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AES Corp. stock outperforms competitors on strong trading dayReports: Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold entering transfer portal

Oklahoma sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold will enter the transfer portal, according to multiple reports on Wednesday. A five-star recruit in 2023 out of Denton, Texas, Arnold began this season as the starter, lost his spot and later regained it as the Sooners went 6-6. Monday is the first day that underclassmen can transfer during the winter portal window. Arnold completed 154 of 246 passes (62.6 percent) for 1,421 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions in 10 games. He also ran the ball 150 times for 444 yards and three TDs, including 25 attempts for 131 yards in the Sooners' 24-3 win over Alabama on Nov. 23. As a freshman last season playing behind Dillon Gabriel, Arnold appeared in seven games and was 44 of 69 (63.8 percent) for 563 yards, four TDs and three picks. A former Gatorade Texas Player of the Year, Arnold started for Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl last December, when the Sooners lost 38-24 to Arizona. He was QB1 for the 2024 campaign, but three early turnovers caused him to be pulled in a 25-15 defeat to Tennessee on Sept. 21 and replaced by true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. Arnold came off the bench to replace Hawkins in a 35-9 loss to South Carolina on Oct. 19, and head coach Brent Venables afterward fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. Co-offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley became the interim play-caller. Venables filled the position permanently on Monday by hiring Washington State OC Ben Arbuckle, who could bring Cougars QB John Mateer with him to Norman, Okla. --Field Level MediaLongtime ‘irreplaceable’ reporter Steve Lord retires after nearly 47 years at The Beacon-News

Israel said Tuesday it had bombed more than 350 military sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the wave of airstrikes in neighboring Syria was necessary to keep the weapons from being used against Israel following the Syrian government’s stunning collapse . Israel also acknowledged its troops were pushing into a border buffer zone inside Syria, which was established after the 1973 Mideast war. However, Israel denied its forces were advancing Tuesday toward the Syrian capital of Damascus. Life in the capital was slowly returning to normal after jihadi-led Syrian insurgents ousted President Bashar Assad over the weekend. People celebrated for a third day in a main square, and shops and banks reopened. The United States said Tuesday it would recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Syria's nearly 14-year civil war killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country’s prewar population of 23 million, becoming a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers. Here's the Latest: SAYDNAYA, Syria — Tens of thousands came to Saydnaya Prison from all over Syria after the fall of former President Bashar Assad to search for their loved ones. The place so notorious for its horrors was long known as “the slaughterhouse.” For the past two days, all have been looking for signs of loved ones who disappeared years or even decades ago into the secretive, sprawling prison just outside Damascus. But hope gave way to despair Monday. People opened the heavy iron doors lining the hallways to find cells inside empty. With sledgehammers, shovels and drills, men pounded holes in floors and walls, looking for what they believed were secret dungeons, or chasing sounds they thought they heard from underground. They found nothing. Insurgents freed dozens of people from the Saydnaya military prison on Sunday when Damascus fell. Since then, almost no one has been found. “Where is everyone? Where are everyone’s children? Where are they?” said Ghada Assad, breaking down in tears. An estimated 150,000 people were detained or went missing in Syria since 2011 — and tens of thousands of them are believed to have gone through Saydnaya. WASHINGTON — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was on the ground in Syria on Tuesday, meeting with a Kurish-led, U.S.-allied force at several bases in the country's east, U.S. Central Command said. Army Gen. Erik Kurilla visited with U.S. military commanders and troops as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It wasn’t clear if he met with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi, and U.S. Central Command did not respond to a request for details about his visit or with whom he met. U.S. officials said they did not know what his message to the SDF was. The U.S has about 900 troops in Syria, including forces working with Kurdish allies in the northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group. In a press release, Central Command said Kurilla received an “assessment of force protection measures, the rapidly evolving situation, and ongoing efforts to prevent ISIS from exploiting the current situation.” Kurilla then went on to Iraq where he met with leaders in Baghdad. UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says it still getting reports about the looting of warehouses with humanitarian aid in a number of areas in Syria, including around the capital Damascus. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday that U.N. agencies and their partners are working to identify the extent of looting at the warehouses, including those of U.N. agencies and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Dujarric said U.N. aid officials report that “the humanitarian situation remains volatile across Syria, with reports of people continuing to be displaced.” Humanitarian officials reported that 25 trucks carrying U.N. aid crossed from Turkey to northwest Syria, which the situation is now relatively calm, the U.N. spokesman said. All 11 receptions opened in Idlib in the northwest to host newly displaced families were empty as of Monday, Dujarric said. In the northeast, he said, authorities report that as of Tuesday 100,000 people have been displaced due to fighting in Tal Rifaat and other parts of Aleppo governorate. Dujarric said the U.N.’s partners report that “reception centers in Tabqa and Raqqa have reached full capacity, and more than 200 sites – including municipal buildings, schools, mosques, and stadiums – are being used to accommodate newly displaced people.” BEIRUT — The Lebanese army said Tuesday that “unidentified gunmen” crossed the border from Syria into eastern Lebanon's Bekaa province and approached a Lebanese border post. In a statement, the army said the gunmen fired into the air and seized equipment from an evacuated Syrian army post in the outskirts of Kfar Fouq, near Rashaya al-Wadi, in the western part of Bekaa province. Lebanese army personnel responded with warning shots, forcing the group to retreat back into Syrian territory. The Lebanese army did not report any injuries or provide further details about the identity of the gunmen. WASHINGTON — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched multiple drones and a missile at three commercial ships being escorted in the Gulf of Aden by U.S. Navy ships, a U.S. official said Tuesday. There was no damage and no injuries. