Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug useENTRUSTED with our readers’ deep secrets, the Dear Deidre team really have a unique insight into what dilemmas the nation is grappling with. Of course, there are some constants — cheating, differing sex drives, low self-esteem and loneliness. But some issues loom larger in certain years as new problems come to the fore. As 2024 nears an end, we take a look at what exactly our readers have been writing in about. Every year, we help thousands of people by answering every single dilemma with a personalised answer, and we’ve kept a record of the issues we’ve tackled. Relationship issues consistently come out on top, with 23 per cent of the emails Dear Deidre receives focused on romantic problems. Sex came a close second, with 19 per cent of readers writing in with a sexual dilemma. Interestingly, half of every single relationship message addressed cheating. Sometimes, the unfaithful party would be writing in, otherwise a suspicious or heartbroken partner worried about their relationship. Among the emails about cheating on partners, home surveillance and doorbell cameras featured more prominently, with some partners forgetting to turn off cameras before inviting flings to come back to their homes. A growing number of readers also wrote in because, although they were separated, financial constraints meant they could not move out of the marital home. The reluctant house sharers were frustrated at being unable to move on — a trend that reflects economic uncertainty in the UK. Notable developments this year have been new requests for support with quitting vaping. Another new issue came in the form of pensioners worrying about losing their winter fuel allowance. Social media has been a common theme in all the categories. It is impossible to quantify but has had a huge impact. So many of the relationship problems relate to partners ogling scantily clad influencers or flirting with others they have met online. Plenty don’t see this as cheating but the feeling of betrayal is real for those on the receiving end. And it’s not just cheating that worries people. Time spent watching endless videos encourages weird infatuations, with one woman complaining her husband had become obsessed with the French election. He insisted they spend their family holiday in France watching speeches — and had previously had no interest in politics. The issue of phone addiction came up, particularly for parents fretting about not only what their children were being exposed to, but also how their mobile activity was affecting their own behaviour. They asked our team for help on how to manage this. And a huge number of adults wrote in fed up with their partner, who had little interest in them but spent all hours playing online games or scrolling through their socials. It’s clear that while technology enables us to do far more and do it efficiently, left unchecked it threatens our real-world connections and provides more opportunity for temptation. Next year, I will be recording when social media, phone usage and the internet are mentioned as part of the problem, and I predict this will be a huge growth area. Below is a reader’s letter about ogling, followed by one about winter fuel allowance. I also break down what percentages of our mail different types of letter make up. DEAR DEIDRE: MY ex saw me having sex with a one-night stand using the camera security system he’d installed as a favour to me. I was completely unaware that he was watching this, until he turned up the next morning and got very upset with me. Originally, I was grateful for his help setting up the system, but now I feel really uncomfortable. He said he’d received an alert on his phone and checked it by chance, but I can’t help worrying he’s keeping an eye on me. He insists he hasn’t been watching and that was a one-off, but the whole experience has really unsettled me. I’m 36, my ex is 39, and we were together for eight years before we broke up five months ago. Our split was both mutually agreed, and amicable, and we decided to remain friends. We still met up and sometimes even had sex, but as we didn’t discuss what this meant I thought we were simply friends with benefits. I really appreciated still having him in my life. When I was moving house, he offered to help, knowing how useless I am at DIY. He helped put up shelves, and installed security cameras which he set up online so I could view them through an app. I knew he had access to it all while he set it up but assumed he’d log out. So when I brought a man home, I didn’t think twice. Now I feel mortified. He says he didn’t mean to breach my privacy, but I feel so conflicted. DEIDRE SAYS: Watching you have sex with another man was a huge breach of your privacy, and you shouldn’t take it lightly. As a priority, please ensure that you are the only one with access to your security system. Make sure you’re the primary account holder and change your password so that he doesn’t have access. It’s completely understandable that this experience has made you question the sort of person he is. Unless you decide you can trust him completely, you would be wise to stay away. At the very least, it’s clear that the lines are blurred between you and your ex and some boundaries need to be re-established. As for your relationship with him, you need to decide if there’s any hope of a future together. If you decide there’s not, it would be best to step away so you can both move on. My support pack Moving On will help. DEAR DEIDRE : SINCE the Government cut