Unions score a major win in Wisconsin with a court ruling restoring collective bargaining rightsSo far, Michigan’s growing list of players to enter the NCAA transfer portal have been on the offensive side of the ball or special teams. That ended Monday morning, when junior linebacker Micah Pollard submitted his name into the portal for a planned departure. Pollard has yet to acknowledge the departure publicly, but a team spokesman confirmed the move Monday to The Ann Arbor News/ MLive. The 6-foot-2, 234-pound Pollard will have two years of college eligibility remaining. A former three-star recruit, Pollard made an immediate impact as a true freshman. He appeared in 12 games in 2022, primarily on special teams, and played in all 15 of Michigan’s games in 2023 en route to a national championship. Pollard departs Ann Arbor with 15 total tackles to his name. The Jacksonville, Fla., native only appeared in two games this season, on special teams against Fresno State and Texas. Pollard is the 10th Michigan player to enter the NCAA transfer portal, or declare plans to, since the Wolverines’ regular-season concluded on Nov. 30. He is the first on defense.slotvip88 。

Arne Slot has played down the optimism around Liverpool's Premier League title chances and says Manchester City's plight shows how quickly a season can change. The Reds moved seven points clear at the top of the table, and 14 clear of the struggling champions, as goals from Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah clinched a 3-1 win over Leicester following second-placed Chelsea's loss to Fulham on Boxing Day. The gap will be reduced to six points if Arsenal beat Ipswich on Friday night, but Slot's side also have a game in hand - even if their head coach is taking nothing for granted. In his press conference after the win over Leicester, Slot used Manchester City's dismal form as an example of how things can unravel, with Pep Guardiola's side having only won one of their last 12 games in all competitions following their 1-1 draw with Everton. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Asked if it's Liverpool's title to lose, Slot said: "If you're in this game for a long time like these players are, or I am, then you know that, 20 games before the end, you don't look at it that way. Trending "There are so many challenges still ahead. It was only two months ago that we were one point behind City and look what has happened there in terms of injuries, then a bit of bad luck, and a suspension. This can happen to any team." West Ham United Liverpool Slot also played down the idea that Liverpool are cruising towards the title, saying they have had no "easy wins" this season. Also See: Report: Liverpool go seven points clear Stream the Premier League on NOW Live Premier League table Liverpool fixtures "It's far too early to already be celebrating but it is of course nice for us to be the team we are. We know we are able to do this. But I don't think there was any easy win for us in all these games. "It could have been an easy win against Tottenham but then we conceded two and it was 5-3. "That tells you how difficult it is to win if all your players are available, let alone if somewhere during the season you pick up some injuries or suspensions. "That's why we have to take it one game at a time. "It's important to win, I felt like we should win, but then I also had the same feeling against Fulham and Nottingham Forest so you always have to do a lot in the Premier League. "The table is something we are aware of but we also understand how many games are still to play." Salah: Title race advantage feels different "It feels different but the important thing is we need to stay humble," Salah told Amazon Prime . "We had a few injuries when we were ahead (previously) and we lose it in the end. Hopefully we carry on like that with no injuries and we go on and win it. "This one is very special. Hopefully we win the Premier League for this club - it's something I dream of." Tom from Southampton became a millionaire for free with Super 6! Could you be the next jackpot winner? Play for free!In what is being called a ‘gross failure’ of security, a stowaway was able to evade multiple security checkpoints to board a flight from New York to Paris, where she was caught after disrupting the flight. A on CNN says a woman identified as Svetlana Dali completed security screening and bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations without a boarding pass – which the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) confirms. Although TSA has not shared further details on how Dali skirted , reports say she got through without showing a boarding pass, passport – or, presumably, any other form of ID – meaning fake ID or fraudulent documents were likely not involved. The BBC’s take on the story says she “managed to dodge” document and ID checks. Dali has a U.S. green card and a Russian passport, but does not qualify for entry into Europe. She is now being held in the ZAPI waiting zone at Charles de Gaulle airport, awaiting