m jili7 AI-Powered Forecasting for Enterprises: Predicting Financial OutcomesMajor stock indexes we mixed on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday, marking a choppy start to a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 21 points, or 0.1% as of 2:22 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Gains in technology and communications stocks helped outweigh losses in consumer goods companies and elsewhere in the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 3.6%. Broadcom jumped 5.7% to also help support the broader market. Walmart fell 2.2% and PepsiCo slid 1.3%. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. U.S.-listed shares in Honda jumped 12.1% , while Nissan fell 0.9%. Eli Lilly rose 3.3% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.7% after it agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence slipped in December. Its consumer confidence index fell back to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Wall Street was expecting a reading of 113.8. The unexpectedly weak consumer confidence update follows several generally strong economic reports last week. One report showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The latest report on unemployment benefit applications showed that the job market remains solid. A report on Friday said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. Worries about inflation edging higher again had been weighing on Wall Street and the Fed. The central bank just delivered its third cut to interest rates this year, but inflation has been hovering stubbornly above its target of 2%. It has signaled that it could deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier anticipated because of concerns over inflation. Expectations for more interest rate cuts have helped drive a 25% gain for the S&P 500 in 2024. That drive included 57 all-time highs this year. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under an incoming President Donald Trump. "Put simply, much of the strong market performance prior to last week was driven by expectations that a best-case scenario was the base case for 2025," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.59% from 4.53% late Friday. European markets were mostly lower, while markets in Asia gained ground. Wall Street has several other economic reports to look forward to this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its November report for sales of newly constructed homes. A weekly update on unemployment benefits is expected on Thursday. Markets in the U.S. will close at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas.

HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro said Friday that he will divert more than $150 million in federal highway funding to provide a one-time injection of cash into Philadelphia’s mass transit system to help it avoid near-term service cutbacks and delay fare increases. Shapiro's announcement comes as many transit agencies are in a financial crunch. Federal COVID-19 relief for transit agencies is phasing out and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and other major transit agencies around the country are struggling to regain ridership after the pandemic. Shapiro said the $153 million can help SEPTA maintain services and avoid steeper fare increases until he can come to an agreement on a wider transportation funding deal with state lawmakers. The nation’s sixth-largest mass transit system, SEPTA is facing an annual structural budget deficit of $240 million. In addition to raising fares, SEPTA has said it would carry out what it called painful service cutbacks next summer, cutbacks that the region’s boosters and representatives say would be damaging to the local economy. The service cuts were planned to take effect July 1 and would include eliminating and shortening routes and reducing the frequency of bus, trolley, subway and Regional Rail service. The cuts would save an estimated $92 million in the first year. Shapiro said shifting the federal highway funding won't jeopardize or stop any ongoing highway projects. Diverting highway funds is allowable under federal law. Former Gov. Ed Rendell did it in 2005 and 2010 to help transit agencies, while shifting the money is routine in some other states. SEPTA lost out on about $161 million when the Republican-controlled state Senate didn't go along with Shapiro’s proposal for $283 million in new state aid to public transit. Instead, lawmakers approved a one-time payment to the state trust fund for transit systems, of which SEPTA got $46 million. Republican lawmakers have said that Shapiro must come up with new money to pay for more transit aid and that extra transit aid must come packaged with more money for highway projects that will benefit the rest of Pennsylvania. SEPTA earlier this month proposed an across-the-board 21.5% fare increase that would start New Year’s Day, along with service cuts to take effect next summer. If approved by SEPTA’s board, riders would pay the increase on top of a proposed separate interim average fare increase of 7.5%. SEPTA last raised fares in 2017, and the proposed increase would be expected to bring in an additional $23 million for this fiscal year and $45 million per year starting in 2026. The funding comes following multiple issues with both NJ Transit and Amtrak, including delays and cancellations. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.I was treated better as a trans woman but changed my mind...now my college won't let me talk about it Berklee music college's stated support for 'creative expression' is questioned By JAMES REINL, SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 18:51 GMT, 29 December 2024 | Updated: 18:51 GMT, 29 December 2024 e-mail 38 View comments A top US music school is under fire for breaking its own rules on free speech by stopping one of its students from discussing his troubled history with changing sex. Simon Amaya Price, 20, says Berklee College of Music in Boston canceled his talk about the three years he struggled to live as a female, after the event sparked a campus backlash. Campaigners say it is the latest example of ' woke ' professors abandoning free speech when it goes against the narrow left-wing consensus that pervades academia. 'I wanted to talk about desisting from transgender identity, but that was too much for Berklee,' Amaya Price told DailyMail.com. 'Once the political response became apparent, Berklee administrators indefinitely postponed my event.' Berklee, a venerated 79-year-old college in Massachusetts that claims to support 'creative expression,' did not answer DailyMail.com's request for comment. Amaya Price, an indie pop singer-songwriter at the school, was set to make a presentation at a campus venue on October 20 as part of a course on 'social change'. His classmates spoke about homelessness , eating disorders and motherhood in their talks. Singer-songwriter Simon Amaya Price, 20, once again identifies as a man, and wants to warn others about his negative experiences Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music is under fire for sidelining its own rules on free speech by cancelling the talk Read More Transgender woman, 24, is forced to have testicle removed after it became twisted in agonising injury caused by 'tucking' He wanted to discuss his teenage years spent living as a woman and how he came to 'desist.' He started to question his identity and transition when he was 14 - a tough time in his life when he was mocked by peers and faced 'complete social ostracization'. Amaya Price says he transitioned because he was mixed up by his autism, puberty, sexual abuse and troubles with friends. He was spurred on by online trans activists and peers at a summer camp where teens introduced themselves in 'pronoun rituals'. 