HOUSTON, Dec. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intuitive Machines, Inc. LUNR LUNRW)) ("Intuitive Machines" or the "Company"), a leading space exploration, infrastructure, and services company, announced today that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of $65.0 million of shares of its Class A common stock ("Class A Common Stock") (the "Offering"). The Company and a selling stockholder intend to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $8,872,500 and $877,500 of shares of Class A Common Stock from the Company and such selling stockholder, respectively. The Offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the Offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the Offering. Additionally, on December 2, 2024, the Company entered into an agreement with Boryung Corporation (together with its affiliates, "Boryung"), an accredited investor, pursuant to which the Company will sell to Boryung $10.0 million of shares of Class A Common Stock in a concurrent private placement (the "Private Placement") at a purchase price per share equal to the public offering price per share in the Offering. The offer and sale of the Company's Class A Common Stock pursuant to the Private Placement will be made in reliance upon the exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "Securities Act") provided by Section 4(a)(2) thereunder. The Private Placement is contingent upon the consummation of the Offering and the satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions. The consummation of the Offering is not contingent on the consummation of the Private Placement. The Company intends to use the net proceeds it receives from the Offering and the Private Placement, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investment balance, to acquire an equivalent number of newly-issued common units of Intuitive Machines, LLC ("Intuitive Machines OpCo") from Intuitive Machines OpCo, which Intuitive Machines OpCo will in turn use for general corporate purposes, including operations, research and development and potential mergers and acquisitions. In the event the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares, the Company will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of any shares of Class A Common Stock being sold by the selling stockholder. Intuitive Machines will bear the costs associated with the sale of such shares, other than the underwriting discounts and commissions payable by the selling stockholder. BofA Securities, Cantor, Barclays and Stifel are acting as the lead joint book-running managers for the Offering. Roth Capital Partners is acting as a book-running manager for the Offering. The offer and sale of the securities pursuant to the Offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and became effective on April 3, 2024. The Offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus forming part of the effective registration statement relating to these securities. A copy of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to these securities may be obtained, when available, from the website of the SEC at www.sec.gov . Alternatively, copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus may be obtained, when available, from BofA Securities, NC1-022-02-25, 201 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department, or by email at dg.prospectus_requests@bofa.com; Cantor, 110 East 59th St., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10022, Attention: Capital Markets, or by email at prospectus@cantor.com; Barclays, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (888) 603-5847 or by email at barclaysprospectus@broadridge.com; or Stifel, One Montgomery Street, Suite 3700, San Francisco, California 94104, Attention: Syndicate, by telephone at (415) 364-2720 or by email at syndprospectus@stifel.com. The securities to be offered and sold in the Private Placement have not been registered under the Securities Act or any state's securities laws. Accordingly, the securities may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus related to the Offering are not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in connection with the Private Placement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines is a diversified space exploration, infrastructure, and services company focused on fundamentally disrupting lunar access economics. In 2024, Intuitive Machines successfully landed the Company's Nova-C class lunar lander, Odysseus, on the Moon, returning the United States to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. The Company's products and services are offered through its four in-space business units: Lunar Access Services, Orbital Services, Lunar Data Services, and Space Products and Infrastructure. For more information, please visit intuitivemachines.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward looking. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "strive," "would," "strategy," "outlook," the negative of these words or other similar expressions, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements regarding: our anticipated use of net proceeds from the Offering and the Private Placement; the terms and size of the Offering and the timing and manner of the Offering; the satisfaction of closing conditions related to the Private Placement; our expectations and plans relating to our lunar missions, including the expected timing of launch and our progress and preparation thereof; our expectations with respect to, among other things, demand for our product portfolio, our submission of bids for contracts; our expectations regarding revenue for government contracts awarded to us; our operations, our financial performance and our industry; our business strategy, business plan, and plans to drive long-term sustainable shareholder value; and our expectations on revenue and cash generation. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's predictions, projections, or expectations based upon currently available information and data. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The following important factors and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements in this press release: our reliance upon the efforts of our key personnel and board of directors to be successful; our limited operating history; our failure to manage our growth effectively and failure to win new contracts; competition from existing or new companies; unsatisfactory safety performance of our spaceflight systems or security incidents at our facilities; failure of the market for commercial spaceflight to achieve the growth potential we expect; any delayed launches, launch failures, failure of our satellites or lunar landers to reach their planned orbital locations, significant increases in the costs related to launches of satellites and lunar landers, and insufficient capacity available from satellite and lunar lander launch providers; our customer concentration; our reliance on a single launch service provider; risks associated with commercial spaceflight, including any accident on launch or during the journey into space; risks associated with the handling, production and disposition of potentially explosive and ignitable energetic materials and other dangerous chemicals in our operations; our reliance on a limited number of suppliers for certain materials and supplied components; failure of our products to operate in the expected manner or defects in our sub-systems; counterparty risks on contracts entered into with our customers and failure of our prime contractors to maintain their relationships with their counterparties and fulfill their contractual obligations; failure to successfully defend protest from other bidders for government contracts; failure to comply with various laws and regulations relating to various aspects of our business and any changes in the funding levels of various governmental entities with which we do business; our failure to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, and unpatented know how; our failure to comply with the terms of third-party open source software our systems utilize; our ability to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, and to address and remediate material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting; the U.S. government's budget deficit and the national debt, as well as any inability of the U.S. government to complete its budget process for any government fiscal year, and our dependence on U.S. government contracts and funding by the government for the government contracts; our failure to comply with U.S. export and import control laws and regulations and U.S. economic sanctions and trade control laws and regulations; uncertain global macro-economic and political conditions (including as a result of a failure to raise the "debt ceiling") and rising inflation; our history of losses and failure to achieve profitability in the future or failure of our business to generate sufficient funds to continue operations; the cost and potential outcomes of potential future litigation; our public securities' potential liquidity and trading; the sufficiency and anticipated use of our existing capital resources to fund our future operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements and needs for additional financing, including the Offering and the Private Placement; and other public filings and press releases other factors detailed under the section titled Part I, Item 1A. "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC, the section titled Part I, Item 2. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the section titled Part II. Item 1A. "Risk Factors" in our most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, our Current Reports on Form 8-K and in our subsequent filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov . These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release and current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks, and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Contacts For investor inquiries: investors@intuitivemachines.com For media inquiries: press@intuitivemachines.com This press release was published by a CLEAR® Verified individual. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Ruud van Nistelrooy enjoyed a dream start to his reign as Leicester manager after a 3-1 win over West Ham, whose boss Julen Lopetugui is under increasing pressure. Van Nistelrooy has replaced Steve Cooper at the King Power Stadium and saw Jamie Vardy open the scoring after just 98 seconds. Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka added goals after the break to ensure the Dutchman started with three points in style. Starting with a win! 🤩 Delivered by @bcgame #LEIWHU pic.twitter.com/X90nFSbMLm — Leicester City (@LCFC) December 3, 2024 His task is to keep the Foxes in the Premier League this season and after ending a five-game winless run they moved up to 15th, four points clear of the relegation zone. West Ham’s hierarchy will have seen what impact a managerial change can have as the jury remains out on Lopetegui, with away fans making their feelings clear by chanting “You’re getting sacked in the morning”. Niclas Fullkrug scored a consolation goal at the death but it counted for nothing and forthcoming games against Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton and Southampton could determine the Spaniard’s future. When Van Nistelrooy went to bed last night, even he would not have dreamt of his side starting as well as they did as they went ahead with less than two minutes on the clock. One of the Dutchman’s first conversations following his appointment was to take Vardy to task for breaking his record for scoring in the most consecutive Premier League games nine years ago. And the veteran striker rolled back to the years as, living on the