90 jili super ace login Stocks closed higher on Wall Street, giving the market its fifth gain in a row and notching another record high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Friday. The Dow added 1%, and the Nasdaq composite tacked on 0.2%. Retailers had some of the biggest gains. Gap soared after reporting quarterly results that easily beat analysts’ estimates. EchoStar fell after DirecTV called off its purchase of that company’s Dish Network unit. European markets closed mostly higher and Asian markets ended mixed. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. Crude oil prices gained ground. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Stocks rose on Wall Street in afternoon trading Friday, keeping the market on track for its fifth straight gain. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% and was solidly on track for a weekly gain that will erase most of last week's loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 333 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite was essentially flat with a gain of less than 0.1% as of 3:07 p.m. Eastern. Markets have been volatile over the last few weeks, losing ground in the runup to elections in November, then surging following Donald Trump's victory, before falling again. The S&P 500 has been steadily rising throughout this week to within close range of its record. “Overall, market behavior has normalized following an intense few weeks,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, in a statement. Several retailers jumped after giving Wall Street encouraging financial updates. Gap soared 10.8% after handily beating analysts' third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, while raising its own revenue forecast for the year. Discount retailer Ross Stores rose 1.5% after raising its earnings forecast for the year. EchoStar fell 2.4% after DirecTV called off its purchase of that company's Dish Network unit. Smaller company stocks had some of the biggest gains. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.8%. A majority of stocks in the S&P 500 were gaining ground, but those gains were kept in check by slumps for several big technology companies. Nvidia fell 3.3%. Its pricey valuation makes it among the heaviest influences on whether the broader market gains or loses ground. The company has grown into a nearly $3.6 trillion behemoth because of demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Intuit, which makes TurboTax and other accounting software, fell 5.6%. It gave investors a quarterly earnings forecast that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Facebook owner Meta Platforms fell 0.8% following a decision by the Supreme Court to allow a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against the company. It stems from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. European markets closed mostly higher and Asian markets ended mixed. Crude oil prices rose. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.41% from 4.42% late Thursday. In the crypto market, Bitcoin hovered around $99,000, according to CoinDesk. It has more than doubled this year and first surpassed the $99,000 level on Thursday. Retailers remained a big focus for investors this week amid close scrutiny on consumer spending habits headed into the holiday shopping season. Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, reported a quarter of strong sales and gave investors an encouraging financial forecast. Target, though, reported weaker earnings than analysts' expected and its forecast disappointed Wall Street. Consumer spending has fueled economic growth, despite a persistent squeeze from inflation and high borrowing costs. Inflation has been easing and the Federal Reserve has started trimming its benchmark interest rates. That is likely to help relieve pressure on consumers, but any major shift in spending could prompt the Fed to reassess its path ahead on interest rates. Also, any big reversals on the rate of inflation could curtail spending. Consumer sentiment remains strong, according to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index. It revised its latest figure for November to 71.8 from an initial reading of 73 earlier this month, though economists expected a slight increase. It's still up from 70.5 in October. The survey also showed that consumers' inflation expectations for the year ahead fell slightly to 2.6%, which is the lowest reading since December of 2020. Wall Street will get another update on how consumers feel when the business group The Conference Board releases its monthly consumer confidence survey on Tuesday. A key inflation update will come on Wednesday when the U.S. releases its October personal consumption expenditures index. The PCE is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation and this will be the last PCE reading prior to the central bank's meeting in December. Damian J. Troise And Alex Veiga, The Associated PressThe school said Amelia, who was diagnosed with a hearing impairment at an early age and uses a cochlear implant, has shown incredible resilience in overcoming obstacles and has been an inspiration to both her peers and teachers. The Year 12 graduate received Band 6 marks in all her HSC courses, earning her the title of “Distinguished Achiever”. “As a school prefect, Amelia’s natural leadership and passion for community involvement have left a lasting impact,” a school spokesperson said. “She is frequently approached by younger students, who look up to her for her kindness, compassion and humility. “Her contributions extend beyond the classroom, as she has also been a long-term volunteer with St John’s Ambulance, demonstrating her commitment to helping others.” Amelia said her results were “a huge relief and very exciting”. “I wasn’t expecting such a result but it’s extremely validating,” she said. “The confirmation that my hard work was all for something in the end was overwhelming, and I’m so lucky to have been in a supportive environment when they came through. “The HSC was a challenge like no other, so it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders when the results came through; I cried!” Amelia has long been an advocate for improving educational experiences for students with disabilities. Her own hearing impairment has meant that she often needs to put in extra effort to ensure she keeps up with her studies. “My hearing impairment means that in order to get the same amount out of my classes as other students, I often have to go back over the content in my free time, ask more questions and so forth,” she said. “To achieve this, I have received the most incredible support from Hearing Australia and my itinerant hearing support (IST-H) teachers across the 13 years of my schooling. “Not only that, Henry Kendall’s amazing student services team was consistently amazing and I am so grateful for everyone that helped me along the way to ensure that in classes, I was getting the same amount of education and learning my classmates were. “Without that I would have fallen behind and not been able to do the extra work and effort at home that the HSC required.” Next year, Amelia will pursue her passion for writing and education, with plans to study communications (writing and publishing) and secondary education (English and society and culture) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). “I’m very excited to start,” she said.

