Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) signaled she is more open to backing Pete Hegseth ’s nomination to become secretary of defense following a second meeting with him on Monday. “Following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women — based on quality and standards, not quotas — and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks,” Ernst wrote in a statement , released shortly after her 30-minute talk with Hegseth. “As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources,” she added, leaving her decision open-ended. Asked for clarity on whether Ernst will be voting for Hegseth, her office declined to elaborate further on her statement. Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran, has been in political survival mode amid allegations of excessive drinking and the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of sexual assault . Hegseth denies the allegations. “It was a very productive meeting, and I think we are moving through the process — but he does respect that I am taking the time to spend with him,” Ernst said, getting into an elevator. The Iowa senator, a combat veteran who has been vocal about being sexually assaulted, has been under pressure from some of President-elect Donald Trump ’s MAGA loyalists who have threatened to mount a primary challenge against her if she tanks Hegseth's nomination. . @hegseth emerges from a second meeting with Sen. Ernst calling it a “very good meeting.” He said he’s known her for 10 years, “the more we talk, the more we are reminded that we are two combat veterans and we are dedicated to defense.” pic.twitter.com/xkEoKdoiCH — Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) Hegseth emerged from Ernst's Senate office on Monday, calling it “a very good meeting with the senator” and emphasizing he has known her for 10 years. “The more we talk, the more we are reminded that we are two combat veterans who are dedicated to defense,” Hegseth said. Last week, the Trump transition team was reportedly weighing possible replacements for Hegseth, which included Ernst and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). However, Hegseth’s pursuit to lead the Department of Defense continued despite a rough few days of interviews with senators on Capitol Hill last week. Over the weekend, Ernst commented on Hegseth’s nomination at a security conference in California. ”I am a survivor of sexual assault,” Ernst, who has been an outspoken advocate of preventing military sexual assault and has sponsored bipartisan legislation to hold perpetrators accountable, told the audience. “I’ve worked very heavily on sexual assault measures within the military. So I’d like to hear a lot more about that,” she said in comments reported by the Associated Press. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Trump can only afford three defections within the Senate Republican Conference to get his picks confirmed, as the GOP will hold a 53-seat majority come January. Other possible defections include Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), who are set to meet with Hegseth this week. Both senators suggested they have many questions and concerns about the nominee and the allegations against him.California to consider requiring mental health warnings on social media sites

WASHINGTON — China is expanding its nuclear force, has increased military pressure against Taiwan and has strengthened its ties with Russia over the past year, according to a Pentagon report Wednesday that details actions accelerating key areas of conflict with the United States. The report, however, also notes that the recent rash of corruption allegations within China's powerful Central Military Commission, which oversees the People's Liberation Army, is hurting Beijing's military growth and could slow its campaign to modernize. The impact, said a senior defense official, is a bit of a mixed bag because while there has been progress in some programs, China has slid back in others. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the U.S. assessment, warned that Beijing is working toward developing a more diverse and technologically sophisticated nuclear force. While the expected number of nuclear warheads has maintained consistent growth, China is broadening its targeting abilities. Beijing is going to be able to go after more and different types of targets, do greater damage and have more options for multiple rounds of counterstrikes, the official said. The U.S. is urging China to be more transparent about its nuclear program, while also warning that America will defend its allies and take appropriate steps in response. According to the report, which provides the annual U.S. assessment of China's military power and is required by Congress, China had more than 600 operational nuclear warheads as of May, and the U.S. expects it will have more than 1,000 by 2030. The Chinese Embassy, in response, said China has always "firmly adhered to a nuclear strategy of self-defense," follows the no-first-use nuclear policy and maintains its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for national security. Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesman, said such annual reports by the Pentagon are "filled with 'Cold-War' thinking and zero-sum game mentality, which China firmly opposes." The Biden administration has worked to maintain a balance with China, building up the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region to be ready to counter Beijing while also encouraging increased communications between the two countries at the diplomatic and military levels. That uptick in talks has coincided with a decrease in coercive and risky intercepts of U.S. aircraft since late 2023, compared with the previous two years. China still, however, does what the U.S. military considers "unsafe" flights near American and allied forces in the region. The Pentagon's national defense strategy is built around China being the greatest security challenge for the U.S., and the threat from Beijing influences how the U.S. military is equipped and organized for the future. The corruption within the PLA has resulted in at least 15 high-ranking officials being ousted in a major shakeup of China's defense establishment. "This wave of corruption touches every service in the PLA, and it may have shaken Beijing's confidence," the report said. In June, China announced that former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor, Wei Fenghe, were expelled from the ruling Communist Party and accused of corruption. Last month, another