'I found that people treated me way better if I said my pronouns were anything but he/him,' Amaya Price said. 'I was like: "OK, this makes me feel better. People treat me better. This has got to be the right thing for me".' He started going by 'Ash.' Clinicians at Boston Children's Hospital affirmed him without delay and proposed cross-sex hormones, he says. But his dad, Gareth, 'put his foot down' and would not let him take sex change drugs until he was 18, he adds. He never did much more than mix up his wardrobe a little. His appearance — as a man, woman, and non-binary — was always androgynous. Amaya Price describes a 'turning point' when he was about 17 and started to see 'logical fallacies' in gender identity politics. Amaya Price's event at Berklee was cancelled, but he managed to raise his concerns about gender ideology weeks later at MIT For three teenage years, Amaya Price identified as a female called 'Ash' but has since switched back to being a guy He started to develop friendships with men and liked being 'one of the guys.' He also saw how trans friends undergoing medical procedures were harming themselves. The teen started to 'desist,' and now campaigns against gender ideology, especially when it comes to children. 'I don't think there's any situation where minors should be allowed to take cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, or undergo these surgeries,' he says. 'Scientifically, we do not know how to tell apart the kids for whom it might work and for whom it doesn't work.' This view makes him an 'apostate' to trans activists and leftists, says Amaya Price. 'I falsify one of the core tenants of their ideology, which is that everybody with gender dysphoria needs to medically transition, which is simply not true,' he says. He wanted to explain all this in his Berklee talk, titled 'Born in the Right Body: Desister and Detransitioner Awareness.' The college was initially willing to back his event, but pulled the plug after Amaya Price's promotional fliers and Instagram post sparked an angry backlash. Within hours, he'd received more than 400 'overwhelmingly negative' responses, he says. Berklee students called him a 'Nazi' and a 'transphobe.' One said he should be 'scared' to make his presentation, another threatened to 'throw expired groceries' at him. Amaya Price, pictured here playing a violin aged 11, was interested in music from an early age Seen here climbing a wall at age six, Amaya Price says he did not question his gender identity when he was a child Transgender rights activists have pushed to silence conservative voices on US college campuses. Pictured: A gender-related protest in San Diego, California Read More EXCLUSIVE Trans for Trump: Meet the Americans who've transitioned gender and voted Trump Angry students gathered some 2,000 signatures in an online petition demanding Berklee cancel the talk. They said it would 'harm the mental well-being of individuals in the transgender community.' Within days, the school's vice president Ron Savage 'indefinitely postponed' the event, citing security concerns. Its office for diversity and inclusion also pulled its support and posted that the event 'will no longer take place as planned'. Amaya Price says the college had overstated the security threat, which he believed would amount only to heckling protesters. He was backed in this criticism by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Fire), a free speech nonprofit that focuses on America's increasingly liberal schools and colleges. Fire highlighted Berklee's stated support for 'creative expression' and rejection of 'censorship' and those trying to 'obstruct the free exchange of ideas'. Officials canceled Amaya Price because he 'has the "wrong" things to say,' says Fire. 'Any discussion of transgender issues is likely to provoke controversy and offend some listeners, Fire said in a statement. 'But policing offensive speech effectively tells Amaya Price that he is not allowed to share his own life story — and that others are not permitted to hear and respond to it — simply because some may find it offensive.' The group stands up for scholars from across the political spectrum, but warns that US institutions have tacked to the left. Amaya Price warns against breast removal operations and other irreversible sex change procedures on kids Amaya Price now records music and performs, and has applied to join the US Space Force Read More First female president of Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music quits after two years as it's claimed she was 'domineering bully': ELEVEN staff left during stint that began with $250,000 welcome concert Most efforts to cancel speakers in recent years have targeted conservatives, says the group. Still, that could be changing. Of the 25 recorded efforts to sanction US scholars this year, most were led by right-wing individuals, groups and activists, Fire's database shows. Many of the targeted academics had spoken up for Palestinians or the militant group Hamas amid military confrontations with Israel. Conservative groups linked to Donald Trump seek to curb colleges they see as too liberal, but it's not clear if this will be a priority for the Republican president-elect's administration. Amaya Price, who graduated from Berklee on December 12, says he was not deterred by the cancellation. He instead hosted a similar event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on November 24. As well as campaigning , he records music and performs , and has applied to become an officer in the US Space Force. Massachusetts Share or comment on this article: I was treated better as a trans woman but changed my mind...now my college won't let me talk about it e-mail Add commentThe Fiji Times, December 21, 2024

NoneStock market today: Wall Street rises at the start of a holiday-shortened week