deportation back to the States. Six major airports in Thailand are expanding facial recognition options to passengers on international flights. The will be available to international travelers at airports in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Don Mueang, Hat Yai, Phuket and Suvarnabhumi. Estimates say the face biometrics system will reduce boarding time per passenger from three minutes to one. It also applies to baggage drop, enabling travelers to check bags without the need for a passport or ID document. Thailand’s airport authority says stored biometric data will be erased 48 hours after registration. The biometric passenger processing system at Thailand airports was deployed by local integrator and includes kiosks and gates . It can also authenticate airport staff. The Canadian Press that Air Canada will install facial recognition gates for boarding in Vancouver, in an effort to make the process more efficient. The opt-in program will allow passengers to walk onto a plane without showing a passport or piece of physical ID. Canada’s largest airline launched a in 2023 for digital ID in its frequent traveler Maple Leaf lounges in Toronto, Calgary and San Francisco. It plans to expand its biometrics program to boarding gates at more airports soon. New biometrics deployments in Sao Paulo, Paris, Vancouver and Thailand show airports continuing their global shift toward biometrics for check-in, security and other uses. Aeroin that Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) has approved an addendum to the concession contract for Guarulhos International Airport, opening the door for new investments in facial recognition technology to be used in passenger and and immigration control. The investment of R$450 million (roughly US$74.2 million), which aims to increase security and efficiency in passenger identification and baggage processes, will be shared between and other security measures such as x-rays and explosives detectors. A featuring representatives from Idemia and Air France delves into the programme at Paris Airport to offer AI-powered luggage identification via the ALIX tool. is expanding use cases for ALIX across the airport journey, and focusing particularly on biometric bag check and return tools. Idemia notes that a key to success in a complex bag handling system is training operators to work with AI systems, so that they are seen as helping, rather than as replacements for human labor. They also note that the airport has been keen to deploy across the facility: “the airport is not an obstacle.” | | | | | | | | |

We predicted that Stability AI would shut down this year. The company has had a chaotic 2024 ... [+] punctuated by the departure of its CEO/cofounder Emad Mostaque, but it has not shut down. At this time last year, we published a list of 10 predictions about what would happen in the world of artificial intelligence in 2024. To keep ourselves honest, with 2024 now coming to a close, let’s revisit these predictions to see how things actually played out. There is much to learn from these retrospectives about the state of AI today. Interestingly, an online betting market about our 10 predictions popped up and has been active over the course of 2024. Take a look to see what the markets thought about our predictions. And keep an eye out for our 2025 AI predictions, coming out later this month! Prediction 1: Nvidia will dramatically ramp up its efforts to become a cloud provider. Outcome: Right FBI Warns iPhone, Android Users—Change WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal Apps What To Know About The UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder—As NYPD Releases New Photos Of Suspect iOS 18.2 Release Date: iPhone’s New Upgrade Is Hours Away Nvidia invested heavily to expand its DGX Cloud offering in 2024, nearly tripling its quarterly spend on cloud services and leaving little doubt that it considers this a major strategic priority. It now touts case studies from numerous happy customers of its AI-focused cloud offering, from Amgen to Deloitte to ServiceNow. For now, Nvidia offers its cloud service in partnership with the major cloud providers Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. But make no mistake: while Nvidia and the cloud providers are deeply reliant on each other today, these giants increasingly find themselves on a competitive collision course. Nvidia may hope to cut out the middleman by offering its chips directly to end customers rather than relying on the cloud vendors as intermediaries. Meanwhile, Amazon, Google and Microsoft are all developing their own homegrown AI chips to lessen their dependence on and compete more directly with Nvidia. It will be fascinating to watch this “frenemy” dance play out in the years ahead. Prediction 2: Stability AI will shut down. Outcome: Wrong Things went from bad to worse for Stability AI at the beginning of 2024. CEO/founder Emad Mostaque was pushed out of the company in March. Several key personnel departed around the same time, including star researcher Robin