senior official, Miao Hua, was suspended and put under investigation, according to China's Defense Ministry. The U.S. report points to a persistent increased military presence by China around Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own. It said China's navy has been in the region more and that there have been increased crossings into the island's air defense identification zone and major military exercises in the area. Just last week, a large deployment of Chinese navy and coast guard vessels in the waters around Taiwan triggered alarm as Taiwanese officials said it looked like China was simulating a blockade. Officials have said there were as many as 90 ships involved in what Taiwan described as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. Taiwan split from communist China in 1949 and has rejected Beijing's demands that it accept unification. China says it will do so by force if necessary, and leaders have said they want to be ready to do so by 2027. Beijing also has demanded that Washington not interfere with the Taiwan issue, citing that it is an internal matter. The United States is obligated under domestic law to help defend Taiwan and give it weapons and technology to deter invasion. The island democracy has been the chief source of tension between Washington and Beijing for decades and is widely seen as the most likely trigger for a potentially catastrophic U.S.-China war. More broadly, the report concluded that the PLA continued its drive to develop greater military capabilities but "made uneven progress toward its 2027" milestone for modernization. One area of expansion, the report said, is with unmanned aerial systems, which officials said are "quickly approaching U.S. standards." Regarding Russia, the report said China has supported Russia's war against Ukraine and sold Russia dual-use items that Moscow's military industry relies on. Dual use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.December 18, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by Max Planck Society Astronomers have discovered an important piece of the puzzle of how supermassive black holes were able to grow so quickly in the early universe: a special kind of active galactic nucleus so distant that its light has taken more than 12.9 billion years to reach us. This so-called blazar serves as a statistical marker: its existence implies the presence of a large but hidden population of similar objects, all of which should emit powerful particle jets. This is where the discovery becomes important for cosmic evolution: black holes with jets are thought to be able to grow considerably more quickly than without jets. The research appears in a paper published in Nature Astronomy and another in The Astrophysical Journal Letters . Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are extremely bright centers of galaxies. The engines driving their enormous energy output are supermassive black holes. Matter falling onto such black holes (accretion) is the most efficient mechanism known to physics when it comes to setting free enormous amounts of energy. That unmatched efficiency is why AGN are able to produce more light than all the stars in hundreds, thousands—or even more—of galaxies put together and in a volume of space smaller than our own solar system. At least 10% of all AGN are thought to emit focused high-energy beams of particles, known as jets. These jets shoot out from the direct vicinity of the black hole in two opposite directions, sustained and guided by magnetic fields in the "accretion disk" of material: the disk formed by gas swirling around, and falling into, the black hole. For us to see an AGN as a blazar, something very improbable needs to happen: Earth, our base of observations, must be in just the right location for the AGN jet to point directly toward us. The result is the astronomical analog of someone shining the beam of a really bright flashlight directly into your eyes: a particularly bright object in the sky. Characteristically for a blazar, we also see quick changes in brightness on time scales of days, hours, or even less than that—a consequence of random changes in the swirling accretion disk at the base of the jet and of instabilities in the jet's interplay between magnetic fields and charged particles. Finding active galactic nuclei in the very early universe The new discovery was the result of a systematic search for active galactic nuclei in the early universe conducted by Eduardo Bañados, a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy who specializes in the first billion years of cosmic history, and an international team of astronomers. Since light takes time to reach us, we see distant objects as they were millions or even billions of years ago. For the more distant objects, the so-called cosmological redshift, due to cosmic expansion, shifts their light to far longer wavelengths than the wavelengths at which the light was emitted. Bañados and his team exploited this fact, searching systematically for objects that were redshifted so far that they did not even show up in the usual visible light (of the Dark Energy Legacy Survey, in this case) but that were bright sources in a radio survey (the 3 GHz VLASS survey). Among 20 candidates that met both criteria, only one designated J0410–0139 met the additional criterion of showing significant brightness fluctuations in the radio regime—raising the possibility that this was a blazar. The researchers then dug deeper, employing an unusually large battery of telescopes, including near-infrared observations with ESO's New Technology Telescope (NTT), a spectrum with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), additional near-infrared spectra with the LBT, one of the Keck telescopes and the Magellan telescope, X-ray images from both ESA's XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra space telescopes, millimeter wave observations with the ALMA and NOEMA arrays, and more detailed radio observations with the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory's VLA telescopes to confirm the object's status as an AGN, and specifically a blazar. The observations also yielded the distance of the AGN (via the redshift) and even found traces of the host galaxy in which the AGN is embedded. Light from that active galactic nucleus has taken 12.9 billion years to reach us (z=6.9964), carrying information about the universe as it was 12.9 billion years ago. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matter— daily or weekly . 