game mechanics Garrett Wilson is frustrated and his future will be a major decision for the next Jets GM, coachPresident-elect Donald Trump has nominated a billionaire with Las Vegas ties as the next United States ambassador to Italy, according to a Saturday announcement. Tilman Fertitta, 67, is the chairman, chief executive officer and owner of Landry’s Inc., the Houston-based hospitality and entertainment company which operates three Golden Nugget casino hotels in Nevada, located in downtown Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Laughlin. Fertitta is the largest shareholder of Wynn Resorts Ltd. , according to financial records. In November, he increased his ownership to 9.9 percent, which amounts to roughly 10.9 million shares of the Las Vegas-based gaming and hospitality corporation. He is also the cousin of Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III, the chairman of Las Vegas-based Red Rock Resorts, Inc., and chief executive officer of Station Casinos, respectively. In 2022, Fertitta received approval from Clark County officials to develop a casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip . The proposed 43-story, 2,420-room hotel is cleared to go up on a 6.2-acre site at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue, but work has yet to begin in earnest. Fertitta purchased the NBA’s Houston Rockets and the team’s home arena for $2.2 billion in 2017. He has been pushing to bring an NHL franchise to Houston. In the ambassadorship announcement, Trump called Fertitta an “accomplished businessman” and touched on the latter’s philanthropic efforts. Fertitta, a former television reality personality who appeared on “Billion Dollar Buyer,” has no political or diplomatic experience but has long been a campaign donor. Public finance reports show he has contributed money to candidates of both major parties, although the bulk goes to Republican politicians, including millions of dollars to GOP officials in his home state of Texas. In 2020, Fertitta donated $140,000 to Trump’s unsuccessful re-election campaign and contributed $5,600 to President Joe Biden. Earlier this year, Fertitta hosted a fundraising event for Trump at his Post Oak Hotel in Houston.A Key Driver Transforming the Skin Cancer Drugs Market 2024: Increased Sun Exposure And Tanning Habits of IndividualsShares of Japanese automaker Honda were on track for their best day in 16 years after it announced to buy back up to 1.1 trillion yen ($7 billion) of its shares on Monday amid merger talks with Nissan . > Philadelphia news 24/7: Watch NBC10 free wherever you are Nissan and Honda said they had begun official negotiations to merge , which could catapult them to the world's third-largest carmaker by sales. Honda also announced to buy back 24% of its issued shares by Dec. 23 next year. Its shares were last up 15.51%, and would clock their best day since October 2008, if gains hold. Nissan shares fell over 1%. The Honda-Nissan deal would focus on sharing knowledge and resources, achieving economies of scale and creating synergies, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said . A holding company will be established as the parent organization for both Honda and Nissan, and will be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. "These two companies, they are operating in the same market, and they have very similar brand images, they have very similar products," Hakan Dogu, chairman of Alagan Mobility Solutions, told CNBC on Tuesday. "The new management has a big challenge to differentiate the product range and also extend the business," he added. Discussions are set to conclude in June 2025. Nissan's strategic partner, Mitsubishi, has been given the opportunity to join the new group and is expected to make a decision by the end of January 2025. Honda reported 1.382 trillion yen in operating profit for the full year to March 2024, versus Nissan's 568.7 billion yen. The automakers would have a combined value of nearly $54 billion, with Honda's market capitalization contributing the greater $43 billion share. Analysts suggested that the potential merger stems from Nissan's financial struggles and the restructuring of its long-standing partnership with France's Renault. In its latest quarterly report, Nissan announced plans to cut 9,000 jobs and reduce its global production capacity by 20%. —CNBC's Jenni Reid contributed to this report.