shoulder of the West Ham defence, he raced clear from El Khannouss’ through-ball and slotted into the corner. The linesman’s flag immediately went up but a lengthy VAR review ruled Vardy had timed his run perfectly and the goal stood. Vardy could have added a second from a similar move but this time Lukasz Fabianski denied him. The Dutchman quickly learned about the frailties of his side as West Ham created a raft of chances in search of an equaliser. Jarrod Bowen forced Mads Hermansen into a stretching save when he cut in from the right before Ings’ header crashed into the post and Max Kilman slipped at the crucial point from the rebound. Bowen, a constant threat, sent a ball across face of goal which evaded everyone before the England international was denied by a reflex save from the busy Hermansen. The Danish goalkeeper needed to be alert to tip over Mohammed Kudus’ deflected effort early in the second half before he was saved by the referee’s whistle after after his attempted punch went into his own goal, Tomas Soucek the man penalised. Leicester remained a threat on the counter-attack and that is how they doubled their lead just after the hour. Kasey McAteer was set clear down the left and his ball inside was perfect for El Khannouss to find the bottom corner from 15 yards. It was almost three as Fabianski produced an acrobatic save from Wilfred Ndidi’s header before Leicester needed a heroic piece of defending to keep their 2-0 lead intact. Crysencio Summerville bundled the ball goalwards and it was heading over the line until Conor Coady adjusted his feet and poked it clear. The Foxes, who also had a goal from substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid chalked off by VAR, wrapped things up in the 90th minute when Daka broke clear and emphatically converted into the roof of the net. West Ham did get on the scoresheet when Fullkrug headed a corner home, but the game was already done.lottery definition 。

Toy ‘shop’ window has nothing for saleDAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria's prime minister said Monday that most cabinet ministers were back at work after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad , but some state workers failed to return to their jobs, and a United Nations official said the country's public sector had come “to a complete and abrupt halt." Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighboring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Assad's brutal rule. There were already signs of the difficulties ahead for the rebel alliance now in control of much of the country. The alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said Monday they would not tell women how to dress. “It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women’s dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty,” the command said in a statement on social media. Nearly two days after rebels entered the capital, some key government services had shut down after state workers ignored calls to go back to their jobs, the U.N. official said, causing issues at airports and borders and slowing the flow of humanitarian aid. Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was long known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also met for the first time with Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali, who stayed in Syria when Assad fled. “You will see there are skills" among the rebels, al-Sharaa said in a video shared on a rebel messaging channel. Israel said it carried out airstrikes on suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets to keep them from falling into the hands of extremists. Israel also seized a buffer zone inside Syria after Syrian troops withdrew. In northern Syria, Turkey said allied opposition forces seized the town of Manbij from Kurdish-led forces backed by the United States, a reminder that even after Assad's departure, the country remains split among armed groups that have fought in the past. The Kremlin said Russia has granted political asylum to Assad , a decision made by President Vladimir Putin . Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Assad’s specific whereabouts and said Putin did not plan to meet with him. Damascus was quiet Monday, with life slowly returning to normal, though most shops and public institutions were closed. In public squares, some people were still celebrating. Civilian traffic resumed, but there was no public transport. Long lines formed in front of bakeries and other food stores. There was little sign of any security presence though in some areas, small groups of armed men were stationed in the streets. Across swathes of Syria, families are now waiting outside prisons , security offices and courts, hoping for news of loved ones who were imprisoned or who disappeared. Just north of Damascus in the feared Saydnaya military prison, women detainees, some with their children, screamed as rebels broke locks off their cell doors. Amnesty International and other groups say dozens of people were secretly executed every week in Saydnaya, and they estimate that up to 13,000 Syrians were killed between 2011 and 2016. “Don’t be afraid," one rebel said as he ushered women from packed cells. "Bashar Assad has fallen!” In southern Turkey , Mustafa Sultan was among hundreds of Syrian refugees waiting at border crossings to head home. He was searching for his older brother, who was imprisoned under Assad. “I haven’t seen him for 13 years," he said. "I am going to go see whether he’s alive.” Jalali, the prime minister, has sought to project normalcy since Assad fled. “We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth,” he told Sky News Arabia TV on Monday, saying the security situation had already improved from the day before. At the court of Justice in Damascus, which was stormed by the rebels to free detainees, Judge Khitam Haddad, an aide to the justice minister in the outgoing government, said Sunday that