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Third round of hostage releases begins as part of Hamas’ Gaza ceasefire agreement with Israel

Hamas began a third round of freeing hostages in Gaza Thursday as part of an ongoing ceasefire agreement with Israel. 

Hamas handed female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, to the Red Cross at a ceremony in the heavily destroyed urban refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza. She was later transferred to the Israel Defense Forces. 

‘The Government of Israel embraces IDF soldier Agam Berger,’ read a post on the official X account of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. ‘Her family has been updated by the responsible authorities that she is with our forces. The Government, together with all of the security officials, will accompany her and her family.’ 

‘Thank God we have reached this moment, and our hero Agam has returned to us after 482 days in enemy hands. Our daughter is strong, faithful, and brave,’ Berger’s family said in a statement. ‘We want to thank the security forces and all the people of Israel for their support and prayers. ‘Now Agam and our family can begin the healing process, but the recovery will not be complete until all the hostages return home.’ 

Another ceremony was planned in the southern city of Khan Younis, in front of the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Both were attended by hundreds of people, including masked militants and onlookers.

Hamas has agreed to handover three Israelis and five Thai captives on Thursday. In exchange, Israel was expected to release 110 Palestinian prisoners. 

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel sparked the fighting. It has held despite a dispute earlier this week over the sequence in which the hostages were released.

In Israel, people cheered, clapped and whistled at a square in Tel Aviv where supporters of the hostages watched Berger’s handover on big screens next to a large clock that’s counted the days the hostages have been in captivity. Some held signs saying: ‘Agam we’re waiting for you at home.’

Berger was among five young, female soldiers abducted in the Oct. 7 attack. The other four were released on Saturday. The other two Israelis set to be released Thursday are Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man.

There was no official confirmation of the identities of the Thai nationals who will be released.

A number of foreign workers were taken captive along with dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers during Hamas’ attack. Twenty-three Thais were among more than 100 hostages released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Israel says eight Thais remain in captivity, two of whom are believed to be dead.

Of the people set to be released from prisons in Israel, 30 are serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. Zakaria Zubeidi, a prominent former militant leader and theater director who took part in a dramatic jailbreak in 2021 before being rearrested days later, is also among those set to be released.

Israel said Yehoud was supposed to have been freed Saturday and delayed the opening of crossings to northern Gaza when she was not.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which brokered the ceasefire after a year of tough negotiations, resolved the dispute with an agreement that Yehoud would be released Thursday. Another three hostages, all men, are set to be freed Saturday along with dozens more Palestinian prisoners.

On Monday, Israel began allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, the most heavily destroyed part of the territory, and hundreds of thousands streamed back. Many found only mounds of rubble where their homes had been.

In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is set to release a total of 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children, older adults and sick or wounded men, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says Hamas has confirmed that eight of the hostages to be released in this phase are dead.

Palestinians have cheered the release of the prisoners, who they widely see as heroes who have sacrificed for the cause of ending Israel’s decades-long occupation of lands they want for a future state.

Israeli forces have meanwhile pulled back from most of Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to return to what remains of their homes and humanitarian groups to surge assistance.

The deal calls for Israel and Hamas to negotiate a second phase in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages and the ceasefire would continue indefinitely. The war could resume in early March if an agreement is not reached.

Israel says it is still committed to destroying Hamas, even after the militant group reasserted its rule over Gaza within hours of the truce. Hamas says it won’t release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel’s ensuing air and ground war after Oct. 7, 2023 has been among the deadliest and most destructive in decades. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.

The Israeli military says it killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence, and that it went to great lengths to try to spare civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in dense residential neighborhoods and put military infrastructure near homes, schools and mosques.

The Israeli offensive has transformed entire neighborhoods into mounds of gray rubble, and it’s unclear how or when anything will be rebuilt. Around 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, with hundreds of thousands of people living in squalid tent camps or shuttered schools.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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Senate advances Trump’s pick to lead the US Interior, Doug Burgum, to confirmation vote

The Senate voted Wednesday by a 78–20 margin to advance President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department — former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — for a final confirmation vote. 

Burgum appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in mid-January, where he told lawmakers that national security issues and the economy were his two top priorities for leading the agency. 

‘When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn’t reduce demand,’ Burgum said in his opening statement Jan. 16. ‘It just shifts production to countries like Russia and Iran, whose autocratic leaders not only don’t care at all about the environment, but they use their revenues from energy sales to fund wars against us and our allies.’ 

Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, questioned Burgum on whether he would seek to drill for oil in national parks if Trump asked him to.