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said U.S. Navy destroyers, and Navy helicopter and a French Air Force aircraft shot down four of the drones and the missile. The three U.S. affiliated flagged ships were sailing east toward Djibouti. The Iran-backed Houthis have targeted shipping through the key waterway for more than a year, attacks they say are meant to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said it bombed more than 350 sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. There is concern that, with the sudden collapse of the Syrian government, weapons stockpiles could be seized by jihadi militants. Warplanes hit what Israel said were Syrian air defense systems, military airfields, missile depots, and dozens of weapons production sites in the cities of Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra, the Israeli army statement said. In naval operations overnight Monday, Israeli missile ships struck two Syrian navy facilities simultaneously — Al-Bayda port and Latakia port — where the army said 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked. Israeli did not specify how many Syrian naval vessels were hit. The private security firm Ambrey said it had seen evidence that at least six Soviet-era Syrian navy missile ships were hit. Israeli officials said earlier that Israel also targeted alleged chemical weapons sites. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Tuesday that his country’s military launched a wave of airstrikes across Syria to destroy the toppled government’s leftover “military capabilities,” and said Israel wants relations with the new government emerging Syria. Hours after Israeli warplanes pounded Syria, Netanyahu said Israeli doesn’t want to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs, but would take necessary steps to protect Israel's security and prevent jihadi militants from seizing the Syrian army assets. He warned that if the new Syrian government “allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us -- we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it.” He spoke in a video statement recorded at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, after his first day of testimony in his corruption trial. DAMASCUS, Syria — In Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syrians celebrated the fall of President Bashar Assad for the third day on Tuesday despite Israeli airstrikes across the country. Insurgents who recently took control of the capital city tried to impose a new rule banning the celebratory gunfire. There were a few violators, and much less deafening gunfire. Protesters climbed the square's central monument to wave the Syrian revolutionary flag. On the ground, crowds chanted: “Out with Bashar! Out with Bashar!” Assad fled to Russia over the weekend after a lightning rebel offensive toppled his brutal police state. Demonstrators from different provinces marched in the square in groups, celebrating Assad's fall. Men on motorcycles and horses paraded into the square. One woman from Idlib province shouted that the Israeli strikes ruined the joy of ousting Assad. “Why are you striking us? We just deposed a tyrant,” she said. “Give us peace. Leave us alone,” said Ahmed Jreida, 22, a dentist student, when asked about the Israeli airstrikes. Hamzeh Hamada, 22, said this was the first time he had gone out to a demonstration. “We want the country to get better, to live in dignity and be like other countries that respect citizens’ rights and where there are no bribes,” he said. “We have suffered a lot from bribes. ... We had to bribe people for very minor things; things that should be our right.” Abdul-Jalil Diab was taking a stroll with his brothers in another square in western Damascus. He said he came back from Jordan the day Damascus fell. He was there studying German to prepare to move to Germany and said he is now reconsidering his plans. He was ecstatic, saying words can’t describe how he feels. “We are happy to get rid of the corrupt regime that was based on bribes. The whole country feels better. Everyone is happy and celebrating,” Abdul-Jalil Diab said. QAMISHLI, Syria — Residents of northeast Syria in the area around Qamishli airport said Tuesday they heard explosions overnight after an airstrike hit trucks loaded with rockets and ammunition that were heading to a military base in Tartab. “We don’t know the story. It was only in the morning when we realized they are trucks loaded with ammunition, leftovers of the former army, the regime,” said Ibrahim al-Thalaj, who lives near the base. He said residents assumed that the strikes were Israeli. Israel has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes across Syria targeting military infrastructure after Syrian insurgents toppled the government of Bashar Assad. However, Turkish security officials said Tuesday that the strike in Qamishli was carried out by Turkey, targeting weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by the Syrian army and seized by Syrian Kurdish militants. The explosions lasted for over 20 minutes after the strike, and many houses in the surrounding area were damaged as a result, residents of the area said. “We just felt a strike hitting. It hit the first one (truck) and we saw the other trucks retreating back, and from there rockets and shells started flying over,” said Hamid al-Asaad, an eyewitness from Qub al-Zeki village in Qamishli. “We were sitting when these explosions started to hit the house,” said Mahmoud Hamza of Tartab. “It was hitting randomly and we didn’t know where it was coming from. ... Once we got out of our house, a rocket hit the house.” There were no details released by the local Kurdish administration regarding the explosions, but members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces blocked the road to the base. BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top diplomat is concerned that Syria might violently fall apart like neighboring Iraq, or Libya and Afghanistan if its territorial integrity and the rights of minorities are not protected. “The transition will present huge challenges in Syria and in the region,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told European lawmakers on Tuesday during a special hearing. “There are legitimate concerns about the risks of sectarian violence, extremist resurgence and the governance vacuum, all of which must be averted. We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan,” she said. “The rights of all Syrians, including those of many minority groups, must be protected,” she said. “It is crucial to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria, and to respect its independence, its sovereignty, as well as the state institutions.” Kallas also said the collapse of the government has shown that Assad’s backers in Russia and Iran “could neither afford to do it any longer, nor had any interest of being present in the aftermath.” “They are weakened, distracted and overstretched in other theaters in the broader Middle East, but also in Ukraine,” she said. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s intelligence agency, MIT, has attacked a convoy of trucks that was allegedly carrying missiles, heavy weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by the Syrian government and reportedly seized by Syrian Kurdish militias, Turkish security officials said Tuesday. The officials said 12 trucks, two tanks and two ammunition depots were “destroyed” in aerial strikes in the city of Qamishli, near the border with Turkey in northeast Syria. The officials provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish regulations. They did not say when the attack occurred. The officials said the intelligence agency detected that weapons left by the Syrian government forces were being moved to warehouses belonging to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Defense Units, or YPG. Turkey views the group as a terrorist organization because of its links to the banned Kurdish militants that have led a decadeslong insurgency in Turkey. According to the officials, he group was allegedly planning to use the equipment and supplies against Turkish security forces. By Suzan Fraser WASHINGTON — The White House is signaling its approval of Israel’s strikes against Syrian military and alleged chemical weapons targets and the seizure of a buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights after the fall of the Assad government. “These are exigent operations to eliminate what they believe are imminent threats to their national security,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday, saying the U.S. would leave it up to the Israelis to discuss details of their operations. “They have as always the right to defend themselves,” Kirby said. He declined to detail and U.S. intelligence cooperation with the Israelis that went into the strikes. Kirby said the White House was reasserting its support of the 1974 Golan Heights disengagement agreement, but didn’t criticize the Israeli seizure of the demilitarized zone. Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbors and occupying it indefinitely , citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States. WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says it will recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. would work with groups in Syria and regional partners to ensure that the transition from President Bashar Assad’s deposed government runs smoothly. He was not specific about which groups the U.S. would work with. Blinken says Syrians should decide their future and that other countries should “support an inclusive and transparent process” and not interfere. “The United States will recognize and fully support a future Syria government that results from this process,” he said. “We stand prepared to lend all appropriate support to all of Syria’s diverse communities and constituencies.” DAMASCUS, Syria — Jihad Mustafa Shibani was taking his new motorcycle for a spin with a friend around the house of the deposed Syrian president in western Damascus on Tuesday. Shibani was released from prison a week before the capital Damascus fell, after he served two years on charges of buying his motorcycle using foreign currency on accusations he was dealing in dollars. He was tortured for 15 days and and given a quick trial where he was sentenced for two years, he said. He was released the day Aleppo fell to the insurgents. “Everything was banned in Syria. The (Assad loyalists) only could use it,” Shibani said. He said he has never been to this neighborhood, because it was taken over by Assad, his family and supporters. “For 50 years, my family’s house is near here, and we don’t know anything about it. ... The Syrian people had been oppressed, you can’t imagine.” Shibani said he has no fear of the rebel newcomers who have taken control of the country. “We are not afraid. There can be no one more unjust than Bashar. Impossible.” BEIRUT — Lebanon’s prime minister is in contact with security and judicial officials to follow up on reports that senior members of President Bashar Assad’s government have fled to Lebanon. Najib Mikati’s office quoted him as saying that Lebanon abides by international laws regarding people who cross its borders. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said that several top security officials have entered Lebanon over the past two days. Abdurrahman added that Syria’s former intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, who is wanted in Lebanon over two bombings in 2012 in the northern city of Tripoli that killed dozens, was allegedly brought to Lebanon by the Hezbollah militant group and was staying in a southern suburb of Beirut where the group has deep support. Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, whose ministry is in charge of border crossings, told reporters Tuesday that no person who is wanted in Lebanon entered the country through legal border crossings. There are dozens of illegal border crossings between Lebanon and Syria where people are usually smuggled in and out of Lebanon, but it was not possible to independently confirm whether Mamlouk had entered Lebanon. GENEVA — The United Nations says humanitarian operations in two major areas in northwestern Syria have resumed, deploying food, medical supplies, fuel and other needed services and supplies. Spokesman Jens Laerke of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that some health facilities were “overwhelmed” – in part due to staff shortages – and many border crossings have been closed, disrupting supply chains. OCHA said humanitarian operations in some parts of northwestern Syria were put on hold in the early days of the recent escalation, and resumed on Monday. “As of yesterday, all humanitarian organizations in Idlib and northern Aleppo have resumed operations,” Laerke told reporters at a U.N. briefing in Geneva. He said the three border crossings from Turkey used by the U.N. to deliver assistance into Syria remain open and “we are providing assistance in the northwest, including to those who have been newly displaced.” Even before the latest escalation, which led President Bashar Assad to flee the country, nearly 17 million people in Syria needed humanitarian assistance. More than 1 million have been displaced across Idlib, Aleppo, Hama and Homs since the escalation. JERUSALEM — Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israel's military destroyed Syria’s fleet overnight and intends to establish a demilitarized zone “in southern Syria” to prevent attacks on Israel. He also issued a warning to Syria’s rebels, saying that “whoever follows Assad’s path will end up like Assad — we will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel across its border while putting its citizens at risk.” Speaking at a naval base in Haifa, Katz said the Israeli navy “operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet and with great success.” Video showing the smoking wreckage of what appeared to be small Syrian naval ships in the port at Latakia was broadcast by Saudi-owned television station Al-Hadath on Tuesday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has closely tracked the conflict since the civil war erupted in 2011, said Israel targeted Syrian warships, military warehouses and an air-defense facility on the coast. Katz added that he had instructed the army to establish a “defense zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence, in order to prevent terrorism in Syria from taking root and organizing.” It was unclear if the demilitarized zone would reach beyond the buffer zone that Israel has taken over in the border area. Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbors and occupying it indefinitely , citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States. DAMASCUS, Syria — Members of the Syrian government under ousted President Bashar Assad will gradually transfer power to a new transitional cabinet headed by Mohammed al-Bashir. The departing government met with al-Bashir for the first time since Assad fled Damascus over the weekend. Al-Bashir had previously led the “salvation government” running the rebel stronghold in northwest Syria. Al-Bashir told reporters after the meeting that the ministers discussed transferring the portfolios to the interim government during the transitional period until the beginning of March. He said that in the coming days the new government will decide on each ministry. DAMASCUS, Syria — Banks and shops are reopening in Damascus after the chaos and confusion of the first two days following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Sadi Ahmad, manager of Syria Gulf Bank, said life is returning to normal. A customer who came to withdraw money from an ATM was surprised to see it functioning. At the historic Hamadiyeh market, fighters who seized power were still standing guard but shops had reopened — even an ice cream stand. Resident Maysoun Al-Qurabi said she was initially “against what happened,” referring to the insurgency, but changed her mind after seeing footage of rebels releasing inmates from the notorious Saydnaya prison. “People are at ease and secure now,” she said. “Before, people were hungry and scared.” DAMASCUS, Syria — Minority Christians in Syria have been living in a state of uneasy anticipation since insurgents headed by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham took control after ousting President Bashar Assad. Mazen Kalash, a resident of Bab Touma, a Christian neighborhood in Damascus, said he wants to know the plans of the new government that will be formed by the rebels. “The important thing is to feel safe, bring order, law and respect to the citizens,” he said. “We need to be able to work whatever we want and do whatever we want without any interference from anyone.” The insurgents have so far attempted to reassure minorities that they will be protected. Large numbers of Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population, fled after the civil war erupted in 2011. Many of those who stayed supported Assad out of fear they might be targeted by Islamist insurgents. TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at media during testimony at his corruption trial, which involves media moguls. “There has never been such a biased media in any democracy ... as there is in Israel,” Netanyahu told the court, describing his testy relationship with the press. He is accused of exchanging regulatory favors with media bosses for more positive coverage of himself and his family. He has denied wrongdoing. GENEVA — The U.N. envoy for Syria says armed groups that drove out President Bashar Assad have “been sending good messages” about national unity and inclusiveness but acknowledges that a Security Council resolution still counts the leading one as a terrorist group. With Syria’s future and stability still very much in flux since Assad’s departure over the weekend, Geir Pedersen suggested that the international community needs to help the country get through this turbulent moment. “We are still in what I would call a very fluid period. Things are not settled,” Pedersen told reporters at U.N. offices in Geneva on Tuesday. “There is a real opportunity for change, but this opportunity needs to be grasped by the Syrians themselves and supported by the U.N. and the international community.” Referring to Israeli military strikes in Syria, Pedersen said it was “extremely important that we now don’t see any action from any international country that destroys the possibility for this transformation in Syria to take place.” The insurgents are led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which grew out of an al-Qaida-affiliate called the Nusra Front that the Security Council listed as a terror group in a 2015 resolution. “This is obviously a complicating factor for all of us,” Pedersen said. “But we also have to be honest, we have to look at the facts and to see what has happened during the last nine years.” “The reality so far is that the HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people,” he said. “They have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness, and frankly speaking, also, we have seen in (the captured cities of) Aleppo and in Hama ... reassuring things on the ground." Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency and the founder of both groups Nusra and HTS, cut ties with al-Qaida in 2016 and says he is committed to pluralism and religious tolerance. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey has “strongly” condemned Israel’s advance into Syrian territory, saying it was in violation of a 1974 agreement on a buffer zone inside Syria. “We strongly condemn Israel’s violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, its entry into the separation zone between Israel and Syria, and its advance into Syrian territory,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry accused Israel of “displaying a mentality of an occupier” at a time when the possibility of peace and stability had emerged in Syria. The statement also reiterated Turkey’s support to Syria’s “sovereignty, political unity, and territorial integrity.” Israeli troops on Sunday entered the buffer zone that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war and the military said it would deploy in “several other places necessary for (Israel’s’) defense.” TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he works 17 to 18 hours a day and that he is engulfed in meetings, especially during the past year that Israel has been fighting wars. Netanyahu was testifying in his long-running corruption trial. He has denied charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. “If only I could steal away five minutes to enjoy some time with my wife,” he told the court Tuesday. TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli military official says troops plan to seize a buffer zone inside Syria as well as “a few more points that have strategic meaning.” The official spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The official dismissed reports of a larger Israeli invasion as “rumors.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces were moving to control a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian territory. The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the U.N. after the 1973 Mideast war. Following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad, Israel sent troops into the buffer zone. It said the move was temporary and was aimed at preventing attacks. It said the 1974 agreement establishing the zone had collapsed and that Syrian troops had withdrawn from their positions. Israel has also carried out airstrikes across Syria in recent days targeting what it says are suspected chemical weapons and long-range rockets. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have condemned Israel’s incursion, accusing it of exploiting the disarray in Syria and violating international law. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community, except for the United States. The rest of the world views the strategic plateau as occupied Syrian territory. — By Joseph Krauss DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel’s air force has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in different parts of Syria as its ground forces move north of the Golan Heights along the border with Lebanon, according to an opposition war monitor. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that since the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government, Israel’s air force has carried out more than 300 airstrikes against research centers, arms depots and military infrastructure across Syria, as well as a naval base along the Mediterranean coast. Associated Press journalists in Damascus witnessed intense airstrikes on the city and its suburbs overnight into Tuesday morning. Photographs posted online by activists showed destroyed missile launchers, helicopters and warplanes. Meanwhile, Israeli troops marched along the border with Lebanon and now control a long stretch on the Syrian side facing Lebanon’s Rashaya region, according to the war monitor's head, Rami Abdurrahman, and the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in Syria. Israeli troops are now about 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Damascus, according to the monitor. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia has condemned Israel’s incursion into a buffer zone in Syria and a wave of Israeli airstrikes launched after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that “the assaults carried out by the Israeli occupation government, including the seizure of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, and the targeting of Syrian territory confirm Israel’s continued violation of the principles of international law and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability and territorial integrity.” Israel sent troops into a buffer zone inside Syria that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war. It said the move was temporary and was taken to prevent any cross-border attacks after Syrian troops withdrew. Israel has also carried out heavy airstrikes that it says are aimed at preventing suspected chemical weapons and long-range rockets from falling into the hands of extremists. Saudi Arabia has been in talks with the United States in recent years over normalizing relations with Israel in exchange for a U.S. defense pact, American assistance in establishing a civilian nuclear program and a pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state. But the kingdom has also repeatedly condemned Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, where it is at war with the Hamas militant group. Last month, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and day-to-day ruler Mohammed bin Salman accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza , allegations Israel adamantly rejects.Opinions expressed by Digital Journal contributors are their own. At the intersection of AI and business, machine learning engineer and Lambent Logic’s co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) Niloy Gupta tackles a crucial challenge: scaling machine learning models for real-world impact. He explains, “In my years working on machine learning systems, I’ve learned that the real challenge isn’t just building models — it’s scaling them to handle massive datasets and serve predictions so they can solve real-world problems in finance, advertising, medicine, and beyond.” As a staff machine learning engineer and technical leader at Attentive Mobile, Niloy Gupta architects sophisticated AI systems that are revolutionizing mobile marketing. His work involves building and scaling machine learning models that drive user engagement and boost eCommerce purchases. This role represents the culmination of a career spent applying AI across industries, from optimizing ad targeting systems for a well-known consumer app to building credit decision models for a giant fintech company. Niloy Gupta’s journey into software engineering began at Goldman Sachs, where he mastered designing and developing enterprise systems for financial data management. Working extensively with databases, web services, and data analytics solutions, he developed crucial expertise in building reliable and robust systems. This foundation would prove invaluable in his later work with advanced AI systems. Leveraging this technical foundation, Gupta emerged as a leader in applying machine learning across industries. At Yelp, he led efforts to optimize ad targeting systems using ML models that improved revenue metrics by 10%. Simultaneously, at Affirm, he spearheaded projects related to credit underwriting and fraud detection. His innovative work on distributed model training pipelines and low-latency model serving allowed these systems to scale efficiently. Expanding his entrepreneurial vision, as the co-founder and CTO of Lambent Logic, Niloy developed a revenue management SaaS product for pharmaceutical manufacturers. This venture demonstrated his ability to apply machine learning solutions to diverse industry challenges. Gupta, a Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science graduate, mentions, “This diverse experience across multiple sectors has enabled me to adapt machine learning technologies to solve complex problems in both consumer-facing and enterprise environments.” In digital advertising, delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time is crucial for success. Recognizing this, Niloy Gupta has developed a solution to improve how businesses reach potential customers by enhancing the accuracy of click-through rate (CTR) prediction models used in online ad serving. These models are pivotal in determining which ads are shown to users, directly impacting Yelp’s user experience and revenue generation. Gupta’s CTR prediction model evaluates whether an ad from a particular advertiser should be served by predicting how relevant the ad is to the user’s intent. Additionally, it calculates how much should be bid in an auction to outperform competitors. The more accurate the CTR prediction, the better the system can ensure users are shown ads they are likely to engage with, enhancing user satisfaction and business outcomes. Gupta shares that his team initially used a logistic regression model for CTR prediction. However, he also explains, “Logistic regression is a linear classifier and cannot model complex interactions between covariates unless explicitly specified or engineered.” The ML leader turned to gradient-boosted trees (GBTs), a more powerful machine learning technique that uses an ensemble of weak learners (decision trees) to iteratively improve predictions by focusing on the residual errors of previous models. To further optimize GBTs for real-time ad serving, Gupta pioneered an approach called “Growing Cache-Friendly Trees.” This method reorganized decision trees in memory to improve cache efficiency, significantly reducing the time spent on memory lookups during inference. By placing frequently accessed nodes closer together in memory, Gupta’s system achieved a 120 percent improvement in prediction latency, allowing for faster and more accurate ad targeting. “By carefully considering how model data is structured in memory, we were able to speed up inference without sacrificing accuracy,” Niloy Gupta explains. “This allowed us to deploy much more sophisticated models in production, leading to significant improvements in ad targeting performance.” Gupta’s next career move took him to the fintech industry, where he spent four years. As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer and later Tech Lead Manager, Gupta led teams working on critical systems for credit underwriting, fraud detection, and interest rate optimization. One of Gupta’s key contributions at Affirm was the development of Shparkley, an open-source library for scaling Shapley value computations using distributed computing. Shapley values are a powerful technique for interpreting machine learning models. In a shared open source , Gupta explains how this model works for predictions. “The idea has its roots in cooperative game theory. Each predictor in the feature vector is considered a “player” in a game where the model prediction is the payout. Shapley values inform us how to distribute the payout among the predictors fairly,” he elaborates. “An attribution method is considered to have a “fair payout” only if it meets the axioms of efficiency, symmetry, dummy, and additivity. Shapley value is the only method which satisfies these axioms.” Interpretability