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jili games try out NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Married couples across the U.S. have had access to no-fault divorce for more than 50 years, an option many call crucial to supporting domestic abuse victims and key to preventing already crowded family courts from drowning in complicated divorce proceedings. But some advocates for women worried as old comments from now Vice President-elect JD Vance circulated during the presidential campaign opposing no-fault divorce. After President-elect Donald Trump and Vance won the election, warnings began popping up on social media urging women who might be considering divorce to "pull the trigger" while they still could. Some attorneys posted saying they saw a spike in calls from women seeking divorce consultations. Donald and Ivana Trump pose in May 1988 outside the Federal Courthouse in New York after she was sworn in as a United States citizen. Trump — who is twice-divorced — hasn't championed overhauling the country's divorce laws, but in 2021 Vance lamented that divorce is too easily accessible, as have conservative podcasters and others. People are also reading... "We've run this experiment in real time and what we have is a lot of very, very real family dysfunction that's making our kids unhappy," Vance said during a speech at a Christian high school in California, where he criticized people being able to "shift spouses like they change their underwear." Marriage rates held steady but divorce rates of women age 15 and older declined from 2012 to 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released in October. Despite concerns, even those who want to make divorces harder to get say they don't expect big, swift changes. There is not a national coordinated effort underway. States determine their own divorce laws, so national leaders can't directly change policy. "Even in some of the so-called red states, it hasn't gotten anywhere," said Beverly Willett, co-chair of the Coalition for Divorce Reform, whose group unsuccessfully attempted to convince states to repeal their no-fault divorce laws. A couple exchanges wedding bands Oct. 11, 2018, at City Hall in Philadelphia. Matt Rourke, Associated Press Mark A. Smith, a political science professor at the University of Washington, said while many Americans became accustomed to no-fault divorce being an option, Vance's previous comments on making it more difficult to separate from a spouse could help jump-start that effort. "Even though he's not directly proposing a policy, it's a topic that hasn't gotten a ton of discussion in the last 15 years," Smith said. "And so to have a national profile politician talk that way is noteworthy." Meanwhile, Republican Party platforms in Texas and Nebraska were amended in 2022 to call for the removal of no-fault divorce. Louisiana's Republican Party considered something similar this year but declined to do so. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts A handful of proposals were introduced in conservative-led statehouses over the years, but all immediately stalled after they were filed. In January, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced legislation that would have removed married couples from filing for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. Deevers backed the bill after writing a piece declaring no-fault divorce was an "abolition of marital obligation." Sen. JD Vance smiles as his wife Usha Vance applauds Nov. 6 at an election-night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Similarly, in South Carolina, two Republican lawmakers in 2023 filed a bill that would have required both spouses to file for a no-fault divorce application rather than just one. In South Dakota, a Republican lawmaker attempted to remove irreconcilable difference as grounds for divorce since 2020. None of the sponsors of these bills responded to interview requests from The Associated Press. All are members of their state's conservative Freedom Caucus. Nevertheless, some Democratic lawmakers say they remain worried about the future of no-fault divorce. They point to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 as an example of a long-accepted option that was revoked through a decades-long effort. "When you choose to be silent, you allow for this to creep in," said Democratic South Dakota Rep. Linda Duba. "These are the bills that gain a foothold because you choose to be silent." Before California became the first state to adopt a no-fault divorce option in 1969, married couples had to prove their spouse violated one of the approved "faults" outlined in their state's divorce law or risk a judge denying their divorce, said Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Qualified reasons varied from state to state, but largely included infidelity, incarceration or abandonment. Donald and Marla Trump wave to photographers Dec. 20, 1993, as they enter their wedding reception in New York's Plaza Hotel. Kathy Willens, Associated Press The system was a particular burden on domestic violence victims, who are often women who could be stuck in dangerous marriages while they try to prove their partner's abuse in court through expensive and lengthy legal proceedings. "If there was any evidence that the couple both wanted to get divorced that was supposed to be denied because divorce was not something you got because you wanted it, it was something you got because you've been wronged in a way that the state thought was significant," Grossman said. To date, every state in the U.S. adopted a no-fault divorce option. However, 33 states still have a list of approved "faults" to file as grounds for divorce — ranging from adultery to felony conviction. In 17 states, married people only have the option of choosing no-fault divorce to end their marriages. The Most Divorced Cities in the U.S. Divorce rates have declined alongside increasing marriage ages since the 1980s The link between rates of divorce and age at first marriage has been borne out over time, but it also explains geographic differences in rates of divorce. Today, most of the states with the lowest rates of divorce are also those with a higher median age for marriage. States like New Jersey, New York, California, and Massachusetts all stand out for having fewer than 10% of adults divorced and an age at first marriage above 30. One exception to this is Utah, which has the lowest overall median age for first marriage at 25.5 but also the third-lowest share of divorced adults at 9%, likely due in part to the state’s strong religious ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.In contrast, Maine and Nevada lead all states in the share of the population currently divorced at 13.9% and 13.8%, respectively. And at the local level, many of the cities with the highest levels of divorce are found in Florida, Appalachia, and the Southwest. Maine and Nevada have the highest proportions of adults currently divorced The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey. To determine the most divorced locations, researchers at ChamberOfCommerce.org calculated the percentage of adults currently divorced. In the event of a tie, the location with the higher percentage of adults currently separated was ranked higher. To improve relevance, only cities with at least 100,000 residents were included. Additionally, cities were grouped into cohorts based on population size: small (100,000–149,999), midsize (150,000–349,999), and large (350,000 or more).Here are the most divorced cities in the U.S. Small and midsize cities with the most divorced adults 15. Aurora, CO Photo Credit: Jacob Boomsma / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 12.7%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.0%Percentage of adults currently married: 46.1%Percentage of adults never married: 34.9% Shutterstock 14. New Orleans, LA Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 12.8%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.7%Percentage of adults currently married: 28.5%Percentage of adults never married: 50.3% Shutterstock 13. Oklahoma City, OK Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 12.9%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.3%Percentage of adults currently married: 45.1%Percentage of adults