‘As part of my sworn duty, I’ll follow the law and follow the Constitution. And so you can count on that,’ Burgum said. ‘And I have not heard of anything about President Trump wanting to do anything other than advancing energy production for the benefit of the American people.’

Additionally, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., questioned whether Burgum backed repealing credits for electric vehicles that may be in jeopardy under the Trump administration. 

‘I support economics and markets,’ Burgum said.

Burgum served as governor of North Dakota from 2016 to 2024. He also launched a presidential bid for the 2024 election in June 2023, where energy and natural resources served as key issues during his campaign. 

Burgum appeared during the first two Republican presidential debates, but didn’t qualify for the third and ended his campaign in December 2023. He then endorsed Trump for the GOP nomination a month later ahead of the Iowa caucuses. 

Aubrie Spady, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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Billion-dollar Mexican cartel ops disrupted by Trump’s border crackdown as US issues do-not-travel warning

As the United States beefs up security at its southern border as part of the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown, the State Department has issued the highest-level travel advisory for a specific region of northeastern Mexico near McAllen and Brownsville, Texas.

Amid gun battles, kidnappings and other crime, the State Department is also warning of IEDs on dirt roads in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

‘[T]he state of Tamaulipas has issued a warning to avoid moving or touching improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been found in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando along dirt and secondary roads,’ a State Department travel advisory for Tamaulipas reads. ‘IEDs are being increasingly manufactured and used by criminal organizations in this region.’

The U.S. Consulate in Mexico notes in the advisory that an IED destroyed an official Mexican government vehicle in Rio Bravo on Jan. 23, injuring its occupant. 

A Spanish flier published by the Tamaulipas government on Facebook urges the public not to touch or move suspicious-looking devices along the roadside.

U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling ‘in and around Reynosa and Rio Bravo outside of daylight hours and to avoid dirt roads throughout Tamaulipas,’ the advisory states.

Government employees also cannot travel between cities in Tamaulipas using interior Mexican highways.

‘Travel advisory Level 4 is the highest level there is,’ said former DEA Senior Special Agent Michael Brown, currently the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices. ‘That’s a warning: Do not go there. I have experienced that, but it was in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia. … The area we’re talking about is the state of Tamaulipas, within which you have Reynosa and Matamoros, which have a history of extreme violence in Mexico.’

‘[W]ith the sudden end of the Biden-Harris open-border policies, the cartels are no longer making billions of dollars in human trafficking.’

— Michael Brown

Brown said that what he suspects is happening is ‘with the sudden end of the Biden-Harris open-border policies, the cartels are no longer making billions of dollars in human trafficking.’

‘Now that area has been reduced significantly, meaning cartels, which may have been working together up to a week ago, are now competing for access to Reynosa and Matamoros because human smuggling is not going to stop, it’s just going to be more expensive, more dangerous, and they’re going to have to use traffickers, are going to have to use more selective routes in order to get around Border Patrol and … perhaps U.S. military.’

The 32-year former DEA agent added that cartels using IEDs ‘are simply mimicking what they’ve seen other hostile elements do across the world … to counter other cartel movements, truck convoys, human traffickers that may be trying to sneak on to their territory.’

‘The cartels were given carte blanche access to the United States through the open-border system.’

— Michael Brown

‘[U]nder the last four years of the Biden-Harris administration, nothing was done. The cartels were given carte blanche access to the United States through the open-border system. Now that’s been cut off, and they’ve been designated as terrorist organizations,’ Brown said.

The State Department has issued a Level 4 advisory for the area due to crime and kidnapping threats. Travelers are encouraged to avoid dirt roads, unknown objects near roads and travel after dark.

‘Common’ organized criminal activity in the area includes gun battles, murder, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, forced disappearances, extortion and sexual assault. 

The recent immigration policy changes affecting cartel networks’ financial success also pose a significant threat to Americans, U.S. law enforcement and military members living or stationed near the border, Brown said.

‘As cartel members … come across the border with narcotics for human trafficking. Now they’re armed and they’re ready for conflict. They run into Border Patrol, they run into the Texas Rangers or DEA. There could be a gunfight,’ Brown said. ‘So if you’re a citizen living on that border, you know that that Level 4 just doesn’t stop [the violence], and we know it’s going to cross the border with those trafficking individuals.’

Of the millions of illegal immigrants who crossed into the United States over the last four years, ‘[E]ach one of those migrants had to pay a toll to a cartel or to smaller groups,’ Brown said. ‘So we’re talking about billions of dollars for the last four years with absolutely no effort whatsoever on the part of the cartels.’