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LAS VEGAS -- The Milwaukee Bucks are making a return trip to the NBA Cup semifinals after falling short in Sin City last season. This time around, they'll have the responsibility of stopping one of the game's great entertainers in Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. Young rolled a pair of imaginary dice over the New York Knicks' midcourt logo in the closing moments of the Hawks' 108-100 win in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, a nod to the Hawks' trip to Vegas. It was yet another example of Young's showmanship, something the Knicks have seen firsthand over the years. The Bucks also got to experience a bit of Young's big-game prowess in the 2021 Eastern Conference finals, but Young suffered an ankle injury in Game 3 of that series and wasn't the same the rest of the way. If "Ice Trae" has it his way, the Bucks will be the latest victim of his prime-time heroics on Saturday night. Even if he doesn't like to linger on the memories of that series. "I don't let past things make me mad (and I don't) hold a grudge on those things," the 26-year-old Young said. "Yeah, I'm young. I'm not super young anymore, where I like, let those things really affect me. "I remember it like it was yesterday. It definitely hurts, but I mean, this is a new team. I'm part of a new team. They're a different team. So I can't let my past affect my mental and my focus on right now, because it's a totally different team and totally different place." Young is averaging 21 points per game to go along with 12.2 assists, numbers that have only been equaled by Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas over the course of an entire NBA season. He's gotten a fair bit of help too, most notably in the form of 19.8 points and a team-high 10.1 rebounds per game from fourth-year forward Jalen Johnson. The Hawks earned the No. 3 seed in NBA Cup knockout play after going 3-1 in the East Group C stage. Atlanta's among the hottest teams in the league at the moment, having won seven of its last eight games overall. The Bucks, on the other hand, are the only team of the four remaining that made it to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas last season. They had a short trip, falling 128-119 to the Pacers, but the hope is that last year's experience better prepared them for all of the outside hoopla that comes with this stage. At the very least, they have a much better understanding of what winning the NBA Cup would entail. "I think last year, most people didn't even understand what was going on until they got to the final stages," Bucks star Damian Lillard said. "When we got to the game against New York last year, where the winner got to go to Vegas, we started to have a better understanding of what was on the line. "Coming into this season, I think everybody understood better. Everybody cared more, not just because it's an opportunity to win money. Even though it's not the ultimate goal, I think it gives you an edge. We want to be the last team standing in it. We want to win the money. We want to continue going in the right direction as a team." The Bucks entered Tuesday's quarterfinal as the East's top seed in NBA Cup play, going 4-0 in East Group B play despite a turbulent 2-8 start to the season. They've won nine of their last 11 games and eclipsed .500 for the season by beating the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday and the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. Giannis Antetokounmpo sits atop the NBA scoring leaders as of Friday afternoon, averaging 32.7 points and a team-high 11.4 rebounds per game. Lillard has also played at an All-Star level, averaging 25.8 points per game in addition to 7.6 assists. Bobby Portis (13.2 ppg) and Brook Lopez (11 ppg) are the only other Bucks averaging double figures. --Will Despart, Field Level Media This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.

Conor McGregor embarked on a social media rampage as he called rape accuser Nikita Hand a "vicious liar" after a civil jury found that the MMA fighter sexually assaulted his accuser in a Dublin hotel in 2018. The 36-year-old was found liable by a jury in the High Court in the Irish capital , as $259,002.55 was awarded to the complainant in the civil trial. The allegations were first made by Ms Hand in 2021, with the verdict eventually delivered after six hours and ten minutes of deliberation from the jury on Nov. 22. This followed an eight-day trial, during which the former UFC champion admitted he had consensual sex with Ms Hand, as well as taking cocaine with her. McGregor having since vowed to appeal against the decision , while it was determined by the jury that a second defendant, James Lawrence, was cleared of any wrongdoing after being accused of assault. Every word Conor McGregor's rape accuser said outside court after winning case Conor McGregor loses rape case as UFC star learns jury verdict McGregor has now taken to social media to give his view on the findings of the civil trial, as posted the following message on Twitter/X: "Justice was served for James Lawrence, yes! Deplorable what they done. Nikita Hand, vicious liar! APPEAL! "Two men falsely accused. One vindicated, the other soon to be! Congrats James Lawrence on absolute exoneration! Twice this heinous accusation was put to