'Where there is one, there's one hundred more' According to Bañados, "The fact that J0410–0139 is a blazar, a jet that by chance happens to point directly towards Earth, has immediate statistical implications. As a real-life analogy, imagine that you read about someone who has won $100 million in a lottery. Given how rare such a win is, you can immediately deduce that there must have been many more people who participated in that lottery but have not won such an exorbitant amount. "Similarly, finding one AGN with a jet pointing directly towards us implies that at that time, there must have been many AGN in that period of cosmic history with jets that did not point at us." Long story short, in the words of Silvia Belladitta, a post-doc at MPIA and co-author of the present publication, "Where there is one, there's one hundred more." Light from the previous record-holder for the most distant blazar has taken about 100 million years less to reach us (z=6.1). The extra 100 million years might seem short in light of the fact we are looking back more than 12 billion years, but they make a crucial difference. This is a time when the universe is changing rapidly. In those 100 million years, a supermassive black hole can increase its mass by an order of magnitude. Based on current models, the number of AGN should have increased by a factor of five to ten during those 100 million years. Finding that there was such a blazar 12.8 billion years ago would not be unexpected. Finding that there was such a blazar 12.9 billion years ago, as in this case, is a different matter altogether. Helping black holes grow since 12.9 billion years ago The presence of a whole population of AGN with jets at that particular early time has significant implications for cosmic history and the growth of supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies in general. Black holes whose AGN have jets can potentially gain mass faster than black holes without jets. Contrary to popular belief, it is difficult for gas to fall into a black hole. The natural thing for gas to do is to orbit the black hole, similar to the way a planet orbits the sun, with increased speed as the gas gets closer to the black hole ("angular momentum conservation"). In order to fall in, the gas needs to slow down and lose energy. The magnetic fields associated with the particle jet, which interact with the swirling disk of gas, can provide such a "braking mechanism" and help the gas to fall in. This means the consequences of the new discovery are likely to become a building block of any future model of black-hole growth in the early universe : they imply the existence of an abundance of active galactic nuclei 12.9 billion years ago that had jets, and thus had the associated magnetic fields that can help black holes grow at considerable speed. More information: Eduardo Bañados et al, A blazar in the epoch of reionization, Nature Astronomy (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-024-02431-4 Eduardo Bañados et al, [C ii] Properties and Far-infrared Variability of a z = 7 Blazar, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2024). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad823b Journal information: Nature Astronomy , Astrophysical Journal Letters Provided by Max Planck SocietyInvestor Warren Buffett renewed his Thanksgiving tradition of giving by handing out more than $1.1 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to four of his family's foundations Monday, and he offered new details about who will be handing out the rest of his fortune after his death. Buffett has said previously that his three kids will distribute his remaining $147.4 billion fortune in the 10 years after his death, but now he has also designated successors for them because it's possible that Buffett's children could die before giving it all away. He didn't identify the successors, but said his kids all know them and agree they would be good choices. "Father time always wins. But he can be fickle – indeed unfair and even cruel – sometimes ending life at birth or soon thereafter while, at other times, waiting a century or so before paying a visit," the 94-year-old Buffett said in a letter to his fellow shareholders Monday. "To date, I've been very lucky, but, before long, he will get around to me. There is, however, a downside to my good fortune in avoiding his notice. The expected life span of my children has materially diminished since the 2006 pledge. They are now 71, 69 and 66." Buffett said he still has no interest in creating dynastic wealth in his family — a view shared by his first and current wives. He acknowledged giving Howard, Peter and Susie millions over the years, but he has long said he believes "hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing." The secret to building up such massive wealth over time has been the power of compounding interest and the steady growth of the Berkshire conglomerate Buffett leads through acquisitions and smart investments like buying billions of dollars of Apple shares as iPhone sales continued to drive growth in that company. Buffett never sold any of his Berkshire stock over the years and also resisted the trappings of wealth and never indulged in much — preferring instead to continue living in the same Omaha home he'd bought decades earlier and drive sensible luxury sedans about 20 blocks to work each day. "As a family, we have had everything we needed or simply liked, but we have not sought enjoyment from the fact that others craved what we had," he said. If Buffett and his first wife had never given away any of their Berkshire shares, the family's fortune would be worth nearly $364 billion — easily making him the world's richest man — but Buffett said he had no regrets about his giving over the years. The family's giving began in earnest with the distribution of Susan Buffett's $3 billion estate after her death in 2004, but really took off when Warren Buffett announced plans in 2006 to make annual gifts to the foundations run by his kids along with the one he and his wife started, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Warren Buffett's giving to date has favored the Gates Foundation with $55 billion in stock because his friend Bill Gates already had his foundation set up and could handle huge gifts when Buffett started giving away his fortune. But Buffett has said his kids now have enough experience in philanthropy to handle the task and he plans to cut off his Gates Foundation donations after his death. Buffett always makes his main annual gifts to all five foundations every summer, but for several years now he