Article content A citywide parking ban drops Sunday night in the wake of this weekend’s snow dump. The first phase of the ban starting Sunday at 7 p.m. is expected to last for three to five days, the city said in a Saturday news release. Environment Canada forecasters said come Sunday morning, there could be as much as 25 cm of snow on the ground in the Edmonton area, with some parts of eastern Alberta walloped with up to 35 cm. A snowfall warning issued Friday remained in effect Saturday, with the “long period of snowfall” and its “significant accumulations” continuing into the night, when it was to finally taper. “The city has experienced blowing and drifting of snow, in addition to the significant accumulation in the last 24 hours. A Phase 1 parking ban is necessary to ensure the major roadways are cleared and safe for all vehicles,” Val Dacyk, general supervisor of infrastructure field operations, parks and roads services, said in the Saturday afternoon release. “Keeping major roadways cleared of parked vehicles is essential for crews to clear roads. We anticipate the parking ban will remain in effect for three to five days.” During the first phase, crews will clear arterial roads, collector roads, bus routes (roads marked with seasonal no parking signage) and roads within business improvement areas. Parking is prohibited in these areas until the clearing of the roadways is complete. Motorists may continue to park on residential streets. But vehicles parked on hills along arterial roads, collector roads and bus routes in the downtown area will be ticketed and may be towed, warns the city. Drivers are reminded that parking is also allowed on roads as soon as they have been cleared, as long as parking is allowed there normally. Residents can refer to the roadways snow clearing map for clearing status of roadways. And, warns the city, EPark zones are not active during this phase of the parking ban while these areas are cleared. Vehicles parked on parking ban routes after 7 p.m. on Sunday may be ticketed, continues the warning. Crews and equipment will be working 24 hours a day until Phase 1 roads are clear. Once the first parking ban phase is complete, a separate announcement may be made if the city determines a second phase for residential and industrial parking is necessary. Motorists are reminded to drive to conditions, giving snow and ice clearing crews room as they work. The winter blast also triggered the City of Edmonton’s extreme weather response Friday night, with the city running one more nightly shelter shuttle bus, allowing anyone to hop on at every stop, and open 50 more shelter beds temporarily until extreme weather, including -20 wind chills, subside.Stock market today: Wall Street mixed at the start of a holiday-shortened weekThe rumor mill is churning with exciting news for Nintendo fans eagerly awaiting the next generation of the Switch. A recent leak suggests that the tentatively titled “Switch 2” will not only sport the long-awaited Hall-effect joysticks but also boast increased power when docked. This information comes from a Reddit user, “NextHandheld,” who claims to have had hands-on experience with a retail version of the console and its dock. While Nintendo remains tight-lipped, these leaks, corroborated by sources at The Verge, have ignited a firestorm of speculation and anticipation. This isn’t the first time whispers of a Switch successor have surfaced, but the level of detail and alleged firsthand experience make this leak particularly compelling. NextHandheld’s claims, if true, paint a picture of a console that addresses some of the Switch’s biggest criticisms while potentially introducing exciting new capabilities. Let’s dive into the specifics of this intriguing leak and explore what it could mean for the future of Nintendo’s hybrid gaming console. Hall-Effect Joysticks: Saying Goodbye to Drift? One of the most persistent issues plaguing the Switch has been the infamous “Joy-Con drift.” This frustrating phenomenon causes the joysticks to register movement even when untouched, leading to gameplay disruptions and costly repairs. NextHandheld’s leak suggests that Nintendo may finally be addressing this issue with the implementation of Hall-effect joysticks in the Switch 2’s controllers. Unlike traditional analog sticks that rely on physical contact, Hall-effect sticks use magnets and sensors to detect movement. This technology is known for its durability and resistance to wear and tear, making it a popular choice in high-end controllers and arcade cabinets. The inclusion of Hall-effect sticks in the Switch 2 would be a significant upgrade, potentially eliminating the dreaded drift and ensuring a smoother, more reliable gaming experience. Docked Power Boost: Unleashing the Potential The leak also hints at a potential performance boost for the Switch 2 when docked. While specifics remain scarce, this suggests that the console could leverage the increased power supply of the dock to deliver enhanced graphics and performance on larger screens. This would be a welcome addition for players who enjoy the flexibility of handheld mode but crave a more immersive experience on their TVs. Imagine playing the latest Nintendo titles with improved resolutions, higher frame rates, and more detailed visuals when docked. This could significantly bridge the gap between the Switch and its more powerful competitors, offering a more compelling experience for hardcore gamers without sacrificing the portability that makes the Switch unique. A New Dock with Familiar Features NextHandheld also shared details about the Switch 2’s dock, claiming it retains the same ports as its predecessor: two USB-A, one USB-C, one Ethernet, and one HDMI port. While some might be hoping for additional features or connectivity options, this suggests a continued focus on simplicity and compatibility with existing accessories. However, there’s always a possibility that the dock could house additional hardware or functionality that hasn’t been revealed. Perhaps Nintendo is exploring new ways to enhance the docked experience, such as improved upscaling technology or even dedicated processing units within the dock itself. Only time will tell what secrets the new dock may hold. Other Intriguing Tidbits Beyond the major points, the leak also mentions a few smaller details that have caught the attention of fans: While these details might seem minor, they contribute to the overall picture of a refined and improved Switch experience. Nintendo has always paid close attention to the ergonomics and user-friendliness of its consoles, and these tweaks suggest a continued commitment to those principles. Looking Ahead: What Could This Mean for Nintendo? If these leaks prove accurate, the Switch 2 has the potential to be a significant upgrade over its predecessor. Addressing the Joy-Con drift issue alone would be a major win for Nintendo, restoring confidence in its hardware and improving the overall user experience . The rumored docked power boost could also attract a wider audience, appealing to both casual and hardcore gamers alike. However, it’s important to remember that these are still just leaks, and Nintendo has not officially confirmed any details about its next console. The final product could differ significantly from what’s been described, and it’s always wise to temper expectations until we have concrete information from the source. Despite the uncertainty, the excitement surrounding the Switch 2 is palpable. Nintendo has a history of defying expectations and delivering innovative gaming experiences, and fans are eager to see what the future holds for the Switch. Whether it’s called the Switch 2, Super Switch, or something else entirely, the next generation of Nintendo’s hybrid console is sure to be a hot topic in the gaming world for months to come.

