must hit by fortune gems Smith asks to drop cases‘New Middle East’ Plan Underway: Israel’s Incursion Divides RegionAlisyn Camerota, ‘New Day’ Star, to Exit CNN

Why we can’t VERIFY a chart showing UnitedHealthcare denies more claims than other insurers

Independent Hawke’s Bay cinemas operator Focal Point has come to the rescue of Havelock North moviegoers worried the big nights out were coming to an end with the withdrawal of Event Cinemas from the village. Event Cinemas confirmed in a short statement to Hawke’s Bay Today that its tenancy at Havelock North will cease and it will stop trading late-January 2025, but that it was “working closely with the landlord, who may have secured a new operator to continue running the cinema location”. The new arrangement has now been announced by landlord Lowmac Properties , which developed the shopping centre and twin-theatre cinema complex 21 years ago, and Matt Bell, who with wife Julie established their first cinema in Feilding in 2007. In 2012 they expanded to Hawke’s Bay, reopening a theatre which been closed by Reading Cinemas, named it Cinemas Hastings , but after refurbishment and arrival of the latest movie technology it was relaunched as Focal Point in 2014.Luigi Mangione’s lawyer accused New York City Mayor Eric Adams of politicizing the arrest and prosecution of her client. At a Monday hearing, Karen Friedman Agnifilo criticized Adams’ presence at Mangione’s first public appearance in New York, calling it a distraction from the mayor's own legal troubles. “Frankly, your honor, the mayor should know more than anyone of the presumption of innocence,” Agnifilo said in Manhattan’s New York Supreme Court. Mangione entered a plea of not guilty to the first-degree murder charges related to terrorism. The hearing was overseen by Justice Gregory Carro. Mangione, a graduate of an Ivy League school, entered the courtroom dressed in a maroon sweater and a white collared shirt. His wrists were bound as he entered the courtroom. Mangione was apprehended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following a five-day search for the individual suspected of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Thompson was shot dead on a sidewalk in Manhattan in an incident that has garnered considerable public interest. Adams was present for Mangione’s move to New York on Thursday, arriving there by helicopter. The mayor and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch were seen at the Manhattan helipad while Mangione was led by a significant number of officers. “I wanted to look him in the eye,” Adams said later. “To say that, ‘You carried out this terrorist act in my city, the city that the people of New York love.’ I wanted to show the symbolism of that.” Agnifilo claimed that Adams exploited the arrest to divert attention from his own legal troubles. A grand jury has recently charged Adams with federal corruption, claiming he received bribes from the Turkish government. Adams has entered a plea of not guilty to those allegations. “Frankly, I submit that he was trying to detract from those issues by making a spectacle of Mangione,” Agnifilo said during Monday’s hearing, citing remarks reported by Courthouse News. On Thursday, Mangione also appeared in federal court in Manhattan, addressing distinct murder charges brought by the US Justice Department. Those charges can lead to the death penalty if he is found guilty. Federal prosecutors declared that the case from the Manhattan district attorney would go to trial first. The schedule for Mangione’s trial is still unresolved. He is presently in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center located in Brooklyn. Mangione's legal team has raised concerns about the intentions behind the public management of his arrest. They claim that the mayor's participation has eclipsed the presumption of innocence and the principles of a fair trial. The accusations arise from the notorious murder of Thompson, which has captivated the people of New York. Federal and state prosecutors have highlighted the seriousness of the charges, associating the case with terrorism-related actions. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News, World and around the world.Bow River Law LLP Welcomes Alexis Sine as an Associate Lawyer to Its Growing Calgary Team

By HILLEL ITALIE NEW YORK (AP) — Even through a year of nonstop news about elections, climate change, protests and the price of eggs, there was still time to read books. U.S. sales held steady according to Circana, which tracks around 85% of the print market, with many choosing the relief of romance, fantasy and romantasy. Some picked up Taylor Swift’s tie-in book to her blockbuster tour, while others sought out literary fiction, celebrity memoirs, political exposes and a close and painful look at a generation hooked on smartphones. Here are 10 notable books published in 2024, in no particular order. Asking about the year’s hottest reads would basically yield a list of the biggest hits in romantasy, the blend of fantasy and romance that has proved so irresistible fans were