The State Department noted in its advisory that heavily armed criminal groups often target certain areas and target ‘public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments.’ 

The Level 4 warning comes as the Trump administration begins its crackdown on illegal immigration and crime at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Brown compared the level of violence in Tamaulipas to the Middle East.

‘We think of the Middle East as extremely violent, wouldn’t want to go there, but all we have to do is look towards Mexico.’

— Michael Brown

‘[It] wasn’t that long ago before [the] Sinaloa Cartel was executing police officers and hanging them from bridges,’ Brown said. ‘Now, we didn’t even see that level of violence in Afghanistan when I was there. So, the cartels have taken violence to a whole other level. They are acting just like any terrorist organization. The only difference is their end goal is to make money. That’s their ideology.’

Officials deported around 2,000 illegal immigrants to Mexico last Thursday, both on the ground and in the air. Mexican officials detained roughly 5,000 migrants within its borders, Fox News reported. 

Trump also ordered 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border to boost the military presence there.

Fox News’ Micharl Dorgan and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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Sparks expected to fly at Kash Patel’s Senate confirmation hearing to lead FBI

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, is expected to trade barbs with lawmakers in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. 

Patel, a former public defender, Department of Justice official and longtime Trump ally, will join the Senate committee at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, when lawmakers are anticipated to grill the nominee on plans detailed in his 2023 book to overhaul the FBI, his crusade against the ‘deep state’ and his resume, as Democrats argue the nominee lacks the qualifications for the role. 

The president and his allies, however, staunchly have defended Patel, with Senate Judiciary member Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., arguing that Democrats are ‘fearful’ of Patel’s nomination and confirmation due to ‘what he’s going to reveal’ to the general public. 

‘They are very fearful of Kash Patel, because Kash Patel knows what Adam Schiff and some of the others did with Russia collusion, and they know that he he knows – the dirt on them, if you will – and I think they’re fearful of what he’s going to do and what he’s going to reveal,’ Blackburn said on Fox News on Sunday. 

Patel, a New York native, worked as a public defender in Florida’s Miami-Dade after earning his law degree in 2005 from Pace University in New York City.  

Patel’s national name recognition grew under the first Trump administration, when he worked as the national security advisor and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under the leadership of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Patel became known as the man behind the ‘Nunes Memo’ – a four-page document released in 2018 that revealed improper use of surveillance by the FBI and the Justice Department in the Russia investigation into Trump. 

Patel was named senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council in 2019. In that role, he assisted the Trump White House in eliminating foreign terrorist leadership, such as ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and al Qaeda terrorist Qasim al-Raymi in 2020, according to his biography. His efforts ending terrorist threats under the Trump administration came after he won a DOJ award in 2017 for his prosecution and conviction of 12 terrorists responsible for the World Cup bombings in 2010 in Uganda under the Obama administration. 

Following the 2020 election, Patel remained a steadfast ally of Trump’s, joining the 45th president during his trial in Manhattan in the spring of 2024, and echoing that the United States’ security and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, need to be overhauled.

Patel underscored in his 2023 book, ‘Government Gangsters,’ that ‘deep state’ government employees have politicized and weaponized the law enforcement agency – and explicitly called for the revamp of the FBI in a chapter dubbed ‘Overhauling the FBI.’

‘Things are bad. There’s no denying it,’ he wrote in the book. ‘The FBI has gravely abused its power, threatening not only the rule of law, but the very foundations of self-government at the root of our democracy. But this isn’t the end of the story. Change is possible at the FBI and desperately needed.’ 

‘The fact is we need a federal agency that investigates federal crimes, and that agency will always be at risk of having its powers abused,’ he wrote, advocating the firing of ‘corrupt actors,’ ‘aggressive’ congressional oversight over the agency and the complete overhaul of special counsels. 

Patel adds in his book: ‘Most importantly, we need to get the FBI the hell out of Washington, D.C. There is no reason for the nation’s law enforcement agency to be centralized in the swamp.’

Trump heralded the book as a ‘roadmap’ to exposing bad actors in the federal government and said it is a ‘blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government.’

Patel has spoken out against a number of high-profile investigations and issues he sees within the DOJ in the past few years. He slammed the department, for example, for allegedly burying evidence related to the identity of a suspect who allegedly planted pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington, D.C., a day ahead of Jan. 6, 2021.

Patel has also said Trump could release both the Jeffrey Epstein client list and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs party attendee lists, which could expose those allegedly involved in sex and human trafficking crimes. 

