No. 7 Tennessee outscored UT Martin by 28 points in the second half in routing the visiting Skyhawks 78-35 on Friday afternoon in Knoxville. Chaz Lanier scored a game-high 18 points for the Volunteers (7-0), who expanded on a 35-20 halftime lead with a 43-15 second half. Felix Okpara had 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, helping Tennessee command the paint along with Igor Milicic, who added nine points and 13 rebounds. Zakai Zeigler nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine assists. The Volunteers used their size to their advantage, outscoring UT Martin 36-10 in the paint and out rebounding the Skyhawks 49-24. That included 20 offensive rebounds for Tennessee, which led to 19 second-chance points. UT Martin (2-5) was cold coming out of the locker room after halftime, missing its first eight shots. Conversely, the Vols started the second half with a nine-point run to extend their lead to 24 points. The Vols never let the Skyhawks score consecutive baskets in the first half, holding UT Martin to 25 percent shooting (4 of 16) from beyond the arc and allowing a total of only three points from the starting five. For the game, guard Josue Grullon led UT Martin with 15 points. The leading scorer in the Ohio Valley Conference entering Friday at 18.2 points per game, Grullon has not started any game for head coach Jeremy Shulman. Most of the Skyhawks' points -- 28 of 35 -- came from their reserves. The starting five combined to score seven points -- six points from Matija Zuzic and a free throw for Lamine Niag. The starters went a combined 2 of 18 from the floor, while UT Martin as a team shot 22.6 percent (12 of 53) from the field. The Skyhawks made 5 of 7 free-throw attempts and made 18 turnovers. The Volunteers, who got 23 points off the bench, were 8-for-10 and had 11 turnovers. Tennessee improved to 6-0 all-time against UT Martin since 1993. --Field Level Media。

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside of a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Luigi Mangione, 26, has since been arrested and charged in the killing . In the days after Thompson’s death, UnitedHealthcare came under fire on social media over its alleged high rate of health insurance claim denials. A chart shared in many viral posts across social media shows claim denial rates for major insurance companies. UnitedHealthcare’s denial rate is highest at 32%, according to the posts. VERIFY investigated available data to determine whether the viral chart is accurate. Does UnitedHealthcare deny patients’ claims at the highest rate of any major insurer, like the viral chart claims? The claim that UnitedHealthcare denies patients’ claims at the highest rate of any major insurer is inconclusive. The federal government and private health insurers don’t make data on claim denials for all types of insurance plans available to the public. We can’t VERIFY that UnitedHealthcare denies claims at the highest rate of any major health insurer. That’s because the federal government and private health insurers, like UnitedHealthcare, don’t make data on claim denials for all types of insurance plans available to the public. Former President Barack Obama signed a comprehensive health care reform law called The Affordable Care Act (ACA) , which is also known as Obamacare, into law in 2010. That law tasked the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services with “monitoring denials both by health plans on the Obamacare marketplace and those offered through employers and insurers,” Elisabeth Rosenthal reported for KFF Health News , which is part of the nonprofit health policy research and news organization KFF, in May 2023. But HHS “hasn’t fulfilled that assignment,” Rosenthal said. Data the federal government has collected and shared so far isn’t comprehensive and it isn’t audited to ensure it’s accurate, a ProPublica investigation and KFF found. VERIFY reviewed the ACA and found it also tasked the head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) with conducting a “study on the incidence of denials of coverage for medical services and denials of applications to enroll in health insurance plans.” That GAO report was published in March 2011 but it doesn’t break down denial rates by individual insurers. Where the data in the viral chart comes from VERIFY traced the viral chart back to an article published by ValuePenguin, a consumer research website owned by LendingTree, in May 2024. ValuePenguin has since removed the chart from its article, though the alleged denial rates are still included in the article. The website said on Dec. 6 that it “removed certain data elements” from the piece “at the request of law enforcement.” The chart published by ValuePenguin, which is shown in an archived version of the article here , alleges that UnitedHealthcare denies nearly one-third of claims it receives – or 32% to be exact – the highest rate of any major insurer. It’s followed by Medica at 27% and Anthem at 23%. These rates were based on available data on insurers’ claim denials and appeals from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) public use files, which are available online, ValuePenguin said. ValuePenguin says the CMS data the website used is from the calendar year 2022 and doesn’t include any other years. Medicare and Medicaid data doesn’t include