Subscribe to our newsletter Privacy Policy Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in. Please visit My Account to verify and manage your account. An account was already registered with this email. Please check your inbox for an authentication link. Support Hyperallergic We’re funded by readers like you! If you value our reviews and news reporting, we need your support more than ever. Please join us as a member today. Already a member? Sign in here. Support Hyperallergic’s independent arts journalism for as little as $8 per month. Become a Member An emaciated man stands alone. He’s naked and in an all-too-white room. The hair on his head has recently been shaved, though his beard is full. The handcuffs shackling his wrists appear oversized for his small frame. A yellow earplug is jammed in only one ear. This photograph is the public’s first, and so far only, look at a War on Terror detainee in a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) black site: a secret detention center set up to hold and interrogate prisoners who have not been charged with a crime. It’s a surprising image, stark and overexposed, both in terms of how bright the photograph is and how naked the man is. Someone employed by the CIA took this photograph, though we don’t know who. But we do know why it was taken, and who it is in the frame. His name is Ammar al-Baluchi, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay currently facing capital charges for the 9/11 attacks. This photograph, likely from 2004, is from the period before he was transported to the United States’s offshore penal colony in 2006. Baluchi was one of at least 119 Muslim men held incommunicado by the CIA for years in its global network of clandestine black sites, where he and at least 38 others were repeatedly subject to “enhanced interrogation techniques,” a US-government euphemism for torture. Get the latest art news, reviews and opinions from Hyperallergic. Daily Weekly Opportunities From May 2003 to September 2006, Baluchi was secretly shuffled between five black sites, including one in Romania, where this photo is believed to have been taken. (The photo, recently declassified, was provided to me by Baluchi’s lawyers, who added the black band across his midsection to preserve his dignity. I broke the story surrounding the photograph and Baluchi for the Guardian earlier this year.) Whenever any of these Muslim men were moved, CIA protocol dictated that field officers photograph each one, both naked and clothed, “to document his physical condition at the time of transfer.” The image before us isn’t just any photograph. It’s visual evidence of crimes authorized and committed by the United States government, an entry in the annals of self-reported atrocity photography. In all, the CIA took some 14,000 photographs of the agency’s black sites around the world, but we, the public, have never been able to see any of them until now. There are plenty of examples of this macabre genre. Israel produces it . So does Syria’s Bashar al-Assad . As did the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The Nazis . The Soviets . The French . Governments of different political leanings have contributed to this dark archive, uniting the magical technology of the camera with the awesome power of detention and even death. They take pictures of their own crimes and immediately file them away, in an acrobatic technocratic act of simultaneous remembering and forgetting. The question is why. A photograph, presumably, is meant to be seen. These images, on the other hand, were intended to record but almost never to be viewed. They were certainly never meant to be seen by the public. Of course, anyone who has used their phone camera to take a picture of a receipt knows that a photograph doesn’t have only a public function. It can also operate as a trace of memory and documentation of a transaction. Self-reported atrocity photographs, indeed, fulfill the record-keeping needs of a government bureaucracy. The fact that the CIA was using black sites was revealed to the public in 2005, but it was not until 2015 that the photo archive documenting them was exposed. In response to that revelation, a US government official described the photographs as having been “taken for budgetary reasons to document how money was being spent.” Behold the banality of bureaucratic evil. Photography, since its inception, has subjected Muslim men to coercive violence. In 1850, barely a decade after the invention of photography in 1839, French travel writer Maxime Du Camp sojourned with the novelist Gustave Flaubert through Egypt, Nubia, Palestine, and Syria, taking pictures along the way. On the Nile, Du Camp routinely photographed one of the sailors on his steamer, Hajj Ishmael, usually with the latter draped in just a loin cloth. “He was an extremely handsome Nubian,” Du Camp writes in his travelogue . “I sent him climbing up onto the ruins which I wanted to photograph, and that way, I was able to obtain an exact scale of proportions.” The challenge in early photography, with its long exposure times, was to get your subjects to sit still. Du Camp came up with a solution that he proudly described to his friend, the French poet Théophile Gautier. “I finally arrived at the idea of a rather baroque deception that will make you, dear Théophile, understand something about the gullible naiveté of these poor Arabs,” he wrote. “I told him that the copper pipe of my lens jutting out of the camera was a cannon that would burst into shrapnel if he had the misfortune to move while I was pointing it in his direction, a story which immobilized him completely. Persuaded, Hajj Ishmael did not move for more than a minute.” I suppose there’s a reason why we talk about a “photo shoot.” “To photograph people is to violate them,” Susan Sontag writes in On Photography (1977), “by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. Just as the camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is sublimated murder — a soft murder, appropriate to a sad, frightened time.” More than any other subgenre, it is self-reported atrocity photography that most closely approximates the murder Sontag describes. During the first two years of Bashar al-Assad’s violent repression of a popular uprising in Syria, a photographer who worked for the military police was assigned the duty of taking pictures of the corpses of civilians the regime killed. The bodies were mostly in military hospitals, often in a severely mutilated state. Initially, each corpse had the person’s name written on it. Eventually, names were replaced with three sets of numbers, the first indicating who the person was, the second pointing to the branch of the intelligence service responsible for the imprisonment, and the third referring to the person’s medical report, stripping them of the final remnants of their humanity. It became immediately clear to the photographer, who is now known by the pseudonym “Caesar,” that these people were being tortured to death. Government higher-ups required his photos as proof that their orders to punish and kill dissidents were being carried out. For two years, he did his work while smuggling copies of over 52,000 of those photos out of the country, before defecting in 2013. His photos have since been displayed around Europe and North America and have been instrumental in proving Assad’s ruthlessness. In Caesar’s photographs, mostly captured with a Nikon Coolpix P50 , the people photographed are