is crucial in fintech, where leaders need to understand and explain the factors driving their models’ decisions. According to Gupta, Shparkley enabled them to generate model explanations for millions of loan applications in a reasonable timeframe. He also played a crucial role in developing novel algorithms for optimizing financing programs. This system uses machine learning and large-scale simulation to determine optimal financing options that balance customer appeal, merchant sales, and underwriter risk. “The financing optimization project was a great example of how machine learning can create win-win scenarios in finance,” Gupta reflects. “By using AI to explore a vast parameter space, we were able to find financing options that were more attractive to customers while also managing risk for Affirm and driving sales for merchants.” Despite his years of experience in machine learning, Niloy Gupta remains aware of the inherent unpredictability and complexity of deploying these technologies in real-world environments. He understands that while machine learning models are powerful tools, they are imperfect and require meticulous attention to detail. Gupta emphasizes that the success of these systems hinges on their ability to evolve and adapt over time and on continuous monitoring to ensure they are delivering the intended impact. In this situation, Gupta recognizes the importance of lifelong learning and open collaboration. Throughout his career, he has actively contributed to the open-source community and published research on various topics, from biomedical text summarization to computer vision, with his work cited over 130 times. He also received the IEEE Computer Society Richard E. Merwin Scholarship. He mentions, “I believe in the power of open collaboration and knowledge sharing. By open-sourcing our tools and publishing our findings, we can accelerate progress across the entire field of machine learning.” As he continues to lead the machine learning industry, Niloy Gupta sees immense potential and endless possibilities for technology. His motivation remains to know that the systems he is building have the potential to drive progress and improve people’s lives.Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse

By Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have yet to start the formal transition process between administrations, which normally takes months and involves the executive branch sharing information with incoming officials on everything from foreign policy to ongoing investigations. Trump, who will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, has not signed a series of transition documents with Biden, preventing U.S. officials working for 15 agencies - including the Treasury, State Department, Energy Department, Agriculture Department, Transportation Department and others - from briefing his incoming team. The unusual situation could mean hiccups in some government operations, some critics warn and raises questions about whether Trump's appointees will clear ethics hurdles. Here's what we know about what's going on: WHY DOES THE TRANSITION MATTER? It allows the incoming president's team to participate in national security briefings or gain access to federal agencies to begin the complicated work of preparing to take control of the federal government on Jan. 20, 2025. WHAT DOCUMENTS HAS TRUMP NOT SIGNED?The Trump team has so far not signed two agreements needed to kick-start the transition required by the Presidential Transition Act: a memorandum of understanding with the General Services Administration and another with the White House. The GSA agreement would offer the transition team office space, IT services and facilities, and the White House agreement would allow transition team access to employees and documents of federal agencies. Under the transition law, the agreements also include a robust ethics pledge. It requires Trump and his transition staff to pledge they will avoid conflicts of interest once sworn into office. Trump's transition team was required to submit the ethics pledge by Oct. 1, according to the 1963 law that provides transition funding. WHY HASN'T TRUMP SIGNED THE AGREEMENTS? Two transition sources with knowledge of the matter said the holdup is Trump having to walk away from his business interests - something he does not want to do. Three days after winning the election, Trump denied on Truth Social that he was selling his shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the social media platform. "I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!" he posted. The Trump transition team's leadership has privately drafted their own ethics document and a conflict-of-interest statement governing its staff, sources said. The documents do not meet the requirements of the transition law and do not include language that explains how Trump will address conflicts of interest during his presidency, sources with knowledge of the transition said. Not signing the documents also means the president does not have to disclose the names of private donors, who are funding his transition, and can raise unlimited amounts of cash from them to fund his return to the White House. The transition law requires these names be disclosed and caps such donations at $5,000. The Trump transition team has repeatedly said the president-elect intends to sign the documents but the team's main priority is selecting and vetting candidates. It remains unclear when Trump will sign the pledge. All transition staff have signed a robust ethics pledge as a requirement of their participation, the transition team said. "The Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden-Harris administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act," said Brian Hughes, a Trump transition spokesman. WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT CONFLICTS? The about $7 trillion annual U.S. federal government budget is funded by American taxpayer money, and people who work in it should not use their position or influence in ways that benefit them or their businesses or families, according to multiple U.S. ethics laws. In 2019, Congress amended that law to require candidates to create and publicly post an ethics plan before the election. That bipartisan law was born in part out of concerns about ethical issues during the first Trump administration. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES? The president is exempted from conflict of interest laws because he oversees too many areas to make enforcement practical, ethics experts said. The system relies on a president's good-faith effort to separate his personal interests from the country's when he takes office. However the Supreme Court's ruling this year that Trump, as a former president, is immune from prosecution for official acts within his constitutional authority while in the White House, raised questions about the norms. WHAT ASSETS DOES TRUMP HAVE? Trump has a stake valued at $3.76 billion in Trump Media & Technology Group, as well as stakes in a cryptocurrency business, real estate properties and several foreign deals. The family real estate company, now run largely by Eric Trump, owns a portfolio of hotels, golf courses, resorts and New York City office space, retail operations and condominiums. WHAT ABOUT SECURITY CLEARANCES? The Trump transition team has not entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice to allow the FBI to conduct background checks of nominees, and it hasn't sent the FBI the names of prospective national security personnel who would have access to classified