my Winter Fuel Payment, I’ve been struggling to afford my bills. Now I’m forced to choose between putting my heating on or buying food, and the stress is making me unwell. I’m a 76-year-old pensioner, and live alone. Until this year, I was receiving £200 payments to cover the cost of my heating bills, and I heavily relied on it. So when the Government announced the change, I went into a complete panic. My pension is already low as it is, so without the extra payments I knew it was going to be a hard couple of months. When I contacted the council for help, they told me that, while I was eligible to apply, I had missed the deadline so now I’d have to go without. Ever since, my life has been an absolute nightmare. Now I wake up every morning to a freezing house – and no matter what I do, I can’t keep warm. The constant dread is getting me down, and I’m now struggling to cope. DEIDRE SAYS: I can only imagine how distressing this must be for you. While the qualifying week for this year’s Fuel Payment has now passed, you may still be eligible if you successfully apply for Pension Credit by December 21. Please note that you only have two days to do this, so please take action today. You may also be eligible for a £150 Warm Home Discount. You can find out more about this on the government website ( gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme ). TOP TOPICS: Relationships 23% Sex 19% Family 8% Parenting 7% Friendships 4% Workplace issues 5% Mental health 11% Health 5% Addictions 8% Bereavement 5% Sexuality 4% Other 1% SEX WOES Sex drive 43% Fetishes 16% Threesomes 12% Erection problems 11% Fantasies 7% Climaxing 4% Menopause 3% Other 4% LOVE Cheating 49% Domestic abuse 12% Addictive love 10% Broken heart 14% Online romance 6% Age gaps 5% Other 4% ADDICTION Alcohol 42% Porn 22% Drugs 13% Smoking 8% Vaping 5% Gambling 9% Shopping and spending 1%lol646 login 。

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls can’t survive without 3-point shooting. This is, in a way, what it looks like when the other shoe drops. Nearly midway through the season, the Bulls are the second-most prolific 3-point shooting team in the NBA, trailing only the Boston Celtics as they average 16.5 made 3s on 44 attempts per game. The success of this transformed offense has been undeniable. The Bulls entered their game Saturday night against the Milwaukee Bucks ranked sixth in the league in points per game (117.7) and 12th in offensive rating (112.6) as they marginally outperform expectations. But the sustainability of the 3-pointers — the making of them, not the attempts — has been a looming question. The reality for a lopsided roster is that a team only ever trades one problem for another. The Bulls are more dependent than ever on a single style of shot. And as shooters begin to hit the expected midseason slumps, the offense is at risk of becoming fully exposed. In the early weeks, center Nikola Vučević often laughed when asked if his shooting ever would cool off. It was a question he had asked himself. As tirelessly as he worked in the offseason, Vučević doesn’t have a thorough explanation for how his 3-point accuracy has jumped from 29.4% last season to 45.6%. For Vučević, the goal always has been the same : consistency. He doesn’t thrive in tumult. When his shooting becomes streaky, he often struggles to contain his frustration, which then degrades his accuracy. Vučević’s volume of shots has been satisfying, but he cares more about sustaining a high level of accuracy than jacking up a bunch of shots. But the trend is beginning to turn for ​​Vučević. He shot 35% from 3-point range over the last five games before Saturday, going 0-for-4 in a loss to the Celtics and 2-for-8 in Monday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Vučević isn’t alone. The Bulls are trending downward in 3-point accuracy, dropping to 35.9% over the last 10 games before Saturday. This has been heightened by the absence of key players such as Lonzo Ball and Ayo Dosunmu, who not only boost the team’s 3-point shooting, but also can facilitate playmaking to create better opportunities. The Bulls’ long-range attempts haven’t wavered even as their accuracy has dipped. Instead, they are taking more and more 3s as defenses begin to cede the 3-point arc in preference of packing the paint and removing all other avenues of scoring. Thursday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks , in which the Bulls shot 51.2% (22 of 43) from long range, encapsulated just how dependent they have become — on both 3-point shooting and the individual brilliance behind it. Jevon Carter buoyed the offense with an improbable flurry of six 3s in the first quarter. On the scoresheet, this created the facade of a robust offense as the Bulls pulled ahead by double digits. In reality, Carter’s scoring belied a complete lack of scoring from the rest of the roster, which made only six shots inside the arc in the first quarter. Once Carter’s hot streak dimmed, the Bulls floundered. The pattern repeated in the third quarter, with Zach LaVine burying six 3s. The Bulls seemed to settle into a comfortable blowout, only to have it evaporate in the fourth quarter. The 141-133 loss, their third straight defeat, highlighted that while 3-point shooting is an easy way to blow out an opponent, quarters such as the second and fourth — in which the Bulls made only three 3-pointers each — can leave the team paralyzed for scoring options. To be clear, the Bulls should be able to win any game in which they score more than 130 points. Thursday’s failure