already dead. The camera operates as an apparatus of confirmation, the final stage of the government’s killing machine. The Khmer Rouge also systematically documented the atrocities they committed. More than a fifth of the Cambodian population died during its genocidal rule between 1975 and 1979. The Khmer Rouge’s most notorious political prison and torture center Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21, was a converted high school in the middle of Phnom Penh, through which more than 14,000 people were shuttled. Fewer than a dozen survived. Each person was photographed upon entry, many by Nhem En, S-21’s chief photographer, who was only 15 years old when the Khmer Rouge sent him to China to study photography. He returned six months later with a Chinese box camera and began working at S-21. What we see in the photographs of S-21 is the sober reality that those brought and photographed here are marked for death, even though, unlike Caesar’s photos, they are still alive when photographed. By capturing the imminence of their demise, the photographer closes in on killing them, not by knife or bullet but by immortalizing them. Death pervades the frame of the living, which makes a photo of Kong Saman , for example, all the more stunning. A child’s tiny, bony arm and hand extend upward, grabbing the woman’s sleeve. We can’t see the child’s face, but the gesture is enough to remind us of the horrifying fact that young life coexists with mechanized death. In both the Syrian and Khmer Rouge examples, the photographers themselves have been identified. That knowledge, along with the change of venue (from hidden government files to art museum or US Congress) and the political purpose of their display, which serves to prove the brutality of the exhibiting state’s enemies, has radically changed our perception and reception of these images. What was once meant as evidence of efficiency has transformed into proof of brutality. If the photographs previously functioned to label enemies who had been exterminated, they now serve as mementos to identify and remember specific victims. The Tuol Sleng photographs gained particular fame after a 1997 exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art featuring about 20 images from the archive. The Caesar photos have been exhibited widely, from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to the European Union Parliament and beyond. But exhibiting the photos in a museum or public hall desensitizes the viewer by making the images feel as if they are fully understood objects, either as historical artifacts or works of art, quite unlike the Baluchi photograph, which remains opaque. None of this extra knowledge is brought to this now 20-year-old photograph of Ammar al-Baluchi. We don’t know who took the picture, and it hasn’t been exhibited in any galleries or political halls of power. All we know is that this is but one of 14,000 photos, that Baluchi was tortured by the CIA, and that no one in the US government has ever been held accountable for the torture program it put into place following the 9/11 attacks. Self-reported atrocity photography, however, transcends government bureaucracy, in the same way that photography is more than simply a visual record. Like all images of its kind, the Baluchi photo records a massive imbalance of power: He is naked before the photographer’s lens and helpless before the machine of the state. Despite this disparity, Baluchi looks straight through the lens with a defiant, wounded, and all-too-human expression. With that gaze, he manages to resist his own soft murder. Despite his shrunken size and condition, he fills the photograph with life and presence. While his body appears defeated, his face looks ready to free himself of the photograph by force of will alone. And that may be the greatest surprise of all. The irony behind this image is that, while it is Baluchi in the frame, it is the nameless photographer, and the apparatus of power behind him, who remain in hiding. We hope you enjoyed this article! Before you keep reading, please consider supporting Hyperallergic ’s journalism during a time when independent, critical reporting is increasingly scarce. Unlike many in the art world, we are not beholden to large corporations or billionaires. Our journalism is funded by readers like you , ensuring integrity and independence in our coverage. We strive to offer trustworthy perspectives on everything from art history to contemporary art. We spotlight artist-led social movements, uncover overlooked stories, and challenge established norms to make art more inclusive and accessible. With your support, we can continue to provide global coverage without the elitism often found in art journalism. If you can, please join us as a member today . Millions rely on Hyperallergic for free, reliable information. By becoming a member, you help keep our journalism free, independent, and accessible to all. Thank you for reading. Share Copied to clipboard Mail Bluesky Threads LinkedIn FacebookTHERE is no festive cheer for Britain this Christmas thanks to Keir Starmer and the decisions taken by his cruel and incompetent Labour Government. Record tax rises are about to hit businesses and charities hard, pensioners have been left in the cold to freeze , and our food production is being put at risk with their attack on our family farms . Since Starmer walked through the doors of 10 Downing Street, we’ve seen Labour mired in scandal and sleaze, ministers failing to stand up for British interests on the world stage by cosying up to China and giving away the Chagos Islands, and manifesto promises discarded like unwelcome Christmas gifts. The sheer duplicity of Labour, who said one thing at the election and gave the British people false hope that Brexit would be safe on their watch, is heinous. Sun readers will be alarmed by Starmer’s plans to betray Brexit and drag Britain back into the EU through the back door. Starmer, his Foreign Secretary David Lammy and most of the Labour Party have never accepted the referendum result. read more on keir starmer Remember, they spent years trying to block Brexit, campaigned for a second referendum and refused to trust the judgment of the British people. Now they are in Government they are working hard to reverse our Brexit freedoms. In recent days we’ve learned that a dedicated unit has been set up in the Cabinet Office to “reset” the relationship with Brussel s. This “surrender squad” consists of more than 100 civil servants and no doubt thousands more will be working across Government departments, allowing the bureaucratic tentacles of the EU’s unaccountable institutions to once again infiltrate our laws and undermine our democracy. Most read in The Sun When we should be cutting the size of the state to ease the burden on taxpayers, Starmer is insulting hard-working families and businesses, forcing them to bankroll his ideological dream of putting Britain back under EU control. Labour will deny that they want to put Britain back into the EU , but they cannot be trusted. The facts speak for themselves. As well as mobilising the machinery of government and civil service to orientate towards the EU, Labour is trying to ram through new laws to empower ministers to align our laws and rules with those set by Brussels . With a failed domestic agenda and growing public anger in him, Starmer is seeking comfort in the platitudes, friendships and company of European leaders. They sense his desperation