Trump’s 2nd term agenda alarms critics as he embraces hardline policies from ‘Project 2025’Last year, Donald Trump Jr.’s longtime fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle was his proud date to Donald Trump’s annual Christmas celebration at Mar-a-Lago. This year, Guilfoyle was replaced at the Mar-a-Lago holiday festivities by Trump Jr.’s new girlfriend, Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, the Daily Mail reported . Unfortunately for the new lovers, some Trump family allies and insiders are not happy about Anderson’s quick ascension into the family orbit, the Daily Mail also is reporting. The 37-year-old model and influencer was photographed seated next to Trump Jr. at the Christmas Eve dinner table, near the president-elect and his wife Melania Trump. Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and their three children also attended the Christmas Eve dinner, Page Six reported. Some of the allies and insiders have told the Daily Mail that Anderson “isn’t MAGA enough,” while two friends of Trump Jr. expressed concern that she’s essentially a shallow influencer and “social climber” who is using Trump’s oldest son to snag an even wealthier and more powerful romantic target — someone like billionaire Elon Musk. “It’s one thing to worry about Palm Beach shenanigans making a stop at Mar-a-Lago,” a source close to the Trump transition team told the Daily Mail. “But to let those problems penetrate the White House is a new level of trouble.” The source appears to be referring to what the Daily Mail said was an “open secret” simmering in Palm Beach circles in the late summer and fall — how 46-year-old Trump Jr. had begun “fooling around” with the younger, Anderson, even while he was still engaged to 55-year-old Guilfoyle, a MAGA firebrand and top Trump campaign fundraiser. Rumors about Trump Jr.’s dalliance with Anderson began in September when images emerged of the couple kissing and cuddling while dining at a restaurant near Mar-a-Lago. Earlier this month, Trump Jr.’s relationship with the 37-year-old Anderson gained public recognition, after Trump announced that he was nominating Guilfoyle to be his ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle’s nomination was seen by some political observers as a way that Trump could reward the former Fox News host for her political loyalty, while nudging her out of his “immediate sphere” and sending her off to Europe so that his son could openly pursue his new relationship with Anderson. At the time, sources close to Trump Jr. told People that he had became tired of his six-year relationship with Guilfoyle , the former first lady of San Francisco and ex-wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom-turned Trump loyalist. For one thing, Trump Jr. didn’t like Guilfoyle’s “style,” including her “tight dresses.” He felt that Anderson, with her honey-blonde hair and “Waspy” model looks, would “impress” his father and perhaps make her a more ideal romantic partner. “Don Jr. has always wanted to look good in his father’s eyes,” the political source told People. Apparently, Anderson’s more natural, fun-loving style also was more to Trump Jr.’s taste these days, especially as he saw that she could become his “own Melania Trump equivalent,” a source told People. “She is a party girl, and outgoing, and Don is smitten with her,” a Palm Beach source told People. “Bettina is smart, sexy and savvy and knows it. She likes to have fun,” another source added. “Who knows what, if anything, will come from this.” Trump family members also got tired of Guilfoyle’s attention-seeking ways. Sources told People and the Daily Mail that they expected that Guilfoyle knew about Trump Jr.’s affair with Anderson, but chose “to look the other way because she loves the power and lifestyle.” Once Trump Jr. felt he could shed his public association with Guilfoyle, he began to “flaunt” his romance with Anderson, being photographed holding hands with her during a dinner date in with her in Palm Beach in December, the Daily Mail reported. After Trump announced that he wanted to send Guilfoyle to Greece, Trump Jr. and Anderson jetted off to Italy for a romantic getaway, the Daily Mail reported. Anderson also publicly posted photos of love letters and flowers sent to her from Trump Jr., and openly documented their European vacation. Someone described as a “close, personal friend” of Trump Jr. told the Daily Mail that he wasn’t concerned about Anderson. He said he expected there would “be gossip and trash talking, just because that’s kind of the world of Palm Beach and, you know, the universe they live in.” If Trump Jr. has heard any concerns about Anderson, he hasn’t let this friend know, according to the Daily Mail. Stacey Bendet, a fashion designer and close friend of Anderson’s, expressed dismay that her friend had become the target of social-climber rumors. “I have been friends with Bettina for a decade, she is the kindest soul, she has the biggest heart, she is witty and wise, hilariously funny, and an Ivy League grad — anyone who says a word otherwise is just another societal example of women fixating on competing verse empowering,” said Bendet, CEO of Alice + Olivia, in a text to the Daily Mail. Anderson has been seen at Alice + Olivia events over the years, the Daily Mail reported. Bendet added in her text: “Don adores her for good reasons!” However, some Trump family allies feel very differently about Anderson and are “doing everything they can” do to get Trump Jr. to end their relationship, the Daily Mail reported. Someone who worked for the Trump campaign the last five years told the Daily Mail that Trump Jr. is “slowly” starting to “wake up” to how Anderson is perceived in MAGA circles. Allies question her MAGA loyalty because of her previous support for the Black Lives Matters movement and her adherence to COVID-19 lockdown rules, the Daily Mail reported. But they also wonder about her “notorious party girl reputation in Palm Beach,” which they think somehow isn’t “highbrow enough” to be associated with the Trump family, the Daily Mail also said. Someone who works in the modeling business and who has known Anderson for years speculated to the Daily Mail that she’s using Trump Jr. as a stepping stone and would prefer to date someone like Musk. People who’ve known Anderson in Palm Beach also told the Daily Mail that she regularly dates wealthy older men. Even though Musk already is the world’s richest man, he stands to gain even more power in the incoming Trump administration, according to critics of both Musk and Trump. These critics note that the billionaire SpaceX founder donated at least a quarter of a billion dollars to support Trump’s campaign, and he’s been rewarded by becoming a regular presence at Trump’s side since his Nov. 5 victory. Musk now is on tap to lead the new DOGE agency, whose purported mission is to drastically reduce federal government spending and “waste.”

