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Willie Clemons Scores For FelixtoweNEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump used his image as a successful New York businessman to become a celebrity, a reality television star and eventually the president. Now he will get to revel in one of the most visible symbols of success in the city when he rings the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday as he’s also named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Trump is expected to be on Wall Street to mark the ceremonial start of the day’s trading, according to four people with knowledge of his plans. He will also be announced Thursday as Time’s 2024 Person of the Year, according to a person familiar with the selection. The people who confirmed the stock exchange appearance and Time award were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. It will be a notable moment of twin recognitions for Trump, a born-and-bred New Yorker who at times has treated the stock market as a measure of public approval and has long-prized signifiers of his success in New York’s business world and his appearances on the covers of magazines — especially Time. Trump was named the magazine’s Person of the Year in 2016, when he was first elected to the White House. He had already been listed as a finalist for this year’s award alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate, the Princess of Wales. Time declined to confirm the selection ahead of Thursday morning’s announcement. “Time does not comment on its annual choice for Person of the Year prior to publication,” a spokesperson for the magazine said Wednesday. The ringing of the bell is a powerful symbol of U.S. capitalism — and a good New York photo opportunity at that. Despite his decades as a New York businessman, Trump has never done it before. It was unclear whether Trump, a Republican, would meet with New York’s embattled mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, who has warmed to Trump and has not ruled out changing his political party. Adams has been charged with federal corruption crimes and accused of selling influence to foreign nationals; he has denied wrongdoing. Trump himself was once a symbol of New York, but he gave up living full-time in his namesake Trump Tower in Manhattan and moved to Florida after leaving the White House. CNN first reported Wednesday Trump’s visit to the stock exchange and Politico reported that Trump was expected to be unveiled as Time’s Person of the Year. The stock exchange regularly invites celebrities and business leaders to participate in the ceremonial opening and closing of trading. During Trump’s first term, his wife, Melania Trump, rang the bell to promote her “Be Best” initiative on children’s well-being. Last year, Time CEO Jessica Sibley rang the opening bell to unveil the magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year: Taylor Swift. After the Nov. 5 election, the S&P 500 rallied 2.5% for its best day in nearly two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,508 points, or 3.6%, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 3%. All three indexes topped records they had set in recent weeks. The U.S. stock market has historically tended to rise regardless of which party wins the White House, with Democrats scoring bigger average gains since 1945. But Republican control could mean big shifts in the winning and losing industries underneath the surface, and investors are adding to bets built earlier on what the higher tariffs, lower tax rates and lighter regulation that Trump favors will mean. Trump has long courted the business community based on his own status as a wealthy real estate developer who gained additional fame as the star of the TV show “The Apprentice” in which competitors tried to impress him with their business skills. He won the election in part by tapping into Americans’ deep anxieties about an economy that seemed unable to meet the needs of the middle class. The larger business community has applauded his promises to reduce corporate taxes and cut regulations. But there are also concerns about his stated plans to impose broad tariffs and possibly target companies that he sees as not aligning with his own political interests. Trump spends the bulk of his time at his Florida home but was in New York for weeks this spring during his hush money trial there. He was convicted, but his lawyers are pushing for the case to be thrown out in light of his election. While he spent hours in a Manhattan courthouse every day during his criminal trial, Trump took his presidential campaign to the streets of the heavily Democratic city, holding a rally in the Bronx and popping up at settings for working-class New Yorkers: a bodega, a construction site and a firehouse. Trump returned to the city in September to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Manhattan tower and again in the final stretch of the presidential campaign when he held a rally at Madison Square Garden that drew immediate blowback as speakers made rude and racist insults and incendiary remarks. At the stock exchange, the ringing of the bell has been a tradition since the 1800s. The first guest to do it was a 10-year-old boy named Leonard Ross, in 1956, who won a quiz show answering questions about the stock market. Many times, companies listing on the exchange would ring the bell at 9:30 a.m. to commemorate their initial offerings as trading began. But the appearances have become an important marker of culture and politics — something that Trump hopes to seize as he’s promised historic levels of economic growth. The anti-apartheid advocate and South African President Nelson Mandela rang the bell, as has Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone with his castmates from the film “The Expendables.” So, too, have the actors Robert Downey Jr. and Jeremy Renner for an “Avengers” movie and the Olympians Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin. In 1985, Ronald Reagan became the first sitting U.S. president to ring the bell. “With tax reform and budget control, our economy will be free to expand to its full potential, driving the bears back into permanent hibernation,” Reagan said at the time. “We’re going to turn the bull loose.” The crowd of traders on the floor chanted, “Ronnie! Ronnie! Ronnie!” The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed in 1985 and 1986, but it suffered a decline in October 1987 in an event known as “Black Monday.” ___ Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
Luigi Mangione case: Police get closer to ‘motivation and mindset’ in CEO killing
Luxury real estate agents Oren, Tal, and Alon Alexander have been apprehended by federal authorities under sex-trafficking charges, according to an announcement from Manhattan's U.S. Attorney's office. The prominent brothers, associated with the high-profile brokerage 'Official,' allegedly raped numerous women over more than ten years, prosecutors claim. The accusations suggest that the Alexanders exploited their wealth and social standing to lure women with parties, trips, and even concert tickets, before committing the assaults. Arrested in Florida, the brothers now face potential life imprisonment if found guilty. The Manhattan U.S. Attorney emphasized the commitment to prosecuting sex-trafficking cases, irrespective of the defendants' societal position. While a lawyer for Tal Alexander withheld comments, Alon Alexander's legal representative insisted on a not-guilty plea. Oren Alexander's attorney maintained his innocence. Despite stepping down from their roles at Official, the Alexanders continue to contend with serious allegations, both in criminal and civil courts. (With inputs from agencies.)