to secure some form of “reset” and are eager to extract a high price from him. Talk of youth mobility schemes (immigration rights and subsidised tuition fees for the EU’s young people) are high on the EU’s agenda, as will be our fishing stocks and our money. Sun readers should be left in no doubt that these sinister plans to take Britain back under the EU’s control will harm our national interests by chaining our country to Europe’s slow-growth, high-regulation, high-tax model, rather than addressing issues at home and developing opportunities with faster-growing parts of the world. Not only are the actions of Starmer undemocratic, they are unnecessary. Four years ago, on Christmas Eve 2020, Boris Johnson secured a comprehensive trade deal with the EU as part of our post-Brexit vision for Britain. It was a deal many thought could not be secured, but gave us trading opportunities on good terms that meant no tariffs or quotas. It supported our exporters and our world-leading financial services sector. It ensured that we could continue to co-operate and work closely with our European friends and allies when it was in our interest to do so, but no longer be controlled by them. Alongside this new trade deal, worth £660billion at the time, we put in place a security deal to enable us to work jointly to tackle cross-border crime while the end to free movement meant we could put tougher controls on criminals trying to enter the UK. Unleashed from the EU, we have been able to pursue new trade deals including joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. It was Boris Johnson’s Conservative government which respected the referendum result and delivered Brexit. A firm government which ended the years of political deadlock and acrimony that the country hated and which held us back. That Conservative government battled the institutions, the naysayers, the doomsters and the Brexit saboteurs, including Starmer, and gave our country the firm leadership needed to establish our vision of Global Britain. Kemi Badenoch went on to pass the law that ended the supremacy of EU law in this country and led the way to the repeal and reform of 2,000 EU laws. So fast forward to 2025 and it’s clear that Starmer and his Labour Party are desperate to reopen those wounds for ideological reasons. Their mission is to take Britain backwards, on to a path of endless negotiations with Brussels, to take us back into the largest bureaucratic club, where he can hand over decision making and continue to blame someone else for his political failures: Handing our sovereignty over to the EU’s unaccountable penpushers and bureaucrats. READ MORE SUN STORIES Starmer’s combination of his ideological obsession with the EU, his naivety and his incompetence will undermine our national interests, send Britain backwards and betray Brexit. For those of us who care about the democratic freedom of our country and the freedoms the people voted for in 2016, I can tell you now that the Conservative Party will never lay down for this great Labour betrayal of our people and our country — and we will be on the front lines to halt Starmer’s foolish betrayal.

Editor’s Note: The InvestorPlace offices will be closed from Tuesday, December 24, to Wednesday, January 1 , for the holidays. The Customer Service department will be open for email inquiries only on December 26, 27, 30, and 31. Happy Holidays! Hello, Reader. In the spirit of the holiday season, I’d like to share a small gift with you: a particular stock I’ve been closely watching. It is a battery metals company that I’ve held long-term. And although it’s not garnering the same media buzz as some of its peers, this company recently hit a 52-week high... and I believe it could continue to outperform in the months ahead. Here’s why... Electric vehicles (EVs) and other green technologies require battery metals – like copper, nickel, lithium, and aluminum – and, as such, are creating powerful long-term demand trends. These metals all play a critical role in a megatrend I first highlighted more than four years ago. I called it the “Second Electric Revolution,” which continues to accelerate, particularly in the rapidly expanding EV and energy storage sectors. That spells good news for Alcoa Corp. ( AA ) , the largest U.S.-based aluminum producer. Now, aluminum does not receive the same high-profile attention that other battery metals do, but the solar industry is a prodigious consumer of aluminum, and, as I said, so is the EV industry. Alcoa’s current valuation is cheap enough that the stock could deliver outsized gains, especially if aluminum demand ramps up more quickly and powerfully than investors currently expect. While the price of aluminum fell sharply after the 2022 spike – during the early days of the Ukrainian invasion – the long-term outlook remains strong. A report from the London-based International Aluminium Institute ( IAI ) finds that global aluminum demand will jump about 40% by 2030 – and cleantech industries will power most of that growth. As a result, the report states that aluminum producers will need to ramp up their production from 86 million metric tons in 2020 to 120 metric tons by 2030. According to the research firm Wood Mackenzie, solar industry demand for aluminum could increase from just under 3% of total world consumption to nearly 13% by 2040. In the EV industry, aluminum does not play a significant electrification role, but the body and chassis of each Tesla Model S contains about 410 pounds of aluminum! That’s no accident. Because aluminum is so much lighter than steel, EV manufacturers covet the metal. An aluminum vehicle can travel much farther on a single charge than a steel vehicle can. For this reason, many EV manufacturers are ramping up their aluminum consumption. In fact, aluminum is the fastest-growing material in the automotive market. Wood Mackenzie expects aluminum demand for EVs to hit 2.4 million tonnes by 2025, and then quadruple to nearly 10 million tonnes by 2040. At that point, EV demand for aluminum would total about 12% of the global total. Obviously, these forecasts are merely guesses, but the trend is clear. EV demand for aluminum is ramping higher. And that’s just one source of demand from the cleantech sector. According to the IAI, renewable energy needs will create demand for aluminum to replace existing copper cabling for power distribution. In total, the electric sector will require an additional 5.2 million metric tons by 2030, according to the group. You get the idea. Despite the strong supply-demand dynamics in the aluminum market, the Alcoa share price is reflecting all doom and no boom. However, from this low valuation, Alcoa offers substantial upside potential. Smart Money Roundup Are These AI Stocks Ready for a Comeback? My InvestorPlace colleague Luke Lango has been covering the two waves of the AI Boom in his publications for the past few years. And as the AI Boom accelerates, AI itself isn’t going to take over the world – but businesses using AI will. So I’ve invited Luke here to give us the big picture on the AI Boom... and what it means for the companies building new businesses on top of the AI superhighway (and eventually the AGI highway). The AGI Race Is on... and so Is the Race for the Best AGI Plays When AGI arrives, it could identify problems that humans never even considered, and then create solutions, all on its own. But it could also introduce terrifying new forms of warfare. And because of AGI’s superhuman