snapping up expensive “special editions” with decorative covers and sprayed edges. Of the 25 top sellers of 2024, as compiled by Circana, six were by romantasy favorite Sarah J. Maas, including “House of Flame and Shadow,” the third of her “Crescent City” series. Millions read her latest installment about Bryce Quinlan and Hunter Athalar and traced the ever-growing ties of “Maasverse,” the overlapping worlds of “Crescent City” and her other series, “Throne of Glass” and “A Court of Thorns and Roses.” If romantasy is for escape, other books demand we confront. In the bestselling “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist Jonathan Haidt looks into studies finding that the mental health of young people began to deteriorate in the 2010s, after decades of progress. According to Haidt, the main culprit is right before us: digital screens that have drawn kids away from “play-based” to “phone-based” childhoods. Although some critics challenged his findings, “The Anxious Generation” became a talking point and a catchphrase. Admirers ranged from Oprah Winfrey to Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee, who in a letter to state legislators advocated such “commonsense recommendations” from the book as banning phones in schools and keeping kids off social media until age 16. Bob Woodward books have been an election tradition for decades. “War,” the latest of his highly sourced Washington insider accounts, made news with its allegations that Donald Trump had been in frequent contact with Russian leader Vladimir Putin even while out of office and, while president, had sent Putin sophisticated COVID-19 test machines. Among Woodward’s other scoops: Putin seriously considered using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and President Joe Biden blamed former President Barack Obama, under whom he served as vice president, for some of the problems with Russia. “Barack never took Putin seriously,” Woodward quoted Biden as saying. Former (and future) first lady Melania Trump, who gives few interviews and rarely discusses her private life, unexpectedly announced she was publishing a memoir: “Melania.” The publisher was unlikely for a former first lady — not one of the major New York houses, but Skyhorse, where authors include such controversial public figures as Woody Allen and Trump cabinet nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And its success was at least a minor surprise. Melania Trump did little publicity for the book, and offered few revelations beyond posting a video expressing support for abortion rights — a break from one of the cornerstones of GOP policy. But “Melania” still sold hundreds of thousands of copies, many in the days following her husband’s election. Taylor Swift was more than a music story in 2024. Like “Melania,” the news about Taylor Swift’s self-published tie-in to her global tour isn’t so much the book itself, but that it exists. And how well it sold. As she did with the “Eras” concert film, Swift bypassed the established industry and worked directly with a distributor: Target offered “The Eras Tour Book” exclusively. According to Circana, the “Eras” book sold more than 800,000 copies just in its opening week, an astonishing number for a publication unavailable through Amazon.com and other traditional retailers. No new book in 2024 had a better debut. Midnight book parties are supposed to be for “Harry Potter” and other fantasy series, but this fall, more than 100 stores stayed open late to welcome one of the year’s literary events: Sally Rooney’s “Intermezzo.” The Irish author’s fourth novel centers on two brothers, their grief over the death of their father, their very different career paths and their very unsettled love lives. “Intermezzo” was also a book about chess: “You have to read a lot of opening theory — that’s the beginning of a game, the first moves,” one of the brothers explains. “And you’re learning all this for what? Just to get an okay position in the middle game and try to play some decent chess. Which most of the time I can’t do anyway.” Lisa Marie Presley had been working on a memoir at the time of her death , in 2023, and daughter Riley Keough had agreed to help her complete it. “From Here to the Great Unknown” is Lisa Marie’s account of her father, Elvis Presley, and the sagas of of her adult life, notably her marriage to Michael Jackson and the death of son Benjamin Keough. To the end, she was haunted by the loss of Elvis, just 42 when he collapsed and died at his Graceland home while young Lisa Marie was asleep. “She would listen to his music alone, if she was drunk, and cry,” Keough, during an interview with Winfrey, said of her mother. Meanwhile, Cher released the first of two planned memoirs titled “Cher” — no further introduction required. Covering her life from birth to the end of the 1970s, she focuses on her ill-fated marriage to Sonny Bono, remembering him as a gifted entertainer and businessman who helped her believe in herself while turning out to be unfaithful, erratic, controlling and so greedy that he kept all the couple’s