Hoda Kotb left her Today co-host Jenna Bush Hager momentarily speechless by recalling an unthinkable exchange from before her time at NBC in which an unnamed boss critiqued her weight. On Monday, December 2, the anchors of Today With Hoda and Jenna discussed how Timothee Chalamet has successfully pivoted to action roles after reportedly losing out on previous jobs because of his body type. “I mean, look, sometimes people will tell you things that you’re not right for,” Kotb said. “I still remember had just started working in a small market,” she continued. “And I played basketball in high school so I always assumed I was in shape even though, literally, after college and stuff I wasn’t.” “I still remember my boss going to me, ‘Hey, Hoda,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah?’ He goes, ‘Hey, I got an idea. Maybe you might wanna try to get on the treadmill,’” Kotb said. The 60-year-old added levity by impersonating her then-boss’s voice and doing a treadmill-running motion. Bush Hager looked shocked and stared directly into the camera, gasping, “No!” Kotb continued, “And I go, ‘What?!’ You know when you have a perception of yourself that is not the perception of the world?” Bush Hager joked, “Yeah, it’s called reverse body dysmorphia. I have it too.” “Yeah, so I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Kotb recalled. “But, if you don’t fit, they want you to wear something a certain way, cut your hair a certain way, speak a certain way.” The shocking exchange can be seen around the 5 minute mark of the broadcast shared on YouTube below: Bush Hager related to being told to change oneself, bringing up how she was originally asked to refrain from saying “y’all” on the Today show. She said she dismissed the idea, and that she couldn’t “pretend” to be a “serious news person” and continued saying the slang word. Related Craig Melvin Named as Hoda Kotb's Replacement on 'Today' “I think you know when you’re pretending deep down and no matter what it is, you start losing who you are,” Kotb concluded, admitting that “sometimes” people have to make small changes to “fit into a work environment.” Kotb made sure not to name names, but since she has worked for NBC for the last 26 years, the unnamed boss may have been from her local news days. Kotb worked at a CBS local station in Greenville, Mississippi after graduating from Virginia Tech in 1986. Today , Weekdays, 7 a.m. ET, NBC More Headlines: Will ‘Yellowstone’ Fulfill ‘1883’ Prophecy & 6 More Burning Questions We Need Answered ‘Today’: Hoda Kotb Reveals Former Boss Told Her to ‘Get on The Treadmill’ (VIDEO) ‘Based on a True Story’s Melissa Fumero on Breaking Bad in Peacock’s Killer Comedy Is ‘SNL’ New This Weekend? Here’s Everything to Know ‘The Price Is Right’ Fans Want Big Change to Game After Contestant’s ‘Depressing’ DisasterFans joke Wayne Rooney will ‘be able to go to Australia soon’ after his Plymouth side ship 10 goals in dismal five days
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Bryce Thompson scored 17 points, Marchelus Avery had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Oklahoma State beat Miami 80-74 on Friday in the consolation bracket of the Charleston Classic. Oklahoma State (4-1) will play in the fifth-place game on Sunday, while Miami (3-2) will try to avoid going winless in the tournament. Oklahoma State led 43-27 at halftime after making 8 of 15 from 3-point range, while Miami was just 8 of 27 overall. Four different Cowboys made a 3-pointer in the first half, with Brandon Newman making three. Thompson banked in a shot early in the second half to give Oklahoma State a 20-point lead at 49-29. Miami, which opened the game by missing 7 of 8 shots, went 1 for 8 from the field to begin the second half. Miami trailed by double figures the entire second half until Matthew Cleveland made a difficult shot in the lane while being fouled. He made the free throw to pull the Hurricanes within 75-67 with 49 seconds left. Arturo Dean restored a double-digit lead by making two free throws at 43.8. Thompson reached the 1,000 career points with the Cowboys on a shot in the lane with 13:01 left in the second half to give Oklahoma State a 55-38 lead. Nijel Pack scored 20 points and Brandon Johnson had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Miami. Cleveland finished with 11 points, and Lynn Kidd and Paul Djobet each had 10. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketballAP Trending SummaryBrief at 4:53 p.m. EST
No local footy: Lauren travels eight hours in hunt for AFL draft dream
Government secrecy protects sources and methods. And liars and errors. And obsolete military procurement contracts that are too politically important to challenge or change. That may be the story behind government secrecy about UFOs, more recently called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs. On Nov. 13, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, chaired a hearing by two House Oversight subcommittees on UAPs, seeking to determine whether information about them has been withheld from Congress and the American people. One of the witnesses was journalist Michael Shellenberger. He recently revealed in a report for his online news site Public that the U.S. government has an “Unacknowledged Special Access Program” about UAPs. It’s called “Immaculate Constellation,” and it has collected high-resolution images, sensor data and first-hand reports about UAPs for decades without any authorization from