Denial of permission for fireworks display in Thrissur temples sparks rowLess than a month after winning the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are spending big again to add one of baseball's best pitchers to their star-studded roster. Blake Snell and the Dodgers agreed to a $182 million, five-year contract, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the deal is subject to a successful physical. The two-time Cy Young Award winner broke the news personally by posting a photo of himself on social media in a Dodgers uniform — No. 7. Snell gets a $52 million signing bonus, payable on Jan. 20, and annual salaries of $26 million, of which $13 million each year will be deferred. Because Snell is a Washington state resident, the signing bonus will not be subject to California income tax. Snell would join two-way star Shohei Ohtani and fellow Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto atop Los Angeles' rotation, giving the Dodgers the first megadeal this offseason following Ohtani's $700 million, 10-year contract and Yamamoto's $325 million, 12-year agreement last offseason. Ohtani didn't pitch this year while recovering from right elbow surgery but is expected back on the mound in 2025. He won his third MVP award — first in the National League — following a huge season at the plate exclusively as a designated hitter. Yamamoto went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts as a rookie, then won twice in four October outings. Down to three healthy starting pitchers during the postseason, Los Angeles overcame a string of injuries to its projected rotation in winning the franchise's second World Series title in five years. Right-handers Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler then became free agents this fall, creating more voids on the staff. But the addition of Snell would fill a large one at the top with a legitimate ace. Snell's $36.4 million average salary would rank as the fifth-highest among active deals next year behind Ohtani ($70 million), Philadelphia pitcher Zack Wheeler ($42 million), New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge ($40 million) and Texas pitcher Jacob deGrom ($37 million). Among expired contracts, it also was exceeded by pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander (both $43.33 million) under deals they agreed to with the New York Mets. ESPN first reported the details of Snell's contract. Earlier this month, Snell opted out of his deal with San Francisco to become a free agent for the second consecutive offseason after he was slowed by injuries during his lone year with the Giants. The left-hander agreed in March to a $62 million, two-year contract that included a $17 million signing bonus payable on Jan. 15, 2026, a $15 million salary for 2024 and a $30 million salary for 2025, of which $15 million would have been deferred and payable on July 1, 2027. Snell, who turns 32 next week, went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts this year, throwing a no-hitter at Cincinnati on Aug. 2 for one of only 16 individual shutouts in the major leagues this season. He struck out 145 and walked 44 in 104 innings. He was sidelined between April 19 and May 22 by a strained left adductor and between June 2 and July 9 by a strained left groin. Snell won Cy Young Awards in 2018 with Tampa Bay and 2023 with San Diego. He is 76-58 with a 3.19 ERA in nine seasons with the Rays (2016-20), Padres (2021-23) and Giants. Because he turned down a qualifying offer from San Diego last November, the Giants were not eligible to give Snell another one and won’t receive draft-pick compensation. Los Angeles expects All-Star right-hander Tyler Glasnow and three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw back in the rotation next year. Other starting candidates if healthy include right-handers Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Bobby Miller. Ohtani is coming off right elbow surgery in September 2023 and left shoulder surgery on Nov. 5. Glasnow didn’t pitch after Aug. 11 because of right elbow tendinitis. Kershaw, who turns 37 in March, had foot and knee surgeries on Nov. 7. He declined a $10 million player option in favor of free agency, but is expected to return to Los Angeles. May is coming back from Tommy John surgery in July 2023 and from an operation this past July to repair a tear in his esophagus. Gonsolin spent 2024 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Miller, an 11-game winner as a rookie in 2023, was sidelined early this season by shoulder inflammation. He struggled to a 2-4 record with an 8.52 ERA in 13 big league starts and ended the regular season in the minors. Yamamoto was sidelined by right triceps tightness between June 15 and Sept. 10, then returned and went 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four postseason starts.