never married: 34.2% Shutterstock 12. Colorado Springs, CO Photo Credit: photo.ua / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 13.0%Percentage of adults currently separated: 1.5%Percentage of adults currently married: 49.9%Percentage of adults never married: 31.1% Shutterstock 11. Louisville/Jefferson County, KY Photo Credit: Jonny Trego / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 13.0%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.0%Percentage of adults currently married: 41.9%Percentage of adults never married: 36.6% Shutterstock 10. Kansas City, MO Photo Credit: Tupungato / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 13.3%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.2%Percentage of adults currently married: 39.7%Percentage of adults never married: 39.7% Shutterstock 9. Wichita, KS Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 13.5%Percentage of adults currently separated: 1.9%Percentage of adults currently married: 45.9%Percentage of adults never married: 33.4% Shutterstock 8. Tampa, FL Photo Credit: Kevin J King / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 13.5%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.4%Percentage of adults currently married: 38.5%Percentage of adults never married: 40.5% Shutterstock 7. Cleveland, OH Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 13.5%Percentage of adults currently separated: 3.4%Percentage of adults currently married: 24.7%Percentage of adults never married: 52.3% Shutterstock 6. Miami, FL Photo Credit: Galina Savina / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 13.5%Percentage of adults currently separated: 3.5%Percentage of adults currently married: 36.8%Percentage of adults never married: 39.8% Shutterstock 5. Las Vegas, NV Photo Credit: f11photo / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 13.8%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.0%Percentage of adults currently married: 43.8%Percentage of adults never married: 35.3% Shutterstock 4. Jacksonville, FL Photo Credit: CHARLES MORRA / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 14.0%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.2%Percentage of adults currently married: 42.3%Percentage of adults never married: 35.8% Shutterstock 3. Tucson, AZ Photo Credit: LHBLLC / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 14.3%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.3%Percentage of adults currently married: 35.7%Percentage of adults never married: 42.5% Shutterstock 2. Tulsa, OK Photo Credit: Valiik30 / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 14.6%Percentage of adults currently separated: 2.5%Percentage of adults currently married: 42.2%Percentage of adults never married: 34.7% Shutterstock 1. Albuquerque, NM Photo Credit: turtix / ShutterstockPercentage of adults currently divorced: 15.1%Percentage of adults currently separated: 1.4%Percentage of adults currently married: 39.8%Percentage of adults never married: 38.2% Shutterstock Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!Trump’s promises to conservatives raise fears of more book bans in US

NoneIsraeli airstrikes killed a hospital director at his home in northeastern Lebanon and six others, while at least five paramedics were killed by Israeli strikes in the country's south on Friday, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. The United Nations reported heavy clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. Four Italian peacekeepers were lightly wounded when a rocket, likely fired by Hezbollah, hit their base, the U.N. said. A full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-intensity conflict. More than 3,640 people have been killed in Lebanon and 15,350 wounded, the majority following Israel’s escalation and ground invasion, the Health Ministry said Friday. In Gaza, Israeli strikes hit Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the northernmost part of the territory, wounding six medical staff and damaging its generator and oxygen systems, the hospital director said Friday. More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250 . Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Here’s the Latest: BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike killed the director of a university hospital and six others at his home in northeastern Lebanon, state media said. The strike targeted Dr. Ali Allam’s house near Dar Al-Amal Hospital, the largest health center in Baalbek-Hermel province, which has provided vital health services amid Israel's campaign of airstrikes, the Health Ministry said. State-run media reported that the strike came without warning. The ministry described his death as a “great loss,” and provincial governor Bachir Khodr said in a post on X that, “Mr. Allam was one of the best citizens of Baalbek.” In two separate episodes on Friday, Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed five paramedics with Hezbollah's medical arm, the Health Ministry said, describing it as “war crime.” The militant group provides extensive social services, including running schools and health clinics. In a report published Friday, the World Health Organization said nearly half of all attacks on health care in Lebanon since Oct. 7, 2023, have resulted in fatalities. “This is a higher percentage than in any active conflict today across the globe,” WHO said. In Lebanon, 226 health workers and patients were killed and 199 were injured between Oct. 7, 2023 and Nov. 18, 2024, the report said. The Health Ministry said Friday that 3,645 people have been killed in nearly 14 months of war between Hezbollah and Israel, while 15,356 were wounded, the majority following Israel’s escalation in late September. The death count includes 692 women and 231 children. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes hit Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the northernmost part of Gaza, wounding six medical staff and damaging its generator and oxygen systems, its director said Friday. Hossam Abu Safiya said the strikes before dawn Friday hit the entrance of the emergency unit as well as in the hospital courtyard. He said two members of the nursing staff suffered critical injuries. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Abu Safiya said the strikes caused damage to the functioning of the generator and disrupted oxygen supplies. The hospital is currently treating 85 wounded, 14 children in the pediatric ward and four newborns in the neonatal unit, he said. During the past month, Kamal Adwan Hospital has been hit several times, was put under siege and raided by Israeli troops, who are waging a heavy offensive in the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp and towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya. The Israeli military says it detained Hamas fighters hiding in the hospital, a claim its staff denies. UNITED NATIONS – Two rockets hit a headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, injuring four Italian peacekeepers, the United Nations says. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the rockets were likely launched by Hezbollah militants or by affiliated groups Friday, impacting a bunker and a logistics area in the southwest headquarters at Chamaa. One of the structures that was hit caught fire, and the blaze was swiftly put out by U.N. staff, he said. According to Italy’s Defense Ministry, some glass shattered due to the explosion, hitting the four soldiers. Dujarric said the four injured peacekeepers were receiving treatment at the medical facility of the mission, known as UNIFIL. “Thankfully, none of the injuries are life-threatening,” he said. Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto called the attack on the UNIFIL base “intolerable.” He reiterated that the Italian contingent remains in southern Lebanon “to offer a window of opportunity for peace, and cannot become hostage to militia attacks.” Dujarric said Friday’s attack was the third on Chamaa in a week and came amid heavy shelling and ground skirmishes in the Chamaa and Naqoura areas in recent days. UNIFIL’s main headquarters is in Naqoura. Friday’s attack follows a rocket attack on a UNIFIL base east of the village of Ramyah on Tuesday that injured four peacekeepers from Ghana. Dujarric said UNIFIL strongly urges Hezbollah and its affiliates and Israel to avoid fighting near its positions, which are supposed to be protected. “We remind all parties that any attack against peacekeepers constitutes a serious violation of international law” and the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, he said. BEIRUT — Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs and the southern port city of Tyre on Friday, after the Israeli army issued several evacuation warnings saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites. The strikes in Beirut came dangerously close to central Beirut and Christian neighborhoods. One strike hit a building housing a gym and medical and beauty clinics, located just meters (yards) from a Lebanese army base. “What is there in the building to target? This attack they carried out on us in this building is a criminal and vile act,” resident Hassan Najdi told The Associated Press. “Because if their intention is targeting Hezbollah, this building has nothing to do with Hezbollah.” Najdi said he purchased an apartment in the building last year but had not yet moved in. He allowed a displaced family to move in and urgently asked them to evacuate after receiving the Israeli warning. The blasts sent plumes of smoke into the air and shattered glass in the vicinity. No casualties have been reported, but the strikes caused damage to nearby infrastructure and a key road connecting central Beirut to its southern suburbs. “We remain steadfast,” said Ali Daher, an employee at a mall facing the targeted building. “Everything that is lost can be replaced, and whatever is destroyed can be rebuilt in (no time).” In Tyre city, the Israeli military conducted multiple airstrikes after a series of warnings, claiming the targets belonged to Hezbollah’s Aziz unit, accusing it of firing projectiles into Israel. The Israeli military carried out other airstrikes across Lebanon, many without warnings, as heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah in villages along the Lebanon-Israel border intensified. ROME — Italy said Friday it plans to discuss the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court over the Israel-Hamas war when it hosts Group of Seven foreign ministers next week. Premier Giorgia Meloni insisted that one point remained clear for Italy: “There can be no equivalence between the responsibilities of the state of Israel and the terrorist organization of Hamas.” Italy is a founding member of the court and hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to it. But Meloni’s right-wing government has been a strong supporter of Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, while also providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza. In a statement Friday, Meloni said Italy would study the reasonings behind the decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy respects the ICC and supports it. “But at the same time we are also convinced that the court must have a judicial role, and should not take up a political role.” Tajani will host G7 foreign ministers Monday and Tuesday outside Rome for the final meeting of the Italian G7 presidency. “As far as decisions are concerned, we will take them together with our allies,” Tajani said. During the G7 meetings, “we will talk about this with my allies there, and we will see what to do next.” Another member of the governing coalition, the outspoken Transport Minister Matteo Salvini was more defiant in supporting Israel. “If Netanyahu comes to Italy he will be welcomed,” Salvini was quoted by Italian media as saying. This item has been updated to correct that Salvini spoke of a potential Netanyahu visit to Italy, not Israel. ROME — Four Italian soldiers were slightly injured after two exploding rockets hit the United Nations' peacekeeping mission base on Friday in Chamaa in southern Lebanon, Italy's defense ministry said. Initial information suggested that two rockets hit a bunker and a room of the mission base, damaging the surrounding infrastructure, the ministry said. Shattered glass hit the four soldiers. The incident was the latest in which UN peacekeeping posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on Oct. 1, leaving a number of peacekeepers wounded. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto called Friday's attack “intolerable.” He said he will try to speak to the new Israeli Defense Minister to ask him “to avoid using the UNIFIL bases as a shield.” Crosetto said the conditions of the four Italian soldiers “did not cause concern.” He reiterated that the Italian contingent remains in southern Lebanon “to offer a window of opportunity for peace and cannot become hostage to militia attacks.” Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni on Friday said she learned about the new attack with “deep indignation and concern.” Meloni reiterated that “such attacks are unacceptable,” renewing her appeal for the parties on the ground “to guarantee, at all times, the safety of UNIFIL soldiers and to collaborate to quickly identify those responsible.” GENEVA — The World Health Organization says nearly half of the attacks on health care in Lebanon have been deadly since the Middle East conflict erupted in October last year, the highest such rate anywhere in the world. The U.N. health agency says 65 out of 137, or 47%, of recorded “attacks on health care” in Lebanon over that time period have proven fatal to at least one person, and often many more. WHO’s running global tally counts attacks, whether deliberate or not, that affect places like hospitals, clinics, medical transport, and warehouses for medical supplies, as well as medics, doctors, nurses and the patients they treat. Nearly half of attacks on health care in Lebanon since last October and the majority of deaths occurred since an intensified Israeli military campaign began against Hezbollah militants in the country two months ago. The health agency said 226 health workers and patients have been killed and 199 injured in Lebanon between Oct. 7, 2023 and this Monday. JERUSALEM — Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory. Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways. The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial. Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7. Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.” Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common. An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked. “All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell. BERLIN — A German official has suggested that his country would be reluctant to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. The ICC’s warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant put Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, in an awkward position. The government said in a statement Friday that it is one of the ICC’s biggest supporters, but “at the same time, it is a consequence of German history that unique relations and a great responsibility connect us with Israel.” The government said it takes note of the arrest warrants and that “we will examine conscientiously the domestic steps.” It said that any further steps would only be an issue if a visit by Netanyahu or Gallant were “foreseeable.” Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit was pressed repeatedly at a regular news conference on whether it would be conceivable to arrest an Israeli prime minister. He replied: "It’s hard for me to imagine that we would carry out arrests in Germany on this basis.