judges were ready to resume work quickly. “We want to give everyone their rights,” Haddad said outside the courthouse. “We want to build a new Syria and to keep the work, but with new methods.” But a U.N. official said some government services had been paralyzed as worried state employees stayed home. The public sector “has just come to a complete and abrupt halt," said U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula, noting, for example, that an aid flight carrying urgently needed medical supplies had been put on hold after aviation employees abandoned their jobs. “This is a country that has had one government for 53 years and then suddenly all of those who have been demonized by the public media are now in charge in the nation’s capital,” Abdelmoula told The Associated Press. "I think it will take a couple of days and a lot of assurance on the part of the armed groups for these people to return to work again.” Britain and the U.S. are both considering whether to remove the main anti-Assad rebel group from their lists of designated terrorist organizations. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham began as an offshoot of al-Qaida but cut ties with the group years ago and has worked to present a more moderate image. The group's leader, al-Sharaa, “is saying some of the right things about the protection of minorities, about respecting people’s rights,” British Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said, adding that a change would be considered “quite quickly.” But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking later during a visit to Saudi Arabia, said it was "far too early” to make that decision. In Washington, a Biden administration official noted that HTS will be an “important component” in Syria's future and that the U.S. needs to “engage with them appropriately.” Another administration official said the U.S. remains in a “wait and see” mode on whether to remove the designation. Both officials requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing internal deliberations. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that such designations are constantly under review. Even while it is in place, the designation does not bar U.S. officials from speaking with members or leaders of the group, he said. The U.S. also announced it was sending its special envoy for hostage affairs to Beirut to seek information about the whereabouts of Austin Tice, a journalist who vanished in Syria 12 years ago and who President Joe Biden has said is believed to be alive. Israelis welcomed the fall of Assad, who was a key ally of Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, while expressing concern over what comes next. Israel says its forces temporarily seized a buffer zone inside Syria dating back to a 1974 agreement after Syrian troops withdrew in the chaos. “The only interest we have is the security of Israel and its citizens," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters Monday. Saar did not provide details about the targets, but the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they included weapons warehouses, research centers, air defense systems and aircraft squadrons. Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in recent years, targeting what it says are military sites related to Iran and Hezbollah . Israeli officials rarely comment on individual strikes. Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons stockpile in 2013, after the government was accused of launching an attack near Damascus that killed hundreds of people . But it is widely believed to have kept some of the weapons and was accused of using them again in subsequent years. Officials in Turkey, which is the main supporter of the Syrian opposition to Assad, say its allies have taken full control of the northern Syrian city of Manbij from a U.S.-supported and Kurdish-led force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. The SDF said a Turkish drone struck in the village of al-Mistriha in eastern Syria, killing 12 civilians, including six children. Turkey views the SDF, which is primarily composed of a Syrian Kurdish militia, as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey. The SDF has also been a key ally of the United States in the war against the Islamic State group. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday warned against allowing Islamic State or Kurdish fighters to take advantage of the situation, saying Turkey will prevent Syria from turning into a “haven for terrorism.” Mroue reported from Beirut and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Mehmet Guzel at the Oncupinar border crossing in Turkey, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, and Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Follow the AP's Syria coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/syria

Elon Musk’s preschool is the next step in his anti-woke education dreamsThe Kings headed into Saturday’s rubber match of their three-game homestand with serious concerns about their power play as well as some individual offensive performers that they hoped to get back afloat against the surging Seattle Kraken. They disposed of the dead-tired Detroit Red Wings to kick off the homestand – which is part of nine straight games to be played in California – but were shut out for the first time this season by the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday. The black and silver became the not-so-proud owners of the NHL’s worst power play since Nov. 10 – they’ve scored no power-play goals since Nov. 9 and that one was an empty-netter – and have the fourth-worst conversion rate over all of 2024-25. Their 0-for-5 performance as they were bageled 1-0 by Buffalo was their third such display this season, including an 0-for-6 showing in a loss to lowly San Jose . They’ve gone 0 for 4 on four other occasions, and went without a power-play goal in 13 of their 20 games so far. Their newly assembled top unit of five forwards has had the vibe of Dean Smith’s four-corner offense at times and, at its best, has produced nothing but near misses. The second unit’s struggles have been season-long, with the ineffectual play of both groups rendering meaningless the Kings’ numerous bromides about “looks” and “movement.” Their struggles haven’t been limited to the power play either. Overall, they’ve lost four of their past six games, and in those defeats they’ve managed a meager 1.25 goals per game. Forward Quinton Byfield signed a lucrative extension this summer with the expectation that he’d push upward into the top tier of the Kings’ scoring leaderboard. But instead of chasing captain Anže Kopitar, Byfield’s production has more closely mirrored that of checker Trevor Lewis. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft surmounted several setbacks: a broken ankle and not one but two viral illnesses, one of which robbed him of about 25 pounds. Last season, he appeared poised for a breakout, but mixed form, tentativeness and tough luck have inhibited him in the first quarter of this campaign. “He’s had tough stretches before that he’s come out of,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “If anybody’s faced adversity, it’s been him through the first run of his career here. So, he’s been through that, he’ll get through it.” Hiller remarked that Byfield “wasn’t alone” among players who could not convert Wednesday. He also wasn’t unaccompanied in a crowd of slumping Kings. Winger Kevin Fiala has gone pointless in six straight games and defenseman Jordan Spence has spent much of the season turning the puck over as if he were cooking it on a grill. Meanwhile, Brock Faber, whom the Kings dealt along with a first-round pick for Fiala, has been the No. 1 defenseman for the West’s second-best team to date, the Minnesota Wild. Even the Kings’ early-season scorchers have cooled significantly. Brandt Clarke has been held scoreless in four straight games and six of his past seven. In his last two games, he and the top power-play unit have clearly missed each other. Alex Laferriere remained in that grouping, but his production continued to sag. After a torrid stretch of eight goals in 10 games, he has one goal in his last eight appearances and no points in his four most recent outings. Slumping totals and shoulders alike will have to straighten up against leading scorer Jared McCann and Seattle, which rebounded from a four-game winless skid to capture five of its past six decisions. The Kraken have killed 90% of its penalties during their ascent, good for sixth in the NHL, and allowed a miserly 1.67 goals per game, the fourth-best mark in the league during that span. Seattle at Kings When: 1 p.m. Saturday Where: Crypto.com Arena How to watch: FDSNW

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed close, as gains for tech stocks nudged the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to more records. The S&P 500 eked out a gain of under 0.1% Tuesday, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%. Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. The value of the South Korean won sank against the dollar after its president declared martial law and then later said he’ll lift it. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting around their records on Tuesday as Wall Street's white-hot rally lets off the accelerator. The S&P 500 was virtually flat in afternoon trading, a day after rising tech stocks helped it set an all-time high for the 54th time this year. It's climbed in nine of the last 10 days and is on track for one of its best years since the turn of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 56 points, or 0.1%, with 45 minutes remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.2% to its own record set a day earlier. AT&T rose 3.9% after it boosted its profit forecast for the year. It also announced a $10 billion plan to send cash to its investors by buying back its own stock, while saying it expects to authorize another $10 billion of repurchases in 2027. On the losing end of Wall Street was U.S. Steel, which fell 7.9%. President-elect Donald Trump reiterated on social media that he would not let Japan’s Nippon Steel take over the iconic Pennsylvania steelmaker. Nippon Steel announced plans last December to buy the Pittsburgh-based steel producer for $14.1 billion in cash, raising concerns about what the transaction could mean for unionized workers, supply chains and U.S. national security. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden also came out against the acquisition. Tesla s sank 2.1% after a judge in Delaware reaffirmed a previous ruling that the electric car maker must revoke Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package. The judge denied a request by attorneys for Musk and Tesla’s corporate directors to vacate her ruling earlier this year requiring the company to rescind the unprecedented pay package. In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. Continued strength there would raise optimism that the economy could keep avoiding a recession that many investors had earlier thought was inevitable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22 from 4.20% from late Monday. Yields have seesawed since Election Day amid worries that Trump's preferences for lower tax rates and bigger tariffs could spur higher inflation along with economic growth. But traders are still confident the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in two weeks. They’re betting on a nearly three-in-four chance of that, according to data from CME Group. Lower rates can help give the economy more juice, but they can also give inflation more fuel. The key report this week that could guide the Fed’s next move will arrive on Friday. It’s the monthly jobs report , which will show how many workers U.S. employers hired and fired during November. It could be difficult to