How to watch animated NBA alt-cast ‘Deck the Halls’ (12/25/24) | FREE LIVE STREAM, time for Spurs vs. Knicks Christmas game

MADRID (AP) — Atletico Madrid conceded three goals in a Spanish league game for the first time this season but still managed to beat Sevilla 4-3 on Sunday with Antoine Griezmann's double helping to make it nine wins in a row for Diego Simeone’s in-form side. Third-place Madrid restored its three-point lead over fourth-place Athletic Bilbao, which beat Villarreal earlier Sunday. Rodrigo De Paul gave Atletico the perfect start when he lashed home a stunning opener in the 10th minute. However, goals from Dodi Lukébakio, Isaac Romero and Juanlu Sanchez put Sevilla 3-1 up early in the second half and Atletico, without the vocal support of some home fans in a dispute over tickets, seemed lost in an unusually quiet at Metropolitano Stadium. Simeone’s side, though, is known for its resilience and it was not long before the fightback began. Griezmann reduced the deficit in the 62nd minute and 17 minutes later, after Simeone made five substitutions in a quarter of an hour, Samuel Lino got the equalizer with a low shot from 30 yards. Griezmann himself got the winner in stoppage time to consolidate Atletico’s third place. The Madrid club now has 35 points, one behind city rival Real and three behind league leader Barcelona. “We struggled to get into the game,” Griezmann said. “We missed the support of the fans behind the goal. But in the end we managed to come back.” Athletic Bilbao consolidated fourth place with a comfortable 2-0 win over Villarreal, the team immediately below it in the table and one of its closest rivals for a Champions League spot. Aitor Paredes put Athletic ahead when he glanced home a corner kick in 14 minutes and Iñaki Williams made it 2-0 midway through the second half. It was the fourth consecutive league win for Athletic but the victory was marred by a silent protest from an organized fan group. The group refused to sing or chant in response to a rift between it and the club president, who reported threats to police earlier in the week. Several Athletic players expressed solidarity with the president and the team did not salute the fans behind the goal after the match. “It’s a very sad win and a time for everyone to pull together,” club captain Óscar De Marcos said in comments reported by newspaper Marca. “The silence was notable during the game but we need to keep doing our job.” Earlier Sunday, Real Sociedad won for the fourth time in a row, beating Leganes 3-0 at the Butarque stadium near Madrid. Three days after his extra-time goal gave Sociedad a 1-0 win at fourth-tier Conquense in the Copa del Rey, Brais Méndez scored again to give the visitors an early lead. Substitute Ander Barrenetxea’s first goal of the league season doubled its lead 10 minutes from time and then Mikel Oyarzabal added a third in stoppage time. It was only the fourth time in 16 matches that Sociedad has scored twice in a league game and the win lifted it into sixth, above Osasuna, which drew 2-2 with Alaves. Alaves took only 37 seconds for Kike Garcia to put the team ahead with a diving header. However, Ante Budimir and Rubén García scored early in the second half to put Osasuna in front before Kike Garcia got his second of the game to tie the scores at 2-2. The point was the first for new Alaves coach Eduardo Coudet but still leaves it in 15th place without a win in five games. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Air pollution caused by AI tech could lead to 1,300 U.S. deaths annually by 2030, researchers say

As the year draws to a close, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to provide a sort of state of the union on the year’s movie monsters —a quick analysis of what’s still regarded to be scary . However, upon reflection, what was envisioned as 21st century bestiary began to look less like a Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual and more like the aisles of my local Walmart. As the old world dies and the new world struggles to be born, it seems the monsters of 2024 may represent the same fears, but have taken on a more mundane hue. As I’m not sure what to do with this information, submitted for your approval is io9’s 2024 monster revue. The Familiar In a year that saw the re-election of a former president to office, an ongoing war in the Middle East, escalating nuclear brinksmanship, and the return of bird flu, 2024 carried with it a grimy sense of repetition. The feeling we’re going to double down on exactly what we tried earlier, only more so, with a full trilogy of material in a mind so it’s bound to pay off like never before, right? It’s no coincidence, then, that the year that was saw new variations of A Quiet Place , Alien, The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, Godzilla, Hellboy, Salem’s Lot, The Crow, The Strangers —even Witchboard , the likes of which we haven’t heard from since a direct-to-video sequel in 1995. Currently, it seems like there’s no end in sight for the return of recognizable IP of yesteryear, with new Saw, Conjuring, Insidious, Fear Street, I Know What You Did Last Summer , and Final Destination movies scheduled for release next year. Not to mention 28 Years Later , another