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday refused to comment on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, saying that the court's rulings are “insignificant” for Russia, which doesn’t recognizes the court’s jurisdiction. The ICC last year issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a number of other top Russian officials, accusing them of war crimes in Ukraine. The Kremlin has brushed off the warrants, saying that in Moscow’s eyes they’re “null and void.” Asked if the ICC warrants for Netanyahu and others can help resolve the tensions in the Middle East, Peskov said: “Well, in general, the actions of the ICC are unlikely to help anything. That’s the first thing. And secondly, we don’t see any point in commenting on this in any way, because for us these rulings are insignificant.” DEIR AL-BALAH, The Gaza Strip — Large crowds of displaced people crammed themselves in front of a bakery in the Gaza Strip for the second day in a row, desperate to get their share of bread after bakeries closed for five days due to a flour shortage and the lack of aid. “I am a 61-year-old man. This is the third day that I have come to Zadna Bakery and I still cannot get bread ... I have children to feed,” said Majdi Yaghi, a displaced man from Gaza City. The price of a small bag of pita bread increased to $16 by Friday, a stark increase from about 80 cents last month. A bag of pasta now costs $4 and a small bag of sugar costs nearly $14. That has left many Palestinian families surviving on one meal a day and reliant on charitable kitchens to survive. In Khan Younis, women and children lined up at the al-Dalu charitable kitchen for bulgur, the only food available at the makeshift charity. One of the workers there, Anas al-Dalu, told the AP that they cook ten pots every day of either rice, beans, or bulgur. But that hardly fills the need for the thousands of people displaced in the area. “The charity here is in a difficult situation. It is a drop in the ocean, and there is no aid or charities. There is nothing," said Nour Kanani, a displaced man from Khan Younis. “It is a crisis in every sense of the word. There is no flour, no charities, and no food.” BEIRUT — Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hezbollah fighters on Friday in different areas in south Lebanon, including a coastal town that is home to the headquarters of U.N. peacekeepers. A spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL told The Associated Press that they are monitoring “heavy clashes” in the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa to the northeast. UNIFIL’s headquarters are located in Naqoura in Lebanon’s southern edge close to the border with Israel. “We are aware of heavy shelling in the vicinity of our bases,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. Asked if the peacekeepers and staff at the headquarters are safe, Tenenti said: “Yes for the moment.” Several UNIFIL posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on Oct. 1, leaving a number of peacekeepers wounded.Welcome to the Week 17 grades! There's always a lot of drama in the NFL over the final two weeks of the season, and that was definitely the case in Week 17. The biggest surprise came in New York, where the Giants pulled off a stunner with a 45-33 win over the Indianapolis Colts . It was the shocker of the day for multiple reasons: For one, the Colts needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, but they're now eliminated after losing. On the Giants' end, the victory was a shocker because it likely cost them any shot at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft . Going into Week 17, the Giants were in control of the top pick and all they had to do was lose out, but they couldn't even do that. With that in mind, here are our Week 17 grades for every game that has been played so far, starting with the Giants' shocking win: N.Y. Giants 45-33 over Indianapolis Philadelphia 41-7 over Dallas Buffalo 40-14 over N.Y. Jets Las Vegas 25-10 over New Orleans Tampa Bay 48-14 over Carolina Jacksonville 20-13 over Tennessee L.A. Rams 13-9 over Arizona (Saturday) Cincinnati 30-24 in OT over Denver (Saturday) L.A. Chargers 40-7 over New England (Saturday) Seattle 6-3 over Chicago (Thursday) Kansas City 29-10 over Pittsburgh (Wednesday) Baltimore 31-2 over Houston (Wednesday)While my election-related columns about politics and the economy generated the most reader responses in recent weeks, I found the reaction to my column on direct primary care most interesting. In these arrangements, patients pay doctors directly, like in the old days, rather than through insurance. The topic tapped a vein of nostalgia with readers who remembered what health care was like 50 years ago, before the rise of interlinked networks of care systems and nationwide insurers. For others, the concept — in which patients essentially become members of a doctor’s practice and pay a flat monthly fee of around $70 to $90 — just seems practical. “We only need health insurance for major medical procedures. Health care would be much less expensive without it,” reader Mary O’Connor wrote. She then offered a plan for getting more people to use direct primary care physicians. “I suggest we start with public employees,” she wrote. “Take away their health insurance except for major medical procedures and give them an increase in pay. They can use this for doctor appointments. Doctors will lower their charges if they don’t have to wait for an insurance company to pay them.” Dr. Darrell Krieger, a physician in Crystal, wrote to point out a problem. “What is left unsaid in the article is the issue that primary care physicians are decreasing in number at an alarming rate, with no one to replace them, making access for patients increasingly difficult, particularly as older physicians such as myself retire,” he wrote. “This is a nationwide problem that is recognized within the medical field but gets little attention in the media,” he added. Though I didn’t mention it in the column, I talked with Dr. Laura Slings and her husband Steve, who runs the back office in her practice, about the broader numbers at stake. When she was working at one of the large health systems, Dr. Slings had more than 2,000 patients in her practice. She’s aiming for about 500 at her independent clinic. “If all these doctors leave the system and open direct primary care ... that’s going to contribute to the shortage, right?” Dr. Slings said. “It actually is a potential solution to the primary care crisis because so many primary care docs cannot continue to sustain what’s being asked of them right now. They’re retiring early. They’re burning out.” How, and whether, all this works out will take years, I suspect. My colleague Karen Tolkkinen last week wrote about the most acute shortage of doctors in Minnesota: dentists outside the metro area . Separately, several readers asked about something I left out of my Oct. 16 column on ninja gyms: whether kids are more prone to getting injured in them than a playground or school gym. Kids are kids, of course, and they’re out flinging themselves around in these places. At Ninjas United, the Maple Grove gym I visited, the padding is everywhere and there are coaches and spotters all around. “You’ll see we have some $800 mats called cloud mats and they’re phenomenal,” co-owner Chris Voigt said. His wife, Jen, who runs the gym, said she notices teenagers are more prone to sprains or strains because they need to warm up. “But they still remember being a kid when they didn’t need to warm up,” she said. “So some are a little more relaxed in their warm-ups, when they should be a little more focused during that.” This past week, several readers reacted to my column about the dramatic, ignominious end of Bremer Bank , the longtime St. Paul institution that sold to Indiana-based Old National, by noting that the bank’s beginning was just as dramatic. Before starting the bank and the charitable foundation that owned it, Otto Bremer and his brother Adolf in 1911 took over the Schmidt Brewing Co. from its founder, Jacob Schmidt. They built it into one of the nation’s largest by 1920, when prohibition started. Through the 1920s, Otto started to purchase banks and, as the Depression started, “pledged every asset he owned” to keep them shored up. That included his stocks in “eastern banks,” according to the Star Tribune’s obit of him in 1951. “The eastern stocks were lost by sale when additional margins in a declining market could not be furnished,” the obituary said. Finally, a good news update to a column I wrote at the start of the year urging Minnesota regulators to allow taller buildings with a single staircase. On Oct. 31, the technical advisory group responsible for updating the state’s building code unanimously approved a proposal that will allow single-stair residential buildings up to four stories. “This approval makes Minnesota the first among the new wave of states around the country moving in this direction to actually adopt a code change statewide,” said Cody Fischer, president of Footprint Development in Minneapolis.