Senate Democrats received an anonymous whistleblower report that was publicly reported Monday alleging Patel violated protocol during a hostage rescue mission in October 2020, an allegation Trump’s orbit has brushed off. 

The whistleblower claimed that Patel leaked to the Wall Street Journal that two Americans and the remains of a third were being transferred to U.S. custody from Yemen, where they had been held hostage by Houthi rebels, before the hostages were actually in U.S. custody. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained the whistleblower report. 

A transition official pushed back on the report in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, saying Patel has a ‘track record of success.’

‘Mr. Patel was a public defender, decorated prosecutor, and accomplished national security official that kept Americans safe,’ the official said. ‘He has a track record of success in every branch of government, from the courtroom to congressional hearing room to the situation room. There is no veracity to this anonymous source’s complaints about protocol.’  

Alexander Gray, who served as chief of staff for the White House National Security Council under Trump’s first administration, called the allegation ‘simply absurd.’

Patel’s nomination comes after six of Trump’s nominees were confirmed by the Senate, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth – who also was viewed as a nominee who faced an uphill confirmation battle. 

The Senate schedule this week was packed with hearings besides Patel’s, with senators grilling Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday and also holding the hearing for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence. 

Patel heads into his hearing armed with a handful of high-profile endorsements, including the National Sheriffs’ Association and National Police Association. 

Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of ISIS murder victim Kayla Mueller, also notably endorsed Patel, Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Tuesday. Patel helped oversee a military mission in 2019 that killed ISIS leader al-Baghdadi, who was believed to have repeatedly tortured and raped Kayla Mueller before her death in 2015. 

Patel ‘loves his country. He loves the people of this country,’ Marsha Mueller told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview via Zoom on Monday morning. ‘To us, you know, he is a person that we would go to for help. And he is so action oriented.’ 

‘Just like Trump,’ Carl Mueller added to his wife’s comments on Patel’s action-motivated personality.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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Starbucks shakes up its leadership again, adding two former Taco Bell executives

Starbucks announced another stage in its leadership shake-up on Tuesday, as CEO Brian Niccol will bring in two more executives who spent time at his former employer Taco Bell while dividing key leadership roles.

“As we focus on our ‘Back to Starbucks’ plan, we need a new operating model for our retail team, with clear ownership and accountability and an appropriate scope for each role,” Niccol said in a letter to employees shared on the company’s website.

Before spending six years at Chipotle, Niccol served as CEO of Yum Brands’ Taco Bell. Since starting at Starbucks in September, he has already poached some of his former colleagues to help with his transformation of the coffee giant. For example, he tapped Chipotle and Yum Brands alum Tressie Lieberman as Starbucks’ global chief brand officer in the fall.

The newest changes to the Starbucks organization include splitting the role of North American president into two jobs. The company’s current North American president, Sara Trilling, will depart the company. Trilling has been with Starbucks since 2002.

Starting in February, Meredith Sandland will hold the role of chief store development officer. Sandland is currently CEO of Empower Delivery, a restaurant software company. Previously, she served as chief operating officer of Kitchen United and as Taco Bell’s chief development officer.

Additionally, Mike Grams will join the company in February as North America chief stores officer. Grams has been with Taco Bell for more than 30 years, starting as a restaurant general manager and working his way up to become the chain’s global chief operating officer, according to his LinkedIn.

Both Sandland and Grams will be tasked with implementing Niccol’s vision to go “back to Starbucks.” The strategy includes decreasing service times to four minutes per order, making its stores more welcoming and cozy, as well as slashing the menu.

Arthur Valdez, Starbucks’ chief supply officer, also plans to leave the company. He joined in 2023 after seven years at Target. Starbucks has already identified his replacement and will share that news in the coming weeks, Niccol said in the letter.

Starbucks is expected to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday. Wall Street is expecting the company’s same-store sales to fall for the fourth consecutive quarter as consumers in the U.S. and China opt to get their caffeine fix elsewhere.

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Restaurants are rebounding — but Starbucks and McDonald’s still have work to do

Starbucks is expected to report its quarterly earnings on Tuesday, kicking off several weeks of reports from restaurant companies as investors anticipate improving demand for dining out.

A handful of restaurants released preliminary results earlier in January ahead of presentations at the annual ICR Conference in Orlando. For many, like Red Robin and Noodles & Company, their early report showed sales trends improved during the fourth quarter, giving investors more confidence and pushing their shares higher. Only Shake Shack saw its stock fall; its outlook disappointed shareholders, who were hoping for higher targets.