Rombach, leading insiders to describe the company as “totally hollowed out” and “in a death spiral.” The company underwent a round of layoffs in April. It seemed as if Prediction 2 were bound to come true. But the company has not shut down. Over the summer, it hired a new CEO, managed to raise a lifeline of additional funding, and persuaded its cloud providers to forgive hundreds of millions of dollars in current and future debt. The company even convinced legendary filmmaker James Cameron to join its board of directors. The Stability AI that exists today may be a shell of its former headline-grabbing self, but the company remains a going concern. Prediction 3: The terms “large language model” and “LLM” will become less common. Outcome: Wrong At least Andrej Karpathy agreed with the point we were making here. In a tweet a few months ago, Karpathy wrote: “It's a bit sad and confusing that ‘Large Language Models’ have little to do with language; it’s just historical. They are highly general purpose technology for statistical modeling of token streams. A better name would be Autoregressive Transformers or something. They don’t care if the tokens happen to represent little text chunks. It could just as well be little image patches, audio chunks, action choices, molecules, or whatever.” We agree. As we argued last year, we still maintain that “large language model” is not the best term for today’s frontier AI models. But the reality is that the terms “large language model” and “LLM” have not become any less widely used in 2024. Maybe in 2025 the terminology will begin to better align with the technology. Prediction 4: The most advanced closed models will continue to outperform the most advanced open models by a meaningful margin. Outcome: Right The release of Meta’s state-of-the-art open-weight Llama 3 models this year, combined with persistent delays in the release of OpenAI’s GPT-5, may have made it tempting to conclude that the performance gap between closed and open models is closing. Then OpenAI dropped o1. o1, OpenAI’s new reasoning model, has opened up an entirely new vista in artificial intelligence research. In his seminal 2019 essay The Bitter Lesson , Rich Sutton emphasized “the great power of general purpose methods, of methods that continue to scale with increased computation even as the available computation becomes very great.” Sutton posited that “the two methods that seem to scale arbitrarily in this way are search and learning .” Before o1, frontier AI models relied heavily on the second method and largely neglected the first. o1 has changed this. Rather than improving AI by massively scaling learning during training , o1 introduces a new paradigm of massively scaling search during inference . Because it is so recent and so novel, o1’s full significance is not yet widely appreciated. But it will profoundly impact AI’s trajectory in the years ahead. It is true that open-weight alternatives to o1 have already emerged, mere months after o1’s launch, including some—like Alibaba’s QwQ-32B-Preview —that appear to rival o1 in performance. This is not surprising, and it does not change the fact that the most important zero-to-one innovations in AI continue to come out of the closed labs. As we wrote last year: “As in many other domains, catching up to the frontier as a fast follower, after another group has defined it, is easier to achieve than establishing a new frontier before anyone else has shown it is possible. For instance, it was considerably riskier, more challenging and more expensive for OpenAI to build GPT-4 using a mixture-of-experts architecture, when this approach had not previously been shown to work at this scale, than it was for Mistral to follow in OpenAI’s footsteps several months later with its own mixture-of-experts model.” Prediction 5: A number of Fortune 500 companies will create a new C-suite position: Chief AI Officer. Outcome: Right In 2024, organizations from Eli Lilly to Morgan Stanley to Qualtrics to Accenture Federal Services announced that they were creating a Chief AI Officer (or equivalent) role, appointing leaders to oversee their organizations’ AI efforts. Considering that AI strategy remains a top priority for virtually every enterprise today, expect to see more companies follow suit in 2025. Prediction 6: An alternative to the transformer architecture will see meaningful adoption. Outcome: Right The transformer remains the dominant AI architecture today, by far. But 2024 proved to be the year that, to quote last year’s article, “a challenger architecture broke through and won real adoption, transitioning from a mere research novelty to a credible alternative AI approach used in production.” That alternative architecture is the state space model (SSM). Mamba , today’s most prominent state space model, has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times on Hugging Face since its publication about a year ago. Mamba has inspired a number of variants that are in wide use today, from Vision Mamba to Mixture-of-Experts Mamba to MambaByte . As one