earnings for himself. Unsure of whether to leave or stay, she consulted a very famous divorcee, Lucille Ball, who reportedly encouraged her: “F— him, you’re the one with the talent.” A trend in recent years is to take famous novels from the past, and remove words or passages that might offend modern readers; an edition of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” cuts the racist language from Mark Twain’s original text. In the most celebrated literary work of 2024, Percival Everett found a different way to take on Twain’s classic — write it from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. “James,” winner of the National Book Award, is a recasting in many ways. Everett suggests to us that the real Jim was nothing like the deferential figure known to millions of readers, but a savvy and learned man who concealed his intelligence from the whites around him, and even from Twain himself. Salman Rushdie’s first National Book Award nomination was for a memoir he wished he had no reason to write. In “Knife,” he recounts in full detail the horrifying attempt on his life in 2022, when an attendee rushed the stage during a literary event in western New York and stabbed him repeatedly, leaving with him a blinded eye and lasting nerve damage, but with a spirit surprisingly intact. “If you had told me that this was going to happen and how would I deal with it, I would not have been very optimistic about my chances,” he told The Associated Press last spring. “I’m still myself, you know, and I don’t feel other than myself. But there’s a little iron in the soul, I think.”

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against Donald Trump on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s return to the White House will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold a former president accountable while he ran for another term. In court filings, Smith’s team emphasized that the move to abandon their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in one of their filings. Smith’s team said it left intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will re-enter the White House free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead. The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters’ violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The separate case involving classified documents was widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency. The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.Asda issues warning to customers with 5-item limit on Christmas food

Backlash as ship carrying potentially explosive fertiliser returns to NorfolkTioga-Sequoia Brewing Company announced that its award-winning brewmaster, Kevin Cox, died suddenly on Sunday. Photo via Instagram Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company announced Monday that its award-winning brewmaster, Kevin Cox, died suddenly on Sunday. Cox was one of the founders of the company in 2007. “Tioga-Sequoia would not be where we are today without Kevin. With over 30 years in the brewing industry we are not alone in who he has influenced these past 3 decades. Kevin will be best remembered for his dedication to his craft, his larger than life kindness, and his ability to build up brewers and his community,” according to a . Along with several regional and state awards, Cox was a five-time gold medal winner at the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado. “We are currently working with his family, members of the brewing community, and his friends on a way to memorialize his legacy. More to come soon as everyone takes some time to grieve. Until then, everyone here at Tioga we will all raise a pint of General Sherman IPA in his memory...” the post said. Cox was instrumental in putting Tioga-Sequoia in Downtown Fresno, according to the 2017 Business Journal Executive Profile of Michael Cruz, president of Tioga-Sequoia. “Fresh out of college, I jumped on board with Tioga-Sequoia in its infancy in 2009, when the company owned the brand and recipes for its beers but contracted with breweries to produce and package them. I was hired to bring Tioga-Sequoia to life as a full-fledged brewery. I partnered with our brewmaster Kevin Cox to scout and find a location for the new brewery. We decided in 2010 on a building in the 700 block of Broadway Street, which was, coincidentally, being developed into a brewpub, but it never opened, because a partner in the venture died. “The surviving partner put the place up for sale. Though it was a little small for us, it was in a part of downtown where we wanted to be. We also acquired the building next to it — which housed a saddle shop — that we needed for storage. “In 2012, we acquired a third adjoining building, a former mechanics shop that had been used for storage by a granite tile shop, to give us more storage. “When we started to brew our own beer in 2011, we produced about 3,500 gallons a month. We now produce anywhere from 27,000 to 29,000 gallons a month. It’s sold across the Valley, from Bakersfield to Stockton, in most major supermarkets and in numerous restaurants and bars.” Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company announced Monday that its award-winning brewmaster, Kevin After a year of franchising challenges, including a delay with On Tuesday, Dec. 10, The Business Journal hosted its 11th A Fresno County wildlife sanctuary is being recognized for its