A month after the attempted assassination of Komil Allamjonov, the former deputy head of the Presidential Administration, several people have reportedly been detained and a host of security officials have resigned or been fired. The continued evolution of the case – and what remains unsaid publicly but chattered about privately – hints at an intra-elite struggle beneath the surface of Uzbekistan’s decidedly opaque political waters. According to the Uzbek Prosecutor General’s Office seven people have been identified as involved in the attempted assassination of Allamjonov on October 26, five of whom were detained soon after the attack. Two others – “K.S.” and Javlon Yunusov – were placed on wanted lists. In a November 25 Telegram statement, the Prosecutor General’s Office said K.S. was located in Kazakhstan and “investigative actions were carried out with his participation.” Yunusov, only suspect whose full name has been published by the authorities, was detained in South Korea earlier in November . In its November 25 statement, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that he had been extradited back to Uzbekistan. The day after the attack on Allamjonov, a pair of men appeared in a video that circulated through Uzbek social media claiming to be the triggermen. To make matters even more strange, they claimed that it was all a set up – feeding a rumor that had begun circulating that the assassination attempt had, bizarrely, been orchestrated by Allamjonov himself, or as the men said “in the best interest of [Allamjonov].” A well-placed source told The Diplomat that Allamjonov has been subject to a virulent smear campaign for months, adding the rumor that the assassination attempt was a “PR stunt” to others already in the ether as evidence of the involvement of a higher authority – what the source deemed “the office” and which other media have characterized as an alleged “deep state.” RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Ozodlik, reported the identities of the men in the video as Shokhrukh Ahmedov and Ismoil Jahongirov . Both names had been provided to The Diplomat in late October by a source that linked them, as Ozodlik did, to an assassination attempt on critics of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Turkiye in 2021. Ozodlik reported that Ahmedov was a “bodyguard and driver” for Yunusov, who has a colorful criminal history of his own including fraud and assault and is listed as the founder of 18 companies in Tashkent, some of which involve pharmaceuticals. The two triggermen reportedly drove from Tashkent to Fergana and ditched their car outside a cafe named Seoul. The cafe is reportedly owned by the family of Natalya Fen, the daughter of the late Vitaly Fen, a former ambassador of Uzbekistan to South Korea and, allegedly, Yunusov’s common-law wife. Some media reports stated that Fen has also been arrested; others said that she was questioned and released. The Prosecutor General’s Office has not provided a complete list of those detained in connection with the assassination attempt (though it has lectured the media on reporting anything other than official statements on the case). Most critically, Ozodlik’s sources claimed that Yunusov “is the Fergana Valley ‘right-hand man’ of Otabek Umarov.” Otabek Umarov is, among other things, the deputy head of the Uzbek presidential security service and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s son-in-law (he’s married to Mirziyoyev’s youngest daughter Shakhnoza). Ozodlik’s sources say that Umarov is connected to “the office.” The Diplomat’s sources allege he is at its center. As the investigation progressed, a number of high-level security officials in Tashkent have lost or left their jobs. These include the head of the State Security Service, Abdusalom Azizov ; the head of the State Security Service’s Internal Security Directorate, Alijon Ashurov, and his brother, Sarvar, an aide to Uzbekistan’s prime minister; the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ criminal investigation service, Akhrorjon Adkhamov; First Deputy Chief of the Tashkent Main Department of Internal Affairs Doniyor Tashkhojayev; and Timur Sobirov, the head of the Organized Crime Department in Tashkent. In a November 26 report, Ozodlik stated that “on the evening of November 25, it became known that Otabek Umarov had been dismissed from the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Security Service. This happened on the day of Javlon Yunusov’s extradition from South Korea.” That has not yet been reported elsewhere. What was being reported on November 25 in various Uzbek media was that President Mirziyoyev had been elected chairman of Uzbekistan’s National Olympic Committee and that Umarov – already vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for the Central Asian region – had been elected as the first deputy chairman. Uzbekistan’s National Olympic Committee shared a picture of Umarov attending the committee’s assembly. There are more questions than answers at this juncture and more than a few missing pieces. Critically, what hasn’t been stated by officials is a motive for the assassination attempt. Allamajonov had recently stepped down from his government job at the time. Much of his career trajectory since 2016 was in lock-step with that of Mirziyoyev’s eldest daughter, Saida Mirziyoyeva, until August 2023 when she was appointed assistant to the president , the highest position in the presidential administration after the president. Sources, Ozodlik’s and The Diplomat’s alike, point to a battle between Allamjonov on one side and Umarov and “the office” on the other. The roots and exact contours, mired in the murk and muck of rumor, are difficult to discern, let alone verify. But there’s something stirring under the water.Who Is Floyd Mayweather’s Girlfriend? Gallienne Nabila’s Job & Relationship History By Netizens are eager to know who is and their relationship history. Dubbed as one of the greatest boxers of all time, Mayweather Jr. is no stranger to the spotlight. Over the years of his illustrious career, fans have always been eager to get a peek into his personal life. Here’s everything we know about Floyd Mayweather’s girlfriend, their relationship timeline, and more. Who is Floyd Mayweather dating? Mayweather has been romantically linked with several women over the years. Albeit, he is known to keep his private life away from the public eye. Various reports have concluded that the boxing legend is currently seeing Nabila and they have been dating on and off for a while. Moreover, the two are often seen together on public outings and vacations. What is Gallienne Nabila’s job? According to her profile, Galliene Nabila is currently signed under the renowned Wilhelmina Models in Los Angeles. She has also previously worked under Elite Model Management. Nabila has shot for several notable brands including Quay, Anastasia Beverly Hills, and Fashion Nova. Besides her career as a model, she is also an aspiring actress. In 2023, Nabila founded her charity organization called Gallienne’s Girls. The nonprofit aims to support young women to discover their passion and reach their goals. In the she shared to announce the launch of Gallienne’s Girls, Nabila wrote, “I’m excited to announce the launch of Gallienne’s Girls, my nonprofit organization that is dedicated to inspire and uplift young girls to be confident and pursue their passions with determination.” Additionally, Galliene Nabila has forayed into fashion design. In 2023, she launched her bathing suit line in collaboration with Nalia Swim. Floyd Mayweather and Gallienne Nabila’s relationship history Although it is unknown when and how Floyd Mayweather and his girlfriend Gallienne Nabila first met, multiple reports suggest that they first got together in 2019. Their relationship has been on and off since then. The boxer was briefly linked with Anna Monroe in 2020. (via ) However, he got back together with Nabila in 2021. Since then, the pair has been spotted attending several public events together, including numerous NBA games. In 2023, Nabila posted a few on her social media sporting a large diamond ring, making netizens believe that an engagement announcement was on the way. However, neither she nor Mayweather have confirmed the speculations. In 2024, the couple was also celebrating Valentine’s Day, indicating that they are going steady as of writing. Namrata is a SEO Content Writer for ComingSoon and an avid reader, with a profound love for movies and anime, especially the works of Hayao Miyazaki. She holds a masters in English literature and has been producing content for over two years. Share articleJournalists in Bolivia face attacks, verbal assaults

Davina McCall is “out of the woods” following her brain surgery and planning to return to work in January. The 57-year-old TV presenter underwent an operation to remove a colloid cyst after it was picked up on a scan and is recovering at home. Her boyfriend, hairdresser Michael Douglas, said she’s resting up and hopes to be back on TV after . In an Instagram Live video, Michael explained: “She’s quite tired at the moment. She sleeps really well at night and goes to bed at 10pm and has a nap in the morning, and sleeps for two or three hours in the afternoon. “It’s the way your brain heals by resting. Her body is naturally forcing her to rest.” He went on to add: “She’s off [work] until mid-January. She’s got a lot of time to relax and recuperate. “It’s been a very, very emotional and quite an incredible experience. We’re definitely out of the woods.” Davina previously updated fans after the surgery thanking them for their well-wishes and revealing she’s doing well but having troubles with her short-term memory. She explained: “Hi, I just thought I’d check and say an enormous and heartfelt thank you to everybody who’s messaged me or been in touch. It’s meant the world. It’s been mad. And it’s just really nice to be back home, I’m on the other side.” Michael previously revealed Davina had made an "enormous leap forward" after her brain surgery. Taking to Davina's Instagram, he wrote: "Update folks. Thanks so much to all the well wishers. She really has made an enormous leap forward in the last 24 hours. She is out of ICU She is 'loving awareness'. Thank you xx Michael." Michael said surgeon's had described Davina's procedure as "textbook". He wrote: "Hey all. Davina is out of surgery and according to the surgeon it was textbook! She's currently recovering in ICU as a precaution, as you can imagine she's utterly exhausted. Thank you so much for all the love from everyone on here.. it's powerful stuff, we are super grateful Michael xx". In her initial video update, Davina had explained she was getting a procedure called a craniotomy to remove the tumour. She said she would be in hospital for "around nine days" after the procedure and was "in good spirits" ahead of it. judge said the tumour "needed to come out" because if it grew, it would be "bad". Davina had asked fans to "pray" for her while discussing her upcoming op in a video posted on her Instagram. Come and join The Daily Star on , the social media site set up by ex-Twitter boss Jack Dorsey. It's now the new go-to place for content after a mass exodus of the Elon Musk-owned Twitter/X. Fear not, we're not leaving , but we are jumping on the bandwagon. So come find our new account on , and see us social better than the rest. You can also learn more about The Daily Star team in what Bluesky calls a . So what are you waiting for?! Let's In the clip, she explained the tumour was discovered a few months ago, when she had a health scan. Discussing the decision to get the op, she said: "I saw quite a few neurosurgeons, I got lots of opinions and I realised that I have to get it taken out. It's big for the space. It fills the space. It's 14mm wide and it needs to come out, because if it grows, it would be bad. So I'm having it removed via a craniotomy."