has been giving additional Berkshire shares to his family's foundations at Thanksgiving. Buffett reiterated Monday his advice to every parent to allow their families to read their will while they are still alive — like he has done — to make sure they have a chance to explain their decisions about how to distribute their belongings and answer their children's questions. Buffett said he and his longtime investing partner Charlie Munger, who died a year ago, "saw many families driven apart after the posthumous dictates of the will left beneficiaries confused and sometimes angry." Today, Buffett continues to lead Berkshire Hathaway as chairman and CEO and has no plans to retire although he has handed over most of the day-to-day managing duties for the conglomerates dozens of companies to others. That allows him to focus on his favorite activity of deciding where to invest Berkshire's billions. One of Buffett's deputies who oversees all the noninsurance companies now, Greg Abel, is set to take over as CEO after Buffett's death. Even after converting 1,600 Class A shares into 2.4 million Class B Berkshire shares and giving them away, Buffett still owns 206,363 Class A shares and controls more than 30% of the vote.More NASA Science, Tech will Fly to Moon Aboard Future Firefly Flight

Boston, MA, Dec. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MiniLuxe Holding Corp. (the "Company") (TSXV: MNLX) today announces that as part of its standard disclosures, the Company has granted 1,103,269 options (against ~145M fully diluted shares) to certain leadership team members of the Company as part of its ongoing incentive program to award equity of options in lieu of cash compensation. The average strike price for these options is .36 CDN reflecting the price of MNLX at the time cash compensation was forgone by employees. In certain cases of senior leadership, equity-based options make up to 30 to 100 percent of an executive’s base salary compensation. Any new option awards continue to draw from the existing employee incentive pool with no net new incremental dilution to shareholders. There was delay in the formal announcement and grant of the options given that the Company was waiting for options to be returned to the pool to avoid any shareholder dilution that might come from an expansion of the pool. The options are subject to a 1-year cliff vesting schedule and are exercisable for subordinate voting shares of the Company for a period of 10 years following the date of grant. About MiniLuxe MiniLuxe , a Delaware corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. MiniLuxe is a lifestyle brand and talent empowerment platform servicing the beauty and self-care industry. The Company focuses on delivering high-quality nail care and esthetic services and offers a suite of trusted proprietary products that are used in the Company’s owned-and-operated studio services. For over a decade, MiniLuxe has been elevating industry standards through healthier, ultra-hygienic services, a modern design esthetic, socially responsible labor practices, and better-for-you, cleaner products. MiniLuxe aims to radically transform a highly fragmented and under-regulated self-care and nail care industry through its brand, standards, and technology platform that collectively enable better talent and client experiences. In addition to creating long-term durable economic returns for stakeholders, MiniLuxe is expanding its reach through franchising, offering entrepreneurs the opportunity to partner with a brand recognized as the best nail salon franchise . MiniLuxe seeks to empower one of the most diverse and largest hourly worker segments through professional development, economic mobility, and ownership opportunities. For its clients, MiniLuxe offers best-in-class self-care services and better-for-you products, and for nail care and beauty professionals, MiniLuxe seeks to become the employer of choice. Since its inception, MiniLuxe has performed over 4 million services. For further information Christine Mastrangelo ‎Investor Relations, MiniLuxe Holding Corp. ‎ cmastrangelo@MiniLuxe.com ‎MiniLuxe.com

ROME -- Robert Lewandowski joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the only players in Champions League history with 100 or more goals. But Erling Haaland is on a faster pace than anyone by boosting his total to 46 goals at age 24 on Tuesday. Still, Haaland's brace wasn't enough for Manchester City in a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord that extended the Premier League champion's winless streak to six matches. Lewandowski’s early penalty kick started Barcelona off to a 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Brest to move into second place in the new single-league format. The Poland striker added goal No. 101 in second-half stoppage time. Ronaldo leads the all-time scoring list with 140 goals and Messi is next with 129. But neither Ronaldo nor Messi play in the Champions League anymore following moves to Saudi Arabia and the United States, respectively. “It’s a nice number,” Lewandowski said. “In the past I didn’t think I could score more than 100 goals in the Champions League. I’m in good company alongside Cristiano and Messi.” The 36-year-old Lewandowski required 125 matches to reach the century mark, two more than Messi (123) and 12 fewer than Ronaldo (137). Barcelona also got a second-half score from Dani Olmo. The top eight finishers in the standings advance directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into a knockout playoffs round in February, while the bottom 12 teams are eliminated. Haaland converted a first-half penalty to eclipse Messi as the youngest player to reach 45 goals then scored City's third after the break to raise his total to 46 goals in 44 games. Ilkay Gundogan had City's second. But then Feyenoord struck back with goals from Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko. Inter Milan beat Leipzig 1-0 with an own goal to move atop the standings with 13 points, one more than Barcelona and Liverpool, which faces Real Madrid on Wednesday. The Serie A champion is the only club that hasn't conceded a goal. Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 — the same score from the 2020 final between the two teams. PSG ended with 10 men and remained in the elimination zone. The French powerhouse has struggled in Europe after Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid. Kim Min-jae’s first-half header was enough for Bayern, especially after Ousmane Dembelé was sent off in the 56th with his second yellow. Atalanta moved within two points of the lead with a 6-1 win at Young Boys. Charles De Ketelaere scored two and assisted on three other goals for Atalanta. Also, Arsenal kept red-hot striker Viktor Gyokeres quiet in a 5-1 win over Sporting Lisbon; and Germany star Florian Wirtz scored two goals and was involved in two more as Bayer Leverkusen boosted its chances of finishing in the top eight with a 5-0 rout of Salzburg. AC Milan followed up its win at Real Madrid with a 3-2 victory at last-place Slovan Bratislava in an early match. Christian Pulisic put the seven-time champion ahead midway through the first half by finishing off a counterattack. Then Rafael Leao restored the Rossoneri’s advantage after Tigran Barseghyan had equalized for Bratislava and Tammy Abraham quickly added another. Nino Marcelli scored with a long-range strike in the 88th for Bratislava, which ended with 10 men. Bratislava has lost all five of its matches. Argentina World Cup winner Julian Alvarez scored twice and Atletico Madrid routed Sparta Prague 6-0 in the other early game. Alvarez scored with a free kick 15 minutes in and Marcos Llorente added a long-range strike before the break. Alvarez finished off a counterattack early in the second half after being set up by substitute Antoine Griezmann, who then marked his 100th Champions League game by getting on the scoresheet himself. Angel Correa added a late brace for Atletico, which earned its biggest away win in Europe. Atletico beat Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round and extended its winning streak across all competitions to six matches. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerIsrael has agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon that will take effect at 4 a.m. Wednesday. Moments after U.S. President Joe Biden announced the ceasefire deal , which Israel's Cabinet approved late Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike slammed into the Lebanese capital. Residents of Beirut and its southern suburbs have endured the most intense day of Israeli strikes since the war began nearly 14 months ago, as Israel signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah before the ceasefire is set to take hold. At least 24 people have killed by Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to local authorities. Hezbollah also fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday, triggering air raid sirens across the country’s north. An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza. Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after Hamas’ attack. The fighting in Lebanon escalated into all-out war in September with massive Israeli airstrikes across the country and an Israeli ground invasion of the south. In Gaza, more than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 wounded in the nearly 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Here's the Latest: WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s senior national security team was briefed by the Biden administration as negotiations unfolded, according to the senior U.S. official. The official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity in a White House-organized call, added that the incoming Trump administration officials were not directly involved in the talks, but that it was important that the incoming administration knew “what we were negotiating and what the commitments were.” The official said “all fire will stop from all parties” at 4 a.m. local time. The next step would be what the official described as a “phased withdrawal” by the Israeli military. As the Israelis pull back, Lebanese national forces will occupy the territories. The process is slated to finish within 60 days. Lebanese forces is supposed to patrol the area and remove Hezbollah weaponry and infrastructure there. “Hezbollah is incredibly weak at this moment, both militarily and politically,” the official said. “And this is the opportunity for Lebanon to re-establish its sovereignty over its territory.” The official said the ceasefire agreement will strengthen what’s known as the “tripartite mechanism” by including the United States and France. The goal is to address violations of the ceasefire without a return to hostilities. UNITED NATIONS – The top U.N. envoy for Lebanon welcomed the ceasefire announcement and urged Israel and Hezbollah militants to take concrete actions to fully implement the 2006 agreement that ended their last war. U.N. Special Coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said the agreement “marks the starting point of a critical process” that must see both sides fully implement U.N. Security Council resolution 1701. It called for the deployment of Lebanese armed forces in the south bordering Israel and the disarmament of all armed groups including Hezbollah – neither of which has happened in the past 17 years. “Nothing less than the full and unwavering commitment of both parties is required,” Hennis-Plasschaert said. “Neither side can afford another period of disingenuous implementation under the guise of ostensible calm.” She commended the parties for “seizing the opportunity to close this devastating chapter,” stressing that “Now is the time to deliver, through concrete actions, to consolidate today’s achievement.” UNITED NATIONS — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for urgent international intervention to stop what he described as “an ongoing genocidal war” in Gaza. Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but not Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas. The U.S. and others want a reinvigorated Palestinian Authority to run Gaza when the war ends. In a speech on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Abbas accused Israel of repeating what happened to the Palestinians in 1948 and 1967 – displacing them and seizing their land and resources. Abbas demanded to know how long the world will remain silent and refuse to compel Israel to abide by international law. The speech to U.N. member nations was read by Palestinian U.N. ambassador Riyad Mansour. “The only way to halt the halt the dangerous escalation we are witnessing in the region, and maintain regional and international stability, security and peace, is to resolve the question of Palestine,” Abbas' speech said. This must be done in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolutions which call for a two-state solution, he said. BEIRUT -- Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah, describing it as a crucial step toward stability, the return of displaced people to their homes and