example, well-funded Israeli startup AI21 Labs built its flagship model (named Jamba) on the Mamba architecture. Cartesia, a young startup out of Chris Ré’s Stanford lab focused on productizing and commercializing SSMs, has seen significant growth this year. Its generative audio models—built on the SSM architecture—have emerged as a serious challenger to industry leaders ElevenLabs and OpenAI thanks to their superior efficiency, latency and ability to handle long inputs. (Other challenger architectures also made progress this year—for instance liquid neural networks —but none have yet achieved the real-world adoption that state space models have.) Prediction 7: Strategic investments from cloud providers into AI startups—and the associated accounting implications—will be challenged by regulators. Outcome: Right Hyperscalers’ investments into AI startups have faced plenty of regulatory scrutiny this year. The FTC is actively investigating Microsoft’s investments in OpenAI. U.K. officials announced in October that they are looking into Google’s $2 billion investment into Anthropic. Regulators have also challenged Amazon’s investments in Anthropic and even Microsoft’s modest investment in Mistral, though these latter two have been cleared. These regulatory inquiries have centered more on antitrust concerns than on accounting violations associated with “roundtripping.” Prediction 8: The Microsoft/OpenAI relationship will begin to fray. Outcome: Right A steady drumbeat of news has come out over the course of 2024 pointing to the growing tension and misalignment between OpenAI and Microsoft. (A recent New York Times headline was worded almost identically to our prediction: “Microsoft and OpenAI’s Close Partnership Shows Signs of Fraying.”) OpenAI and Microsoft increasingly compete directly to sell similar AI products to the same enterprise customers. They have each struck deals this year to work with the other’s competitors, diversifying away from their once ironclad alliance. Microsoft has recently launched partnerships with Anthropic , Mistral and Cohere ; OpenAI, for its part, announced a landmark alliance with Apple this summer. Other sources of friction that have spilled out into the open in 2024 include disputes over computing resources and the appointment of controversial DeepMind cofounder Mustafa Suleyman as Microsoft’s new AI chief. Prediction 9: Some of the hype and herd mentality behavior that shifted from crypto to AI in 2023 will shift back to crypto in 2024. Outcome: Wrong We wrote in last December’s predictions article: “Crypto is out of fashion right now, but make no mistake, another big bull run will come. In case you haven’t noticed, after starting the year under $17,000, the price of bitcoin has risen sharply in the past few months, from $25,000 in September to over $40,000 today. A major bitcoin upswing may be in the works, and if it is, plenty of crypto activity and hype will ensue.” This has proven prescient. Bitcoin has been on a tear in recent months, setting new all-time highs on a weekly basis. Three days ago the price of bitcoin crossed $100,000 for the first time ever, marking a major milestone. Venture funding has begun pouring back into crypto. With crypto-hater Gary Gensler out at the SEC and a crypto-friendly Trump administration about to take office, this bull run may just be getting started. So why did we grade this prediction as “Wrong”? While crypto has made a comeback in 2024, the hype and herd mentality around AI has in no way moderated since this time last year; it has only grown more deafening. Prediction 10: At least one U.S. court will rule that generative AI models trained on the internet represent a violation of copyright. The issue will begin working its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Outcome: Wrong Nearly three dozen lawsuits are underway in the United States today on the issue of whether generative AI models trained on internet data represent a violation of copyright, or conversely are protected by the fair use doctrine. Every major AI provider, from OpenAI to Anthropic to Meta, has been caught up in the litigation. But a meaningful ruling has not yet been issued in a single one of these cases. In other words, expecting this prediction to come true in 2024 reflected an overoptimistic assessment of how quickly U.S. courts move. But substantive rulings from the courts on these cases are coming soon. Summary judgment decisions are expected within months in two different cases on this topic, one against Nvidia and another against legal AI startup ROSS Intelligence. By the first or second quarter of 2025, we will have much more signal (though by no means the final verdict) about where courts are landing on this critical issue. See here for the original article with our 2024 AI predictions. See here for our 2023 AI predictions, and see here for our retrospective on them. See here for our 2022 AI predictions, and see here for our retrospective on them. See here for our 2021 AI predictions, and see here for our retrospective on them.