Jeffrey Fleishman | (TNS) Los Angeles Times The national furor in recent years around banning books on race and gender in public schools is intensifying as President-elect Donald Trump threatens to shut down the Department of Education, emboldening conservatives to end “wokeness” in classrooms. Battles over books in school libraries have become emblematic of the country’s larger culture wars over race, historical revisionism and gender identity. A new report by PEN America found book bans increased by nearly 200% during the 2023-24 school year, including titles on sexuality, substance abuse, depression and other issues students face in an age of accelerating technologies, climate change, toxic politics and fears about the future. Book censorship has shaken and divided school boards, pitted parents against parents, and led to threats against teachers and librarians . It is part of an agenda driven by conservative parental rights groups and politicians who promote charter schools and voucher systems that could weaken public education. The issue goes to the heart not only of what students are taught but how federal and state education policies will affect the nation’s politics after one of the most consequential elections in its history. “It’s not just about taking a book off a shelf,” said Tasslyn Magnusson, an author and teacher from Wisconsin who tracks book censorship across the U.S. “It’s about power and who controls public education. It’s about what kind of America we were and are. We’re trying to define what family is and what America means. That comes down to the stories we tell.” She said she feared Trump’s return to the White House would further incite those calling for book bans: “I don’t have lots of hope. It could get a lot worse.” Over the last year, PEN counted more than 10,000 book bans nationwide that targeted 4,231 unique titles. Most were books dealing with gender, sexuality, race and LGBTQ+ storylines. The most banned title was Jodi Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes,” about a school shooting that included a short description of date rape. Florida and Iowa — both of which have strict regulations on what students can read — accounted for more than 8,200 bans in the 2023-24 school year. “This crisis is tragic for young people hungry to understand the world they live in and see their identities and experiences reflected in books,” Kasey Meehan, director of PEN’s Freedom to Read Program, said in a statement. “What students can read in schools provides the foundation for their lives.” Trump’s calls to close the Department of Education would need congressional approval, which appears unlikely. Although public schools are largely funded and governed by state and local institutions, the department helps pay to educate students with disabilities, provides about $18 billion in grants for K-12 schools in poor communities and oversees a civil rights branch to protect students from discrimination. But Trump’s election has inspired conservative parental groups, including Moms For Liberty and Parents Defending Education, to strengthen efforts to limit what they see as a liberal conspiracy to indoctrinate children with books and teachings that are perverse, amoral and pornographic. Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, has criticized schools that she says spend too much time on diversity and inclusion when only about one-third of U.S. children are reading at grade level: “We’re talking about public school libraries and content for kids,” Justice told NewsNation after Trump’s victory. “I think it’s very clear that there are certain things that are appropriate for kids, certain things that are appropriate for adults. We’re just getting back to commonsense America.” Trump’s threat to deny federal funding to schools that acknowledge transgender identities could affect curricula and the kinds of books school libraries stock. During his rally at Madison Square Garden in October, Trump — who has has accused schools of promoting sex change operations — said his administration would get “transgender insanity the hell out of our schools.” Vice President-elect JD Vance has accused Democrats of wanting to “put sexually explicit books in toddlers’ libraries.” Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, told Newsmax that she was excited about Trump’s calls to remake education and “clean up a lot of the mess” he has inherited from the Biden administration. Trump “has centered parental rights back in his platform, which is incredible. He has prioritized knowledge and skill, not identity politics,” she said. “American children deserve better, and it is time for change.” In nominating Linda McMahon to be his secretary of Education, Trump appears to be pushing for more conservative parental control over what is taught and read in classrooms. A former professional wrestling executive, McMahon chairs the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-connected organization that has criticized schools for teaching “racially divisive” theories, notably about slavery and a perspective about the nation’s founding it views as anti-American. “Today’s contentious debates over using classrooms for political activism rather than teaching a complete and accurate account of American history have reinvigorated calls for greater parental and citizen involvement in the curriculum approval process,” the institute’s website says. Culturally divisive issues, including race and LGBTQ+ themes, cost school districts an estimated $3.2 billion during the 2023-24 school year, according to a recent study called “The Costs of Conflict.” The survey — published by the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA — found that battles over books and teaching about sexuality and other topics led to increased expenses for legal fees, replacing administrators and teachers who quit, and security, including off-duty plainclothes police officers. “Are we really going to spend our tax dollars on these kinds of things?” asked Magnusson. “After Trump was elected, I saw a bunch of middle-class white ladies like me who were saying, ‘This isn’t America.’ But maybe it is America.” One school superintendent in a Western state told the study’s researchers that his staff was often consumed with correcting misinformation and fulfilling public record requests mainly from hard-line parental rights activists attempting to exploit cultural war issues to discredit the district. “Our staff are spending enormous amounts of time just doing stupid stuff,” the superintendent said. “The fiscal costs to the district are enormous, but [so are] the cultural costs of not standing up to the extremists. If someone doesn’t, then the students and employees lose. ... It’s the worst it’s ever been.” The survey found that 29% of 467 school superintendents interviewed reported that teachers and other staff quit their profession or left their districts “due to culturally divisive conflict.” Censoring books in school libraries grew out of opposition to COVID-19 restrictions. A number of conservative parental groups, including Moms for Liberty, which invited Trump to speak at its national convention in August, turned their attention to lobbying against “liberal indoctrination.” Their protests against what they criticized as progressive teaching on sexuality and race were focused on increasing conservative parental control over a public education system that was struggling at teaching children reading and math. That strategy has led to a national, right-wing effort that is “redefining government power to restrict access to information in our schools,” said Stephana Ferrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project. “This movement to protect the innocence of our children believes if children never read it in a book they won’t have to know about it and can go on to lead harmonious lives. But books teach us cautionary tales. They instruct us. You can’t protect innocence through ignorance.” School districts across the country have removed “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson, which are about gender identity and include graphic depictions of sex, along with titles by renowned writers such as Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, Maya Angelou and