information about employer-sponsored private health plans, which cover the majority of working-age Americans . VERIFY conducted our own analysis of the most recent data from CMS comparing the total number of the in-network claims that health insurers received to their in-network denials. We did not factor in appeals. Our analysis found that UnitedHealthcare did deny claims at a rate of around 33% – the highest rate of any major insurer. This closely mirrors what ValuePenguin found. But there are a handful of caveats to the CMS data that make it impossible to draw conclusions about how often health insurers actually deny patients’ claims. Why it’s impossible to know exactly how many claims health insurers deny The data-gathering on health insurers’ denials is “haphazard and limited to a small subset of plans,” and it “isn’t audited to ensure it is complete,” Karen Pollitz, a retired senior fellow at KFF, said in the 2023 KFF Health News article . When it comes to information that the federal government has collected, it is not standardized or audited, and therefore is “not really meaningful,” Peter Lee, the founding executive director of California’s state marketplace, also told ProPublica. Data “should be actionable” and “this is not by any means right now,” he added. VERIFY reached out to CMS and UnitedHealthcare for comment, but did not receive responses by the time of publication.NoneCanada can't say when it will clear 140,000 backlogged cases for First Nations kids (Canada)

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in The GEO Group, Inc. ( NYSE:GEO – Free Report ) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 47,380 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $609,000. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GEO. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in The GEO Group by 472.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 2,625 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of The GEO Group by 38.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 62.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $121,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in The GEO Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $140,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. The GEO Group Stock Down 0.2 % GEO opened at $28.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.08. The GEO Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.74 and a fifty-two week high of $29.57. Analyst Ratings Changes View Our Latest Stock Report on The GEO Group About The GEO Group ( Free Report ) The GEO Group, Inc (NYSE: GEO) engages in ownership, leasing, and management of secure facilities, processing centers, and community-based reentry facilities in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The company also provides secure facility management services, including the provision of security, administrative, rehabilitation, education, and food services; reentry services, such as temporary housing, programming, employment assistance, and other services; electronic monitoring and supervision services; and transportation services; as well as designs, constructs, and finances new facilities through projects. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for The GEO Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The GEO Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

Skier/snowboarder Ester Ledecka has 2 Olympic races on same day in 2026, hoping for schedule change

The 16 cavalrymen of the Blues and Royals took their horses sedately along South Carriage Drive near Hyde Park. They were performing the daily changing of the guard in Whitehall. The soldiers took this route every day and thought nothing of a blue Morris Marina they passed at 10.43am that day, July 20, 1982. But its boot was packed with 25lb of gelignite surrounded by 30lb of four and six-inch nails and the aftermath of the explosion left images that symbolised for many the reckless savagery of the Provisional IRA. Four soldiers died. But a press photograph from above captured mangled cars and seven tarpaulins that covered mutilated military horses. The day of cowardly savagery had only begun. In nearby Regent’s Park, at 12.55pm, 120 people were settling into their seats to listen to the Royal Green Jackets play tunes from the musical Oliver! Another bomb, concealed under the bandstand exploded, killing seven military bandsmen. The flying shrapnel and nails injured 51 civilians. The bombs were detonated by remote control and the chances of apprehending the shadowy IRA men behind the atrocities were not good. Yet London Metropolitan and MI5 officers were tailing an IRA unit which was responsible for a wave of bombings in England, and the terrorists led them to three explosives caches a year later. Forensic investigation of one of the caches – in Pangbourne, Berkshire – revealed 24 fingerprints of an IRA bombmaker, Dessie Ellis. This year, 42 years after the bombings, Ellis sat, relaxed in the Dáil, where he now serves, to give me the only interview he has ever given about the events that led him to a trial at the Old Bailey. Ellis was one of a number of high-profile IRA terrorists who gave rare interviews for an Irish Daily Mail podcast series that I host, From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Féin , which has just launched. Sinn Féin has said little down the years about these bombing atrocities, only issuing a press release, over a decade ago, saying that its TD, Ellis, had been tried on ‘trumped up charges’. Ellis sees his ultimate escape from British justice somewhat differently: he joked with me at Leinster House a few months ago that beating the charges for his alleged involvement in these bombings made him luckier than someone winning the lottery. Ellis takes up the story on the morning of his arrest in Finglas in Dublin . ‘The hunger strikes were in full process,’ he says. ‘Bobby Sands had died and then Francis Hughes he died, and that morning the house [his mother’s house in Finglas] was raided by the Special Branch and I was arrested.’ The hunger strikes he refers to were those in which ten men died in Long Kesh in 1981, which our podcast also chronicles. These events catapulted Sinn Féin towards electoral success. Ellis ran a TV repair business, and, he said, his skills were found to be useful for ‘the struggle’. But being a TV repair man by day and terrorist bomb maker by night took its toll. ‘When someone is worn out, they make mistakes,’ he says. ‘I was just completely and utterly engrossed in the struggle. On top of that, I was running a business so it got to a point where I just became careless.’ Explosives were found under his bed in his room in his mother’s house. The authorities let the then 29-year-old out on bail, and in 1982, as Ellis describes it, ‘a decision was made that I go to the United States, for obvious reasons’. The Republican movement was then led by Gerry Adams, who was the following year to be elected to Westminster. It was a ‘collective decision’ to run, says Ellis. It began a ten-year struggle of another kind: to evade justice through bailjumping, hunger strikes and legal manoeuvre. Ellis skipped bail to Canada, and was arrested walking across the border into the US. He was imprisoned in the infamous Metropolitan Correction Centre in New York, which subsequently housed Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The first of his many ruses to avoid unfavourable jails occurred when the authorities tried to move him to the even more infamous Otisville Federal Penitentiary in upstate New York. ‘It was just like what you see in the pictures, you know, with a car going around with guys with shotguns, driving around the perimeter and the snow was on the ground, but I told them “I’m on hunger strike, I’m not going to handle this”,’ he says. ‘I ended up practically naked going in because I wouldn’t put on any clothes.’ Incredibly, disinclined to have a half-naked hunger striker in his prison, the Governor sent Ellis back to MCC. Ellis takes us through an increasingly bizarre, never before recounted story, of how one of the IRA’s most celebrated heroes joined various gangs for protection in American prisons, before eventually being extradited back to Ireland, where he served eight years for, in his words, ‘possession of explosives devices’. But an extradition treaty had just been signed between Ireland and Britain and, eventually, in 1991 the British authorities succeeded in having Ellis extradited, again. I told Ellis that as a young child, in our shared home place of north Dublin, I recall seeing ‘Free Dessie Ellis’ graffiti daubed on walls, for it became another Sinn Féin/IRA cause, keeping their man away from the British. Ellis went on hunger strike, again, but, the inevitable grind of the wheels of justice brought him to London’s Old Bailey. Yet, says Ellis, ‘I beat the charges in England.’ The failure to convict a number of accused people down the years for the two deadly bombings has never been accepted by the families of the victims, and the true story has been shrouded in opaque and legalistic arguments. In 2012, Irish newspapers printed official British Government papers which revealed Ellis as a suspected mass murderer. Civil servants said he was linked ‘to some 50 murders in Northern Ireland and the Republic’. The British Crown Prosecution case was that, although there was no evidence that Ellis was ever in Britain, there was clear fingerprint evidence ‘which indicates that he must have been concerned in the manufacture of some of the equipment found in that [Pangbourne] cache’ and that this was evidence that he was involved in the conspiracy to cause explosions. ‘There was a couple of reasons why I beat the charges,’ Ellis told us on that muggy afternoon, last June. ‘No one had ever won against a conspiracy case in England. But the problem was there was a loophole that you have to be made fully aware of where items [bombs] were going. And I couldn’t tell where they were going. ‘It was a case of double jeopardy because the items were very similar to the ones I was arrested on [in Ireland]. It was a mixture of things.’ When we put it specifically to Ellis that the Pangbourne arms dump was linked to the Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombs, he says: ‘While they might have found my prints, they couldn’t prove that I was actually in England and that I was aware that certain events would take place. If you made something it could go to Europe, it could go anywhere.’ The case against Ellis collapsed and he was taken to a local police station to be released. There, he tells me, laughing: ‘There was a guy sitting reading the paper and the big headline on the paper was “This Man Won the Lottery”. One of the Special Branch men says, “I don’t know which is the luckiest, you or him.” I just said, “maybe me”.’ When Ellis got back to Ireland in 1991, he found that the Irish authorities had no more forgotten him than the British law men had and he was, he says, ‘too hot’ to go back into active service with the IRA. So, like another infamous IRA volunteer and convicted gunrunner, Martin Ferris, who also gives his first ever extensive recorded interview to our podcast, Ellis found politics was the only way to serve the movement. He was elected to Dublin City Council and, eventually, to Dáil Éireann , in 2011, joining Ferris, with Gerry Adams as the parliamentary leader of Sinn Féin. It was the party’s seismic ‘victory’ in the 2020 General Election, and its subsequent soaring poll ratings, that sparked the idea for this podcast. We interview former IRA terrorists, Sinn Féin politicians, and leading British politicians. We also speak to victims and peacemakers. With the election campaign underway here, Sinn Féin is seeking to build on its success. It failed to take power in Ireland’s proportional representative political system, mainly because there is too much residual loathing – and fear – in traditional parties to contemplate coalition. The traits – secrecy, overbearing loyalty to the cause, deception and tendency to criminality – that made the IRA so brutally successful have caught up with Sinn Féin, and it is again mired in controversy. There have been ugly scandals involving paedophilia and the party’s cover-ups of such activity, and there is a frequency of such behaviour in the history of Sinn Féin and the IRA. The party’s electoral chances are suspect, to say the least. Leader Mary Lou McDonald, who succeeded Adams, has repeatedly failed to fulfil promised interview commitments for the Irish Daily Mail podcast. When we finally caught up with her she rejected suggestions that she will resign if she fails to lead her party into Government. Ellis isn’t the only candidate in this election with a record. With notorious criminal Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch standing against McDonald in her constituency, she may even lose her seat. One of the least likely Sinn Féin TDs to lose out in this election is Ellis. He won over 44 per cent of the vote in 2020 – an extraordinary result for a single candidate in a multi-seat constituency – and he is doing well according to private polling. Sinn Féin has been dragged back into the lower regions of popularity due to its incoherent stance on immigration, but mostly by its association with terrorism and criminality, and the political longevity of characters like Ellis. He reminds the electorate of the Troubles. Ellis, 71, still lives in Finglas, on a working-class street in a nondescript former council house. He’s fit and trains in karate, for which he holds a black belt. He supported the Good Friday Agreement, following Adams. I ask him what his opinion of the Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombing is now. He said he wouldn’t comment directly on those heinous acts, but added: ‘We were in a war and there were a lot of things on both sides that happened that shouldn’t have happened. I am a great believer in that you make decisions, you stand by them. You don’t sit down and regret them.’ His interpretation of why peace eventually came was because the British and the IRA had reached a ‘stalemate’, but, he says, his ultimate goal can still be reached. ‘We are working towards a United Ireland, and we’re at a point now where that’s inevitable into the future,’ he says. ‘That has been my ultimate goal.’ The issue of a United Ireland has been a peripheral matter in this election campaign, with the prosaic issues of the economy, and housing taking centre stage. Sinn Féin’s chances of entering Government are as slim as Scotland Yard’s hopes were of finding a lead to the perpetrators of some of the most callous acts of terrorism seen in the UK 40 years ago. But strange things happen in this era of rising populism. Ellis, though, enjoying his 33rd year of liberty, will be elected and continue a comfortable life, unlike the victims he cut down before their time. LISTEN: From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Féin – available wherever you get your podcasts

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As of Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is officially wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity — a stunning position for the leader of one of the nations closest to the U.S., which positions itself as a champion of international humanitarian law to protect against such crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has unveiled arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes during Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip, charging the two men with enforcing starvation and killing innocent people during “a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.” On Thursday, the court also issued a warrant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes for Mohammed Deif, a commander of Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group whose gruesome Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel sparked the Israeli campaign. (Israel claims to