parse given how much storms and strikes distorted figures in October. Based on trading in the options market, Friday's jobs report appears to be the biggest potential market mover until the Fed announces its next decision on interest rates Dec. 18, according to strategists at Barclays Capital. Since his victory, Trump has broadcasted his plans for tariffs , including for goods coming from China . Trade relations between the U.S. and China took another step backward after China said it is banning exports to the U.S. of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications. The counterpunch came swiftly after the U.S. Commerce Department expanded the list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls to include many that make equipment used to make computer chips, chipmaking tools and software. The 140 companies newly included in the so-called “entity list” are nearly all based in China. In financial markets abroad, the value of South Korea's currency fell 0.9% against the U.S. dollar following a frenetic night where President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and then later said he'd lift it after lawmakers voted to reject military rule. Stocks of Korean companies that trade in the United States also fell, including a 1.3% drop for SK Telecom. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9% to help lead global markets. Some analysts think Japanese stocks could end up benefiting from Trump’s threats to raise tariffs on China and other countries. Indexes rose 1% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai amid unconfirmed reports that Chinese leaders would meet next week to discuss planning for the coming year. Investors are hoping it may bring fresh stimulus to help spur growth in the world’s second-largest economy. In France, the CAC 40 rose 0.3% amid continued worries about politics in Paris , where the government is battling over the budget. ___ AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed. Stan Choe, The Associated Press

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US government shutdown looms after House rejects Donald Trump-backed funding billIt’s a rainy December afternoon in NYC as rush hour approaches. With traffic mounting, Paul Wall opts to walk from Times Square to 5th Ave. to make it to his Billboard interview on time. See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news While the Houston legend has traded his fade for a platinum slicked-over haircut, lost 100-plus pounds thanks to gastric sleeve surgery (he wishes Ozempic was around in 2010) and let the salt and pepper fill his beard, it’s still Paul Wall, baby. His signature grills shine bright peering through his infectious grin lighting up any room he enters. Two decades after the release of his debut album, the 43-year-old’s love for hip-hop hasn’t waned an inch. Whenever he’s home in Texas, he’s recording every day. These days, PW’s even keeping a Notes app filled with sayings and random words he hears like Incandescent or impermanence that he’s just waiting to turn into a bar. “I love making music,” he tells Billboard . “I 100 percent intend on doing this until I’m 80 years old. God willing. Especially in hip-hop, our elders a lot of it is they don’t have the opportunity to make music. I don’t take it for granted. I’m 43, so for the next 37 years, there’s going to be albums all over the place.” It’s not the era of running around with Swishahouse, but Paul Wall’s enjoyed a bit of a renaissance since debuting his viral silver fox look last year while also being championed as the Hotties’ favorite video vixen with his cameo in Megan Thee Stallion’s “Bigger in Texas” video earlier in 2024. Multiple Billboard staffers even voiced their frustration of missing out on seeing The People’s Champ during his visit to the office last week. Wall’s also brought a new album with him as the slab music savant’s 12-track Once Upon a Grind hit streaming services last Friday (Dec. 13). “This is really about the journey,” he adds. “A lot of people see the success or finished product, but they don’t realize what it took to get there.” Check out our interview below finding Paul Wall looking back at Kanye West’s “Drive Slow,” “Grillz” topping the Billboard Hot 100 , Megan Thee Stallion and more. What are some of your early memories of NYC? My first time performing [in NYC] I remember performing with Dipset. They took me under their wing. The label I was signed to at that time, a lot of people at Asylum and Atlantic were cool with Cam’ron when they were at Def Jam. They were kinda looking out for me. My boy [Joie Manda] was the main one. He was like, “Ay, I’m gonna link you with Dipset. You f–k with them?” Of course, hell yeah. They gave me that New York love. Me and Juelz would be in the studio non-stop. Go out to the club sometimes, perform with them sometimes. We were just enjoying the moment. We had a hell of a co-sign from Dipset. We got a lot of crossover love. Take me to the new album, Once Upon a Grind , what do you feel you have left to prove? I put out an album last year called Great Wall and we kinda kicked off with that one and kept it going. When I’m at home, I’m recording every day. It definitely adds up this way I stay sharp and explore different ideas and avenues I want to go if I want to try something. If I got 500 songs, I got a lot of opportunities. I’m at no loss for bars, I got bars for days. That ain’t it. It’s more how are we gonna deliver the subject matter. P eople say, “I’ma do this or change this about my life, but I’m gonna start Monday.” Whether it’s saving up for something, working out, starting a diet, I’m not waiting until Monday, I’m starting today. That’s what it’s all about. Set goals and strive to get them. For me, it’s the nonstop grind of working and consistency. I never won a lottery or nothing like that. All I know is the hard work aspect of that. One thing I heard you say that I do as a writer as