information, one of the sources said. The transition is reportedly using private firms to vet candidates, leaving open the possibility that federal law enforcement may never properly review Trump appointees. Circumventing background checks would be bucking a long-established norm in Washington, but the president has the final authority on whom he nominates and picks to conduct background checks. WHAT DID TRUMP DO THE LAST TIME? In 2017, Trump said he would place his business interests in a trust controlled by his two oldest sons and take other steps to remove any suggestion of a conflict of interest with his decisions as president. Still, Trump repeatedly came under fire from the Office of Government Ethics, responsible for oversight, for potential conflicts of interest relating to his businesses and brands. The government's top ethics official, Walter Shaub, resigned and criticized the president six months after Trump entered office. WHAT DO ETHICS EXPERTS SAY? Trump could operate with little or no ethics oversight during his second four-year term, making conflicts of interest more possible. It also opens up new ways for foreign interests and corporations to attempt to influence him and his administration's policy by pouring money into his businesses. At the end of his first term, at least 20 governments, including Saudi Arabia and China, collectively spent more than $7.8 million at his hotels and golf courses, according to a report compiled by congressional Democrats. It also severely affects the public's trust in government, watchdog groups say. Public trust in government hit some of the lowest levels in over 60 years during Trump's last administration, when only 17% of Americans trusted the government to do what was right. (Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis)

PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CWEN, CWEN.A) (“Company”) today announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the operational Tuolumne Wind Project from Turlock Irrigation District. Tuolumne Wind Project is a 137 MW wind project located in Klickitat County, WA that achieved commercial operations in 2009. The project will sell power under a new PPA with Turlock Irrigation District, an investment-grade regulated entity, with an initial contract term of 15 years to 2040. In conjunction with the acquisition, the Company also has received from Turlock Irrigation District a contractual extension option to enable a potential future repowering of the project. After factoring in estimated closing adjustments and new non-recourse project-level debt, the Company expects its total long-term corporate capital commitment to acquire the project to be approximately $70-75 million, which the Company expects to fund with existing sources of liquidity. Based on current expected terms and conditions of the new non-recourse financing, the acquisition is expected to provide incremental annual levered asset CAFD on a five-year average basis of approximately $9 million beginning January 1, 2026. The Company expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2025, after which its targeted contribution to fiscal year 2025 results will be communicated. “Clearway continues its successful track record of executing accretive, third-party acquisitions. We look forward to providing clean, reliable electricity to Turlock Irrigation District and its customers for years to come. Additionally, this transaction, along with other recent investments, underscores Clearway’s expanding presence in Western states alongside our historical core in California, contributing further to our strong incumbency in these attractive markets for clean power,” said Craig Cornelius, Clearway Energy, Inc.’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are also pleased to note that this acquisition is the next step in our path to meeting our long-term financial objectives, including our goal to deliver the midpoint or better of $2.40 to $2.60 in CAFD per share in 2027.” About Clearway Energy, Inc. Clearway Energy, Inc. is one of the largest owners of clean energy generation assets in the US and is leading the transition to a world powered by clean energy. Our portfolio comprises approximately 11.7 GW of gross capacity in 26 states, including 9 GW of wind, solar, and battery energy storage and over 2.7 GW of conventional dispatchable power capacity providing critical grid reliability services. Through our diversified and primarily contracted clean energy portfolio, Clearway Energy endeavors to provide our investors with stable and growing dividend income. Clearway Energy, Inc.’s Class C and Class A common stock are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols CWEN and CWEN.A, respectively. Clearway Energy, Inc. is sponsored by our controlling investor, Clearway Energy Group LLC. For more information, visit investor.clearwayenergy.com. Safe Harbor Disclosure This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and typically can be identified by the use of words such as “expect,” “estimate,” "target," “anticipate,” “forecast,” “plan,” “outlook,” “believe” and similar terms. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding, Clearway Energy, Inc.’s (the “Company’s”) dividend expectations and its operations, its facilities and its financial results, statements regarding the likelihood, terms, timing and/or consummation of the transactions described above, the potential benefits, opportunities, and results with respect to the transactions, including the Company’s future relationship and arrangements with Global Infrastructure Partners, TotalEnergies, and Clearway Energy Group (collectively and together with their affiliates, “Related Persons”), as well as the Company's Net Income, Adjusted EBITDA, Cash from Operating Activities, Cash Available for Distribution, the Company’s future revenues, income, indebtedness, capital structure, strategy, plans, expectations, objectives, projected financial performance and/or business results and other future events, and views of economic and market conditions. Although the Company believes that the expectations are reasonable at this time, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct, and actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated above include, among others, the Company's ability to maintain and grow its quarterly dividend, impacts related to COVID-19 (including any variant of the virus) or any other pandemic, risks relating to the Company's relationships with its sponsors, the failure to identify, execute or successfully implement acquisitions or dispositions (including receipt of third party consents and regulatory approvals), risks related to hazards customary in the power industry, weather conditions, including wind and solar performance, the Company’s ability to operate its businesses efficiently, manage maintenance capital expenditures and costs effectively, and generate earnings and cash flows from its asset-based businesses in relation to its debt and other obligations, the willingness and ability of counterparties to the Company’s offtake agreements to fulfill their obligations under such agreements, the Company's ability to enter into new contracts as existing contracts expire, changes in government regulations, operating and financial restrictions placed on the Company that are contained in the project-level debt facilities and other agreements of the Company and its subsidiaries, and cyber terrorism and inadequate cybersecurity. Furthermore, any dividends are subject to available capital, market conditions, and compliance with associated laws and regulations. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Cash Available for Distribution are estimates as of today’s date and are based on assumptions believed to be reasonable as of this date. The Company expressly disclaims any current intention to update such guidance. The foregoing review of factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's future results included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company makes available free of charge at www.clearwayenergy.com, copies of materials it files with, or furnishes to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contacts: Appendix Table A-1: Adjusted EBITDA and Cash Available for Distribution Reconciliation The following table summarizes the calculation of Estimated Cash Available for Distribution and provides a reconciliation to Net Income/(Loss): Non-GAAP Financial Information EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Cash Available for Distribution (CAFD) are non-GAAP financial measures. These measurements are not recognized in accordance with GAAP and should not be viewed as an alternative to GAAP measures of performance. The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures should not be construed as an inference that Clearway Energy’s future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. EBITDA represents net income before interest (including loss on debt extinguishment), taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is presented because Clearway Energy considers it an important supplemental measure of its performance and believes debt and equity holders frequently use EBITDA to analyze operating performance and debt service capacity. EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are: EBITDA does not reflect cash expenditures, or future requirements for capital expenditures, or contractual commitments; EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, working capital needs; EBITDA does not reflect the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on debt or cash income tax payments; Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and Other companies in this industry may calculate EBITDA differently than Clearway Energy does, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, EBITDA should not be considered as a measure of discretionary cash available to use to invest in the growth of Clearway Energy’s business. Clearway Energy compensates for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA only supplementally. See the statements of cash flow included in the financial statements that are a part of this news release. Adjusted EBITDA is presented as a further supplemental measure of operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA adjusted for mark-to-market gains or losses, non-cash equity compensation expense, asset write offs and impairments; and factors which we do not consider indicative of future operating performance such as transition and integration related costs. The reader is encouraged to evaluate each adjustment and the reasons Clearway Energy considers it appropriate for supplemental analysis. As an analytical tool, Adjusted EBITDA is subject to all of the limitations applicable to EBITDA. In addition, in evaluating Adjusted EBITDA, the reader should be aware that in the future Clearway Energy may incur expenses similar to the adjustments in this news release. Management believes Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors and other users of our financial statements in evaluating our operating performance because it provides them with an additional tool to compare business performance across companies and across periods. This measure is widely used by investors to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items such as interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods and book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired. Additionally, Management believes that investors commonly adjust EBITDA information to eliminate the effect of restructuring and other expenses, which vary widely from company to company and impair comparability. As we define it, Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA adjusted for the effects of impairment losses, gains or losses on sales, non-cash equity compensation expense, dispositions or retirements of assets, any mark-to-market gains or losses from accounting for derivatives, adjustments to exclude gains or losses on the repurchase, modification or extinguishment of debt, and any extraordinary, unusual or non-recurring items plus adjustments to reflect the Adjusted EBITDA from our unconsolidated investments. We adjust for these items in our Adjusted EBITDA as our management believes that these items would distort their ability to efficiently view and assess our core operating trends. In summary, our management uses Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of operating performance to assist in comparing performance from period to period on a consistent basis and to readily view operating trends, as a measure for planning and forecasting overall expectations and for evaluating actual results against such expectations, and in communications with our Board of Directors, shareholders, creditors, analysts and investors concerning our financial performance. Cash Available for Distribution A non-GAAP measure, Cash Available for Distribution is defined as of September 30, 2024 as Adjusted EBITDA plus cash distributions/return of investment from unconsolidated affiliates, cash receipts from notes receivable, cash distributions from noncontrolling interests, adjustments to reflect sales-type lease cash payments and payments for lease expenses, less cash distributions to noncontrolling interests, maintenance capital expenditures, pro-rata Adjusted EBITDA from unconsolidated affiliates, cash interest paid, income taxes paid, principal amortization of indebtedness, changes in prepaid and accrued capacity payments, and adjusted for development expenses. Management believes CAFD is a relevant supplemental measure of the Company’s ability to earn and distribute cash returns to investors. We believe CAFD is useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance because securities analysts and other interested parties use such calculations as a measure of our ability to make quarterly distributions. In addition, CAFD is used by our management team for determining future acquisitions and managing our growth. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to CAFD is cash provided by operating activities. However, CAFD has limitations as an analytical tool because it does not include changes in operating assets and liabilities and excludes the effect of certain other cash flow items, all of which could have a material effect on our financial condition and results from operations. CAFD is a non-GAAP measure and should not be considered an alternative to cash provided by operating activities or any other performance or liquidity measure determined in accordance with GAAP, nor is it indicative of funds available to fund our cash needs. In addition, our calculations of CAFD are not necessarily comparable to CAFD as calculated by other companies. Investors should not rely on these measures as a substitute for any GAAP measure, including cash provided by operating activities.Iconic retail food manufacturer files for Chapter 11 bankruptcyWoody Johnson has given up on the season — what that means for Jets coaches and playersChefs' warehouse general counsel sells $225,000 in stock

Letter: Let’s all have a joyous holiday gathering