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(Note to subs: amends byline error) The world stands at the dawn of a “third nuclear age” in which Britain is threatened by multiple dilemmas, the head of the armed forces has warned. But alongside his stark warning of the threats facing Britain and its allies, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said there would be only a “remote chance” Russia would directly attack or invade the UK if the two countries were at war. The Chief of the Defence Staff laid out the landscape of British defence in a wide-ranging speech, after a minister warned the Army would be wiped out in as little as six months if forced to fight a war on the scale of the Ukraine conflict. The admiral cast doubt on the possibility as he gave a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) defence think tank in London. He told the audience Britain needed to be “clear-eyed in our assessment” of the threats it faces, adding: “That includes recognising that there is only a remote chance of a significant direct attack or invasion by Russia on the United Kingdom, and that’s the same for the whole of Nato.” Moscow “knows the response will be overwhelming”, he added, but warned the nuclear deterrent needed to be “kept strong and strengthened”. Sir Tony added: “We are at the dawn of a third nuclear age, which is altogether more complex. It is defined by multiple and concurrent dilemmas, proliferating nuclear and disruptive technologies and the almost total absence of the security architectures that went before.” The first nuclear age was the Cold War, while the second was “governed by disarmament efforts and counter proliferation”, the armed forces chief said. He listed the “wild threats of tactical nuclear use” by Russia, China building up its weapon stocks, Iran’s failure to co-operate with a nuclear deal, and North Korea’s “erratic behaviour” among the threats faced by the West. But Sir Tony said the UK’s nuclear arsenal is “the one part of our inventory of which Russia is most aware and has more impact on (President Vladimir) Putin than anything else”. Successive British governments had invested “substantial sums of money” in renewing nuclear submarines and warheads because of this, he added. The admiral described the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers on Ukraine’s border alongside Russian forces as the year’s “most extraordinary development”. He also signalled further deployments were possible, speaking of “tens of thousands more to follow as part of a new security pact with Russia”. Defence minister Alistair Carns earlier said a rate of casualties similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would lead to the army being “expended” within six to 12 months. He said it illustrated the need to “generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis”. In comments reported by Sky News, Mr Carns, a former Royal Marines colonel, said Russia was suffering losses of around 1,500 soldiers killed or injured a day. “In a war of scale – not a limited intervention, but one similar to Ukraine – our Army for example, on the current casualty rates, would be expended – as part of a broader multinational coalition – in six months to a year,” Mr Carns said in a speech at Rusi. He added: “That doesn’t mean we need a bigger Army, but it does mean you need to generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis.” Official figures show the Army had 109,245 personnel on October 1, including 25,814 volunteer reservists. Mr Carns, the minister for veterans and people, said the UK needed to “catch up with Nato allies” to place greater emphasis on the reserves. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Defence Secretary John Healey had previously spoken about “the state of the armed forces that were inherited from the previous government”. The spokesman said: “It’s why the Budget invested billions of pounds into defence, it’s why we’re undertaking a strategic defence review to ensure that we have the capabilities and the investment needed to defend this country.”National Bank of Canada ( TSE:NA – Get Free Report ) Senior Officer Brigitte Hébert sold 400 shares of National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$132.46, for a total value of C$52,984.00. National Bank of Canada Stock Performance TSE NA opened at C$132.22 on Friday. National Bank of Canada has a one year low of C$98.04 and a one year high of C$141.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of C$134.04 and a 200 day moving average price of C$123.60. The company has a market cap of C$45.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.12. National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $1.14 dividend. This is an increase from National Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. National Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.84%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on National Bank of Canada National Bank of Canada Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) National Bank of Canada provides financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional clients, and governments in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International. The Personal and Commercial segment offers personal banking services, including transaction solutions, mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit, consumer loans, payment solutions, and savings and investment solutions; various insurance products; and commercial banking services, such as credit, and deposit, investment solutions, international trade, foreign exchange transactions, payroll, cash management, insurance, electronic transactions, and complimentary services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for National Bank of Canada Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for National Bank of Canada and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