you and twice it was shown as FALSE! LIES! "It is absolutely disgraceful what they put you through here. Disgraceful! I look forward to seeing you further vindicate yourself and lambast those responsible in court! We know what happened that night! Everyone present knows, yet it was ignored. Every single statement of persons present on the night was ignored. And they all disputed Nikita’s LIES! "However James they did believe you but just in certain parts for some strange reason. And they apparently did not believe Danielle Kealy at all. Laughable! Also with the damages (60k and 188k, interesting choice of figures it seems they didn’t believe Nikita much either. How could they, her original story was she was gang raped by security and chased from the hotel on foot. "Absolute nonsense. How these lies were accepted, I will never know. A court of feeling and opinion, brainwashed in to people via the mainstream media. Not of fact! The reporting in court a laughing stock to everyone present. As clear as day bias. This is not a court of hard evidence and truth." DON'T MISS: UFC president Dana White makes Donald Trump U-turn after election victory Jon Jones handed suspension after brutal ending to UFC 309 fight Dave Portnoy takes aim at Zach Bryan after UFC star gets caught up in feud He added: "It is a kangaroo court of opinions and feelings. We are not done yet. Not by a long shot. No chance. On we fight! Justice and truth will prevail! Appeal! Appeal! Appeal! As well as other. Congrats James! Onwards and upwards!" Speaking after the conclusion of the civil trial, Ms Hand issued a statement as she expressed gratitude for the support she has received during proceedings. She said: "I would like to start off by saying I’m overwhelmed and touched by the support I have received from everybody.” “I want to thank all the women and men out there who have supported me throughout this trial. For every person who reached out to me – a card, a letter, an email, everything – it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Thank you, I really appreciate it so much. Ms Hand added: "I know this has impacted not only my life, my daughter’s, my family and friends tremendously. It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter."Global stocks end mostly up with DAX crossing 20,000 for 1st time

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Kosovo arrests blast suspects, Serbia denies involvementMiddle East latest: Syrians celebrate Assad's fall as US seeks a peaceful political transition

After-hours movers: Marvell Technology, Salesforce, Okta and moreA pair of teams with minimal rest will face off in Nassau, Bahamas, on Sunday when No. 22 St. John takes on Georgia. St. John's (5-1), which will play its third game in four days, began the stretch in the Bahamas Championship on Thursday, dropping a heartbreaker to No. 13 Baylor. The Red Storm led by 18 in the first half before Baylor forced overtime. From there, St. John's rallied from five down with 1:47 left to send the game to a second overtime, where it saw Baylor knock down a pair of 3-pointers in the final seven seconds -- including Jeremy Roach's buzzer-beater -- to knock off the Red Storm 99-98. In the third-place game on Friday, St. John's breezed past Virginia 80-55. RJ Luis Jr. led the way with 18 points and four steals, followed by Kadary Richmond's 12 points, as the Red Storm took a one-point lead with 15:21 left in the first half and didn't trail again. "I'm really impressed with our guys, coming off a double-overtime, extremely emotional loss," St. John's head coach Rick Pitino said. "To respond that way was extremely impressive, both offensively and defensively." Pitino, in his second year with the Red Storm, was moved by something off the court on Friday, involving captain Zuby Ejiofor, who chipped in eight points, nine boards, two steals and two blocks. Ejiofor was serenaded by St. John's fans during the win, following his two missed free throws at the end of double overtime against Baylor. "When you've only been in a job for a year, you search for things you love about a place," Pitino said. "Tonight I found out what I love about St. John's. Our fans chanted Zuby's name the whole game, which doesn't happen anywhere else in America. I was really impressed with our fans and I thank them for making Zuby feel good, because he gives you all the energy." Luis leads the Red Storm with 17.3 points per game, followed by Ejiofor (10.7), Aaron Scott (10.5), Deivon Smith (10.3) and Richmond (10.2). Georgia enters Sunday's matchup looking to rebound from its first loss after falling to No. 15 Marquette 80-69 on Saturday. Georgia (5-1) battled back from a 15-point, second-half deficit, but was held to just three points over the final 4:57 in Saturday's loss. Blue Cain led the Bulldogs with a season-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers. "It's a process. It's a journey with this team," Bulldogs head coach Mike White said. "It's about continuing to make strides, continuing to protect our culture. ... At the end of the day, wins and losses are going to take care of themselves. We just have to embrace the process and enjoy it." Five-star freshman recruit Asa Newell was held to a season-low nine points but leads the team with 15.5 points per game. Silas Demary Jr. is second with 13.8. --Field Level MediaBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Celta Vigo gave 10-man Barcelona a shock by scoring two late goals and snatching a 2-2 draw at home in the Spanish league on Saturday. Barcelona was minutes away from a win to pad its league lead after Raphinha and Lewandowski had put Barcelona in control. But the game dramatically swung after Barcelona defensive midfielder Marc Casadó was sent off with a second booking in the 81st. Moments later Jules Koundé’s poor control of a ball in his area allowed Alfon González to pick his pocket and give the hosts hope in the 84th minute. Celta poured forward at Balaidos Stadium and Hugo Álvarez rifled in the 86th-minute equalizer with Barcelona unable to mark the extra man. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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DAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad , gathering in the capital's historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule. The newly installed interim prime minister delivered the sermon at the Umayyad Mosque, declaring that a new era of “freedom, dignity and justice” was dawning for Syria. The gatherings illustrated the dramatic changes that have swept over Syria less than a week after insurgents marched into Damascus and toppled Assad. Amid the jubilation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with allies around the region and called for an “inclusive and non-sectarian” interim government. Blinken arrived in Iraq on a previously unannounced stop after talks in Jordan and Turkey, which backs some of the Syrian insurgent factions. So far, U.S. officials have not talked of direct meetings with Syria's new rulers. The main insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus early Sunday. The group has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad's fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past, though HTS is still labeled a terrorist group by the United States and European countries. HTS's leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the great Syrian people for the victory of the blessed revolution.” “I invite them to head to the squares to show their happiness without shooting bullets and scaring people,” he said. “And then after, we will work to build this country, and as I said in the beginning, we will be victorious by the help of God.” Huge crowds, including some insurgents, packed the historic Umayyad Mosque in the capital's old city, many waving the rebel opposition flag — with its three red stars — which has swiftly replaced the Assad-era flag with with its two green stars. Syrian state television reported that the sermon was delivered by Mohammed al-Bashir, the interim prime minister installed by HTS this week. The scene resonated on multiple levels. The mosque, one of the world's oldest dating back some 1,200 years, is a beloved symbol of Syria, and sermons there like all mosque sermons across Syria were tightly controlled under Assad's rule. Also, in the early days of the anti-government uprising in 2011, protesters would leave Friday prayers to march in rallies against Assad before he launched a brutal crackdown that turned the uprising into a long and bloody civil war. “I didn’t step foot in Umayyad Mosque since 2011," because of the tight security controls around it, said one worshipper, Ibrahim al-Araby. “Since 11 or 12 years, I haven’t been this happy.” Another worshipper, Khair Taha, said there was “fear and trepidation for what’s to come. But there is also a lot of hope that now we have a say and we can try to build.” Blocks away in Damascus' biggest roundabout, named Umayyad Square, thousands gathered, including many families with small children — a sign of how, so far at least, the country's transformation has not caused violent instability. “Unified Syria to build Syria,” the crowd chanted. Some shouted slurs against Assad and his late father, calling them pigs, an insult that would have previously led to offenders being hauled off to one of the feared detention centers of Assad’s security forces. One man in the crowd, 51-year-old Khaled Abu Chahine — originally from the southern province of Daraa, where the 2011 uprising first erupted — said he hoped for “freedom and coexistence between all Syrians, Alawites, Sunnis, Shiites and Druze.” The interim prime minister, al-Bashir, had been the head of a de facto administration created by HTS in Idlib, the opposition's enclave in northwest Syria. The rebels were bottled up in Idlib for years before fighters broke out in a shock offensive and marched across Syria in 10 days. Similar scenes of joy unfolded in other major cities, including in Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Latakia and Raqqa. Al-Sharaa, HTS' leader, has promised to bring a pluralistic government to Syria, seeking to dispel fears among many Syrians — especially its many minority communities — that the insurgents will impose a hard-line, extremist rule. Another key factor will be winning international recognition for a new government in a country where multiple foreign powers have their hands in the mix. The Sunni Arab insurgents who overthrew Assad did so with vital help from Turkey, a longtime foe of the U.S.