nostalgia piece boasting a trailer on track to become the most-watched horror trailer of all time. As we enter 2025, this “devil you know” attitude will extend to Universal once again doubling down on its stable of classic monsters, trading the company’s previous attempt at a shared cinematic universe for bespoke takes on Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and The Mummy from no less than the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Leigh Whannell, and Lee Cronin, respectively. Today even sees the release of a new Nosferatu , replete with a marketing campaign hopeful to make its cozy gothic trappings into a new Christmas tradition. It’s interesting then that movie audiences have largely rejected vampires—with an emphasis on this vampire, in particular—the last few years with films like Abigail, Renfield, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter failing to make much of an impact on either the culture or box office. The hallmarks of Dracula and/or Nosferatu —feeding on the blood of others, self-isolating, yet maintaining tremendous wealth and influence over others—these are good things wholly endorsed by the culture. The kids call it being “sigma.” What feels particularly new about this ongoing trend of sticking with what we know, though, is the sudden reverence we’ve developed toward the humble slasher genre—formally regarded to be horror’s bottom-of the-barrel. Though yesterday’s cultural detritus becoming tomorrow’s critical darlings is nothing new (recent Best Picture winners have included stories about a fish-man falling in love with a human woman; a universe where people evolved pork products in place of phalanges; and a socially minded take on the ABC Movie of the Week, Bad Ronald ), nothing that’s achieved this level of cultural significance has been so laser-focused on gore effects. The two-and-half-hour Terrifier movies have more in common with the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis than Dario Argento. In a Violent Nature, which reimagined a film like Friday the 13th or Madman from the perspective of its undead killer, added an experimental flourish to the genre’s classically simple narrative, emphasizing the thin wall differentiating films like these from the French New Wave really are the occasional splats of blood. Though the envelope-pushing Terrifier franchise may seem like a litmus test for human empathy, it should be noted people legitimately like Art the Clown and his unrated Harpo Marx-meets-Freddy Krueger routine. Anything too subversive wouldn’t be able to find this audience. It’s for this reason I’m legitimately intrigued by a movie that did not come out this year: Macon Blair’s remake of The Toxic Avenger . Something about a politically motivated judge, jury, and executioner of big business assets was deemed too radioactive to release. I wonder why... Media Convergent with the continued popularity of the slasher film has been the taboo-shredding approach of having them star children’s characters who have recently slipped into the public domain. In the last year, new slashers have been announced starring Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Bambi, Popeye, Steamboat Willie, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, the Little Mermaid, and the Mad Hatter. Something about transposing characters meant to draw as much revenue as possible into the realm of bloodthirsty killers feels “correct” in a way that’s both timely and inevitable—not to mention punk rock. Once a IP falls into the hands of the people, is not the only moral thing to do to turn into a monster? Especially if all roads have lead to 2024, the consensus must be Mickey and company sold us a bill of goods the first time around. One need only lightly dust YouTube these days for an endless array of video essays on dark Pokémon theories or an unusually frightening PlayStation 2 game starring Piglet. In these circles, a lost Cartoon Network bumper or unproduced episode of SpongeBob Squarepants is spoken of in the same hushed reverence as unexploded nuclear ordinance. When everything is available online, something that isn’t—no matter how innocuous—suddenly becomes suspicious and arcane. If we used to tell children scary stories so they wouldn’t venture into the woods alone, lost media hunters must at least be deterring each other from sharing their credit card info with seedy collectors on the dark net. Recent films like I Saw the TV Glow understand the sort of fanatical devotion investing too much of yourself in children’s media can bring—the kind people used to describe as “Lovecraftian,” but is now referred to by terms like “Disney Adult.” To a generation where Cthulhu has been available as a plush doll their entire life, the Great Old Ones may just as well have been Garfield and friends, all along. Smile 2 is another film from the last year to understand this, following on the heels of films like The Ring and It Follows , where curses are spread as transmissible memes that move like viruses—and even our celebrities aren’t immune. As of 2024, “cosmic” horror is strictly earthbound and though the beliefs of its media savvy cultists may seem silly to you, you don’t need to believe in the destructive powers of their particular fandom as long as they do. Technology The last year has also seen a number of movies monster-ifying AI and bleeding-edge technology—movies like Subservience and Afraid , in which machines meant to improve our quality of life are personally invited into the home, vampire-like, only to reveal some unsavory appetites of their own. However, as terrified as we are of robots taking our jobs, we’ve paradoxically also collectively lost faith in the concept of technological progress. We’ve had movies about homicidal robot nannies, toys, smart homes, and personal assistants, but we’ve yet to reach that “singularity” in which this burgeoning technology does anything scarier than being better at the thing you’ve outrageously defined yourself to be. As our government continues to admit our airspace is and has always been occupied by physics-defying