I n the introduction to a new, seasonal compilation of his speeches on hope, Pope Francis reflects on the legacy of the great German theologian Johann Baptist Metz . Shaped by the early experience of living through the horrors of the Nazi era, Metz’s political theology was a passionate warning against the danger of a self-absorbed Christian piety. Instead he urged a hopeful “mysticism with open eyes” – one that clear-sightedly bears witness to, and seeks to alleviate, the suffering of others. At a time of the year associated with renewal and new birth, it is not necessary to share Metz’s religious convictions to feel the power of that message. This year has been filled with heart-rending images from the ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere. The weekend brought reports of yet more innocent casualties of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign, including children sheltering in a school. Meanwhile, more than 12,000 civilians have been killed since the start of Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine, along with more than 43,000 soldiers, according to Kyiv’s estimates. Faced with human catastrophe on such a scale, there is a temptation to turn away in despair or resignation. Further horror came on Friday, in the form of the shocking terror attack at Magdeburg’s Christmas market, in which five people including a nine-year-old boy were killed. More needs to be understood about the motives of the attacker, a Saudi-born refugee who was reportedly an anti-Muslim supporter of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party. But the atrocity is already being exploited to fuel generalised anti-immigrant sentiment, ahead of Germany’s snap election in February. These feel like dark times. Yet in the midst of such tragedy and sorrow, there continue to be inspiring examples of committed hope. In Gaza, NGO workers for War Child – one of the conflict-linked charities supported by this year’s Guardian and Observer Christmas appeal – have endured lethal risks to give lifesaving support to more than 100,000 children trapped in a hellish landscape. In the war-ravaged east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Médecins Sans Frontières has set up clinics to help thousands of victims of sexual violence, our reporter was told of the incredible compassion of survivors who make it their task to comfort and console new arrivals. Elsewhere, there have been extraordinary acts of individual heroism aimed at furthering the common good. In France, Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to insist that the trial of her multiple rapists be held in public was a momentous act of solidarity with other victims. Her courage has raised hopes of lasting and belated cultural change. The death of the activist Alexei Navalny, who died while being held in a jail 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle, was a desperately bleak moment in Putin’s Russia. But his assertion on Facebook that “if your convictions mean something, you must be prepared to stand up for them” will inspire future democratic activists. The pope’s reflections have been published in conjunction with the Catholic church’s latest jubilee year, which begins on Christmas Eve and is dedicated to the theme of hope. They may not find their way on to too many secular bookshelves over the coming holidays. But ahead of a year in which peacemaking must become the world’s absolute priority, a Metzian faith in our ability to navigate through the worst, towards the light, feels like a decent starting point.John Healey said that the Government’s “interest” in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is “that they live up to their promises to protect” rights, when he spoke to reporters after a Cobra meeting on Thursday. HTS is banned in the UK because of its past association with al Qaida, the terrorist organisation once led by Osama bin Laden. But its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, cut ties with al Qaida years ago and has sought to present his group as a more moderate and inclusive organisation, leading some to suggest the group should no longer be proscribed. When asked whether the Government was considering the status of the group, Mr Healey said: “Proscription is not a matter for now. “It doesn’t stop us talking to all the parties, and our interest in HTS is that they live up to their promises to protect the rights of all individuals and all groups, to respect international law and to prevent Syria becoming a base for a fresh terrorist threat.” Mr Healey said that Thursday’s meeting was “about making sure we have, as a Government, a laser focus on the role that we can play with allies to see a stable, peaceful transition. “So that the