‘World at dawn of third nuclear age’, armed forces chief warns

A million taxpayers will soon receive up to $1,400 from the IRS. Who are they and why now? Approximately 1 million taxpayers will automatically receive special payments of up to $1,400 from the IRS in the coming weeks. The money will be directly deposited into eligible people’s bank accounts or sent in the mail by a paper check. Most people shouldn't get their hopes up about receiving the cash. The IRS says it’s distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns after missing one of the COVID stimulus payments or receiving less than the full amount. The IRS says most taxpayers eligible for the federal stimulus payments received them. Bluesky finds with growth comes growing pains — and bots Bluesky has seen its user base soar since the U.S. presidential election, boosted by people seeking refuge from Elon Musk’s X, or wanting an alternative to Meta’s Threads and its algorithms. The platform grew out of the company then known as Twitter and was eventually intended to replace it. While this is still very much a pie in the sky, Bluesky’s growth trajectory could make it a serious competitor to other social platforms. With growth, though, comes growing pains. It’s not just human users who’ve been flocking to Bluesky but also bots, including those designed to create partisan division or direct users to junk websites. 'Sonic 3' bests 'Mufasa: The Lion King' at the box office NEW YORK (AP) — In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office. The results came just ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters. According to studio estimates, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend. “Mufasa,” however, was humbled in its opening weekend, coming in notably shy of expectations. It returned just $35 million in domestic ticket sales. Amazon and Starbucks workers are on strike. Trump might have something to do with it Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract. Strikes during busy periods like the holidays can help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or garner support from sympathetic consumers. One expert says he thinks workers at both companies are “desperate” to make progress before President-elect Donald Trump can appoint a Republican majority to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at Starbucks, Amazon and some other prominent consumer brands are fighting for their first contracts after several locations voted to unionize. Farmers are still reeling months after Hurricane Helene ravaged crops across the South LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Farmers in Georgia are still reeling more than two months after Hurricane Helene blew away cotton, destroyed ripened squash and cucumbers and uprooted pecan trees and timber. Agribusinesses in other Southern states saw costly damage as well. The University of Georgia estimates the September storm inflicted $5.5 billion in direct losses and indirect costs in Georgia alone. In rural Toombs County, Chris Hopkins just finished harvesting his ravaged cotton crop and figures he lost half of it, costing him about $430,000. Poultry grower Jeffrey Pridgen in Georgia's Coffee County had four of his 12 chicken houses destroyed and others badly damaged. Farmers say more government disaster assistance is needed. Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI’s strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products. But he grew disillusioned with the company and told The Associated Press this fall he would “try to testify” in copyright infringement cases against it. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge shows price pressures eased last month WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. Prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices also ticked up just 0.1%, after two months of outsize 0.3% gains. The milder inflation figures arrived two days after Federal Reserve officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, rocked financial markets by revealing that they now expect to cut their key interest rate just two times in 2025, down from four in their previous estimate. Albania to close TikTok for a year blaming it for promoting violence among children TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister says the government will shut down video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teenager following a quarrel that started on TikTok. Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said TikTok “would be fully closed for all. ... There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama says the ban will begin sometime next year. Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according to domestic researchers. Stock market today: Wall Street rises to turn a dismal week into just a bad one NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to turn what would have been one of the market’s worst weeks of the year into just a pretty bad one. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% Friday to shave its loss for the week down to 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 500 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. A report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than expected. It’s an encouraging signal after the Fed shocked markets Wednesday by saying worries about inflation could keep it from cutting interest rates in 2025 as much as earlier thought. Starbucks workers begin strikes that could spread to hundreds of US stores by Christmas Eve Workers at U.S. Starbucks stores have begun a five-day strike to protest a lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. The strikes began in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve. Workers at 535 of the 10,000 company-owned Starbucks stores in the U.S. have voted to unionize. The Starbucks Workers United union accuses the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain of failing to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year. Starbucks says the union prematurely left the bargaining table this week. It said Friday there's been no significant impact to store operations.Nebraska defensive lineman Kai Wallin enters the transfer portalDENVER, Dec. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ArrowMark Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: BANX) ("ArrowMark Financial" or the "Company"), an SEC registered closed-end management investment company, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special cash distribution of $0.20 per share generated from excess income, and a regular cash distribution of $0.45 per share for the fourth quarter 2024. The total distribution of $0.65 per share will be payable on January 3, 2025 to shareholders of record on December 26, 2024. "We are very pleased to announce the special distribution for Q4 2024 along with the distribution rate of $0.45. We believe this distribution reflects the Fund's ability to consistently over-earn its declared quarterly distribution rate. ArrowMark Financial is committed to providing consistent risk-adjusted returns while maintaining focus on capital preservation and income generation for our shareholders,” said Chairman & CEO Sanjai Bhonsle. About ArrowMark Financial Corp. ArrowMark Financial Corp. is an SEC registered non-diversified, closed-end fund listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BANX.” Its investment objective is to provide shareholders with current income. The Fund pursues its objective by investing primarily in regulatory capital securities of financial institutions. ArrowMark Financial is managed by ArrowMark Asset Management, LLC. To learn more, visit ir.arrowmarkfinancialcorp.com or contact the Fund's secondary market service agent at 877-855-3434. Disclaimer and Risk Factors: There is no assurance that ArrowMark Financial will achieve its investment objective. ArrowMark Financial is subject to numerous risks, including investment and market risks, management risk, income and interest rate risks, banking industry risks, preferred stock risk, convertible securities risk, debt securities risk, liquidity risk, valuation risk, leverage risk, non-diversification risk, credit and counterparty risks, market at a discount from net asset value risk and market disruption risk. Shares of closed-end investment companies may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) their net asset value. Shares of ArrowMark Financial may not be appropriate for all investors. Investors should review and consider carefully ArrowMark Financial's investment objective, risks, charges and expenses. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The Annual Report, Semi-Annual Report and other regulatory filings of the Fund with the SEC are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and on the Fund's website at ir.arrowmarkfinancialcorp.com. Contact: [email protected] Destra Capital Advisors LLC (877) 855-3434 Destra Capital Advisors LLC provides secondary market services for the Fund by agreement.

NoneCHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu has a strained right calf and will be reevaluated in 10 days. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu has a strained right calf and will be reevaluated in 10 days. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu has a strained right calf and will be reevaluated in 10 days. Dosunmu got hurt during Monday night’s 112-91 loss to Milwaukee. The Bulls provided an update on his injury on Saturday. Dosunmu, who turns 25 on Jan. 17, is averaging 12.6 points and 4.8 assists in his fourth NBA season. He has appeared in 30 games, including 17 starts. The Chicago native was selected by the Bulls in the second round of the 2021 draft. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA Advertisement

John Fleming Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Treasury Secretary John Fleming announced Wednesday he is beginning a campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is up for reelection in two years . In his statement, Fleming highlighted Cassidy’s biggest vulnerability as he seeks a third term in the Senate — his vote to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting an attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “A number of Republicans walked away from President Trump in the last year of his first term,” Fleming said. “But those who turned their backs on him and America First were not committed to his fight to make America great again. Louisiana citizens did not give up on this fight.” Cassidy took a swing back at Fleming, a fellow Republican. “I thought he wanted to be State Treasurer?” Cassidy’s campaign said. “John Fleming wants to get out of Louisiana. He publicly said he wanted a job in the Trump administration, and apparently they didn’t want him. So after less than a year as state Treasurer, he’s looking for another job to return to Washington.” Fleming becomes the first of perhaps several big-name Republicans who will challenge Cassidy. Other potential candidates include U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, who represents Acadiana; Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, who represents suburban New Orleans; and U.S. Rep. Garret Graves of Baton Rouge, who will leave office in January. Anyone who challenges Cassidy will be betting that Trump will seek to deny him a third term because of the senator’s 2021 vote to convict him. The former president’s critics have called that vote a principled decision. But it angered Trump and his supporters in Louisiana and led the Louisiana Republican Party to censure Cassidy. Cassidy was also the only Republican member of the Louisiana delegation who voted to certify Joe Biden’s