aircraft beyond human comprehension, I’m reminded of Jordan Peele’s 2022 feature Nope , which suggested UFOs are secretly some sort of insatiably hungry, atmospheric beast our zoologists have yet to recognize or catalog. Somehow, it’s easier to believe. Which brings us to... Life Itself/Old People Much like AI replacing us in the workforce, one of the more curious trends of the last year have been a string of monster movies focusing on—in one form or another—doppelgängers. Whether a heretofore unknown biological entity as in Cuckoo , a demonic presence as in Never Let Go and Daddy’s Head , or a voluntarily engineered proxy of oneself as in The Substance , the anxiety at the heart of these stories resides not in becoming a monster, personally, but in being superseded by one—and potentially missing out on the cool things a monster gets to do. Nightbitch , a recent film in which Amy Adams transforms into a dog as an expression of her repressed rage, is posed as a net positive. The idea of losing control has tremendous appeal lately. Just like Demi Moore’s fear of irrelevancy in The Substance , the real fear is being left behind. Speaking of, if 2024 could be defined by a single persistent boogeyman, the title would unanimously have to be given to old people. Films like Heretic, Apartment 7A, and Alien: Romulus , have featured the elderly (if not the outrightly late, as in the specter of poor Ian Holm in Romulus ) tormenting the young for a plethora of reasons, varying from financial gain to merely proving they’re still relevant from the comfort of their own booby-trapped homes. People often fail to see a distinction between mummies and zombies, but the difference between them is noteworthy. Mummies are distinct from zombies in that a zombie is something clinically dead, but somehow still behaves as if it’s alive. A mummy is something that by all means should be dead, yet somehow biologically is still alive—just as how the Kharis’s heart continues to beat by virtue of the tana leaves in Universal’s The Mummy’s Hand , The Mummy’s Tomb , The Mummy’s Ghost, and The Mummy’s Curse . With the release of Nosferatu today, in Count Orlok we have a familiar, elderly, copyright-infringing ghoul from the dawn of film who simply refuses to go away. The right man for the time, indeed.

News of the Assad regime's fall in Syria brought Winnipeggers to tears and reignited their hopes for the country. Tens of thousands of Syrians are celebrating the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, after rebels said they entered the city and toppled the longtime ruler. The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied factions launched a lightning offensive on Nov. 27. "We want the world to know it's finally the time to see a free Syria, and to say we are willing to open our hearts, our minds, everything to all neighbours, to the world to build a new country. It's so exciting," Maysoun Darweesh said. "It's beyond happiness. It's beyond excitement. Every time I talk about it I feel like I want to cry. It's so amazing." Darweesh, who is the executive director of the Kurdish Initiative for Refugees in Winnipeg, grew up in Latakia, a city on Syria's west coast that lies along the Mediterranean Sea. She fled her home country in 2008 and spent a few years in China before arriving in Canada in December 2012. She still has family in Latakia, including a brother, aunts and uncles. Darweesh, 46, says she knows more about the political change in Syria than they do. "When I contact them it's a mix of fear, excitement.... They know for sure it's a new era but they are waiting," she said. Maysoun Darweesh, originally from Syria, is the executive director of Kurdish Initiative for refugees. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC) After enduring 13 years of civil war, Syrians stormed the presidential palace in Damascus, tearing up portraits of the toppled president on Sunday. Assad has fled to Moscow, according to Russian state media. Darweesh understands change will not happen overnight, and it might take several years. She wants to remind people of the importance of her homeland, and hopes the Canadian government — and governments of other nations — will provide support to Syria and invest in rebuilding it for the future. "The whole world should really invest in Syria. We cannot deny the importance of Syria as a country geographically, politically. Syria is an important geopolitical country," she said. THE LATEST Syrians celebrate Bashar al-Assad's fall to rebel factions amid calls for orderly transition World leaders, Trudeau hail 'fall of Assad's dictatorship' after rebels topple Syrian government She would like to see a government that represents all Syrians, one that will form a new constitution that secures justice and equality for all of its citizens. "We don't want to see a dictatorship again. We don't want to see atrocities again," Darweesh said. 'Many times we lost that hope' Like Darweesh, Shler Ali fled Syria more than a decade ago. The co-owner of Daanook, a restaurant in the Exchange District that serves Syrian-inspired cuisine, grew up in the northeastern city of Qamishli, which borders neighbouring Turkey, but spent the last 11 years of her time in Syria in Damascus. Shler Ali is from the northeast region of Syria. She is thrilled by the news that the Assad regime has been toppled. (Submitted by Shler Ali) Ali left her home in June 2012 and was out of the country the following month, eventually arriving in Canada in June 2016. She never thought she'd have the chance to return to Syria. "Sometimes we had hope. Many times also we lost that hope. I never felt that I can go back to Damascus and walk there. I was so worried that this dream won't happen, but now it will happen, and for sure I will be able to back and walk. "I know it won't be perfect and heaven from the first moment. We all know that but we're all going to work to build our communities to re-integrate people," Ali said. Fighters celebrate in Damascus' Omeyyad mosque on Sunday after Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing. (Ramil