regional calm. Mikati made these comments in a statement issued just after U.S. President Joe announced the truce deal. Mikati said he discussed the ceasefire agreement with Biden by phone earlier Tuesday. The prime minister reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to implementing U.N. resolution 1701, strengthening the Lebanese army’s presence in the south, and cooperating with the U.N. peacekeeping force. He also called on Israel to fully comply with the ceasefire and withdraw from southern Lebanon in accordance the U.N. resolution. JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet has approved a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, clearing the way for the truce to take effect. Netanyahu’s office said the plan was approved by a 10-1 margin. The late-night vote came shortly before President Joe Biden was expected to announced details of the deal in Washington. Earlier, Netanyahu defended the ceasefire, saying Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah and could now focus its efforts on Hamas militants in Gaza and his top security concern, Iran. Netanyahu vowed to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the expected deal. WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump’s designate to be national security adviser, credited Trump’s victory with helping bring the parties together toward a ceasefire in Lebanon. “Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” he said in a post on X on Tuesday. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East.” He added: “But let’s be clear: The Iran Regime is the root cause of the chaos & terror that has been unleashed across the region. We will not tolerate the status quo of their support for terrorism.” BEIRUT — Israeli jets targeted a building in a bustling commercial area of Beirut for the first time since the start of the 13-month war between Hezbollah and Israel. The strike on Hamra is around 400 meters (yards) from the country’s central bank. A separate strike hit the Mar Elias neighborhood in the country’s capital Tuesday. There was no immediate word on casualties from either strike, part of the biggest wave of attacks on the capital since the war started. Residents in central Beirut were seen fleeing after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for four targets in the city. Meanwhile, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes on at least 30 targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs Tuesday, including two strikes in the Jnah neighborhood near the Kuwaiti Embassy. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that 13 people were injured in the strikes on the southern suburbs. BEIRUT — Hezbollah has said it accepts the ceasefire proposal with Israel, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state.” of Lebanon, he said. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Among the issues that may remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal. The deal seeks to push Hezbollah and Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his Cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people. The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal. In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting. Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending. BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state media said Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed at least 10 people in Baalbek province the country’s east. At least three people were killed in the southern city of Tyre when Israel bombed a Palestinian refugee camp, said Mohammed Bikai, a representative of the Fatah group in the area. He said several more people were missing and at least three children were among the wounded. He said the sites struck inside the camp were “completely civilian places” and included a kitchen that was being used to cook food for displaced people. JERUSALEM — Dozens of Israeli protesters took to a major highway in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening to call for the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, as the country awaited news of a potential ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. Protesters chanted “We are all hostages,” and “Deal now!” waving signs with faces of some of the roughly 100 hostages believed to be still held in Gaza, at least a third of whom are thought to be dead. Most of the other hostages Hamas captured in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack were released during a ceasefire last year. The prospect of a ceasefire deal in Lebanon has raised desperation among the relatives of captives still held in Gaza, who once hoped that the release of hostages from Gaza would be included. Instead of a comprehensive deal, the ceasefire on the table is instead narrowly confined to Lebanon. Dozens of Israelis were also demonstrating against the expected cease-fire, gathering outside Israel’s military headquarters in central Tel Aviv. One of the protesters, Yair Ansbacher, says the deal is merely a return to the failed 2006 U.N. resolution that was meant to uproot Hezbollah from the area. “Of course that didn’t happen,” he says. “This agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.” FIUGGI, Italy — Foreign ministers from the world’s industrialized countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region. At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn’t refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity . Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official meeting agenda, even though the G7 was split on the issue. The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a signatory to the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.” However, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said all the other G7 countries were signatories and therefore obliged to respect the warrants. In the end, the final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.” And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.” It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the State of Israel.” The ICC warrants say there's reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny. BEIRUT — An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city’s downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded in Beirut, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. It was not immediately clear if anyone in particular was targeted, though Israel says its airstrikes target Hezbollah officials and assets. The Israeli military spokesman issued a flurry of evacuation warnings for many areas, including areas in Beirut that have not been targeted throughout the war, like the capital’s commercial Hamra district, where many people displaced by the war have been staying. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks in Lebanon during the final hours before a ceasefire is reached, sparked panic and sent residents fleeing in their cars to safer areas. In areas close to Hamra, families including women and children were seen running away toward the Mediterranean Sea’s beaches carrying their belongings. Traffic was completely gridlocked as people tried to get away, honking their car horns as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead. The Israeli military also issued warnings for 20 more buildings in Beirut’s suburbs to evacuate before they too were struck — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah in the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. TEL AVIV, Israel — The independent civilian commission of inquiry into the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel has found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly responsible for the failures leading up to the attack, alongside former defense ministers, the army chief and the heads of the security services. The civil commission presented its findings today after a four-month probe in which it heard some 120 witnesses. It was set up by relatives of victims of the Hamas attack, in response to the absence of any state probe. The commission determined that the Israeli government, its army and security services “failed in their primary mission of protecting the citizens of Israel.” It said Netanyahu was responsible for ignoring “repeated warnings” ahead of Oct. 7, 2023 for what it described as his appeasing approach over the years toward Hamas, and for “undermining all decision-making centers, including the cabinet and the National Security Council, in a way that prevented any serious discussion” on security issues. The commission further determined that the military and defense leaders bear blame for ignoring warnings from within the army, and for reducing the army’s presence along the Gaza border while relying excessively on technological means. On the day of the Hamas attack, the report says, the army’s response was both slow and lacking. The civil commission called for the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack. Netanyahu has opposed launching a state commission of inquiry, arguing that such an investigation should begin only once the war is over. JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military says its ground troops have reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River — a focal point of the emerging ceasefire. In a statement Tuesday, the army said it had reached the Wadi Slouqi area in southern Lebanon and clashed with Hezbollah forces. Under a proposed ceasefire, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Israeli border. The military says the clashes with Hezbollah took place on the eastern end of the Litani, just a few kilometers (miles) from the border. It is one of the deepest places Israeli forces have reached in a nearly two-month ground operation. The military says soldiers destroyed rocket launchers and missiles and engaged in “close-quarters combat” with Hezbollah forces. The announcement came hours before Israel’s security Cabinet is expected to approve a ceasefire that would end nearly 14 months of fighting. BEIRUT — Israeli jets Tuesday struck at least six buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs Tuesday, including one that slammed near the country’s only airport. Large plumes of smoke could be seen around the airport near the Mediterranean coast, which has continued to function despite its location beside the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah’s operations are based. The strikes come hours before Israel’s cabinet was scheduled to meet to discuss a proposal to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The proposal calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River. There were no immediate reports of casualties from Tuesday’s airstrikes. FIUGGI, Italy — EU top diplomat Josep Borrell, whose term ends Dec. 1, said he proposed to the G7 and Arab ministers who joined in talks on Monday that the U.N. Security Council take up a resolution specifically demanding humanitarian assistance reach Palestinians in Gaza, saying deliveries have been completely impeded. “The two-state solution will come later. Everything will come later. But we are talking about weeks or days,” for desperate Palestinians, he said. “Hunger has been used as an arm against people who are completely abandoned.” It was a reference to the main accusation levelled by the International Criminal Court in its arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister. Borrell said the signatories to the court, including six of the seven G7 members, are obliged under international law to respect and implement the court’s decisions. Host Italy put the ICC warrants on the G7 agenda at the last minute, but there was no consensus on the wording of how the G7 would respond given the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, has called the warrants “outrageous.” Italy, too, has said it respects the court but expressed concern that the warrants were politically motivated and ill-advised given Netanyahu is necessary for any deal to end the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. “Like it or not, the International Criminal Court is a court as powerful as any national court,” Borrell said. “And if the Europeans don’t support International Criminal Court then there would not be any hope for justice,” he said. Borrell, whose term ends Dec. 1, said he proposed to the G7 and Arab ministers who joined in talks on Monday that the U.N. Security Council take up a resolution specifically demanding humanitarian assistance reach Palestinians in Gaza, saying deliveries have been completely impeded. “The two-state solution will come later. Everything will come later. But we are talking about weeks or days,” for desperate Palestinians, he said. “Hunger has been used as an arm against people who are completely abandoned.” It was a reference to the main accusation levelled by the International Criminal Court in its arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister. Borrell said the signatories to the court, including six of the seven G7 members, are obliged under international law to respect and implement the court’s decisions. Host Italy put the ICC warrants on the G7 agenda at the last minute, but there was no consensus on the wording of how the G7 would respond given the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, has called the warrants “outrageous.” Italy, too, has said it respects the court but expressed concern that the warrants were politically motivated and ill-advised given Netanyahu is necessary for any deal to end the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. “Like it or not, the International Criminal Court is a court as powerful as any national court,” Borrell said. “And if the Europeans don’t support International Criminal Court then there would not be any hope for justice,” he said. (edited)