Is the MMA world going to turn its back on Conor McGregor now, What would the cost to Jon Jones’ legacy be And who are the best of the rest who never fought in the UFC? All that and more in this week’s mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up or . @njinformer.bsky.social: Are we done with McGregor now? A few of his business associates sure seem to be. After being , he and had his various beverages basically , leading to the owner of his Proper 12 whiskey announcing that it would cut him out of the marketing and branding aspect entirely. That’s remarkable, since the branding/marketing aspect was the thing the whiskey had going for it. Clearly, the Conor McGregor brand has become a toxic one ... outside of combat sports. Does that mean the UFC wouldn’t still gladly welcome him back in 2025? I doubt it. I think if he ever did get in shape to fight and stayed that way long enough to make it to the cage, then the UFC would eagerly throw him in there and count the money without ever mentioning any of this. But you can’t invite McGregor to your party anymore without at least facing some questions about it. UFC CEO Dana White just told us that one reason he didn’t want to do business with Francis Ngannou So what about McGregor? Is he a good guy? Because they just had an entire trial in Ireland that concluded he is not, and his response since then has been to double down on social media in a way that isn’t going to win anyone over. The last six years or so of this man’s career have been marked by lopsided defeats inside the cage and disgusting behavior outside of it. The longest section of his Wikipedia page now is the one labeled “controversies,” and it includes no fewer than three sexual assault allegations, one of which has just been proven in court. Who wants to cheer for that guy now? Who wants to actively put money in his pocket by purchasing a pay-per-view he’s on? I have no doubt that the answer to both those questions is "some MMA fans." But in order for me to retain any faith in humanity, I have to think it’s fewer people now than it was before. All this talk of HW goat & HW legends has me glaring at the giant hole left in the absence of mentioning Fedor, who many modern fans may not know. Could you give us a personal top 5 favorite fighters who never signed with the UFC, but left an impact on the sport none the less? — Now Boarding Flight 209 (@jmprobus) @jmprobus: All this talk of HW goat & HW legends has me glaring at the giant hole left in the absence of mentioning Fedor, who many modern fans may not know. Could you give us a personal top 5 favorite fighters who never signed with the UFC, but left an impact on the sport none the less? Fedor Emelianenko would have to be at the very top of that list. It’s true that he fought in a different era, especially for the heavyweight division. It’s also true that he failed to evolve late in his career as the competition wised up and his body slowed down. Still, he beat everybody there was to beat in PRIDE FC back when it had the superior heavyweight class overall. The UFC was just doing Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski on an endless loop back then, and once they became free agents Fedor smoked them both in the first round. As for other fighters who make my list, I’d add Shinya Aoki, Igor Vovchanchyn, and (at least for the moment) Patricio Pitbull. How big a "Ya'll must've forgott" was Yan at the weekend in the all time rankings or was it simply his loses were overblown? Side note what is your favouite of these — Conor (@NeedXtoseePosts) @NeedXtoseePosts: How big a "Ya'll must've forgott" was Yan at the weekend in the all time rankings or was it simply his loses were overblown? Side note what is your favourite of these That was a . Shutting out a former champ like Deiveson Figueiredo on the scorecards goes a long way toward proving that Yan still has some arrows left in the quiver. It also helps remind people that while his three straight losses look bad on paper, they’re not so awful once you take a closer look. The first was that illegal knee on Aljamain Sterling. Then a split decision loss to Sean O’Malley that probably could have gone either way. Lastly a decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili, the current champ, who did the same thing to Yan that he’s done to basically everyone else. As for where it ranks, somewhere below Dominick Cruz’s triumphant return against Takeya Mizugaki (which also happens to be my favorite). One thing I wonder about, though, is whether the timing and location of the win will limit the boost Yan gets from it. This was the main event of a UFC Fight Night event from Macau, airing in North America in the early hours of a Saturday morning. A lot of people probably didn’t even know it was on. Some will circle back to watch it, but others won’t. And if a tree falls in the forest at six in the morning with only a few people around to hear it... What up-and-coming combat sports promotion do you guys think has the best shot at making it big time? — Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) @PhotoAmy33: What up-and-coming combat sports promotion do you guys think has the best shot at making it big time? A lot depends on what we consider “big time,” . (Though the BKFC also has a strong McGregor tie, so it’ll be interesting to see how it handles that.) In general, I’m surprised and impressed with bare-knuckle boxing’s staying power so far. It seems to exist right in this sweet spot among the combat sports fan Venn diagram where it can draw in the UFC’s fans without competing against the UFC, while also attracting a few stray boxing or pro wrestling fans in addition to online weirdos who just want to see human carnage. @stefansommer.bsky.social: If the UFC were to ever move away from the PPV model, how do you think that would affect things like Champions getting rewarded with PPV points? Aside from the prestige of holding that belt, how could the UFC incentivize athletes to reach for the top without the financial carrot on the stick? We have to at least consider the possibility that the UFC would do the same thing with pay-per-view points as it did with sponsorships. Newer fans may not realize it, but that used to be a huge part of the financial picture for fighters. Many made more from fight night sponsorships than they did from their UFC pay. Remember those banners they’d unfurl behind fighters? Remember the shorts and hats and T-shirts that they’d wrestle back onto their sweaty bodies in time for the post-fight interview? Even lesser-known fighters cashed good checks from those. The UFC knew it and incorporated it into contract negotiations, telling fighters that they should sign for less money and get good fight card placement, which would result in better sponsor payouts. The UFC used those sponsorships to subsidize fighter pay, then yanked the rug out from fighters while offering them a pittance based on experience rather than star power in return. There was a lot of anger and frustration about this at first, but then it died down. The fighters who remembered the old way eventually moved on. The new ones had never known any other system, so they didn’t even question it. Why wouldn’t the UFC think that pay-per-view points would be a similar story? Right now, pay-per-view is still profitable enough that it’s not going anywhere. I think the most likely scenario for a new broadcast rights deal involves the UFC splitting up its product across a couple platforms but probably keeping pay-per-views with ESPN+. And if some day it does go away, with the UFC pocketing more upfront money? I think champion fighters may see a small bump in pay, but mostly they’ll be told to take what