al Sayed/AFP/Getty Images) She has been in contact with several friends throughout Syria, and says some of them also have a difficult time believing that the Assad regime is over. "I called people after Assad was gone and they couldn't believe it. They were scared that I was telling them over the phone. I said, 'wake up, he's gone, we're free. You can say it,'" Ali said. She too knows that change is not imminent and that the rebuilding of Syrian society will require joint contributions over time from inside and outside the country. But Ali wants her Syrian friends to soak in this moment of an Assad-free country. "There are a lot of reforms that are needed. There should be a lot of things to be done in Syria. We will need lots of help, but also we give ourselves permission to just be happy for a few days," she said. "I think we're all happy. I don't think there is any Syrian who is not happy with what is going on now." A celebratory gathering is being held on the steps of the provincial legislature on Sunday afternoon. WATCH | Syrian militant group overthrows the Assad regime: Syrian rebel forces led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahir al-Sham 1 hour ago Duration 3:04 The largest insurgent group in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, has its origins in al-Qaeda and it’s considered a terrorist organization by Canada. Its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani spoke to a crowd at Ummayad Mosque in Damascus, after Syrian rebels announced that they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad.Trudeau says fall of Assad 'ends decades of brutal oppression' for Syria (Canada)The Indian Ocean Tsunami that occured on a Boxing Day like today exactly two decades ago is the greatest natural calamity ever in recent memory. In terms of numbers of people who perished (around 240,000) it is second in living memory only to another natural event – the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, in terms of sheer human tragedy, the tsunami will be etched in our minds in a way that the pandemic never will, in spite of the bigger death toll of the latter. Twenty years on, we are now very much aware of the dangers posed by these massive waves even though most people did not even know the meaning of the word “tsunami” back then. The tsunami arose from a displacement between the India and Burma plates, 70 Km off the west coast of northern Sumatra. The earthquake’s initial magnitude was estimated at 8.0 on the Richter scale. Almost 40 hours after the quake, geologists learned that its true force stayed hidden as it travelled along 1,000 Km of a fault line. The final reading, published in May 2005, indicated that the Indian Ocean quake had one of the highest magnitudes ever recorded at 9.1. It even managed to shake the Earth a bit off its regular orbit. One of the main reasons for the massive loss of life in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami was the lack of an early warning system. Although the US Geological Survey (USGS) tried to warn the Indian Ocean countries, a combination of missteps and other factors prevented the message from going to the right eyes and ears. The result was a tragedy of huge proportions. Today, the situation is much better. The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has a sophisticated tsunami information gathering and distribution network that cost billions of dollars called the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS). In addition, there are more than 60 Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) sensors worldwide. Our authorities must assess the viability and readiness of our own tsunami/earthquake warning systems in conjunction with those of other Indian Ocean countries. With the apparent failure of these systems in Indonesia on many recent occasions, all Indian IOR including Sri Lanka must take immediate collective measures to repair and upgrade the warning systems. The tsunami warning mechanism is now ingrained in our minds and the moment coastal dwellers hear about an undersea earthquake somewhere in Asia, they are mentally prepared to reach higher ground. Still, education and awareness are much needed. This should begin in primary grades, taking a cue from countries such as Chile and Japan, where tsunami drills are mandatory for schoolchildren in coastal areas. All local cellular operators have tested their capability to mass broadcast SMS messages on tsunamis to their subscribers. Warning siren towers have been erected in all coastal areas, with the paths to safety clearly marked. Television and radio stations are under instructions to broadcast any warning messages, for those who may not have access to smartphones. While Japan, from where the very word “tsunami” (Big Wave in Japanese) comes, leads the world in tsunami research, many other countries are actively engaged in the field. Japanese researchers recently concluded that rows of green hills strategically arranged along coastlines can help to fend off destruction from tsunamis while preserving ocean views and access to the shore. For some communities, they may offer a better option than towering seawalls. Giant seawalls are the conventional approach to mitigating tsunami risk. Japan has built hundreds of miles of concrete walls, taller than 40 feet in some places, at a cost of more than US$ 12 billion since tsunami waves flattened coastal communities throughout eastern Japan in March 2011. Scientists say coastal forests can help put the brakes on tsunami flow speeds in nearby towns and villages. These and other nature-based solutions are increasingly important in plans for coastal risk management. Sri Lankan universities too must take a proactive interest in tsunami research, given Sri Lanka’s increased vulnerability to earthquakes and tsunamis. Several tremors have been felt in Sri Lanka recently. The lesson is that an earthquake or tsunami can strike anytime without any warning. We must be prepared for bigger earthquakes and tsunamis. Eternal vigilance is the only answer. Any advances that can accurately