falls squarely on the defense. But finding a way to be less vulnerable to shooting streaks and skids is imperative for maintaining competitiveness in the new year. There are a few ways to accomplish this. The Bulls could utilize Vučević more inside the arc. Defenses are trying to knock him out of his typical shooting rhythm, which is opening mismatches and post-ups down low that the Bulls aren’t hitting. Improved entry passes — and better finishing at the rim from Vučević — would reestablish some balance. The Bulls also could benefit from utilizing LaVine’s playmaking more consistently. He has spent most of this season showcasing his ability to do more with less , averaging an improved 22.3 points despite taking two fewer shots per game than the previous two seasons. But the offense finds its true rhythm when LaVine pushes the ball downhill early in a game. The best way for the Bulls to ride out shooting slumps is to create better 3-point shots. They shouldn’t stop taking 3s — quite the opposite. The offense has been revitalized by the enthusiasm with which the players have bought into a new style of play. Even when the 3s aren’t falling, the ball movement and off-ball creativity established by the system is critical to the success of the offense. For the Bulls, the answer is taking better 3-point shots, not fewer. Whether they can continue to create those looks — even as defenses adjust to combat their greatest strength — will be the focal point of the next stage of the season. ©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Stablecoin Payments Were Crypto’s Biggest 2024 StoryCigna Group stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitorsDaily Post Nigeria Tinubu blames Abuja, Oyo, Anambra stampedes on organisers’ error Home News Politics Metro Entertainment Sport News Tinubu blames Abuja, Oyo, Anambra stampedes on organisers’ error Published on December 23, 2024 By Ogaga Ariemu President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described the stampedes in Abuja, Oyo, and Anambra states as grave errors on the part of the organisers. Tinubu made this disclosure during his first media chat since his inauguration last year. According to him, while the organisers of the food distribution had good intentions, the unfortunate events led to the loss of lives. The president emphasised the need for a more organised and effective food distribution mechanism. “If you know you don’t have enough to give, do not attempt to publicise it. Every society has its share of angry people. There are food banks, but unfortunately, the stampedes occurred. It is a very grave error on the part of the organisers,” Tinubu stated. DAILY POST reports that over the weekend, several people lost their lives in food distribution stampedes across multiple states. Related Topics: abuja anambra Oyo Tinubu Don't Miss I’ve no regrets about removing fuel subsidy – Tinubu You may like I’ve no regrets about removing fuel subsidy – Tinubu Christmas: Tinubu to address Nigerians today on first media chat Likitoci na shirin tsunduma yajin aiki nan da makonni 2 Tinubu unveils 2024 Christian pilgrimage to Israel, Jordan Soludo vows to arrest anyone parading as Anambra community monarch, cancels election Tinubu is a listening President – Orji Uzor Kalu Advertise About Us Contact Us Privacy-Policy Terms Copyright © Daily Post Media Ltd

'You’re under arrest, please stay online': How mobile phone has become ‘Akshaya Patra’ of cyber criminals in Tamil Nadu

Israeli drone strikes hit Kamal Adwan Hospital on Tuesday, wounding three medical staff at one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the northernmost part of Gaza , the facility’s director said. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said the drones were dropping bombs, spraying shrapnel at the hospital. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. In Lebanon, a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has held despite Israeli forces carrying out several new drone and artillery strikes on Tuesday, killing a shepherd in the country's south. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed keep striking “with an iron fist” against perceived Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire. Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel last year in solidarity with Hamas militants who are fighting in the Gaza Strip. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage . Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians , more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war in Gaza has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times . Here's the Latest: US forces in eastern Syria conduct a self-defense strike, Pentagon says WASHINGTON — U.S. forces conducted a self-defense strike Tuesday in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Euphrates, a U.S. base in eastern Syria, against three truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers, a T-64 tank and mortars that Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said presented “a clear and imminent threat” to U.S. troops. The self-defense strike occurred after rockets and mortars were fired that landed in the vicinity of the base, Ryder said. The Pentagon is still assessing who was responsible for the attacks — that there are both Iranian-backed militias and Syrian military forces that operate in the area. Ryder said the attack was not connected to the offensive that is ongoing in Aleppo, where Syrian jihadi-led rebels taken over the country’s largest city. The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria to conduct missions to counter the Islamic Stage group. Israeli drone strikes hit a hospital in northern Gaza, wounding 3 medical staff CAIRO — Israeli drone strikes hit the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on Tuesday, wounding three medical personnel, the facility’s director said. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said the drones were dropping bombs, spraying shrapnel at the hospital, located in the town of Beit Lahiya. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. In comments released by Gaza’s Health Ministry, Abu Safiya said one of the injured was in critical condition and was undergoing a complex surgery. “The situation has become extremely dangerous,” he said. “We are exhausted by the ongoing violence and atrocities.” Kamal Adwan Hospital has been struck multiple times over the past two months as Israeli forces have waged a fierce offensive in the area, saying they are rooting out Hamas militants who regrouped there. In October, Israeli forces raided the hospital, saying that militants were sheltering inside and arrested a number of people, including some staff. Hospital officials denied the claim. Abu Safiya was wounded in his thigh and back by an Israeli drone strike on the hospital last month. Israeli court orders Netanyahu to take the stand in his long-running corruption trial TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli court has ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take the stand next week in his long-running corruption trial, ending a long series of delays. Netanyahu’s lawyers had filed multiple requests to put off the testimony, arguing first that the war in Gaza prevented him from properly preparing for his testimony, and later that his security could not be guaranteed in the court chamber. In Tuesday’s decision, judges in the Jerusalem district court said that following a security assessment, his testimony will be moved to the Tel Aviv district court. Israeli media said the session would take place in an underground chamber. His testimony in the trial, which began in 2020, is expected to begin on Dec. 10 and to last at least several weeks. Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate scandals involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies wrongdoing. Lebanese civilians who came back to war-damaged towns are skeptical that Israel will abide by the ceasefire NABATIYEH, Lebanon — In destroyed areas of southern Lebanon, residents clearing away rubble on Tuesday said they didn’t trust Israel to abide by the week-old ceasefire with Hezbollah. “The Israelis are breaching the ceasefire whenever they can because they are not committed,” said Hussein Badreddin, a vegetable seller in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, which was pummeled by Israeli airstrikes over several weeks. “This means that they (can) breach any resolution at any time.” Since it began last Wednesday, the U.S.- and French-brokered 60-day ceasefire has been rattled by near daily Israeli strikes, although Israel has been vague about the purported Hezbollah violations that prompted them. Imad Yassin, a trader who owns a clothing shop in Nabatiyeh, said Israel was constantly breaching the ceasefire because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to continue the displacement of residents of southern Lebanon. “The Israeli enemy was defeated and the truth is that he is trying to get revenge. Netanyahu is trying to displace us as citizens of southern Lebanon,” Yassin said. They spoke as bulldozers cleared streets strewn with rubble and debris from destroyed buildings. Electricians worked to fix power lines in an effort to restore electricity to the city. Both men were displaced by the war and returned to Nabatiyeh on Wednesday, the day the ceasefire went into effect. Yassin found his clothing shop had been destroyed. He said he would wait to see if the state will dispense compensation funds so that he can repair and reopen his business. Israeli strikes kill at least 9 people in Gaza City GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Two separate Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people in Gaza City on Tuesday, Palestinian medical authorities said. Six people, including two children, who were killed when an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced people Tuesday afternoon in the Zaytoun neighborhood, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency services. A second strike hit a residential building in the Sabra neighborhood, killing at least three people, the services said. Israeli forces have almost completely isolated northernmost Gaza since early October, saying they’re fighting regrouped Hamas militants there. That has pushed some families south to Gaza City, while hundreds of thousands more live in the territory's center and south in squalid tent camps, where they rely on international aid. Israel says it killed a Hezbollah representative to the Syrian military JERUSALEM — Israel's military confirmed it killed a senior member of Hezbollah responsible for coordinating with Syria's army on rearming and resupplying the Lebanese militant group. Syrian state media said a drone strike on Tuesday hit a car in a suburb of the capital Damascus, killing one person, without saying who was killed. Israel's military said he was Salman Nemer Jomaa, describing him as “Hezbollah’s representative to the Syrian military,” and that killing him “degrades both Hezbollah’s presence in Syria and Hezbollah’s ongoing force-building efforts.” Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years. Israel rarely acknowledges its actions in Syria, but it has said that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups. Iran supports both Hezbollah and the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad, which is currently fighting to push back jihadi-led insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo . Israeli soldiers open fire inside a West Bank hospital while searching for militants' bodies, doctor says TUBAS, West Bank — Israeli soldiers opened fire inside a hospital in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday during a raid to seize the bodies of alleged militants targeted in earlier airstrikes, a Palestinian doctor working at the hospital told The Associated Press. Soldiers entered the Turkish Hospital complex in Tubas after the bodies of two Palestinians killed and one wounded in airstrikes in the northern West Bank on Tuesday were brought there, said Dr. Mahmoud Ghanam, who works in the hospital’s emergency department. The troops briefly handcuffed and arrested Ghanam and another doctor. “The army entered in a brutal way, and they were shooting inside the emergency department,” said Ghanam. “They handcuffed us and took me and my colleague.” The military confirmed that its troops were operating around the hospital searching for those targeted in the airstrikes, which they said had hit a militant cell near the Palestinian town of Al-Aqaba in the Jordan Valley. It denied that troops had entered the hospital building or fired gunshots inside. The soldiers left after learning that the wounded man had been transferred to another hospital, Ghanam said. The soldiers wanted to take the bodies of the two men killed in the strike, but the hospital’s manager refused to hand over the bodies, Ghanam said. Israeli raids on hospitals in the West Bank are rare but have grown more common since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. In Gaza, Israeli troops have systematically besieged, raided and damaged many hospitals. About 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israel has carried out near-daily military raids in the West Bank that it says are aimed at preventing attacks on Israelis — attacks which have also been on the rise. Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three territories for an independent state. Hamas and Fatah are near an agreement on who will oversee postwar Gaza CAIRO — Palestinian officials say Fatah and Hamas are closing in on an agreement to appoint a committee of politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip after the war . It would effectively end Hamas’ rule and could help advance ceasefire talks with Israel. The rival factions have made several failed attempts to reconcile since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. Israel has meanwhile ruled out any postwar role in Gaza for either Hamas or Fatah, which dominates the Western-backed Palestinian Authority . A Palestinian Authority official on Tuesday confirmed that a preliminary agreement had been reached following weeks of negotiations in Cairo. The official said the committee would have 12-15 members, most of them from Gaza. It would report to the Palestinian Authority, which is headquartered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and work with local and international parties to facilitate humanitarian assistance and reconstruction. A Hamas official said that Hamas and Fatah had agreed on the general terms but were still negotiating over some details and the individuals who would serve on the committee. The official said an agreement would be announced after a meeting of all Palestinian factions in Cairo, without providing a timeline. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media on the talks. There was no immediate comment from Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is dismantled and scores of hostages are returned. He says Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza , with civilian affairs administered by local Palestinians unaffiliated with the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. No Palestinians have publicly volunteered for such a role, and Hamas has threatened anyone who cooperates with the Israeli military. The United States has called for a revitalized Palestinian Authority to govern both the West Bank and Gaza ahead of eventual statehood. The Israeli government is opposed to Palestinian statehood. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed. Palestinians get food aid in central Gaza, some for the first time in months NUSEIRAT REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip — Palestinians lined up for bags of flour distributed by the U.N. in central Gaza on Tuesday morning, some of them for the first time in months amid a drop in food aid entering the territory. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, gave out one 25-kilogram flour bag (55 pounds) to each family of 10 at a warehouse in the Nuseirat refugee camp, as well as further south in the city of Khan Younis. Jalal al-Shaer, among the dozens receiving flour at the Nuseirat warehouse, said the bag would last his family of 12 for only two or three days. “The situation for us is very difficult,” said another man in line, Hammad Moawad. “There is no flour, there is no food, prices are high ... We eat bread crumbs.” He said his family hadn’t received a flour allotment in five or six months. COGAT, the Israeli army body in charge of humanitarian affairs, said it facilitated entry of a shipment of 600 tons of flour on Sunday for the World Food Program. Still, the amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza since the beginning of October has been at nearly the lowest levels of the 15-month-old war. UNRWA’s senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge told The Associated Press that the flour bags being distributed Tuesday were not enough. “People are getting one bag of flour between an entire family and there is no certainty when they’ll receive the next food,” she said. Wateridge added that UNRWA has been struggling like other humanitarian agencies to provide much needed supplies across the Gaza Strip. The agency this week announced it was stopping delivering aid entering through the main crossing from Israel, Kerem Shalom, because its convoys were being robbed by gangs. UNRWA has blamed Israel in large part for the spread of lawlessness in Gaza. The International Criminal Court is seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over accusations of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel rejects the allegations and says it has been working hard to improve entry of aid. Netanyahu vows an ‘iron fist’ against Hezbollah if they break the ceasefire, and thanks Trump for tough talk on Gaza hostages JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war isn't over against Hezbollah and vowed to use "an iron fist" against the Lebanese militant group for any perceived violations of a week-old ceasefire. “At the moment we are in a ceasefire, I note — a ceasefire, not the end of the war," Netanyahu said at the start of the government meeting Tuesday. He said the military would retaliate for “any violation — minor or major.” Netanyahu also thanked U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for his recent demands for Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza. Trump posted on social media Monday that if the hostages are not freed before he takes office in January there would be “HELL TO PAY.” Netanyahu convened Tuesday's meeting in northern Israel, where around 45,000 Israelis had been displaced by the war as of last week, according to the prime minister’s office. Netanyahu said the government was focused on getting them back in their homes and rehabilitating the area. Germany arrests a Lebanese man accused of being a member of Hezbollah BERLIN — German authorities have arrested a Lebanese man accused of being a member of Hezbollah and working for groups controlled by the militant organization in Germany. Federal prosecutors said the suspect, identified only as Fadel R. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in the Hannover region on Tuesday. The man is suspected of membership in a foreign terrorist organization and is not accused of direct involvement in any violence. Prosecutors said he joined Hezbollah in the summer of 2008 or earlier and took part in leadership training courses in Lebanon. From 2009, he allegedly had leadership duties in two groups controlled by Hezbollah in the Hannover area, organizing appearances by preachers close to the militants. According to prosecutors, he was briefly a correspondent for a Hezbollah media outlet in 2017 and was tasked with coordinating building work at a mosque. Germany is a staunch ally of Israel. It is also home to a Lebanese immigrant community of more than 100,000. Lebanese army launches recruitment drive to bolster presence in the south BEIRUT — The Lebanese army is looking for more recruits as it beefs up its presence in southern Lebanon after the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. Lebanon’s army is a respected national institution that kept to the sidelines during the nearly 14-month conflict. During an initial 60-day truce, thousands of Lebanese troops are supposed to deploy in southern Lebanon, where U.N. peacekeepers also have a presence. Hezbollah militants are to pull back from areas near the border as Israel withdraws its ground forces. The army said those interested in joining up have a one-month period to apply, starting Tuesday. The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, with around 5,000 of them deployed in the south. Drone strike hits car in Damascus, Syrian news agency says DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s state news agency says a drone strike hit a car in a suburb of the capital, Damascus, killing one person. The agency did not give further details or say who was killed. It said the attack occurred Tuesday on the road leading to the Damascus International Airport south of the city. The area is known to be home to members of Iran-backed militant groups. Israel is believed to have carried out a number of strikes in the area in recent months as it has battled Iran-backed Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge such strikes. Israel warns the Lebanese state over ceasefire JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister warned that if the shaky ceasefire with Hezbollah collapses, Israel will widen its strikes and target the Lebanese state itself. He spoke the day after Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes that killed nearly a dozen people. Those strikes came after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of projectiles as a warning over what it said were previous Israeli violations. Speaking to troops on the northern border Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said any violations of the agreement would be met with “a maximum response and zero tolerance.” He said if the war resumes, Israel will