GeoVax, SIGA Jump After WHO Extends Mpox Public Emergency Status: Here’s What Retail Thinks

Brock Purdy entered this season riding a wave of success. After being selected as the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, the young quarterback was thrust into the San Francisco 49ers' starting lineup as a rookie due to injuries. Since then, Purdy has guided the team to two NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl appearance. This season has been vastly different. The 49ers have faced significant adversity, with injuries and mental mistakes leading to nine losses and early elimination from playoff contention. Despite the challenges, head coach Kyle Shanahan believes this tough season will ultimately benefit Purdy in the long run, especially after his record-breaking 2023 campaign. "He's in a more challenging situation this year," Shanahan told reporters on Thursday. "He's got two more weeks of it. I think it's going to end up being really good for him in the long run. I thought he played at such a high level in some situations last year that some were good and easier, but then some were tough." Shanahan highlighted Purdy's resilience in last season's playoff wins, which required the team to come from behind in both games. The quarterback played a pivotal role in those victories. "I think this year, just having a number of his guys down has been harder on him, but usually, that stuff can make you better," Shanahan explained. "I think he's fought through it all year. He's got two more weeks to fight through it, and hopefully, we can still improve in these two weeks and then get to the film in the offseason." Despite the team's underwhelming performance and disappointment, Shanahan is confident that Purdy's confidence hasn't wavered. "Brock's a very strong person," Shanahan said. "I think he's disappointed. He had high expectations this year, just like we all did. I also don't think he hasn't ever been in a losing situation yet. So, I think that's very hard for him. "But to watch how he responds each week, to watch how he practices, to watch how he is in the meetings, he's always the same guy, and nothing's changed in that way." This article first appeared on 49ers Webzone and was syndicated with permission.Five players on the hottest seats: Will beleaguered QBs return to their teams in 2025?Luigi Mangione’s arrest thrust his family into the spotlight. Who are the Mangiones of Baltimore?

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A celebration Sunday in Chicago's Congress Plaza in the Loop could only be described as an outpouring of pent up emotion. Hundreds turned out to celebrate the downfall of the Assad regime that has been in place in Syria since 1970. It is the reason that most of people celebrating emigrated to the United States. The sound of the drums at the celebration was deafening as people danced, sang, and hugged. Hundreds of Syrian-Americans were brought together in joyous celebration. Their home nation's 52-year-dictatorship is now over, almost in the blink of an eye. "We are completely stunned by the speed of this. And we got it," Syrian American Council President Hani Atassi said. "This is a celebration now." RELATED | Jubilation and gunfire as Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad family's half-century rule Ironically, the gathering was planned on Saturday, even before Bashar Al-Assad resigned as president and fled Syria. Organizers intended to pile on the mounting international pressure for him to leave, not imagining it would happen this fast. "We couldn't believe it. One week and all this gone," said Maher Khatta with Citizens for a Secure and Safe America. "The tyranny gone. All those people who ruled the country for 52 years gone. It's unbelievable." In the crowd Sunday were people of all ages. Among them were many who have been in Chicago for decades, unable to go home for fear of political persecution. Many others were recent immigrants, who left Syria as refugees when the country's civil war began 13 years ago. It is a war that's claimed over half a million lives, and seen 14 million people forced to flee their homes. "I'm feeling so happy. My country is back," Syrian refugee Sadell Matar Al-Haj said. "I have left the war when I was four years old, and I'm just so happy to feel that I have a country again." READ MORE | Biden says Assad's fall in Syria is a 'fundamental act of justice,' but 'a moment of risk' While it is unclear what kind of government will take over in Syria, for now at least there is hope. "I hope Syria to be a democratic country," said Mohammed Al Zoubi with Citizens for a Secure and Safe America. "And I hope the people of Syria will feel the freedom and will look to the future." While Sunday was a day to celebrate, many of those who even in exile have remained politically active know the hard work to rebuild the country starts now. It is an effort they say they intend to be a part of.6,000 inmates escape from a high-security prison as post-election violence roils Mozambique