predict an earthquake or seaquake is welcome. The idea is to give at least a 15-minute head start to coastal residents to get to higher ground. Right now, though, scientists do not have the technology to accurately anticipate earthquakes and tsunamis. But during the intervening 20 years, scientists have learned a lot about tsunamis, so there is hope for such advances. The most enduring legacy of the 2004 Tsunami should be the continuing improvement of disaster response and prevention capacities in our society on the one hand and the pursuit of greater environmental and climate sensitivity on the other. Tsunamis may not have a direct connection to Climate Change per se, but the Earth as a whole is bound by certain processes that take place over millions of years, such as Plate Tectonics. Mankind has disturbed these patterns, as seen from frequent freak weather events. Nature clearly deserves more respect.

Residents stage protest after three dead in police confrontationIndia is not pursuing the creation of a shared BRICS currency, an idea that has met with a strong verbal pushback from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, but the South Asian giant is making efforts to promote trade in its local currency, according to analysts in New Delhi. Trump has threatened a 100% tariff on products from BRICS nations if they develop their own currency to replace the U.S. dollar. The BRICS bloc, which began with China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa, expanded this year to include Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt. “We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency nor back any other currency to replace the mighty U.S. dollar,” Trump said in a post on the Truth Social media platform. Talk of a BRICS currency gained some momentum following U.S.-led sanctions on Russia in 2022 and since, in recent years, economic and political tensions have grown between the West and China. Russia and China have publicly expressed a desire to explore diversification of international trade away from the dollar. Ajai Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, though, said New Delhi does not plan to move away from the American currency. “Trump’s post is like a forewarning to tread carefully down this road. But at the moment, this is just an idea, and a common BRICS currency is simply not on India’s agenda,” Sahai said. The creation of such a currency is unlikely to gain traction due to mistrust and internal differences within major countries in the alliance such as India and China, according to analysts working in the Indian capital. “India is not supportive of this particular initiative. Any common currency is not going to help anyone; only the dominant countries like China ultimately will dictate. So, it is very difficult to develop a consensus to have a common currency,” according to Chintamani Mahapatra, founder of the Kalinga Institute of Indo Pacific Studies. The emerging countries group is also too diverse to make it economically viable to forge a competing currency, according to Mahapatra. “Unlike the European Union, we [BRICS countries] don’t have a common market. We don’t have a common trade policy. We have nothing in common,” Mahapatra said. At the same time, several BRICS members have accelerated efforts to explore ways to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar, which has been the world’s dominant currency since the end of World War II. BRICS countries account for about 40% of the world’s population and an estimated one-third of global gross domestic product. At a summit held in the Russian city of Kazan in October, BRICS nations agreed to boost efforts to trade in local currencies rather than in U.S. dollars and said they would strengthen banking networks within the group to facilitate settlements in their currencies. “Trade in local currencies and smooth cross-border payments will strengthen our economic cooperation,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. India, which adopted a new foreign trade policy last year to support using the rupee more frequently for trade, has identified 17 countries with which it wants to use rupees or the other country’s currency, according to Biswajit Dhar, a senior professor at the Council for Social Development in New Delhi. Those countries include Russia. New Delhi, which did not join U.S. sanctions against Russia, is paying for its crude oil imports from Moscow in rupees. As trade with Russia increases exponentially, though, that also presents problems. “India runs a huge trade deficit vis-a-vis Russia, which means that when India is buying a lot of oil and is paying in rupees, Russia does not know what to do with the stock of rupees it is holding now,” Dhar said. “Indian businesses are wary of selling to Russia because of the sanctions.” he said. Aside from Russia, other countries such as Malaysia, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also have agreed to facilitate trade in rupees. Such efforts however are modest, and India’s international trade is still dominated by the dollar. Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar Subramanian has said that moving away from the U.S. currency is not part of New Delhi’s economic policy. “We have never actively targeted the dollar. That's not part of either our economic policy or our political or strategic policy,” he said responding to a question on dedollarization at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington in October. But in an indirect reference to Russia, he said that India had to look for “workarounds” when trade in dollars with some partners became difficult. “It was the U.S. actions targeting Russia that made countries search for mechanisms and options to the dollar. It was not to dislodge the dollar’s position,” according to Ajay Srivastava, of the Global Trade Research Initiative. However, he said Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on products coming from countries adopting a BRICS currency makes the idea of such a potential new currency “unrealistic and more symbolic than practical.”