they get and shut up about it. Because where else are they going to go and do better? @johnnyjanko.bsky.social: Does fighting Aspinall affect Jones legacy or not? At this point, . The only real question is, how would it affect Jon Jones’ legacy if he never fights Tom Aspinall, and how would that effect prove to be? Clearly, it would have an impact. Just look at how many times Jones was asked about Aspinall during the lead up to UFC 309. The man walked out of an interview on sight when he realized it was British dudes who were going to ask about Aspinall. “Gas Hands” Tom didn’t even fight and was still a main character all week, so obviously it’s on people’s minds. If Jones retires or relinquishes the heavyweight title without fighting him, people will inevitably say that he ducked Aspinall. That always dings a fighter’s legacy, especially when it happens toward the end of a career. You know how MMA judges tend to put more weight on a takedown in the last 30 seconds of a round than one in the first 30 seconds? It’s kind of the same deal. But I’ve also found that as years pass, people tend to focus more on the highlights and the whole body of work. It’s why, whenever I hear a fighter talk about how they can’t go out on a loss, I want to explain that actually they can, that people won’t remember this part as much as they assume, unless of course they stick around too long and it gets really sad. Personally, I’m still choosing to believe that this fight will happen. Jones says he’s already negotiating with the UFC. Aspinall says he’s optimistic and waiting for the call. There’s really no other fight to make. At least, not one that makes nearly as much sense for all parties involved. And, come on, who is Jones kidding? We all know he’s not ready to go home and stay there.Lockheed Martin Co. ( NYSE:LMT – Get Free Report )’s share price rose 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $491.76 and last traded at $491.17. Approximately 160,725 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 1,093,384 shares. The stock had previously closed at $488.13. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages have recently commented on LMT. Melius Research raised Lockheed Martin to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $635.00 target price on shares of Lockheed Martin in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $705.00 to $695.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lockheed Martin presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.29. Get Our Latest Research Report on LMT Lockheed Martin Price Performance Lockheed Martin ( NYSE:LMT – Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $17.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.38 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 101.44% and a net margin of 9.36%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.77 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.88 EPS for the current fiscal year. Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. This is a boost from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.79%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lockheed Martin Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 2.6% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lockheed Martin by 82.3% during the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Lockheed Martin during the second quarter worth $4,667,000. Cadinha & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 3.0% during the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Fin Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.6% in the second quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 7,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.19% of the company’s stock. About Lockheed Martin ( Get Free Report ) Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. The company operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Lockheed Martin Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lockheed Martin and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

The resolution -- adopted by a vote of 158-9, with 13 abstentions -- urges "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" -- wording similar to a text vetoed by Washington in the Security Council last month. At that time, Washington used its veto power on the Council -- as it has before -- to protect its ally Israel, which has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's October 7, 2023 attack. It has insisted on the idea of making a ceasefire conditional on the release of all hostages in Gaza, saying otherwise that Hamas has no incentive to free those in captivity. Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood repeated that position Wednesday, saying it would be "shameful and wrong" to adopt the text. Ahead of the vote, Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said: "The resolutions before the assembly today are beyond logic. (...) The vote today is not a vote for compassion. It is a vote for complicity." The General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council, which has been largely paralyzed on hot-button issues such as Gaza and Ukraine due to internal politics, and this time is no different. The resolution, which is non-binding, demands "immediate access" to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, especially in the besieged north of the territory. Dozens of representatives of UN member states addressed the Assembly before the vote to offer their support to the Palestinians. "Gaza doesn't exist anymore. It is destroyed," said Slovenia's UN envoy Samuel Zbogar. "History is the harshest critic of inaction." That criticism was echoed by Algeria's deputy UN ambassador Nacim Gaouaoui, who said: "The price of silence and failure in the face of the Palestinian tragedy is a very heavy price, and it will be heavier tomorrow." Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. That count includes hostages who died or were killed while being held in Gaza. Militants abducted 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,805 people, a majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry that is considered reliable by the United Nations. "Gaza today is the bleeding heart of Palestine," Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said last week during the first day of debate in the Assembly's special session on the issue. "The images of our children burning in tents, with no food in their bellies and no hopes and no horizon for the future, and after having endured pain and loss for more than a year, should haunt the conscience of the world and prompt action to end this nightmare," he said, calling for an end to the "impunity." After Wednesday's vote, he said "we will keep knocking on the doors of the Security Council and the General Assembly until we see an immediate and unconditional ceasefire put in place." The Gaza resolution calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present "proposals on how the United Nations could help to advance accountability" by using existing mechanisms or creating new ones based on past experience. The Assembly, for example, created an international mechanism to gather evidence of crimes committed in Syria starting from the outbreak of civil war in 2011. A second resolution calling on Israel to respect the mandate of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and allow it to continue its operations was passed Wednesday by a vote of 159-9 with 11 abstentions. Israel has voted to ban the organization starting January 28, after accusing some UNRWA employees of taking part in Hamas's devastating attack. abd/sst/jgc/nro/des

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