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AD Ports Group, an enabler of integrated trade, transport and logistics solutions, announced the inauguration of CMA Terminals Khalifa Port, a state-of-the-art, AED 3.1 billion (USD 845 million) container terminal by His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. The inauguration is a major milestone in the development of Khalifa Port, AD Ports Group’s flagship port. The world-class container, ro-ro, and multipurpose port facility opened in December 2012, and in just 12 years has expanded to become one of the world’s fastest-growing, most efficient commercial ports. CMA Terminals Khalifa Port, managed by a joint venture between the CMA CGM Group’s subsidiary CMA Terminals (70%) and AD Ports Group (30%), showcases advanced port infrastructure, including automated gates and integrated systems that enhance efficiency and sustainability. The facility offers shore-power for vessels to limit emissions, several solar panels areas contributing to the energy mix of the terminal operations and includes the region’s first net zero carbon administration building, which is powered by renewable energy sources. The building won the Net Zero Building Project of the Year Award in 2022 from the MENA Green Building Awards. The addition of the CMA CGM facility increases Khalifa Port’s annual container capacity by 23% to almost 10 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units). The new terminal is ready for rail connectivity and will significantly enhance Khalifa Port’s position as a major gateway for the region. The design of the new facility incorporates sustainability principles into the construction which support the UAE’s wider targets for building the circular economy, recycling construction and reducing operational waste. The new facility includes eight advanced Ship to Shore (STS) cranes, and 20 Electric Rubber Tyred Gantry (e-RTG) cranes, which enhances Khalifa Port’s reputation as one of the world’s most technologically advanced commercial ports, underscoring Abu Dhabi’s role in driving the future of sustainable and smart trade. H.E. Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Chairman of AD Ports Group, said: “The inauguration of CMA Terminals Khalifa Port highlights the UAE as a premier investment destination and solidifies its position as a key partner for global players. The new terminal will boost trade flows and foster long-term economic growth in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.” Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, said: “The inauguration of our new container terminal is a major step in the development of Khalifa Port, consolidating Abu Dhabi’s position as a global trade hub. This strategic infrastructure will boost shipping and logistics activities across the region. Together with our partner AD Ports Group, we are pleased to deliver a modern terminal with a strong focus on innovation and sustainability.” Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group, said: “CMA Terminals Khalifa Port will significantly boost Abu Dhabi’s connectivity, reinforcing its vital role on the global trade map and contributing to local economic diversification in line with the vision of our leadership. This new facility places AD Ports Group firmly in the ranks of the world’s leading global port operators. We look forward to a long, mutually beneficial partnership with CMA CGM that brings long-term economic benefits to the UAE and Abu Dhabi, as we work together to build a sustainable global transport future.” The inauguration of CMA Terminals Khalifa Port marks the completion of Phase 1 of the new terminal project for CMA CGM, with the opening of an initial quay wall of 800 metres 18.5 metres of depth, and 8 STS Cranes adding a total capacity of 1.8 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) to Khalifa Port. With the opening of the new CMA CGM facility, Khalifa Port has reached a new stage as one of the region’s leading port trade hubs. Khalifa Port now extends over 6.3 km2, with 41 quay cranes, 159 yard cranes, 11.7 km of quay wall and 3.8 km of breakwater length. Source: AD Ports GroupPak activities dips to zero after deploying anti-drone system along Jammu border: BSF official

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Netflix released its Christmas streaming viewership numbers on Thursday, saying that the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans matchups drew 65 million viewers across the United States. Netflix would be primarily competing with Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football for streaming viewership numbers. This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis. For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app , homepage and social feeds—including Twitter , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok .

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A celebration Sunday in Chicago's Congress Plaza in the Loop could only be described as an outpouring of pent up emotion. Hundreds turned out to celebrate the downfall of the Assad regime that has been in place in Syria since 1970. It is the reason that most of people celebrating emigrated to the United States. The sound of the drums at the celebration was deafening as people danced, sang, and hugged. Hundreds of Syrian-Americans were brought together in joyous celebration. Their home nation's 52-year-dictatorship is now over, almost in the blink of an eye. "We are completely stunned by the speed of this. And we got it," Syrian American Council President Hani Atassi said. "This is a celebration now." RELATED | Jubilation and gunfire as Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad family's half-century rule Ironically, the gathering was planned on Saturday, even before Bashar Al-Assad resigned as president and fled Syria. Organizers intended to pile on the mounting international pressure for him to leave, not imagining it would happen this fast. "We couldn't believe it. One week and all this gone," said Maher Khatta with Citizens for a Secure and Safe America. "The tyranny gone. All those people who ruled the country for 52 years gone. It's unbelievable." In the crowd Sunday were people of all ages. Among them were many who have been in Chicago for decades, unable to go home for fear of political persecution. Many others were recent immigrants, who left Syria as refugees when the country's civil war began 13 years ago. It is a war that's claimed over half a million lives, and seen 14 million people forced to flee their homes. "I'm feeling so happy. My country is back," Syrian refugee Sadell Matar Al-Haj said. "I have left the war when I was four years old, and I'm just so happy to feel that I have a country again." READ MORE | Biden says Assad's fall in Syria is a 'fundamental act of justice,' but 'a moment of risk' While it is unclear what kind of government will take over in Syria, for now at least there is hope. "I hope Syria to be a democratic country," said Mohammed Al Zoubi with Citizens for a Secure and Safe America. "And I hope the people of Syria will feel the freedom and will look to the future." While Sunday was a day to celebrate, many of those who even in exile have remained politically active know the hard work to rebuild the country starts now. It is an effort they say they intend to be a part of.None

Mumbai: Amid demands for his removal from the Maharashtra Cabinet in connection with the murder of Massajog village Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, newly appointed Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dhananjay Munde on Thursday met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Sahyadri Guest House and asserted that the killers of the sarpanch should be hanged. Pressure has been mounting from opposition leaders, social activists and media outlets, calling for the arrest of Walmik Karad, the main accused in Deshmukh’s murder. Karad, allegedly a close associate of Munde, remains at large, intensifying public and political scrutiny. After meeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Munde, told reporters, “It has been my demand since day one that the killers of Santosh Deshmukh should be hanged. I have also been demanding that the investigation in this case should be completed, the charge sheet should be filed immediately, the case should be tried in a fast-track court and justice should be given to Deshmukh's family as soon as possible.” Twelve days after Deshmukh’s murder, the Maharashtra Police have ramped up their investigation, transferring the case to the Crime Investigation Department (CID). A special team of Beed police has been searching for the three absconding accused. Munde, describing the murder as unfortunate and shocking, assured that no one would be protected due to their connections. “The police are going deep into the roots of the case,” he said. However, Munde also claimed that political motives were behind the case, accusing detractors of attempting to damage his reputation to block his potential appointment as Beed's Guardian Minister. “Some people wake up every day to criticise me and try to involve me in this case, though I have no connection to it,” Munde added. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut criticised Chief Minster Devendra Fadnavis, accusing him of protecting Beed's Naxals. Raut highlighted that 38 murders had occurred in Beed over the past few years and questioned Fadnavis's commitment to combating Naxalism in the region. “The mastermind behind Deshmukh’s murder is in the cabinet,” Raut charged, further asserting that an all-party morcha would be held on December 29 to demand action against the true culprits. Meanwhile, Congress state president Nana Patole joined the chorus of criticism, accusing the BJP government of attempting to suppress the investigations into the murders in Parbhani and Beed. “The government is unwilling to accept the facts, and we are clear about the outcome of the inquiry,” Patole remarked. Social activist Anjali Damania also stirred controversy by posting a video online showing Munde with Walmik Karad, holding a gun and driving a car together.