Biden administration races to approve clean energy loans before Trump takes over — here’s who’s benefittingTrending News Today Live Updates: In today's fast-paced world, staying informed about the latest developments is more important than ever. Trending News Today brings you the most current and impactful stories from across the globe, covering a wide range of topics including politics, technology, entertainment, sports, and social issues. Whether it's a significant political event, a groundbreaking technological innovation, or the latest in pop culture, we provide you with up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis. Our goal is to ensure that you're always in the loop, aware of the trends that are shaping the world around us. Stay tuned for the latest news that matters. Trends News Today Live: Kate Middleton's Christmas day look: A stunning emerald-green coat that steals the spotlightArticle content For many politicians and political parties, 2024 was a horrible, awful, nasty, no-good year. Incumbent politicians and political parties, that is. The year 2024 was the worst year ever – ever – for incumbents, the political scientists tell us. Either they all lost ground, or they plain old lost. It was nasty, brutish and (sometimes) short-sighted. The reasons are myriad and multiple, as they always are. But topping the list are the surging cost of living, and the surging numbers of migrants. Both issues made voters cranky, everywhere. (Elites, too. Voters got really mad at the elites.) All of this was very good news for politicians or a political parties challenging incumbents. All they needed to do is maintain a pulse, most of the time, and they’d win. That’s the big caveat attached to this year’s “winners” list. They may be political winners, but – in many cases – they didn’t actually earn it. They just had to show up and be the anti-incumbent. 1. Pierre Poilievre: Poll after poll show the Conservative Party dramatically ahead of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. Interestingly, poll after poll also showed more voter enthusiasm for the Conservative Party than for the Conservative Party’s leader. That may be because voters don’t really know Poilievre, yet. Or, maybe they do, and they find the Mr. Angry stuff wearying. But it doesn’t really matter. At this point, Poilievre is going to win the biggest majority in event Canadian history, which makes him a big winner. 2. Donald Trump: This writer deeply detests Donald Trump, and so do many of the 75 million Americans who voted against him. But he won, decisively – despite two impeachments, one criminal conviction, and one civil finding that he sexually assaulted a woman. To win despite (and perhaps because) of those things also makes Trump a very big winner, indeed. Until the midterms (when the Democrats come roaring back) or until J.D. Vance wins the Oval (when he dislodges Trump using the 25th Amendment, perhaps), Trump remains an undisputed winner. 3. Doug Ford: Justin Trudeau and most of the Premiers have dropped the ball on the aforementioned Trump’s insane tariff threats. Pierre Poilievre has done very well. But Ontario’s Premier? He’s been transformed into Captain Canada by the issue – appearing on American TV shows to defend us, leading Team Canada, getting up in Trump’s grill. Aided and abetted by smart staffers (hello, Patrick, Ivana and Travis), Ford has been terrific, and accordingly looks to be a shoe-in for re-election in 2025. 4. Chrystia Freeland: The former Finance Minister may have been complicit in Justin Trudeau’s serial scandals and missteps but this month, all of that changed. Firing off a rocket disguised as a letter, Freeland blew a hole in Trudeau’s fiscal record, his professed feminism and his legacy. She also made it impossible for former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney to be shoehorned into cabinet. It was mean, it was nasty, and it was politically brilliant. A winning move. 5. Israel – not Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who still faces three separate corruption prosecutions. No, the undisputed international winners are Israel’s military and intelligence forces, who have effectively reduced Hamas to a rump, eviscerated Hezbollah with exploding pagers, and dramatically reduced Iran’s influence in the region. Other potential threats loom ahead for the Jewish state in 2025 – such as an al-Qaeda offshoot taking control of Syria – but 2024 saw Israel responding to the horrors of Oct. 7, 2023 with ferocity and justification. It was overdue and needed. There you go: 2024’s big winners. They are all likely to keep on winning in the new year. Next up: the losers of 2024!