potential for both good and evil, the U.S. will devote itself completely to winning the AI race. So, I want to not only show you how the U.S. will win this race... but also how you can get in on it. Every Investor Should Own the “Stock of the Decade”... but They Shouldn’t Stop There I recently worked with my InvestorPlace colleagues Louis Navellier and Luke Lango to put together a portfolio of the best of the best AI stocks . And we recently took to the “airwaves” to tell folks all about it. One of those stocks is Nvidia Corp. ( NVDA ), which Louis calls the “stock of the decade.” He will explain why it’s not too late to add NVDA to your portfolio. These Low-Lying AI Companies Are Ready to Explode Most investors missed out on the initial phase of the AI Revolution. However, another wave of AI innovation is coming. In fact, the opportunity here is significantly larger than any previous AI application. I’ll tell you what to expect from this new wave of winners... and where to find some of that opportunity. Looking Ahead In this coming New Year, we believe that a singular event – AI Day One – will kick off the biggest, fastest societal change in human history. It will even make the version of ChatGPT that launched in 2022 look as relevant as a VHS tape. It will also be the biggest investment opportunity of our lifetimes, where we believe the AI Appliers will dominate. These are companies that are not at the forefront of producing the material needed to create AI. Instead, they are employing AI technology within their own products and services. AI appliers are everywhere... and growing by the day. That is why Louis, Luke, and I put our heads together to find the AI Applier stocks that we believe could skyrocket from AI Day One. To learn more about these stocks, you can click here to watch out special broadcast. You’re next Smart Money will be available Thursday. Until then, we wish you a wonderful holiday. Regards, Eric Fry

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An ex-Washington police officer is convicted of lying about leaks to the Proud Boys leader | CNN Politics

Singapore, Singapore–(Newsfile Corp. – December 23, 2024) – FingerMotion, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNGR) (the “ Company ” or “ FingerMotion “), a mobile services and data company, today announced the closing of its previously announced registered direct offering of 3,333,336 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 5,000,004 shares of its common stock. Each share was offered and sold together with one and one-half warrants at a combined public offering price of $1.50. The warrants have an exercise price of $1.50 per share, are exercisable immediately, and will remain exercisable for a term of five years from the date of issuance. Roth Capital Partners acted as the exclusive placement agent of the offering. The Company received net proceeds of approximately $4.44 million from the offering, after deducting the offering expenses payable by the Company, including placement agent’s fees and expenses. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate and working capital purposes. The securities described above were offered by the Company pursuant to a “shelf” registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-274456) previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and declared effective by the SEC on September 29, 2023. The offering was made solely by means of a prospectus relating to the offering, including a prospectus supplement, that forms part of the effective registration statement and has been filed with the SEC. Electronic copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus may be obtained, on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov or by contacting Roth Capital Partners at 888 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach CA 92660, by phone at (800) 678-9147. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. About FingerMotion, Inc. FingerMotion is an evolving technology company with a core competency in mobile payment and recharge platform solutions in China. As the user base of its primary business continues to grow, the Company is developing additional value-added technologies to market to its users. The vision of the Company is to rapidly grow the user base through organic means and have this growth develop into an ecosystem of users with high engagement rates utilizing its innovative applications. Developing a highly engaged ecosystem of users would strategically position the Company to onboard larger customer bases. FingerMotion eventually hopes to serve over 1 billion users in the China market and eventually expand the model to other regional markets. For more information on FingerMotion, visit: https://fingermotion.com/ Forward Looking Statements Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes “forward-looking statements” as such term is used in applicable United States securities laws. These statements relate to analysis and other information that are based on forecasts or future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “expects”, or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, “plans”, “estimates” or “intends”, or stating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as “forward-looking statements”. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations about future events or performance, including the intended use of proceeds from the public offering. While we believe these expectations are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Our actual future results may differ materially from those discussed or implied in our forward-looking statements for various reasons. Factors that could contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: international, national and local general economic and market conditions; demographic changes; the ability of the Company to sustain, manage or forecast its growth; the ability of the Company to manage its VIE contracts; the ability of the Company to maintain its relationships and licenses in China; adverse publicity; competition and changes in the Chinese telecommunications market; fluctuations and difficulty in forecasting operating results; business disruptions, such as technological failures and/or cybersecurity breaches; and the other factors discussed in the Company’s periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website (http://www.sec.gov). There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. The forward-looking statements included in this release are made only as of the date hereof. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Report Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy our securities. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/234985 #distro

