As Western diplomats explore establishing ties with the rebels who took power in Syria, a religious minority has been conducting its own diplomatic push to ensure protections for its members as the country rebuilds.A representative of the group, the Druse, recently went to Washington to meet with lawmakers, members of the Biden and Trump administrations and diplomats to plead their case.“We are very worried about the future,” Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif said in an interview in Washington, where he urged U.S. officials to prioritize protections for Syria’s 1.2 million Druse as part of their engagement with the country’s new government.In December,…
Author: usaeverydaylife
The Apple logo is imprinted on the window of an Apple store in Chicago on March 21, 2024.Scott Olson | Getty ImagesApple’s board of directors recommended investors vote against a shareholder proposal to abolish the company’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, according to a proxy filing from the company.The National Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank, submitted a proposal that the company consider abolishing its “Inclusion & Diversity program, policies, department and goals.”The proposal cited recent Supreme Court decisions, and made the argument that DEI poses “litigation, reputational and financial risks to companies” and could make Apple…
After recent years of toxicity and tumult, the New England Patriots are turning to a decisive and confident former star player with a track record of getting the most out of his roster.The Patriots hired Mike Vrabel as their next head coach — the team announced Sunday — a less-than-shocking move that had been foreseen because of Vrabel’s impressive resume and connection to the franchise as the Pats struggled through a disappointing 4-13 campaign that led to Jerod Mayo’s firing after just one season. He’s back! Patriots Hall of Famer Mike Vrabel returns to New England as our 16th head…
Number of missing rises as Los Angeles fires continueFirefighters made some progress to contain the multiple wildfires across the city on Sunday as more desert winds arrived. The blazes have killed at least 16 people, and Sheriff Robert Luna of Los Angeles County said that the number of missing increased by the hour. Follow our live coverage here.Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, and the kind of gusts that have propelled the fires were expected to return after a possible reprieve. Even as crews managed to stop the momentum of the large Palisades fire, fire risk remained high in the region.…
It happens every working morning now, between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. ET, the adoption of a couple of stocks, hijacked from their closing price and gunned so hard that you have to wonder exactly what kind of game is being played. Some of the time the stocks are oddball biotechs, the kinds that just got approval for a mid-stage trial for some illness that, thank heavens, you’ve never heard of. Sometimes they can be stocks with news that we don’t know about yet, typically leaked downgrades or upgrades from brokerage houses. We’ll never know how the leaks were obtained…
BALTIMORE — The quarterback, who acknowledged earlier in the week that he’s been too amped up in previous playoff games, jogged onto the field for the first time in the shadow of his end zone. If Lamar Jackson needed a test of his nerves, this was it.This was also an early opportunity to show the Pittsburgh Steelers and the rest of the AFC playoff field that this year is going to be different. This wouldn’t be the same ol’ postseason Ravens, who had a habit of losing their identity and their nerve.Thirteen plays, including five consecutive Jackson runs, and 95…
The BlackRock logo is pictured outside the company’s headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City on May 25, 2021.Carlo Allegri | ReutersThe Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation gave a fresh deadline of Feb. 10 to BlackRock to resolve an issue regarding oversight into the asset manager’s investments in FDIC-regulated banking organizations, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.The FDIC may open an investigation into BlackRock and demand more information from the company if it fails to make sufficient progress toward resolving the issues, the report said.The move by the FDIC follows a Jan.…
MELBOURNE, Australia — There’s a young woman who looks a lot like Coco Gauff at Melbourne Park for the Australian Open. She has the same fiery, competitive eyes, the same tendency to break out in a giggle in the middle of a sentence and the same number of titles.Her tennis, though, is different. This Gauff has become the sporting version of an iPhone, with a new model coming out just about every year or so.The prototype was all athleticism and attack. Then the forehand turned wobbly and Gauff 2.0, the winning-ugly version guided by Brad Gilbert, came out in summer…
Croatian President and presidential candidate Zoran Milanovic votes at a polling station during the presidential election, in Zagreb, Croatia, on Dec. 29, 2024.Antonio Bronic | ReutersCroatian President Zoran Milanovic is on track for a landslide victory that will secure him a second term in the largely ceremonial post, an exit poll showed.Milanovic of the opposition Social Democratic Party is on track to win Sunday’s presidential election with 77.86% of votes, according to the exit poll on state-run HRT television.Dragan Primorac of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 22.14%, the exit poll showed.Around 3.8 million people in the NATO and…
California Governor Gavin Newsom (R) tours the downtown business district of Pacific Palisades as the Palisades Fire continues to burn on Jan. 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.Eric Thayer | Getty ImagesCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted President-elect Donald Trump’s response to the California wildfires in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” recorded Saturday, saying, “Mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us.”Newsom appeared to be referring to Trump’s posts on Truth Social blasting Newsom, President Joe Biden and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass since the fires broke out Tuesday.In one post, the president-elect baselessly claimed Newsom…