have killed Deif, but Hamas has not confirmed his death as it has for its other leaders.) A White House spokesperson condemned the ICC for targeting the Israelis — without commenting on the court’s decision regarding Deif, whom the Biden administration placed under sanctions in September. Accusing the court of “troubling process errors” and overstepping its jurisdiction, the spokesperson said the administration is preparing “next steps.” Israel also rejected the charges and blasted the ICC. But Thursday’s move made clear that regardless of Washington’s actions, the global conversation around the Gaza war is headed in a direction that will increase pressure on the U.S. and Israel, which heavily relies on American diplomatic and military support. President Joe Biden has so far declined to reduce U.S. backing for Israel even as international observers, U.S. lawmakers and watchdog groups have said its conduct violates American and international law. Neither has President-elect Donald Trump suggested he would withhold assistance to Israel once he takes office in January. Legal experts told HuffPost the warrants will boost international scrutiny of Israeli actions enabled by the U.S. and whether the two countries have fulfilled their promises to respect global standards for shielding civilians during wartime. While Israel is extremely unlikely to surrender Netanyahu and Gallant, meaning there’s a slim chance they’ll face trials, “the arrest warrants will not go away,” said Adil Haque, a Rutgers University professor. “Every ICC member has to arrest [the Israelis] if they visit, and at a political level this will compromise their ability to have public contacts with them,” he continued. “Warrants are one more reminder to U.S. officials that they have been aiding and abetting men credibly accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.” The U.S. and Israel are not members of the ICC, but 124 of the world’s countries — the majority — are . After the warrants were issued, officials in several European countries and Canada said they would respect the ICC order, suggesting they would arrest Netanyahu and Gallant (though some ICC member countries have previously failed to execute ICC warrants). The deputy prime minister of Belgium, Petra de Sutter, argued the continent’s reaction could extend to challenging the European Union’s association agreement with Israel, which involves a lucrative free trade deal. The warrants could “stiffen the spine of national authorities in other countries to pursue their own prosecutions related to Gaza,” said Brian Finucane, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group think tank. Citing the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” under which governments can pursue suspects for major international crimes regardless of their nationality or where the incidents occurred, Finucane said: “Israeli officials will face possible criminal exposure in third states for years to come.” Such prosecutions could include legal action against “those aiding and abetting actions in Gaza,” he continued — a circle that could include American officials who have overseen weapons transfers to Israel while knowing about its pattern of alleged war crimes. “Warrants are one more reminder to U.S. officials that they have been aiding and abetting men credibly accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said Finucane, who previously worked as a lawyer at the State Department. The ICC’s Thursday statement highlighted ties between American leverage and Israeli policy choices, implicitly suggesting the U.S. could have done more to prevent civilian harm. Israel’s decisions on humanitarian aid for Gaza “were often conditional,” the statement reads. “They were not made to [fulfill] Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law... In fact, they were a response to the pressure of the international community or requests by the United States of America. In any event, the increases in humanitarian assistance were not sufficient to improve the population’s access to essential goods.” Meanwhile, the ICC development shows the weakness of the argument that Israel’s domestic legal system can handle claims of atrocities or violations of international law. Israel’s government has previously told the ICC its “robust” judiciary can “rigorously” probe misconduct. That assertion evidently “did not really convince” the court’s judges as they weighed the ICC prosecutor’s request for warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, Suzie Navot, an Israeli constitutional law professor, wrote on X . She noted that the Israeli government has not set up a state commission of inquiry into the Gaza war — which would have far-reaching investigative powers — despite the Israeli attorney general’s advice to do so. Whether Israel pursues internal accountability for possible war crimes is a major factor in the question of whether it can legally receive support from countries like the U.S., which prohibits aid to nations engaging in major human rights abuses, and whether Israel should face consequences like international sanctions for its conduct. Thursday’s announcement that ICC judges see “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for “ongoing” crimes, including enforcing mass starvation among Palestinians and intentionally killing civilians, comes amid other international evaluations of Israeli conduct. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is still considering South Africa’s case accusing Israel of perpetrating a genocide in Gaza. Its proceedings are expected to continue for years to come, ensuring continued high-profile discussions of Israeli decisions blessed by the U.S. Officials and experts working on distinct global legal proceedings often lean on each other’s conclusions and analyses as they reach their own judgments. Haque noted that the ICC judges suggested Israeli leaders had “created conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population in Gaza,” which is in line with the definition of genocide — “though genocide requires a different mental state of specific intent.” And the parties to the Geneva Conventions — which govern much of international law — plan to hold a conference on the Middle East in March. The confab could weigh in on whether Israel is occupying Gaza under international law, which would mean the Israeli government bears special responsibility in caring for its population. The ICJ said in July that Israel is occupying the Palestinian region. “I assume the vast majority of the Conference will agree,” Haque told HuffPost, saying “a strong conference statement would still be useful.” For the U.S., mounting and ongoing inquiries into the Gaza war will likely fuel strategic complexities for years. Those could include charges that America is selective in its commitment to international law — given its ardent opposition to the ICC’s first-ever warrants for figures allied with the West — as well as tensions in important foreign relationships and embarrassing findings about U.S. culpability in horrifying aspects of the Gaza war. Condemnations or revelations from abroad could strengthen domestic frustrations against overwhelming U.S. support for Israel, which has become a major issue in national politics. Developments in the ICJ case, further warrants over the U.S.-backed Israeli offensive in Gaza or other events could inspire new public anger and fresh battles in Congress that build on already unprecedented votes challenging the U.S.-Israeli relationship. In 2023, Biden cheered the court’s issuance of a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes during his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Biden administration then decided to support the ICC in its investigation of Russian activity. Now, Haque said, “the U.S. is in an untenable position, supporting the warrant for Putin but opposing the warrant for Netanyahu.” “But perhaps Trump will oppose both,” he added. The incoming president has expressed admiration for Putin and accused Biden’s team of unwisely provoking him. Don't let this be the end of the free press. The free press is under attack — and America's future hangs in the balance. As other newsrooms bow to political pressure, HuffPost is not backing down. Would you help us keep our news free for all? We can't do it without you. Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read. You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you. Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all. You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you. Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all. Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages. Differing approaches to the court could drive a split between the U.S. and Europe — traditional friends already likely to be at odds under a second Trump presidency over matters like trade, Ukraine and climate policy. “The E.U. should prepare for a U.S. attack on the ICC,” Anthony Dworkin, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, argued in a Thursday post . Europe must “resist any US pressure to cut its own ties and support for the court.” Related From Our PartnerPitt QB Eli Holstein carted off with leg injuryBSPK and Luxury Institute Announce Strategic Partnership to Elevate Luxury Retail and Client Engagement

Colombians Rally Against Petro's Controversial ReformsA week after a demoralizing loss to the Tennessee Titans, the AFC South-leading Houston Texans might have a perfect opportunity to reboot when they face the host Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Then again, maybe not. It depends, Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said, if the Texans (7-5) are "locked in" and able to make a December push. "I just look at it as being intensely focused on your job and being where you're supposed to be, executing the minor details of your job," Ryans said. "It all comes down to minor, minute details that you get exploited if you don't do them the correct way and teams find those and they make you pay. "And a lot of the things, as I talked to our guys about, are things that we can control." Jacksonville (2-9), sitting at the bottom of the AFC South, is coming off a humiliating 52-6 loss to the Detroit Lions. It marked the fourth straight setback for the Jaguars, who had dropped their previous three games by a combined 13 points. Jaguars coach Doug Pederson noted that changes are coming, although he opted not to show his cards. "I'm not going to get into the whole details of things, but there are things in the run game that we have to get back to," Pederson said. "Even in the passing game, tweaking some things there. There are things that