Syrians get the government they need for the future, and the region can see the stability in the future that it also needs.” Cobra meetings are called when ministers or officials need to respond to urgent matters. Following the toppling of the Bashar Assad regime over the weekend, the UK has paused decisions on asylum applications from Syria. Thousands of Syrians have been granted asylum in the UK but, earlier this week, the Home Office said decisions on applications would be paused while events unfold in Damascus. When asked how long the system would be paused for, and whether the move was fair, Mr Healey said on Thursday: “This is early days. “It’s a measure in response to rapidly changing developments, and the most important thing for us now is that the UK plays and will continue to play a full role with allies to see a stable, peaceful, orderly transition and that requires a political process. “It requires dialogue at the heart of it, and today’s ministerial meeting, the Cobra meeting, was about making sure that we do just that.” Earlier on Thursday, G7 leaders said that they “stand with the people of Syria” and “denounce terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms”. In a statement, Sir Keir Starmer and his counterparts said: “The G7 will work with and fully support a future Syrian government that abides by those standards and results from that process.” It went on: “After decades of atrocities committed by the Assad regime, we stand with the people of Syria. We denounce terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms. “We are hopeful that anyone seeking a role in governing Syria will demonstrate a commitment to the rights of all Syrians, prevent the collapse of state institutions, work on the recovery and rehabilitation of the country, and ensure the conditions for safe and dignified voluntary return to Syria of all those who were forced to flee the country.”None

William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc Grows Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Support Independent Arts Journalism As an independent publication, we rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. If you value our coverage and want to support more of it, consider becoming 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 A court in Washington, DC, handed down prison sentences earlier this month to two climate activists who dumped red tempera paint powder on a case containing the original United States Constitution at the National Gallery of Art in February. The members of the climate action group Declare Emergency, 27-year-old Jackson “Kroegeor” Green and 35-year-old Donald Zepeda, were sentenced to 18 months and five years in prison, respectively, for “felony destruction of government property.” There was no physical damage to the Constitution itself, the Associated Press reported. The fine powder used in the protesters’ action caused over $50,000 in clean-up costs and required a four-day closure of the museum’s rotunda, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Prosecutors also claimed in court documents that the action wreaked “terror” among staff and visitors who were unsure whether the substance was safe. “Our cultural heritage is meant to be enjoyed by all, and it is imperative that it be protected,” a spokesperson for the National Gallery of Art wrote in a statement to Hyperallergic . Get the latest art news, reviews and opinions from Hyperallergic. Daily Weekly Opportunities On November 12, Declare Emergency issued a public statement before Green’s sentencing in support of the activist and accusing presiding Judge Amy Berman Jackson of acting “in denial of the current planetary emergency.” “Green acted on behalf of humanity in dramatizing the inattention of our leaders to our quickly worsening climate,” the statement read. According to court documents, prosecutors asked the judge to consider a four-year sentence for Zepeda, who they say planned the action , and a two-year sentence for Green. Green had previously been charged for writing “Honor Them” in paint on a memorial commemorating the first Black Civil War infantry from the North. He was ordered to stay away from DC and all public museums and monuments before the powder incident, court documents said. Zepeda’s defense attorney reportedly argued in court that it was not his client’s intention to damage the Constitution, but rather to urge the Biden administration to declare a climate emergency. A spokesperson for Declare Emergency told Hyperallergic that the court’s ruling would lead to more awareness of the climate movement. “When more ordinary people like Kroegeor lose freedoms ... the climate emergency can go into the national consciousness and we may win our human right to a livable planet,” the spokesperson said. Zepeda and Green for comment could not be reached for comment. 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 FacebookHealey: Proscription status of Syria’s new rulers is not a matter for nowBiden says Assad's fall in Syria is a 'fundamental act of justice,' but 'a moment of risk'