MELVILLE, N.Y. and DAVIDSON, N.C. , Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MSC Industrial Supply Co. (NYSE: MSM) , a premier distributor of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) products and services to industrial customers throughout North America , today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.85 per share. The $0.85 dividend is payable on January 29, 2025 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 15, 2025 . Contact Information Investors: Media: Ryan Mills, CFA Zivanai Mutize Head of Investor Relations Head of Corporate Communications Rmills@mscdirect.com Zivanai.mutize@mscdirect.com About MSC Industrial Supply Co. MSC Industrial Supply Co. (NYSE:MSM) is a leading North American distributor of a broad range of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services. We help our customers drive greater productivity, profitability and growth with approximately 2.4 million products, inventory management and other supply chain solutions, and deep expertise from more than 80 years of working with customers across industries. Our experienced team of more than 7,000 associates works with our customers to help drive results for their businesses - from keeping operations running efficiently today to continuously rethinking, retooling and optimizing for a more productive tomorrow. For more information on MSC Industrial, please visit mscdirect.com . Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that MSC expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including statements about results of operations and financial condition, expected future results, expected benefits from our investment and strategic plans and other initiatives, and expected future growth, profitability and return on invested capital, are forward-looking statements. The words "will," "may," "believes," "anticipates," "thinks," "expects," "estimates," "plans," "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. In addition, statements which refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, statements involving a discussion of strategy, plans or intentions, statements about management's assumptions, projections or predictions of future events or market outlook and any other statement other than a statement of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. The inclusion of any statement in this press release does not constitute an admission by MSC or any other person that the events or circumstances described in such statement are material. In addition, new risks may emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict such risks or to assess the impact of such risks on our business or financial results. Accordingly, future results may differ materially from historical results or from those discussed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, the reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions in the markets in which we operate; changing customer and product mixes; volatility in commodity, energy and labor prices, and the impact of prolonged periods of low, high or rapid inflation; competition, including the adoption by competitors of aggressive pricing strategies or sales methods; industry consolidation and other changes in the industrial distribution sector; the applicability of laws and regulations relating to our status as a supplier to the U.S. government and public sector; the credit risk of our customers; our ability to accurately forecast customer demands; customer cancellations or rescheduling of orders; interruptions in our ability to make deliveries to customers; supply chain disruptions; our ability to attract and retain sales and customer service personnel; the risk of loss of key suppliers or contractors or key brands; changes to trade policies or trade relationships; risks associated with opening or expanding our customer fulfillment centers; our ability to estimate the cost of healthcare claims incurred under our self-insurance plan; interruption of operations at our headquarters or customer fulfillment centers; products liability due to the nature of the products that we sell; impairments of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets; the impact of climate change; operating and financial restrictions imposed by the terms of our material debt instruments; our ability to access additional liquidity; our ability to realize the desired benefits from the reclassification of our Class B Common Stock to Class A Common Stock; the significant influence that our principal shareholders will continue to have over our decisions; our ability to execute on our E-commerce strategies and maintain our digital platforms; costs associated with maintaining our information technology ("IT") systems and complying with data privacy laws; our ability to remediate a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and our disclosure controls and procedures in the future; disruptions or breaches of our IT systems or violations of data privacy laws, including such disruptions or breaches in connection with our E-commerce channels; risks related to online payment methods and other online transactions; the retention of key management personnel; litigation risk due to the nature of our business; failure to comply with environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations; and our ability to comply with, and the costs associated with, social and environmental responsibility policies. Additional information concerning these and other risks is described under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, respectively, and in the other reports and documents that we file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/msc-industrial-supply-co-declares-regular-quarterly-dividend-302335377.html SOURCE MSC Industrial Supply Co.None

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