well is when you hear a word you don’t know, you’ll write it down. What, I got a whole list right here. Let me see your list. I got a hell of a list. Some of it’s simple. Incandescent, convoluted, ancillary, cerebral, confound, calamity. Some of these are not too much out there... Impermanence. It will be something I’ll hear on a TV show and be like, “What the hell they say?” Then I’ll say it to Siri. I’ll hit look up the definition and be like, “I gotta find a way to put this in [a bar].” The kiss of ice — I heard of the kiss of death, but I want the kiss of ice. Some of these are just ideas. “Bewildered,” you heard that but you never heard that in a rap. It’s words and random half-bars. “Save the best for first.” What do you think about how the rap game stands today and how you fit into it compared to when you broke in? I still feel exactly the same. I’m a fan of it. There’s a lot of it I’m not a fan of, but I’m not mad at it. I just choose no to listen to it. It’s not my cup of tea, but I’m eternally grateful I had a place here. I love that there’s so many different avenues for artists to not just be one monolithic style. When I was coming up, if you were a region or city and you didn’t sound like you were supposed to sound like, it didn’t work. You were wack. Now you can be from anywhere and sound like anybody. The possibilities are really endless. I’m a fan of that, even though some of the music I’m not [rocking with]. Some of the production style has changed. Some of it I love. I love the musical aspect of it when people incorporate live instruments or the sampling something musical. Some of my favorite beats are just drums, but I like a variety of it. I’m just happy to be representing for my style. Why complain about what someone else is doing? Make the music I want to make. What do you feel you have left to achieve? So much of it is the longevity. I’ve seen so many people tap out. Some of the greatest tap out. Some people are a perfectionist and if they’re not meeting that standard, it’s a failure for them. I don’t look at it like that. It’s art. I’ve put so many albums and I’ll work on an album with a set of producers and a group of people will love it while another group of people hate it. Then I’ll do an album that’s another style and the group that hated it will love it now. It lets me know I gotta stop overthinking things and you can’t please everyone with every song. Let me give them a variety. I love making music. Let me be the first person to use this in a rap. I 100 percent intend on doing this until I’m 80 years old. God willing. Especially in hip-hop, our elders a lot of it is they don’t have the opportunity to make music. Being that I self-fund my own music, I own my own studio, all my producers are usually my dogs, we’re in this for the same cause. I don’t take it for granted. I’m 43, so for the next 37 years there’s going to be albums all over the place. Are you mentoring anyone at all? Do people come up to you and want some game? Some people I’ll see and I have a lot I want to share with them. I gotta be cautious because everyone might not want my advice. Sometimes people think I got an ulterior motive. That Mexican OT, he’s someone who’s open with what I have to share with him. He listens. I don’t know it all and what worked for me might not work for him. One of the biggest things I learned it is okay to be wrong. I been right about what song’s gonna work — it worked, but it didn’t be work. It’s okay for the label to be right. Even though they wrong, it’s okay for them to be right. What do you think about the evolution of white rappers? Do white rappers come to you asking about how they can move in this culture tastefully? A lot of white rappers come to me. Obviously, Eminem is the big dog, as big as it gets. But he’s out of reach. I’m more accessible. You might bump into me at Starbucks. I would get a lot of people who might be fans of me or my grind not even music. I tell people to be themselves. What worked for me might not work for them. For anybody to be inspired by me means a lot. I also know the sensitivity it takes. Especially when it comes to saying the n-word. You say it in a rap, and it lives forever. It don’t matter if it’s okay in your hood for you to talk like that. When you get outside of your hood, it’s not okay. That lasts forever and some people don’t really get that until it’s too late. I’m somebody who never said the n-word. There are definitely non-Black people who say the n-word and it’s acceptable in their neighborhood. I strongly tell them it’s not worth losing future things over something you’re saying now. You might stop saying it and you blow up and they go back and it could be a huge deal. What do you remember about the week that “Grillz” went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100? I remember we were selling a lot of grills. That was a good week for us. The only time I had did something like that. To be a part of that history moment with Nelly, Jermaine Dupri and Big Gipp. It was huge for me — a huge accolade. One week it was Beyoncé’s “Check On It” with Bun B and Slim Thug, and the next week it’s Nelly with Paul Wall. It’s a proud moment for us to keep representing. I remember Nelly telling me, “It’s gonna be bigger than ‘Air Force Ones.'” I’m like, “Yeah right, he’s just gassing me up.” [Nelly] did not have to put me on the song. He’s Nelly, he could’ve gave me a shout-out on the song. He didn’t have to mention me at all. The song is still a hit without me. For him to give me that opportunity, he for sure getting free grills for life. How has the grills industry changed? The evolution has been one path. The grills are monolithic, and people want something different. I got grills a certain way and you’re like, “Hey, why don’t we do it this way?” Me and Johnny are like, “Why not?” Let’s try that. Also with the machines and technology improving, and a lot of the diamond setters having decades