-backed Kurds . Turkey controls a strip of Syrian territory along the shared border and backs an insurgent faction uneasily allied to HTS — and is deeply opposed to any gains by Syria's Kurds. In other developments, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey’s Embassy in Damascus would reopen Saturday for the first time since 2012, when it closed due to the Syrian civil war. The U.S. has troops in eastern Syria to combat remnants of the Islamic State group and supports Kurdish-led fighters who rule most of the east. Since Assad's fall, Israel has bombed sites all over Syria, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands. It has also seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone. After talks with Fidan, Blinken said there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the U.S. on what they would like to see in Syria. That starts with an "interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said. Fidan said the priority was “establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant” — referring to the Islamic State group and the Kurdistan Workers Party. Ankara considers the PKK within Turkey's borders a terrorist group, as it does the Kurdish-backed forces in Syria backed by the U.S. A U.S. official said that in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fidan both told Blinken that Kurdish attacks on Turkish positions would require a response. The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic talks. The U.S. has been trying to limit such incidents in recent days and had helped organize an agreement to prevent confrontations around the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which was taken by Turkey-backed opposition fighters from the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces earlier this week. In Baghdad, Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, saying both countries wanted to ensure the Islamic State group — also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh — doesn't exploit Syria's transition to re-emerge. “Having put Daesh back in its box, we can’t let it out, and we’re determined to make sure that that doesn’t happen," Blinken said. The U.S. official who briefed reporters said that Blinken had impressed upon al-Sudani the importance of Iraq exercising its full sovereignty over its territory and airspace to stop Iran from transporting weapons and equipment to Syria, either for Assad supporters or onward to the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon. Lee reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.

I am moving through my 60s at the rate of nots. Not as smart as I thought I was, not as fascinating, not as groovy. To be honest, on the spectrum from gravy to groovy, I was always at the Sunday roast end. I am not as energetic as I used to be, not as likely to sleep through the night, not able to drink coffee after lunch. Not as easily flustered. I am not so sure of my doubts either. A challenge for people in my boat is to gracefully make way for a younger generation. It is hard to allow others to have their voice when you like talking as much as I do. But the time has come. People aged over 65 should be given the option of not voting. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto There is one small change that might help people in my age group to relinquish control. Like most Australians, I am a firm believer in compulsory voting. To me, democracy does not mean that you may choose your government if you want to. It means that you do choose. When you consider local, state and federal elections, we are required to sacrifice on average half an hour a year. This is a small level of engagement for all the benefits we get. Voting is usually a pleasant experience with innocuous banter about dogs, which often accompany voters, possibly as political advisers. Those who hail the democracy sausage often overlook the democracy cake stall. Nevertheless, I believe voting should be optional for people over the age of 65. This is not because we are too old for sausages and cake. I know people in their 80s who still play tennis and one in their 90s who is contemplating marriage, admittedly not for the first time. I think he has even lost track of which number wedding this will be, but good luck to him. This time, he wants to marry an older person, something he hasn’t tried before. Loading My argument is unlike the one that applies to those who must take a driver’s test after a certain age to make sure they can still remember the location of the brake. This is not about competence. There are plenty of people, even in their 20s, who are scarcely what you might call conscientious voters. That has always been the great risk of democracy. Knuckleheads have as much say as you do. My point is simply that some older people might be prepared not to vote so that younger people have a proportionately greater voice. After all, they are going to have to live with the consequences of the election far longer than us. When you think about climate change, housing, energy, economic innovation and a list of other issues, short-term thinking doesn’t help. Yet we are trapped in a culture of short-term politics in which policy and marketing are seldom out of each other’s pockets. Of course, everyone has the right to vote. Yet perhaps those over 65 might be forgiven the fine if they elect not to. They might be permitted to graciously sit the dance out and leave the floor to others.

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