But the largest restaurant companies have yet to announce any results. Starbucks paves the way with its announcement on Tuesday after the bell. Yum Brands and Chipotle won’t share their earnings until next week. McDonald’s, often considered a consumer bellwether, isn’t on deck until Feb. 10.

However, a rollercoaster 2024 for restaurants might have ended on a high note — and that could bode well for the industry in the year ahead.

Industry data suggests that the fourth quarter was better for restaurants overall than the rest of the year. Same-store sales grew in both October and November, according to data from market research firm Black Box Intelligence. December was the only month same-store sales fell during the quarter, but Black Box attributed the swing to the calendar shift caused by a late Thanksgiving.

“We came out of [the fourth quarter] with a lot of momentum and started off really strong … That gives me a feeling that the consumer is still very resilient,” Shake Shack CEO Rob Lynch said. “Consumers are still out there spending money. There’s still a lot of jobs for people who want to go out and get great jobs. We’re kind of bullish on ’25.”

Most casual-dining chains have been in turnaround mode, hoping that revamped menus and new marketing plans will reinvigorate sales. For most of last year, only Chili’s, owned by Brinker International, won over customers with its strategy, helping the chain report double-digit same-store sales growth.

But some of Chili’s rivals saw an improvement in the fourth quarter.

For example, Red Robin said it expects to report a 3.4% increase in its fourth-quarter comparable restaurant revenue, excluding a change in deferred loyalty revenue.

“We’ve been doing a ton of work behind the scenes, and I believe that these stories take time, and you can’t skip the process,” Red Robin CEO G.J. Hart told CNBC earlier in January.

For two and a half years, the chain has implemented a broad comeback strategy, which included bringing back bussers and bartenders and overhauling its signature burgers. More recently, Red Robin has launched a loyalty program and unveiled promotions for certain days of the week, reintroducing customers to its revamped restaurant experience and helping it compete with Chili’s.

California Pizza Kitchen also had a strong fourth quarter, and the momentum hasn’t slowed, according to the chain’s President Michael Beacham.

“We had a great [fourth quarter], and we’re already starting out in 2025 with some really strong numbers, and that’s just with our in-dining guests,” Beacham said. CPK is privately owned and doesn’t publicly report its quarterly results, but its sales trends can offer clues about how other casual restaurants are performing.

It helps, too, that diners aren’t feeling as strapped for cash as they were earlier in 2024.

“It looks like the consumer is starting to feel a little bit better than they were in prior quarters,” Darden Restaurants CEO Rick Cardenas said on the company’s earnings conference call in December.

Before the holidays, Darden, which operates on a different fiscal calendar than most of its peers, reported stronger-than-expected demand for its food during the quarter ended Nov. 24. In particular, same-store sales at LongHorn Steakhouse and Olive Garden beat Wall Street’s estimates. Executives credited more frequent visits from diners with annual incomes of $50,000 to $100,000.

Some of the biggest restaurant names might have the most disappointing quarters.

Starbucks is still in turnaround mode. Now under the leadership of former Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol, the coffee giant is in the early innings of a turnaround.

″[Fiscal quarter one] is expected to be another challenging quarter as SBUX implements a host of operational changes. Margin pressure is expected to be similar to Q4, but we believe investors likely look through [near-term] headwinds while focusing on evidence of [long-term] turnaround potential,” Wells Fargo analyst Zachary Fadem wrote in a research note on Thursday.

While Niccol has already tweaked the company’s advertising and promotional strategy, it will take more time for Starbucks to implement larger changes, like a menu overhaul and faster service. The company also recently said it will lay off some of its corporate workforce, although it hasn’t shared how many jobs will be affected.

Wall Street is expecting the Starbucks to report quarterly same-store sales declines of 5.5%, according to StreetAccount estimates.

And then there’s McDonald’s, which spent much of its fourth quarter handling a foodborne illness crisis.

In October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention connected a fatal E. coli outbreak to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers. The chain reacted by temporarily pulling the menu item in affected areas and eventually switched suppliers for the slivered onions targeted as the likely culprit.

Traffic to McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. fell as consumers reacted to the headlines, although analysts expect the company to report that trend reversed later in the quarter.

“We expect headwinds related to the E. coli outbreak likely weighed on 4Q US [same-store sales], with data indicating pressured trends in November, but our franchisee discussions and traffic trends highlighting recovering guest counts in December,” UBS analyst Dennis Geiger wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.