of experience, there’s a lot of things they could do now that they couldn’t back in the days. Some of that is your imagination. Now it’s whatever you want. We can do basically anything now. The week The People’s Champ went No. 1 [on the Billboard 200] it dethroned Kanye’s Late Registration. You even got “Drive Slow” on your album. Jay-Z is the president of Def Jam, [I’m thinking] there’s no way he’s gonna let me put that on my album. We’re talking about Kanye West, even though he wasn’t what he is now, he was still a top dog. There’s no way he’s gonna let me put it on my album so it was extremely unbelievable. People made a big deal about me dethroning Kanye, but I didn’t dethrone him — his album just came out before mine. He’s still Kanye. If you look at his album, it sold more than mine. I didn’t dethrone s–t. He really gave me the leg up letting me put that song on my album. What do you think about “Drive Slow” turning 20 next year? That’s definitely the song that people ask me most about. Hip-hop fans — not necessarily Paul Wall diehards, but the general public — that’s the No. 1 thing people ask me about. Plain Pat putting it together. He actually tried to sign me to Def Jam but it didn’t work out. He mentored me for a long time. He taught me it’s okay to be wrong. First I made Kanye some grills and Plain Pat said, “I seen you made Kanye some grills. He say he f–k with your music and he like your music.” He let me know [my verse not make the album] but this was an opportunity and if it works out this is a hell of a look. I’m not gonna tell the whole world I got a song with Kanye West and it never came out. I didn’t think it was gonna make his album. There’s no way he wants a verse from me. He sent me the beat. The “Drive Slow” verse was the first verse I wrote for “Sittin’ Sidewayz.” I always knew this is gonna be something if Jay-Z want me on a song. This is one of them situations. I do it to the beat and this worked. I sent it into him and Plain Pat said Ye liked it and he wants you to come to L.A. and lay it again with him in person. He’s gonna want you to try some new things. Just work with him, he’s a perfectionist. He’s gonna take what you give him and make something out of it. We flew out to L.A. and we’re coming down the escalators and two sheriffs come up and I’m immediately thinking I’m being Punk’d because Mike Jones just got Punk’d . When you got Punk’d, you’d pass it on. I told everyone, “If y’all set me up, lose my number. You’re not gonna embarrass me.” Next think you know I’m cussing out these L.A. sheriffs. If they reading this, I apologize. I thought they were actors. I’m going hard in the paint talking crazy to them. They have a notorious reputation... We weren’t doing nothing wrong... They left, so I’m like, where Ashton Kutcher at? I’m also thinking Kanye’s in on this. We go to the hotel and I got to the studio. This is when you had to Mapquest. The driver says it’s right here and we’re in the far left hand lane. There’s four lanes and we’re at a light and the studio’s right there. So you really had to turn right. The driver broke ’em off. He cuts in front of the traffic to turn right and it just so happened there’s a cop in the far right lane. They couldn’t get me plan A at the airport, and now I know I’m getting Punk’d . I’m like, “Get me to the studio.” I’m like, “Can I go?” He didn’t care what I was doing, and the driver stayed there and got a ticket. I’m upstairs doing my part with GLC and Nas is downstairs doing his verse for the album. I remember leaving, “I don’t know if I’ma make the album.” I’ll never forget DJ Drama called me, “You on the Kanye West album? I’m here at the listening party. You’re on the album!” How was your cameo in the “Bigger in Texas” video for Megan Thee Stallion? They’re saying you were their favorite vixen out there. I’m the Zaddy for sure. Megan is a true visionary. T Farris is her manager, and there’s that connection. She’s somebody we’ve rooted for from the beginning. [I’m] so happy for her success. She definitely deserves all of that, she’s so talented. They reached out and told me they wanted to put a few people in the video. I said, “Of course, I want to be in the Megan video.” She was there in the store with Johnny twerking with her grill. It was a hell of a shout-out to Johnny. She showed us major love for that.

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Is Enron back? If it’s a joke, some former employees aren’t laughingPresident-elect wants to turn the lights out on daylight saving time. In a post on his social media site Friday, Trump said his party would try to end the practice when he returns to office. “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” he wrote. Setting clocks forward one hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall is intended to maximize daylight during summer months, but has long been subject to scrutiny. Daylight saving time was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942. Lawmakers have occasionally proposed getting rid of the time change altogether. The most prominent recent attempt, a now-stalled bipartisan bill named the , had proposed making daylight saving time permanent. The measure was , whom Trump has tapped to helm the State Department. “Changing the clock twice a year is outdated and unnecessary,” Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said as the Senate voted in favor of the measure. Health experts have said that lawmakers have it backward and that standard time should be made permanent. , including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said that it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun — and human biology. do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do, the date that clocks are changed varies, creating a complicated tapestry of changing time differences. Arizona and Hawaii don’t change their clocks at all.

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