election as president in two contested states. Trump has repeatedly ripped Cassidy . “One of the worst Senators in the United States Senate is, without question, Bill Cassidy, A TOTAL FLAKE, Republican though he may be,” Trump wrote in April on Truth Social, his social media platform. Cassidy has given every indication that he is fighting to keep his job. Cassidy has been working steadily to rehabilitate himself among Republicans, endorsing Jeff Landry in last year’s governor’s race and bashing the Biden administration in speeches throughout the state. He also regularly takes credit for many federally funded highway and internet broadband projects because he was one of the seven Republicans who supported Biden’s $1 trillion bill. Cassidy’s campaign and a super PAC supporting him have raised more than $7 million, and he is positioned to raise millions more because he will assume a powerful perch as chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Fleming is challenging Cassidy from the right, criticizing him for supporting some major Biden policies. “I will fight to bring real, conservative solutions to the U.S. Senate,” Fleming said. “I will not cut and run on these conservative principles, and I will stand and work with President Trump like I have many times before.” Fleming, a retired family doctor from Minden, represented northwest Louisiana in the U.S. House from 2009-17, giving up his seat in 2016 to make a failed run for a U.S. Senate seat won by then-Treasurer John Kennedy. Fleming went on to hold several senior positions in the Trump administration and was elected treasurer in 2023. One of his opponents in that race , then-state Rep. Scott McKnight, said Fleming only wanted the job as a springboard to run for the Senate. While in the House, Fleming co-founded the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, a group that has attacked successive Republican speakers as being too accommodating to Democrats and for not taking an ax to domestic spending programs. This year, Fleming called on Landry and the Legislature to eliminate the state income tax. But he didn’t detail how to make up the lost revenue, either by raising other taxes or reducing government services. Louisiana will have a closed primary system beginning in 2026, meaning that Democrats will not be able to vote for Republican candidates in that election. Independents can vote in either party primary, however. A spokesperson for Higgins declined to comment on Fleming’s announcement. Skrmetta is expected to decide whether to run during the first half of 2025, a spokesperson for him said. Graves is currently angling to become the next head of FEMA under Trump.Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Division, Syed Sajid Mehdi, on Sunday suggested that people should “use the internet less” and for “important matters only” as a solution to frequent internet slowdowns in Pakistan. In recent months, users have experienced sluggish speeds , difficulty downloading media on WhatsApp, and intermittent connectivity issues across the country. Professionals in the IT sector have expressed utter dismay to Dawn over how the government handles the internet access issue to check “propaganda or terrorism” in cyberspace. Digital analysts say the government has been testing a “firewall” that monitors some platforms and gives the power to block content, like photos or videos of rallies shared on WhatsApp. Meanwhile, the IT industry has claimed that one hour of internet outages or disruption results in a loss of more than one million dollars for the whole sector, including export businesses. Pakis­tan Software Houses Association (P@sha) Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed said on December 3, “A one-hour internet slowdown might not have any significant impact on people, but disturbed services to a client in any stock market, airport service, bank, etc., in advanced countries would eventually lead to loss of confidence in Pakistan’s IT sector.” Speaking on DawnNews TV programme Doosra Rukh , the parliamentary secretary likened the internet in Pakistan to a road, adding that the more people use it, the more congested it would get and the slower people would move. “There are large loads on our internet, [just] like on a congested road,” he said. “Cars move slower if there is congestion. If 10 people use a road meant for five, it will slow everything down.” The secretary also said that Pakistan’s fibre network only has a capacity of 15 per cent compared to India’s 45pc, citing that as another reason for slow internet. Mehdi said that work was underway to resolve the issue and will be completed “very quickly”. When asked if the secretary thought that population increase was also to blame for internet slowdowns, he responded in the affirmative. “Like I said, if more people use the roads then of course it will slow down,” Mehdi answered, adding that this would be fixed within three to four months. He said that curbing what he termed “unnecessary” use of the internet would improve speeds. “I’m not saying stop using it, but use it only for important purposes like work, and not for unnecessary purposes,” he said. When asked if people in Pakistan were using the internet unnecessarily, Mehdi replied that people should use the internet mostly for work. “It will be beneficial if people don’t use the internet too much or for negative thinking”, he said. The parliamentary secretary also disagreed with the claim that internet slowdowns were causing financial losses to the IT sector. When informed that Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) had informed the parliament about the financial loss, he said: “We have not been told officially that the shutdown has caused financial losses. Nobody has filed any requests or complaints about financial losses. “If anyone has suffered personal losses, then that is a different matter entirely.”