Congress, without even informing Congress of the existence of the program. Shellenberger obtained an 11-page report on Immaculate Constellation from a whistleblower and turned it over to Mace and the House Oversight subcommittees. Mace made the report available to the public on her congressional website. “This document is the result of a multi-year, internal investigation into the subjects of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), Technologies of Unknown Origin (TUO), and Non-Human Intelligence (NHI),” the report begins. It’s wild reading. According to the report, the U.S. government possesses full-motion video and forward-looking infrared imagery of a formation of a dozen “metallic orbs,” 3-6 meters in diameter, “skimming the ocean surface at high speed before dispersing in multiple directions.” Their maneuvering was “rapid and agile” and in the infrared footage they were “white-hot against the black-cold ocean.” Then there was a report of a “small-medium oval UAP” flying fast and low over a “sensitive coastal facility.” And there was another report of a “large equilateral-triangle UAP” that was “hovering and slowly rotating” directly over a grouping of ships that were engaged in intelligence collection in the Pacific Ocean. A report in the government’s files described a saucer-shaped UAP that ducked in and out of the clouds as if it “had become aware that it was under observation.” Another report told of a “boomerang UAP” that was observed “rapidly decelerating to a stationary hover, followed by the sudden emission of a sphere of light from the junction of the two ‘wings’ which expands to partially engulf the craft in a rotating sphere of light, at which point the available footage ends.” In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reviewed reports of UAPs and concluded that some of the flying objects appeared to have technological capabilities that the U.S. and its adversaries couldn’t match. Congress has been pressing the executive branch for more information. In March, the Department of Defense released a report stating that in decades of investigations, no evidence had been found that these UAPs were extraterrestrial spacecraft piloted by non-human intelligence from another planet. But what are they and why are they here? Former Department of Defense official Luis Elizondo testified at the November hearing that the government has a secret program to retrieve the wreckage of crashed UAPs and reverse engineer them. “Advanced technologies not made by our government, or any other government, are monitoring sensitive military installations around the globe,” Elizondo testified. Last December, swarms of mystery drones buzzed Langley Air Force Base for 17 days, raising significant concerns. A Langley spokesman told the publication The War Zone that the “uncrewed aerial systems” didn’t “exhibit hostile intent, but anything flying in our restricted airspace can pose a threat to flight safety.” U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets are based at Langley, where they are part of the nation’s defense forces protecting Washington, D.C. In March, the Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony from U.S. Air Force General Gregory Guillot, who had recently become the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORTHCOM and NORAD. Guillot told the committee that drone incursions over the U.S. southern border numbered “in the thousands,” describing it as “alarming.” Since at least 2017, military experts have been warning of the danger presented by swarms of unmanned drones armed with surveillance equipment or weapons. “Imagine a world where somebody flies a couple hundred of those and flies one down the intake of my F-22s with just a small weapon on it,” General James Holmes said in a speech to the Air Force Association. The War Zone noted that the greater danger might be to fighter jets sitting “idle and vulnerable on the flight line.” One swarm of armed drones could destroy “a whole squadron of tightly packed fighters” without any chance to fight back. Non-hypothetical drone warfare is happening right now in the Russia-Ukraine war, and separately, a Pentagon spokesman acknowledged a series of drone incursions over U.S. air bases in England over the last 10 days. That raises a question: What has the Pentagon been doing all this time while the threat of inexpensive weaponized drones was developing? Is it possible that U.S. presidents, defense contractors, intelligence agencies and Pentagon officials intentionally hid from Congress and the public, for decades, all evidence that military drones were gradually becoming a reality, in order to protect existing defense procurement contracts that otherwise might have been questioned or rejected? To carry out a plan like that, multiple U.S. administrations would have to impose strict secrecy on every report of an unidentified flying object, then refuse to declassify the reports, or release them only with heavy redactions. In addition, the people making the reports would have to be ridiculed and marginalized to the point where they question their own sanity, making others afraid to report what they themselves have seen. If that sounds like a description of exactly what has happened, we may finally have solved the unsolved mystery of Unidentified Flying Objects. Sorry. I was rooting for it to be space aliens, too. Write Susan@susanShelley.com and follow her on X @Susan_Shelley
The End Of The Age Of Scientism
