game horror Tories are accused of making unfunded pledges worth £12million for every HOUR since Kemi Badenoch became leader. New analysis shows she and her team have drawn up a wishlist worth £6.7billion by opposing Government plans and vowing to bring back the Rwanda asylum scheme. But they have given no indication of how to pay for it - sparking allegations of being "completely unserious". The Conservative chief says she will bring back tax breaks for private schools and reverse Labour's decision to close tax loopholes on agricultural land. Confusingly Ms Badenoch said she's "not against" hundreds of millions of pounds of investment for public services paid for by the moves. She said the first thing she does if she becomes PM would be to reintroduce tax breaks for private schools, costing the Treasury over £1.7billion. The Tory leader also wants to scrap a £2.5billion raid on capital gains tax included in the Budget , as well as opposing a £955million windfall tax shake-up. She has also opposed new inheritance tax rules on agricultural land, which is set to raise over £500million revenue in 2029-30. Meanwhile Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp indicated he would resurrect the doomed agreement with Rwanda, which saw the Tories hand over £700million to the African nation. Labour said cash raised by measures opposed by Ms Badenoch will help fund 40,000 more NHS appointments each week and 6,500 teachers in state schools. In a PMQs gaffe earlier this week she said: “I’m not against any of those things, of course not, none of us are against any of those things.” It sparked claims by Labour chair Ellie Reeves that Ms Badenoch was “trying to have her cake and eat it”. A Labour spokesman said: “While Labour is fixing the foundations to deliver the change the British people voted for, Kemi Badenoch is demonstrating why the Conservatives were so unfit to govern. "The Conservatives crashed the economy and left a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. Now Badenoch is showing they would do it all again. Completely unserious.” The Mirror has contacted Tory HQ for comment.

Dow Jones futures, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures, were little changed ahead of Tuesday's stock market open. The price of bitcoin continued to slide Monday, closing under $94,000 for the first time since Nov. 26, Bitcoin-related stocks, like ( ) and ( ), sold off 3.8% and 8.8%, respectively. The price of bitcoin topped out at $106,734 on Dec. 17, per Dow Jones Market Data, using a 4 p.m. ET close. Elsewhere, ( ) chipmaker ( ) broke out Monday, moving past a 205.63 cup-with-handle buy point and closing in the 5% buy area that runs up to 215.91. TSMC was a Taiwan Semiconductor, better known as TSMC, is the top producer of advanced computer chips. Its customers include AI-chip makers ( ), Nvidia, ( ) and ( ). Stock Market Today: Dow Jones Extends Win Streak On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.7% and the Nasdaq advanced 1%. is light with new home sales due Tuesday. They are expected to bounce back from a hurricane-hit October, but pretty weakly, to a 665,000 annual pace, according to a consensus of economists polled by FactSet. The stock market will be closed Wednesday for the Christmas holiday, with an abbreviated trading session on Tuesday. Dow Jones Futures Today: Oil Prices, Treasury Yields Ahead of Tuesday's opening bell, Dow Jones futures, along with S&P 500 futures and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures, were little changed vs. fair value. Remember that overnight action in Dow Jones futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session. On Monday, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked higher to 4.59%. And oil prices rose modestly, as West Texas Intermediate futures settled around $69.50 a barrel. Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, Tesla Rally The , except for ( ), all ended higher Monday, as the ( ) ETF rallied 1.5%. ( ) advanced 1.7%, just shy of last week's new highs and back out of buy range beyond a 182.49 buy point in a cup with handle. ( ) rebounded 2.5% Monday, snapping a four-day losing streak and finding much-needed support at the 50-day line. The social media giant is just below a 602.95 buy point. Nvidia rebounded another 3.7%, extending a win streak to three sessions and closing right at its 50-day line, a key resistance level to monitor. If it can continue to make progress and move decisively clear of this level, that would be a bullish signal. ( ) rose 2.3% Monday, ending a three-day skid. Last week, the Elon Musk-led company topped out at 488.54, about 84% above a 264.86 buy point in a cup with handle. What To Do Now Now is an important time to read amid the ongoing stock market rebound. Following Monday's session, be sure to check out today's and . , the team discussed the current trading conditions of the stock market action. IBD maintains its recommended exposure level at 60%-80%. Still, investors should be utilizing diligent , one of the . It's important to monitor positions that are acting out of character and sell any stocks that trigger sell rules. An essential resource for daily breakouts is "Breaking Out Today" list. It shows stocks that are breaking out past buy points. Meanwhile, the MarketSurge "Near Pivot" list shows more stocks nearing buy points in bases. To find more stock ideas, check like , and . These features identify bullish patterns and buy points and are available to check every day.BEIRUT — Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the militant group's heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with cease-fire efforts to halt the all-out war. An Israeli bomb squad policeman carries the remains of a rocket that was fired from Lebanon on Sunday in Kibbutz Kfar Blum, northern Israel. Some of the rockets reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said. The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the militants. Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines. Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on U.S.-led cease-fire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war. Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups. The Israeli police bomb squad inspects the site after a missile fired from Lebanon hit the area Sunday in Petah Tikva, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war as Israel launched airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire on northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there. In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing. The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was unclear whether injuries and damage were caused by rockets or interceptors. Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later. Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 29 people and wounding 67, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. A flock of birds flies above the smoke from Israeli airstrikes Sunday in Dahiyeh, Beirut. Smoke billowed above Beirut again Sunday with new strikes. Israel's military said it targeted command centers for Hezbollah and its intelligence unit in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, where the militants have a strong presence. Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north. The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to the Lebanese c... The European Union’s top diplomat called Sunday for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.” U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week. Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group. Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate $208 million to assist the Lebanese military. But Borrell later said that he did not “see the Israeli government interested clearly in reaching an agreement for a cease-fire" and that it seemed Israel was seeking new conditions. He pointed to Israel’s refusal to accept France as a member of the international committee that would oversee the cease-fire's implementation. The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the monthlong 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of U.N. peacekeepers. With talks for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza stalled, freed hostages and families of those held marked a year since the war's only hostage-release deal. “It’s hard to hold on to hope, certainly after so long and as another winter is about to begin," said Yifat Zailer, cousin of Shiri Bibas, who is held along with her husband and two young sons. Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead. Most of the rest of the 250 who were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack were released in last year's cease-fire. Talks for another deal recently had several setbacks, including the firing of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who pushed for a deal, and Qatar’s decision to suspend its mediation. Hamas wants Israel to end the war and withdraw all troops from Gaza. Israel has offered only to pause its offensive. The Palestinian death toll from the war surpassed 44,000 this week, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. On Sunday, six people were killed in strikes in central Gaza, according to AP journalists at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. How often do you buy something online ? A couple of times a month? A couple of times a week? A couple of times a day? Everybody's answer will be different, but collectively, it's done a lot: Online retail accounted for over $1 trillion of purchases in the U.S. in 2022 and a record $277.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023 alone. Retailers ranging from titans like Amazon and Walmart, down to local small-town shops work very hard to land their share of that business. Sadly and inevitably—so do criminals and scammers. At any given moment, they operate millions of bogus sites. So how can you spot those fake online shopping sites? Spokeo provides a guide. In the early days of the internet , it took some genuine skills to set up a website, but those days are gone. A quick search will show that there are lots of apps and services offering websites on a prefabricated "fill in the blanks" basis, and most web hosts provide those tools as part of the service when someone signs up with them. It's even easier on social media . If you were opening a "side hustle" business tomorrow from your home, you could set up your own Facebook page tonight in under an hour, with exactly zero knowledge of websites. Once that page is set up, you just need to throw a few dollars in the direction of Facebook's advertising department, and they'll start advertising your page to users. It's no harder to promote a website, except in that case, you'd give your advertising dollars to Google. This is a simplified overview, but the main point holds: Establishing a presence online has become a very democratized process, open to anyone with minimal skills and even the smallest budget for advertising. That's been a boon for legitimate entrepreneurs, but it also makes life very easy indeed for scammers. There are multiple types of bogus websites . Some are imposters, created to look very much like a legitimate commercial or government site that you're familiar with, such as Amazon or Netflix. Others don't imitate a specific site, but instead attempt to capture the look and feel of those sites in general (whether that be a retail site, a government or bank page, or even something relatively shady like a gambling or porn site). Next, scammers find ways to drive traffic to their site. Often that's through phishing texts or emails, but deceptive ads on social media or search engines like Google and Bing work just as well. Once a browser arrives at the