Flannery O’Connor. Related Articles National Politics | Trump vows tariffs over immigration. What the numbers say about border crossings, drugs and crime National Politics | Trump promised mass deportations. Educators worry fear will keep immigrants’ kids from school National Politics | Trump team says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal brokered by Biden is actually Trump’s win National Politics | How Trump’s bet on voters electing him managed to silence some of his legal woes National Politics | After delay, Trump signs agreement with Biden White House to begin formal transition handoff Surveys show that most Americans do not favor censorship. The Florida Freedom to Read Project and similar organizations around the country have called for thorough public reviews of challenged books to prevent one scene or passage from being taken out of context. Moderate and liberal parents groups over the last two years have also become more active in school board politics. They have supported school board candidates who have defeated those backed by Moms for Liberty in Texas, Florida and other states. “People say the pendulum will swing back,” said Ferrell. But, she said, conservatives want to “stop the pendulum from swinging back.” Picoult is accustomed to conservatives attempting to censor her. Her books have been banned in schools in more than 30 states. Published in 2007, “Nineteen Minutes” explores the lives of characters, including a girl who was raped, in a town leading up to a school shooting and its aftermath. “Having the most banned book in the country is not a badge of honor. It’s a call for alarm,” said Picoult, whose books have sold more than 40 million copies. “My book, and the 10,000 others that have been pulled off school library shelves this year, give kids a tool to deal with an increasingly divided and difficult world. These book banners aren’t helping children. They are harming them.” ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.A top White House official has said that Chinese state-sponsored hackers targeted “very senior” American political figures and recorded their phone calls. Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, told reporters at a security conference in Bahrain that Chinese hacker group “Salt Typhoon” had stolen a large volume of Americans’ metadata. “The purpose of the operation was more focused,” Neuberger said. “We believe ... the actual number of calls that they took, recorded and took, was really more focused on very senior political individuals. ” She did not name anyone targeted by the Chinese hackers. “We’re still investigating the scope and scale” of the Chinese hacking campaign, Neuberger added. Green said the CSRB’s members “have an immense task ahead of them” and there is bipartisan “frustration” in Congress about the extent of Salt Typhoon’s breach. “There is no doubt that a nation-state sponsored intrusion of this scale and sophistication into internet service providers is unprecedented and unnerving—something hard to say after the discovery of Volt Typhoon, another [Chinese] state-sponsored threat actor,” Green stated. “I urge affected companies to cooperate in this investigation so we have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of this intrusion, which will position the CSRB to develop potential recommendations for improving overall U.S. telecom network resiliency,” Green added. Green said he will hold a congressional hearing once the board publishes its report on Salt Typhoon. “We face an urgent threat from our adversaries against the technology that underpins our daily lives, and we must be prepared to take decisive action,” Green said.

J&K budget deliberations begin

Joe ‘Celtic’ Biden honors Boston champs in ‘moving’ White House visitDALLAS — Delta and United became the most profitable U.S. airlines by targeting premium customers while also winning back a significant share of travelers on a tight budget. That is squeezing smaller low-fare carriers like Spirit Airlines , which recently filed for bankruptcy protection. Some travel-industry experts think Spirit’s troubles indicate that travelers on a budget will be left with fewer choices and higher prices. Other discount airlines are on much better financial footing than Spirit, but they too are lagging far behind the full-service airlines when it comes to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic . Most industry experts think Frontier Airlines and other so-called ultra-low-cost carriers will fill the vacuum if Spirit shrinks , and that there is still plenty of competition to prevent prices from spiking. Spirit Airlines lost more than $2.2 billion since the start of 2020. Frontier has not reported a full-year profit since 2019, though that slump might end this year. Allegiant Air’s parent company is still profitable, but less so than before the pandemic. Those kind of numbers led United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby to declare recently that low-cost carriers were using “a fundamentally flawed business model” and customers hate flying on them. Kirby’s touchdown dance might turn out to be premature, but many analysts are wary about the near-term prospects for budget airlines, which charge cheaper fares but more fees than the big airlines. A traveler speaks with a Spirit Airlines agent May 24 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ahead of Memorial Day in Atlanta. Low-cost airlines grew in the last two decades by undercutting big carriers on ticket prices, thanks in large part to lower costs, including hiring younger workers who were paid less than their counterparts at Delta Air Lines, United and American Airlines . Wages soared across the industry in the past two years, however, narrowing that cost advantage. The big airlines rolled out and refined their no-frills, “basic economy” tickets to compete directly with Spirit, Frontier and other budget carriers for the most price-sensitive travelers. The budget airlines became less efficient at using planes and people. As their growth slowed, they wound up with more of both than they needed. In 2019, Spirit planes were in the air an average of 12.3 hours every day. By this summer, the planes spent an average of two more hours each day sitting on the ground, where they don't make money. Spirit's costs per mile jumped 32% between 2019 and 2023. Another issue is that airlines added too many flights. Budget airlines and Southwest Airlines were among the worst offenders, but full-service airlines piled on. To make up for a drop in business travel, the big carriers added more flights on domestic leisure routes. The result: Too many seats on flights into popular tourist destinations such as Florida and Las Vegas, which drove down prices, especially for economy-class tickets. Rows of seats are shown Sept. 26 on a retrofitted Southwest Airlines jet at Love Field in Dallas. Low-cost airlines are responding by following the old adage that if you can't beat them, join them. That means going premium, following the rapidly growing household wealth among upper-income people. The top one-fifth of U.S. households by income added $35 trillion in wealth since 2019 and holds nearly nine times the wealth of the middle fifth, according to the Federal Reserve . Frontier Airlines organized its fares into four bundles in May, with buyers of higher-priced tickets getting extras such as priority boarding, more legroom and checked bags. The airline dropped ticket-change or cancellation fees except for the cheapest bundle. Spirit followed in August with similar changes, blocking middle seats and charging passengers more for the comfort of aisle and window seats. Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie received a $3.8 million retention bonus a week before the Florida-based carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Christie will retain the bonus if he remains with the company for another year. The airline's stock has dropped over 90% this year. It has faced challenges including a blocked $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue and failed talks with Frontier. The pandemic disrupted Spirit's operations and travel patterns, reducing its daily aircraft utilization and increasing costs. Demand has shifted to full-service airlines as higher-income travelers vacation more, while inflation impacts lower-income consumers. JetBlue Airways , which began flying more than 20 years ago as a low-cost carrier but with amenities, is digging out from years of steady losses. Under new CEO Joanna Geraghty, the first woman to lead a major U.S. airline, JetBlue is cutting unprofitable routes, bolstering core markets that include the Northeast and Florida, and delaying deliveries of $3 billion worth of new planes. Starting next year, Southwest Airlines will toss out a half-century tradition of “open seating” — passengers picking their own seat after boarding the plane. Executives say extensive surveying showed 80% of customers preferred an assigned seat, and that's especially true with coveted business travelers. More crowded planes also might be pushing passengers to spend more to escape a middle seat in the back of the plane. A Frontier Airlines jet takes off July 5, 2022, from Denver International Airport in Denver. In other parts of the world, budget carriers are doing just fine. They bounced back from the pandemic just like their more highbrow competitors. Some industry experts say low-cost carriers in Asia and Europe have always attracted a more diverse mix of passengers, while in the U.S., affluent and middle-class travelers look down their noses at low-cost carriers. Jamie Baker, an analyst for JPMorgan, says he has many college friends who work in London and fly Irish airline Ryanair all the time, but he hardly knows anyone who has ever been on a Spirit or Frontier plane. A small plane tows a banner April 13, 2016, over Flint Bishop International Airport as part of ceremonies marking Allegiant Air joining the airport. Delta CEO Ed Bastian is less dismissive of the “lower-end carriers” in the U.S. than United's Kirby. "I don’t see that segment ever disappearing,” Bastian said after Spirit’s bankruptcy filing. “I think there’s a market for it.” At the same time, he said the upscale moves by ultra-low-cost carriers are having no effect on his airline. Delta targets upscale travelers but also introduced basic-economy fares a decade ago, when discounters emerged as a growing threat to poach some of Delta's customers. “Just calling yourself a premium carrier and actually being a premium carrier are two totally different things,” Bastian said “It's not the size of the seat or how much room you have; it's the overall experience.” As frequent flyers know, air travel isn't cheap. With the summer months in full swing, demand for air travel is expected to reach record numbers in 2024 as airlines continue to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily for those who are looking for ways to save on travel , one way to cut costs on your next vacation may be in finding the right places to fly in and out of. FinanceBuzz looked at average domestic airfares from the 45 busiest airports in the U.S. to learn which airports are best for travelers on a budget, as well as which ones to avoid if you are trying to travel affordably. Overall, the national average airfare cost decreased by 3.1% from 2022 to 2023 when adjusted for inflation (which translates to a 0.9% increase in non-adjusted dollars). The last time inflation-adjusted airfare costs dropped year-over-year was during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it fell 18% between 2019 and 2020. Largely, this is good news for consumers who can spend less on airfare and have more room in their budget for hotels , restaurants, and other travel fees. In addition to earning rewards on airfare, most travel credit cards offer rewards for spending in these areas, which can offset overall vacation costs. Based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the above chart shows inflation-adjusted average airline fares over the past 25 years. For this report, we compared domestic airfares from the 45 busiest airports in the U.S. using data published by the U.S. Department of Transportation . Orlando International Airport (MCO) had the lowest airfare cost in the country at $265.58 on average. Home to iconic theme parks like Universal Studios, Sea World, and most notably, Walt Disney World, Orlando is one of America's top tourist destinations. This is welcome news for those bracing for expensive park tickets and food prices at the House of Mouse. Beyond saving with a Disney credit card on park-related purchases, visitors can also maximize savings by using a credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve which offers an annual travel credit, or even using a 0% APR credit card if you don't want to pay for your entire vacation at once. Another Florida-based airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), has the second-lowest average airfare cost in the country — tickets here are only about $5 more expensive than Orlando's. Just a few dollars behind FLL is Las Vegas's Harry Reid International (LAS), where fares cost $272.15 on average. LAS is also the last airport on our list where average airfare costs are less than $300. Oakland International Airport (OAK) has the fourth-lowest average airfare costs in the country at $303.79. And the fifth-least expensive airport, Chicago Midway International (MDW), comes in at $308.27. For the third year in a row, Dulles International Airport (IAD) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) have the two highest average fares in the country. Flights from Dulles cost $488.40 on average in 2023, while flights from San Francisco cost $444.59. Some silver lining for travelers who need to travel through Dulles: IAD is home to some of the best airport lounges in the country, including the recently-opened Capital One Lounge, available to Capital One Venture X or Venture Rewards credit card holders. With free food, drinks, and recharging stations, lounges can be one easy way to offset otherwise-expensive airport costs. Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) has the third-highest average airfare in the country, with an average cost of $438.34. Last on our top-five list of the most expensive airports are Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and Detroit Metro Airport (DTW). Average airfare from Charlotte cost $436.80 last year, while flights from Detroit had an average price tag of $427.05. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) was the biggest affordability winner over the last year, dropping prices by more than $18 on average. SEA jumped from 36th most-affordable place last year to 28th place this year — an increase of eight spots. Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) and Portland International Airport (PDX) experienced similar jumps, rising by seven spots each. RDU went from 24th place in 2022 to 17th in 2023, while PDX went from 42nd to 35th. Two different airports fell by eight spots in our affordability rankings, tied for the biggest drop of the year. The average fare at Sacramento International Airport (SMF) rose by $18.66 year-over-year, which led SMF to go from 18th in last year's affordability rankings to 26th this year. Prices rose even more at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), going up by $19.64 on average from one year to the next. Consequently, STL fell from 21st to 29th place in terms of affordability. As you plan your travel, you'll find costs can vary widely at a single airport. With a little research and smart planning, you can find a deal at any airport. Here are a few tips to save on airfare: We looked at 2023 airfare data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation in May 2024 to compare domestic airfares by origin city. This report calculated average fares based on domestic itinerary fares. "Itinerary fares" consist of round-trip fares, unless only a one-way ticket was purchased. In that case, the one-way fare was used. Fares are based on total ticket value, including the price charged by the airline plus any additional taxes and fees levied at the time of purchase. Fares include only the price paid at booking and do not include fees for optional services like baggage fees. Averages also do not include frequent-flyer or "zero fares" or a few abnormally high reported fares. This stor y was produced by FinanceBuzz and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!