczulski missed. But wait. Rutgers called timeout before the snap, and Bret Bielema thought better of trying another kick and sent his offense back on the field. Luke Altmyer passed to Pat Bryant for the winning 40-yard touchdown. The Illini won't play for the Big Ten title, but they have a chance for nine wins and a nice bowl. Ohio State played in three of the five regular-season top-five matchups and won three of them. The Buckeyes lost to Oregon and beat Penn State and Indiana. ... Kansas' 37-21 win over Colorado made the Jayhawks the first FBS team with a losing record to beat three straight Top 25 opponents. The Jayhawks, who were 2-6 a month ago, will be bowl eligible if they win at Baylor. ... Nebraska ended the longest power conference bowl drought with its 44-25 win over Wisconsin. The Cornhuskers haven't played in a bowl since 2016. Get local news delivered to your inbox!