Charlotte, North Carolina–(Newsfile Corp. – December 23, 2024) – cbdMD, Inc. (NYSE American: YCBD) (NYSE American: YCBDpA), a leading and highly trusted CBD company known for its flagship brands cbdMD and Paw CBD, as well as its innovative functional mushroom brand ATRx Labs, today announced that T. Ronan Kennedy, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed to its Board of Directors. The appointment became effective on December 18, 2024, expanding the board to five members. “Over the past two years, Ronan has demonstrated exceptional leadership in stabilizing the business and reshaping cbdMD into a leaner, more efficient organization,” said Scott Stephen, Chairman of cbdMD’s Board of Directors. “Under his stewardship, the Company has made tremendous progress in optimizing its cost structure, improving operational fundamentals, and positioning itself for long-term success. As we head into 2025 with a stronger cash position and exciting growth opportunities, we are thrilled to welcome Ronan to the Board, where we believe his strategic insight and deep understanding of the business will further enhance our ability to deliver value to shareholders.” Ronan Kennedy brings a wealth of expertise in financial management and operational transformation. Since assuming his leadership role, he has been instrumental in driving cbdMD’s turnaround strategy, achieving substantial cost savings, improving profitability metrics, and laying the groundwork for future growth across its core and emerging product categories. About cbdMD, Inc. cbdMD, Inc. is one of the leading and most highly trusted and most recognized cannabidiol (CBD) brands with a comprehensive line of U.S. produced, THC-free 1 CBD products, including NSF Certified for Sport® products, as well as our new Full Spectrum products. Our cbdMD brand currently includes high-grade, premium CBD products including CBD tinctures, CBD gummies, CBD topicals, CBD capsules, CBD bath bombs, CBD sleep aids and CBD drink mixes and an array of Farm Act compliant Delta 9 products. Our Paw CBD brand of pet products includes veterinarian-formulated products including tinctures, chews, topicals products in varying strengths, and our ATRx brand of natural functional mushroom support. To learn more about cbdMD and our comprehensive line of U.S. grown, THC-free 1 CBD oil and Full Spectrum products as well as our other brands, please visit www.cbdmd.com , www.pawcbd.com , or ATRxlabs.com , follow cbdMD on Instagram and Facebook, or visit one of the thousands of retail outlets that carry cbdMD’s products. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements can be identified using words such as ”should,” ”may,” ”intends,” ”anticipates,” ”believes,” ”estimates,” ”projects,” ”forecasts,” ”expects,” ”plans,” and ”proposes.” These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements, including but not limited to expectations on our ability to continue as a going concern, increasing our revenues, continued cost reductions, potential need for additional working capital, regaining compliance with NYSE American continued listing standards, continued listing on the NYSE American, future profitability, development and sales of new products, and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading “Risk Factors” in cbdMD, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on December 17, 2024, and our other filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, many of which are generally outside the control of cbdMD, Inc. and are difficult to predict. cbdMD, Inc. does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements except as may be required by law. The information which appears on our websites and our social media platforms, including, but not limited to, Instagram and Facebook, is not part of this press release. 1 THC-free is defined as below the level of detection using validated scientific analytical methods. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/234971 #distro

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President-elect Donald Trump's repeated support for TikTok has sparked speculation about potential solutions to prevent the app's impending ban in the United States, though the path forward remains unclear. "We got to keep this sucker around for a little while," Trump told supporters on Sunday, just days after meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in Florida. Trump, who credits the wildly popular platform with delivering him a large young user base, opposes banning TikTok partly because he believes it would primarily benefit Meta, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company behind Instagram and Facebook. The situation is complex, according to University of Richmond School of Law professor Carl Tobias, given the various potential solutions and Trump's unpredictable nature. Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation, signed by President Joe Biden in April, that would block TikTok from US app stores and web hosting services unless Beijing-based ByteDance sells its stake by January 19. US officials and lawmakers grew wary of the potential for the Chinese government to influence ByteDance or access the data of TikTok's American users. Even with Trump's decisive election victory and incoming Republican-led Congress, acquiescing to the president-elect's desire and preventing the ban faces significant hurdles. The law enjoyed rare bipartisan support in a divided Washington, making its outright repeal through a vote in Congress politically unlikely even with Trump's influence over Republicans. The Supreme Court may offer the clearest path forward. TikTok has appealed to the nation's highest court, arguing the law violates First Amendment rights to free speech. The court, which is dominated by Trump-aligned conservatives, will hear the case on January 10, just nine days before the ban takes effect. This follows a lower appeals court's unanimous decision to uphold the law in December. Another possibility, according to Tobias, is that a Trump-led Department of Justice could determine ByteDance has addressed the law's national security concerns. However, such a move would likely be seen as caving to China by Congress and others. The final option is ByteDance selling to a non-Chinese buyer, though the company has consistently refused this possibility. With 170 million monthly active users, acquiring TikTok's US operations would require substantial resources. As president, Trump could extend the ban deadline by 90 days to facilitate a transaction. Few potential buyers have emerged, with major tech companies likely deterred by antitrust concerns. Former Trump Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, who runs a private equity fund backed by Japan's SoftBank Group and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, has expressed interest. During a recent event with Trump, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son pledged to invest $100 billion in the US economy, though specific investments weren't detailed. Other contenders include US real estate billionaire Frank McCourt, who aims to make social media safer through his Project Liberty organization. Elon Musk, given his proximity to Trump and ownership of X, could also have a role to play, as he has expressed plans to transform the text-focused platform into something more like TikTok. A senior Republican lawmaker recently suggested Trump might orchestrate a "deal of the century" satisfying both US concerns and ByteDance's interests. The chairman of the US House committee on China, John Moolenaar, told Fox News Digital that once ByteDance accepts it must comply with US law, the situation could progress rapidly. Any agreement would need Beijing's approval, with US-China relations expected to remain tense during Trump's upcoming term. This isn't the first attempt to resolve TikTok's US status. In 2020, Trump also threatened a ban unless ByteDance sold its US operations. While Oracle and Walmart reached a preliminary agreement with ByteDance for ownership stakes, legal challenges and the transition to the Biden administration prevented the deal's completion. arp/mlm

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