Though some chains are lagging behind, restaurant executives generally seem more positive about 2025, citing improving consumer sentiment and wage growth.

“I’m cautiously optimistic about where we’re headed, and it feels good — it really does,” Red Robin’s Hart said.

Restaurants will also be facing easier comparisons to last year’s sales slump, making their growth this year look more impressive.

But industry optimism doesn’t ensure smooth sailing for the year ahead. Investors will be listening carefully for executive commentary about how traffic and sales are faring so far in the first quarter.

For example, restaurants have had to contend with the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles, displacing residents and temporarily shuttering some eateries, in addition to the usual seasonal snowstorms and frigid temperatures that keep diners at home.

“I think overall, if you take out weather, this tragic thing that’s happening in California, we see green shoots already for restaurants that aren’t impacted,” Fogo de Chao CEO Barry McGowan said. “We’re hopeful this year.”

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Over 3 million on Social Security may wait more than a year for higher payments

More than 3.2 million people will see increased Social Security benefits, under a new law.

However, individuals who are affected may have to wait more than a year before they see the extra money that’s due to them from the Social Security Fairness Act, the Social Security Administration said in an update on its website.

“Though SSA is helping some affected beneficiaries now, under SSA’s current budget, SSA expects that it could take more than one year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits,” the agency states.

The Social Security Fairness Act eliminates two provisions — known as the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset — that previously reduced Social Security benefits for certain beneficiaries who also had pension income provided from employment where they did not contribute Social Security payroll taxes.

Those provisions reduced benefits for certain workers including state teachers, firefighters and police officers; federal employees who are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System; and individuals who worked under a foreign social security system.

The law affects benefits paid after December 2023. Consequently, affected beneficiaries will receive increases to their monthly benefit checks, as well as retroactive lump sum payments for benefits payable for January 2024 and after.

The benefit increases “may vary greatly,” depending on an individual’s type of Social Security benefits and the amount of pension income they receive, according to the Social Security Administration.

“Some people’s benefits will increase very little while others may be eligible for over $1,000 more each month,” the agency states.

The Social Security Administration said it cannot yet provide an estimated timeline for when the benefit adjustments will happen.

In the meantime, the agency is advising beneficiaries to update their mailing address and bank direct deposit information, if necessary. In addition, non-covered pension recipients may now want to apply for benefits, if they are newly eligible following the enacted changes.

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White House freeze on federal aid won’t affect student loans, Education Department says

The Department of Education said Tuesday that the pause on federal grants and loans will not affect student loans or financial aid for college.

The freeze, which could affect billions of dollars in aid, noted an exception for Social Security and Medicare. The pause “does not include assistance provided directly to individuals,” according to the White House memo that announced the pause on Monday.

The pause gives the White House time to review government funding for causes that don’t fit with President Donald Trump’s policy agenda, according to Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The memo specifically cited “financial assistance for foreign aid, non-governmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”

The Department of Education said the freeze also has no bearing on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the upcoming year.

“The temporary pause does not impact Title I, IDEA, or other formula grants, nor does it apply to Federal Pell Grants and Direct Loans under Title IV [of the Higher Education Act],” Education Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann said in a statement.

In addition to the federal financial aid programs that fall under Title IV, Title I provides financial assistance to school districts with children from low-income families. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, provides funding for students with disabilities.

The funding pause “only applies to discretionary grants at the Department of Education,” Biedermann said. “These will be reviewed by Department leadership for alignment with Trump Administration priorities.”

The pause could affect federal work-study programs and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, which are provided in bulk to colleges to provide to students, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

However, many colleges have already drawn down their funds for the spring term, so this might not affect even that aid, he said. It may still affect grants to researchers, which often include funding for graduate research assistantships, he added.

“While the memo says the funding pause does not include assistance ‘provided directly to individuals,’ it does not clarify whether that includes money sent first to institutions, states or organizations and then provided to students,” said Karen McCarthy, vice president of public policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Most federal financial aid programs are considered Title IV funds “labeled for individual students” and so would not be affected by the pause, McCarthy said, but all other aid outside Title IV is unclear. “We are also researching the impact on campus-based aid programs since they are funded differently,” she said.

“When you have programs that are serving 20 million students, there are a lot of questions, understandably,” said Jonathan Riskind, a vice president at the American Council on Education. “It is really, really damaging for students and institutions to have this level of uncertainty.”

Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, called on the Trump administration to rescind the memo.

“This is bad public policy, and it will have a direct impact on the funds that support students and research,” he said. “The longer this goes on, the greater the damage will be.”