can, hopefully, help our production over the last six weeks." One of those things could be the return of starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who has not played since Nov. 3 due to a left shoulder injury. Lawrence was a limited participant during practice on Wednesday, with Pederson telling reporters Monday that the signal-caller's status for Sunday would be determined as the week progresses. Pederson has also had his eye on Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud, who has run into some struggles during his sophomore season. Stroud has thrown nine interceptions in 12 games (all starts) after throwing only five as a rookie. He was picked off twice in the 32-27 setback against Tennessee, also throwing for 247 yards and two touchdowns on 20-for-33 passing. Pederson still believes the 23-year-old can hurt the Jaguars, though. "Playing the quarterback position is hard," Pederson said. "I don't know everything that goes on down there. I'm sure there's been injury, guys have missed (time). He's missed his playmakers from time to time. And then there's the film. There's the film out there." The Texans have lost three of their past four games and four of their past six as defenses continue to solve Stroud. Defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. (ankle) and Denico Autry (knee) were among those who didn't practice for Houston on Wednesday, and safety Jalen Pitre is expected to miss several weeks because of a shoulder injury. Linebacker Yasir Abdullah (hamstring) was the only Jaguar to miss practice on Wednesday. Cornerback Tyson Campbell (shoulder) joined Lawrence as limited. Sunday marks the second meeting of the season between the teams. The Texans topped Jacksonville 24-20 back on Sept. 29. --Field Level Media

A mix of easing global geopolitical tensions, post-election bullish momentum and favorable seasonal trends propelled major U.S. stock indices to new record heights during Monday morning trading, marking what could be another historic session on Wall Street. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to all-time records, hitting intraday highs of 6,020 and 44,815 points, respectively, before paring back some gains. Yet, the small-cap Russell 2000 index stole the spotlight, up 1.4% and reaching an all-time high for the first time since November 2021. Investors cheered President-elect Donald Trump 's nomination of hedge fund manager Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary, betting his Wall Street experience could steer fiscal policies toward a pro-market direction . Meanwhile, the barometer of geopolitical fears eased as Israel and Lebanon agreed to a framework for ending the Israel-Hezbollah conflict . While the deal still requires approval from Israel’s Security Cabinet, traders embraced the news, which sent ripples through commodity markets. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude tumbled 2.7%, falling below $70 per barrel, erasing Friday’s gains. Gold plummeted over 3%, marking one of its worst sessions in 2024, as safe-haven demand receded. Bucking the trend, natural gas prices soared 8%, driven by reports that Trump's team is preparing to end Biden's freeze on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. U.S. Treasury yields plunged as optimism around Bessent's nomination suggested a potential curb on unchecked deficit spending. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell more than 10 basis points to 4.29%, dragging the U.S. dollar down 0.6%. While traditional equities rallied, the risk-on sentiment did not extend to cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin BTC/USD dropped 3% to around $95,000, further distancing itself from the highly anticipated $100,000 milestone. Major Indices Price 1-day % chg . Russell 2000 2,439.45 1.4% Dow Jones 44,565.41 0.6% S&P 500 5,974.05 0.1% Nasdaq 100 20,745.11 -0.1% According to Benzinga Pro data: The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY edged 0.1% higher to $596.04, eyeing the sixth straight session of gains. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.6% to $445.93. The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ inched 0.065% up to $506.12. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rallied 1.5% to $242.71. The Consumer Discretionary Sector Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY outperformed, rising 1.2%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE lagged, down 1.6%. Bath & Body Works Inc. BBWI rallied 14.5% in reaction to better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Macy’s Inc . M fell over 3% after the company announced that a former employee allegedly concealed between $132 million and $154 million in delivery expenses from the fiscal fourth quarter of 2021 through the most recent quarter ending Nov. 2 . As a result, it has postponed its earnings release and conference call to as late as Dec. 11 to allow time for an independent audit. Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN soared 13%, after Volkswagen announced to boost its initial investment by an additional $800 million to $5.8 billion. Read Now: ‘It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year’ For The Stock Market, History Says Photo: Shutterstock © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Scott Farquhar sells $2.08 million in Atlassian stock