Looking for a new social media platform because X, Threads and Mastodon just aren't cutting it? You could try Bluesky. People seeking to avoid chaos, noise and political bluster in the aftermath of the U.S. elections are noticing a different mood on the Bluesky social platform, where the vibe is seemingly welcoming and there are noticeably fewer trolls. The site announced it had rapidly added more than a million new users in the week after Election Day, and has emerged as one of the fastest growing rivals to Elon Musk’s X and similar platforms. If you're tempted to check out the new space, here's a guide on how Bluesky works: Maybe you're not ready to commit to adding yet another social media account. No problem — you can still look around on Bluesky without signing up because all posts and profiles are public. You might get a sense of deja vu because the platform's look and feel are very similar to X. That should be no surprise because Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was an early Bluesky champion. (Dorsey's no longer involved with Bluesky, which is owned and run by its executive team as a public benefit corporation.) If you take the plunge and get an account, you'll need a username. You'll notice Bluesky handles are a little bit different because they end by default in the site's domain, .bsky.social. You can personalize your handle to make it more memorable, by using your own website's domain or buying a custom one through Bluesky. But it might not be something most newbie users need or want to do right away. Bluesky boasts that it gives users “algorithmic choice” to tailor the content they're shown instead of leaving it up to the whims of a centralized system. “Our online experience doesn’t have to depend on billionaires unilaterally making decisions over what we see,” it says. What it means is that you can follow custom feeds set up by other users, or design your own. If you tap #Feeds in the menu on the left, you'll see some default offerings like Cat Pics and Gardening. My Bangers is a list of your most popular posts by likes and Catch Up shows the site's most popular posts from the past 24 hours. You can find more by doing a search and tapping the Feeds button. There's also the usual “Discover” feed of suggested posts and a chronological feed of accounts that you follow. To help new users settle in, Bluesky has starter packs of recommended feeds and accounts to follow, which anyone can create and share. They don’t show up in Bluesky's search results but can be found in directories online. Or someone might share one with you. After I signed up, a colleague pointed me to one for major news outlets. There are tens of thousands of starter packs, ranging from broadly appealing topics like Taylor Swift to niche interests like cargo bikes or U.K. comedians. You can follow the whole pack or scroll down the list to choose individual accounts. What about people you followed on X? There's a browser extension tool called Sky Follower Bridge that will help you find X users who've migrated to Bluesky. But check before clicking the follow button to make sure it's not a different user using the same display name or handle. Ready to join the conversation? You can write posts or reply to others but keep it short because there's a limit of 300 characters — 20 more than on X. You can also upload photos and videos, though videos can't be longer than 60 seconds. GIFs and emojis are, of course, available too. You can still @ people by typing in their username, like posts by tapping a heart icon or use hashtags to highlight a theme. Bluesky has added a menu to hashtags, so when you click on one you'll get different options for seeing, or muting, posts on that topic. Bluesky's decentralization ethos extends to the content control options it offers. For starters, users can choose in their settings menu whether to see replies, reposts or quote posts in their feed. Specific words or tags can be muted temporarily, or forever, while accounts can be muted or blocked individually, or in bulk by adding them a moderation list. You can even fine tune the level of adult content that shows up in your feed. Bluesky has a team of content moderators to police the site for material that's illegal or breaks the rules. But it's also taking a different approach by open sourcing its content moderation system in an attempt to resolve problems with traditional moderation services which it says “lack transparency and user control.” So, individuals or groups can set up their own content filters, or labelers, that go beyond what Bluesky offers. These labelers can be used to categorize content or users, which can then be blocked or hidden. But they could also be used for informational or creative purposes, like curating or verifying content. There are labelers to identify images generated by artificial intelligence or to fact check news posts. You can find lists of labelers online. After I subscribed to a U.S. politics labeler, some posts in my feeds were flagged “!Donald Trump” or “!Democrat politician” and hidden unless I click Show.New French government named after previous one collapsed in budget fight