widen its strikes beyond the areas where Hezbollah’s activities are concentrated, and “there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon.” During the 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which came to an end last week with a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France, Israel largely refrained from striking critical infrastructure or the Lebanese armed forces, who kept to the sidelines . When Israeli strikes killed or wounded Lebanese soldiers, the Israeli military said it was accidental . The ceasefire agreement that took effect last week gives 60 days for Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and for Hezbollah militants to relocate north of the Litani River. The buffer zone is to be patrolled by Lebanese armed forces and U.N. peacekeepers. Israel has carried out multiple strikes in recent days in response to what it says are violations by Hezbollah. Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days by launching airstrikes, demolishing homes near the border and violating Lebanon’s airspace. Berri, a Hezbollah ally, had helped mediate the ceasefire. Israeli airstrike in northern West Bank kills two Palestinians JERUSALEM — Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank has killed two Palestinians. Israel’s military said it struck a militant cell near the town of Al-Aqaba, in the Jordan Valley. It did not immediately give more details. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the two deaths and said a third person was moderately wounded. About 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israel has carried out near-daily military raids in the West Bank that it says are aimed at preventing attacks on Israelis, which have also been on the rise. Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for an independent state. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon reappears after pager attack BEIRUT — Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon made his first public appearance in Beirut since he was wounded in an attack involving exploding pagers in mid-September. Mojtaba Amani, who returned to Lebanon over the weekend after undergoing treatment in Iran, visited on Tuesday the scene south of Beirut where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sept. 27. Speaking about the airstrike that destroyed six buildings and killed Nasrallah and others, Amani said Israel should get for its act “the highest medal for sabotage, terrorism, blood and killing civilians.” Amani suffered serious injuries in his face and hands when a pager he was holding exploded in mid-September. The device was one of about 3,000 pagers that exploded simultaneously, killing and wounding many Hezbollah members. A day after the pager attack, a similar attack struck walkie-talkies. In total, the explosions killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 3,000, many of them civilians. Last month, a spokesperson for the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the pager attack was approved by Netanyahu.

By LISA MASCARO and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee’s long-awaited report on Matt Gaetz documents a trove of salacious allegations , including sex with an underage girl, that tanked the Florida Republican’s bid to lead the Justice Department . Related Articles National Politics | President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America’s tallest peak National Politics | An analyst looks ahead to how the US economy might fare under Trump National Politics | Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal National Politics | House Ethics Committee accuses Gaetz of ‘regularly’ paying for sex, including with 17-year-old girl National Politics | Trump wants mass deportations. For the agents removing immigrants, it’s a painstaking process Citing text messages, travel receipts, online payments and testimony, the bipartisan committee paints a picture of a lifestyle in which Gaetz and others connected with younger women for drug-fueled parties, events or trips, with the expectation the women would be paid for their participation. The former congressman, who filed a last-minute lawsuit to try to block the report’s release on Monday, slammed the committee’s findings. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted he never had sex with a minor. And a Justice Department investigation into the allegations ended without any criminal charges filed against him. “Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” Gaetz wrote in one post on Monday. “There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.” Here’s a look at some of the committee’s key findings: ‘Sex-for-money arrangements,’ drug-fueled parties and trips The committee found that between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.” He paid the women using through online services such as PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp and with cash or check, the committee said. The committee said it found evidence that Gaetz understood the “transactional nature” of his relationships with the women. The report points to one text exchange in which Gaetz balked at a woman’s request that he send her money, “claiming she only gave him a ‘drive by.’” Women interviewed by the committee said there was a “general expectation of sex,” the report said. One woman who received more than $5,000 from Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 said that “99 percent of the time” that when she hung out with Gaetz “there was sex involved.” However, Gaetz was in a long-term relationship with one of the women he paid, so “some of the payments may have been of a legitimate nature,” the committee said. Text messages obtained by the committee also show that Gaetz would ask the women to bring drugs to their “rendezvous,” the report said. While most of his encounters with the women were in Florida, the committee said Gaetz also traveled “on several occasions” with women whom he paid for sex. The report includes text message exchanges in which Gaetz appears to be inviting various women to events, getaways or parties, and arranging airplane travel and lodging. Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges in 2021, initially connected with women through an online service. In one text with a 20-year-old woman, Greenberg suggested if she has a friend, the four of them could meet up. The woman responded that she usually does “$400 per meet.” Greenberg replied: “He understands the deal,” along with a smiley face emoji. Greenberg asks if they are old enough to drink alcohol, and sent the woman a picture of Gaetz. The woman responded that her friend found him “really cute.” “Well, he’s down here for only for the day, we work hard and play hard,” Greenberg replied. ‘Substantial evidence’ indicates that Gaetz had sex with underage girl, the committee said The report details a party in July 2017 in which Gaetz is accused of having sex with “multiple women, including the 17-year-old, for which they were paid.” The committee pointed to “credible testimony” from the now-woman herself as well as “multiple individuals” who corroborated the allegation. The then-17-year-old — who had just completed her junior year in high school — told the committee that Gaetz paid her $400 in cash that night, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report. The woman acknowledged that she had taken ecstasy the night of the party, but told the committee that she was “certain” of her sexual encounters with the then-congressman. There’s no evidence that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee she didn’t tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time and that he didn’t how old she was. Rather, the committee said Gaetz learned she was a minor more than a month after the party. But he stayed in touch with her after that and met up with her for “commercial sex” again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee. Gaetz said evidence would ‘exonerate’ him but provided none of it In sum, the committee said it authorized 29 subpoenas for documents and testimony, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents and contacted more than two dozen witnesses. But when the committee subpoenaed Gaetz for his testimony, he failed to comply. “Gaetz pointed to evidence that would ‘exonerate’ him yet failed to produce any such materials,” the committee said. Gaetz “continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed.” The report details a months-long process that dragged into a year as it sought information from Gaetz that he decried as “nosey” and a “weaponization” of government against him. In one notable exchange, investigators were seeking information about the expenses for a 2018 get-away with multiple women to the Bahamas. Gaetz ultimately offered up his plane ticket receipt “to” the destination, but declined to share his return “from” the Bahamas. The report said his return on a private plane and other expenses paid by an associate were in violation of House gift rules. In another Gaetz told the committee he would “welcome” the opportunity to respond to written questions. Yet, after it sent a list of 16 questions, Gaetz said publicly he would “no longer” voluntarily cooperate. He called the investigation “frivolous,” adding: “Every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration.” The report said that while Gaetz’s obstruction of the investigation does not rise to a criminal violation it is inconsistent with the requirement that all members of Congress “act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House.” Justice Department didn’t cooperate with the committee The committee began its review of Gaetz in April 2021 and deferred its work in response to a Justice Department request. It renewed its work shortly after Gaetz announced that the Justice Department had ended a sex trafficking investigation without filing any charges against him. The committee sought records from the Justice Department about the probe, but the agency refused, saying it doesn’t disclose information about investigations that don’t result in charges. The committee then subpoenaed the Justice Department, but after a back-and-forth between officials and the committee, the department handed over “publicly reported information about the testimony of a deceased individual,” according to the report. “To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses,” the committee said. Many of the women who the committee spoke to had already given statements to the Justice Department and didn’t want to “relive their experience,” the committee said. “They were particularly concerned with providing additional testimony about a sitting congressman in light of DOJ’s lack of action on their prior testimony,” the report said. The Justice Department, however, never handed over the women’s statements. The agency’s lack of cooperation — along with its request that the committee pause its investigation — significantly delayed the committee’s probe, lawmakers said.

UC SAN DIEGO 73, JAMES MADISON 67None

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