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Frontier Airlines proposes merging with fellow budget carrier Spirit — again

Frontier Airlines said Wednesday it has again proposed merging with struggling rival Spirit Airlines, which is in bankruptcy.

Frontier and Spirit first announced a deal to merge in 2022, but a JetBlue Airways offer derailed that plan. JetBlue’s proposed acquisition of Spirit was blocked by a federal judge last year, and Spirit filed for bankruptcy protection in November.

Frontier said in a release that it has met with Spirit’s board and executives since it made its proposal this month. Frontier executives said in a email to counterparts at Spirit this week that their plan is better than Spirit’s own plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

“We continue to believe that under the current standalone plan, Spirit will emerge highly levered, losing money at the operating level, and this would not be a transaction we would pursue,” wrote Frontier Chairman Bill Franke and CEO Barry Biffle in a Tuesday email to Spirit Chairman Mac Gardner and CEO Ted Christie. “As a result, time is of the essence.”

Christie and Gardner told their Frontier counterparts that they were rejecting the deal, calling the terms “inadequate and unactionable,” according to a letter shared in a securities filing on Wednesday.

Spirit said it expects to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy this quarter. It has cut costs recently, including by slashing some 200 jobs and selling some of its Airbus planes. The airline had also been particularly challenged by a Pratt & Whitney engine recall that grounded dozens of its jets.

Budget carriers like Frontier and Spirit have struggled post-pandemic, as costs like salaries have risen and consumers have opted for trips abroad on carriers with options for roomier and more expensive seats.

Both Frontier and Spirit have been working to upend their business models that were marked by low fares and fees for add-ons from seat assignments to cabin baggage.

The airlines last year did away with cancellation and change fees for some of their tickets and started bundling perks along with tickets. Frontier last year said it would start offering a premium section at the front of the plane.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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World News

Violence erupts in mineral-rich DR Congo as rebels move into key city. Here’s what we know

A rebel alliance claimed the capture of the biggest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region this week, pushing back against resistance from government troops backed by regional and UN intervention forces.

The takeover of Goma is yet another territorial gain for the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) rebel coalition, which includes the M23 armed group – sanctioned by the United States and the United Nations.

It is also a swift expansion of the alliance’s foothold across swathes of eastern DR Congo – where rare minerals crucial to the production of phones and computers are mined – and is likely to worsen a long-running humanitarian crisis in the region.

More than a dozen foreign peacekeepers, as well as the military governor of North Kivu province, have been killed in recent days trying to fend off the rebels, as thousands of locals flee their advance into Goma.

What are the latest developments?

South Africa’s military confirmed Tuesday that four more South African soldiers deployed in DR Congo as part of the UN peacekeeping mission there had died, only days after nine were killed in the fighting.

Meanwhile, aid agencies said that hospitals were overwhelmed as hundreds of people caught in the crossfire in Goma sought treatment for injuries, among them seriously wounded children.

There were “many dead bodies” in the city’s streets, said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office. Fighters had reportedly raped civilians, and property had also been looted, he said. Among those killed was a famed Congolese boxer, Balezi Bagunda, according to Matthew Leutwyler, the founder of the non-profit We Are Limitless, who had been working with him to evacuate local children the organization works with.

People protest in Kinshasa against the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels’ advances on Tuesday.
Samy Ntumba Shambuyi/AP
People attack the Rwandan Embassy in Kinshasa on Tuesday.
Samy Ntumba Shambuyi/AP

Reports emerged Monday of Congolese troops exchanging fire with Rwandan soldiers along their shared border as fear of a blown-out war grows.

In a statement Monday, the Uruguayan army, whose troops are part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Goma, said “hundreds” of Congolese soldiers had laid down their weapons following a 48-hour ultimatum by M23.

Rwandan national broadcaster also shared footage of Congolese soldiers surrendering their arms to Rwandan forces at a Rwandan border post after fleeing Goma.

How did the conflict escalate?

DR Congo has experienced decades of militia violence, including armed rebellion by M23, which claims to defend the interest of the minority Rwandophone communities, including the Tutsi.

Since 2022, M23 has waged a renewed rebellion against the Congolese government, occupying a large expanse in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and Uganda.

For several months, the rebels have also controlled Rubaya, a mining town in North Kivu that harbors one of the world’s largest coltan deposits. This valuable mineral is used in the production of mobile phones.

Bintou Keita, who heads the UN mission in DR Congo, told the Security Council in a September briefing that “competition over exploitation and trade of natural resources” had escalated conflict between armed groups in the country’s east.