From a 10-year-old to a Muppet to a president-elect, NYSE bell-ringers range from famous to obscureUkrainian PM Says Deal To Transit Russian Gas Won't Be Extended In 2025

Biden says Assad government's fall in Syria is a 'fundamental act of justice,' but a 'moment of risk and uncertainty'Top News On December 8: M-Cap Of Six Top Firms Jumps, Syria Civil War, Farmers Protest, And More

OUSM: Low-Volatility Small Cap ETF Beating The BenchmarkOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett renewed his Thanksgiving tradition of giving by handing out more than $1.1 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to four of his family's foundations Monday, and he offered new details about who will be handing out the rest of his fortune after his death. Buffett has said previously that his three kids will distribute his remaining $147.4 billion fortune in the 10 years after his death, but now he has also designated successors for them because it's possible that Buffett's children could die before giving it all away. He didn't identify the successors, but said his kids all know them and agree they would be good choices. “Father time always wins. But he can be fickle – indeed unfair and even cruel – sometimes ending life at birth or soon thereafter while, at other times, waiting a century or so before paying a visit,” the 94-year-old Buffett said in a letter to his fellow shareholders Monday. “To date, I’ve been very lucky, but, before long, he will get around to me. There is, however, a downside to my good fortune in avoiding his notice. The expected life span of my children has materially diminished since the 2006 pledge. They are now 71, 69 and 66.” Buffett said he still has no interest in creating dynastic wealth in his family — a view shared by his first and current wives. He acknowledged giving Howard, Peter and Susie millions over the years, but he has long said he believes “hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing.” The secret to building up such massive wealth over time has been the power of compounding interest and the steady growth of the Berkshire conglomerate Buffett leads through acquisitions and smart investments like buying billions of dollars of Apple shares as iPhone sales continued to drive growth in that company. Buffett never sold any of his Berkshire stock over the years and also resisted the trappings of wealth and never indulged in much — preferring instead to continue living in the same Omaha home he'd bought decades earlier and drive sensible luxury sedans about 20 blocks to work each day. “As a family, we have had everything we needed or simply liked, but we have not sought enjoyment from the fact that others craved what we had,” he said. If Buffett and his first wife had never given away any of their Berkshire shares, the family's fortune would be worth nearly $364 billion — easily making him the world's richest man — but Buffett said he had no regrets about his giving over the years. The family's giving began in earnest with the distribution of Susan Buffett's $3 billion estate after her death in 2004, but really took off when Warren Buffett announced plans in 2006 to make annual gifts to the foundations run by his kids along with the one he and his wife started, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Warren Buffett's giving to date has favored the Gates Foundation with $55 billion in stock because his friend Bill Gates already had his foundation set up and could handle huge gifts when Buffett started giving away his fortune. But Buffett has said his kids now have enough experience in philanthropy to handle the task and he plans to cut off his Gates Foundation donations after his death. Buffett always makes his main annual gifts to all five foundations every summer, but for several years now he has been giving additional Berkshire shares to his family's foundations at Thanksgiving. Buffett reiterated Monday his advice to every parent to allow their families to read their will while they are still alive — like he has done — to make sure they have a chance to explain their decisions about how to distribute their belongings and answer their children's questions. Buffett said he and his longtime investing partner Charlie Munger, who died a year ago, “saw many families driven apart after the posthumous dictates of the will left beneficiaries confused and sometimes angry.” Today, Buffett continues to lead Berkshire Hathaway as chairman and CEO and has no plans to retire although he has handed over most of the day-to-day managing duties for the conglomerates dozens of companies to others. That allows him to focus on his favorite activity of deciding where to invest Berkshire's billions . One of Buffett's deputies who oversees all the noninsurance companies now, Greg Abel, is set to take over as CEO after Buffett's death. Even after converting 1,600 Class A shares into 2.4 million Class B Berkshire shares and giving them away, Buffett still owns 206,363 Class A shares and controls more than 30% of the vote.