According to Keita, coltan trade from the M23-controlled Rubaya mining site is estimated to “supply over 15 percent of global tantalum production”, and “generates an estimated $300,000 in revenue per month to the armed group.”

M23 denied these claims, insisting its presence in the Rubaya area was “solely humanitarian.”

Miners work at a coltan mine, near Rubaya, in DR Congo’s North Kivu region, on April 12, 2023.
Veronique de Viguerie/Paris Match/Getty Images
Miners work to extract coltan at a mine, near Rubaya, in DR Congo’s North Kivu region, on April 12, 2023.
Veronique de Viguerie/Paris Match/Getty Images

A report by the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo, released in December, revealed that “at least 150 tons of coltan were fraudulently exported to Rwanda and mixed with Rwandan production.”

Since April last year, the report said, M23, “with RDF (Rwanda Defence Force) support, has made significant territorial gains and strengthened control over occupied areas,” adding that such a pattern suggested “that the true objective of M23 remained territorial expansion and the long-term occupation and exploitation of conquered territories.”

The report added that the RDF’s military interventions “were critical to the impressive territorial expansion achieved” by M23.

Why is Goma important?

Goma is home to around two million people and is the largest city in North Kivu. M23’s incursion on Monday was the second time the group had moved to capture the provincial capital after it briefly took control in 2012.

“We do not want to capture Goma but to liberate it,” he said. “The population is in distress; we must save it as quickly as possible.”

“Goma is a strategic and highly symbolic city with an international airport, as well as proximity to Rwanda and Lake Kivu, opening the easy path with South Kivu,” he said.

But, most importantly, Saleh said, Goma’s fall to M23 “will be the symbol of its complete and total capture” of the eastern part of the DRC.”

M23’s self-proclaimed liberation agenda has been scarred by a long trail of alleged human rights violations and what rights group Human Rights Watch described in 2023 as “war crimes against civilians” in North Kivu. The group has consistently denied such claims.

Fighting between M23, Congolese forces and other rebel groups has also forced many from their homes in the country’s east, with at least 400,000 people displaced just since the beginning of this year in North and South Kivu, the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR said in a statement.

UNHCR spokesperson Matt Saltmarsh added that “bombs have fallen” on camps housing those who’ve fled, resulting in civilian deaths, including of children.

“Humanitarian access is nearly impossible, resources are stretched to their limits, and displaced families are left in dire need of food, clean water, medicine, and shelter,” Tchwenko said.

What’s at stake for Rwanda?

UN experts believe that an estimated 3,000 Rwandan soldiers operate alongside M23 fighters in eastern DR Congo, outnumbering the rebel group’s number in the country.

According to Saleh, the Congolese analyst, Rwanda does not just support M23, “it (Rwanda) is the M23.”

Western nations, such as the US, Britain, and France, have censured Kigali’s support for the group.

She cited a UN report that found evidence DR Congo’s military had collaborated and carried out joint operations with a Hutu militia group against a mainly Tutsi rebel group, the CNDP, which M23 grew out of.

Hutu militias carried out the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda in 1994.

“This is happening right next to our border,” Makolo said of the insecurity in eastern DR Congo, adding that “the President of the DRC has said publicly that his enemy is President (Paul) Kagame and the Rwandan Government, and that he will ‘liberate’ Rwandans.”

Rwanda’s foreign ministry also blamed DR Congo’s government for failing to engage in dialogue with M23, describing it as a “Congolese rebel group fighting to protect their community in eastern DRC.”

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has previously threatened to go to war with Rwanda. Rwandan leader Kagame has responded in kind.

“We are ready to fight,” Kagame told French network France 24 in June last year, adding: “We are not afraid of anything.”

When the UN Security Council convened on Sunday for an emergency meeting on the crisis, DR Congo’s foreign minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said Rwanda’s role in the conflict was “a declaration of war that no longer hides itself behind diplomatic maneuvers.”

Is there a route to peace?

Eastern African leaders plan to convene an emergency meeting within 48 hours to find solutions to the crisis, Kenya’s President William Ruto said Monday, urging Tshisekedi and Kagame “to heed the call for peace.”

Previous interventions led by Angola, including truce agreements, have failed to cease hostilities.

“But it is rather the quality of the solutions in sight that is the real question,” he said.

“The region needs a lasting solution to the security situation, and to achieve this, one of the conditions is that the DRC must be able to ensure its security and control its economy. Solutions in terms of power-sharing, tribal and ethnic integration are not a lasting solution.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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