criminals' site (or, in some cases, downloads their app), any number of bad things can happen. One is that they'll download malware onto your devices, which can capture passwords or steal personal information. A more straightforward risk is that the browser will cheerfully enter their personal and banking/credit card information, thinking they're making a legitimate purchase. That's largely why fake online shopping sites are so dangerous, and so useful to scammers and identity thieves. Most bogus sites share some or all of those characteristics, but shopping sites are a very specific type of bogus site with some quirks of their own. One characteristic to count on—whether the website directly impersonates a major retailer like Amazon, a niche retailer like MEC, or just positions itself as an anonymously general retail site—is that it will offer unusually low pricing on high-demand products. That might be a mass-market item like the latest gaming console, a suddenly in-demand item that's unavailable through normal channels (remember trying to get masks and sanitizing wipes during COVID-19?), or something as mundane as disposable diapers or high-capacity computer drives. Whatever the product, the advertised price will be low enough to get attention. The bogus site will have any number of ways to transfer a browser's money to its coffers, depending on the scammers' intentions and skillset. A few of the most common include: These are all aside from the potential to infect devices or steal payment information . Sites focused on identity theft might consider a faux purchase to be just the added gravy. How common is online shopping fraud? Well, the news is pretty bad. The FTC's 2022 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book recorded over 327,000 online shopping complaints, the fourth-highest category for overall complaints and second among fraud categories. You would expect these sites to be more prevalent during the final quarter of the year, corresponding to the holiday gift-giving season—Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas itself—and they are, but that doesn't mean you can relax during the other nine months of the year. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, or APWG, identified nearly a million fake or phishing websites during the first quarter of 2022 alone (not a busy time of year for shopping), for example. To be clear, only 14.6% of those were eCommerce sites, but that still translates to well over 140,000 bogus shopping sites. The true number is almost certainly higher because the APWG only tracks the ones that use a phishing approach. Many opt to simply buy advertising instead (or as well), and those won't be captured in the APWG's statistics. However you slice it, there's a definite risk of encountering these sites when you shop. The good news is that bogus shopping sites aren't hard to spot, once you're aware of the risk. They aren't built for permanence; scammers pull them together quickly and cheaply and then abandon them once they stop producing.That "just good enough" approach leaves plenty of visible signs you can detect. Below, here's what to look for when recognizing fake online shopping sites. Bad images Bogus sites don't have direct access to the real products' manufacturing images, so they resort to copying and pasting from legitimate sites. \That means bogus sites' product images (and often their fake logos, if they impersonate a legitimate site) are fuzzy and low-res. A URL that's slightly "off" Imposter sites obviously can't have the same URL as the legitimate site, so they'll usually have a URL that looks right, but isn't quite. They might have a typo in the name, or incorporate the real company's name into their URL in a non-standard way ("myfakesite.amazon.com.123xyz.com"), or—sneakiest of all—use a letter from a different language's character set , which looks the same to the eye, but not to the computer. Broken links The scammers may have simply copied and pasted user interface elements from a legitimate site, in which case many links on the site may be broken (or simply not clickable). Lots of missing elements A legitimate retail website will have several pages of legalese, often starting with a pop-up about its cookie policy or privacy policy. You should certainly expect to see a detailed document spelling out shipping policies, return and refund policies, and similar details. If those are missing or brief and vapid, it's probably a fake site. Limited options for payment Sites that plan to take your money and run will often show oddly specific payment options, from wire transfers to gift cards to cryptocurrency. The thing those payment methods have in common is that it's very difficult to get money back once it's spent. Sites geared around capturing your personal or payment information, on the other hand, may insist on getting your credit card. Typos, grammar, and linguistic errors Simple, silly language errors are often a red flag. Scammers may not be native English speakers, and it shows up in awkward or sometimes inappropriate phrasing. Errors in actual product listings aren't necessarily a smoking gun—you'll see them frequently on real Amazon pages—because they come from the manufacturers, who are often not English speakers. Language errors on the rest of the site are more of a concern. HTTP vs. HTTPS In the address bar of your browser, a legitimate retail site's URL will start with HTTPS, rather than HTTP, and will show a closed lock symbol. The majority of fake sites now also have an HTTPS URL and will show the lock (so this isn't as helpful as it used to be), but less-sophisticated scammers may miss that detail. You can automatically rule those ones out. And, of course, the biggest red flag of all is an unrealistically low price on the product you're looking for. We all want to get a really good deal, but that impulse will often lead you astray. If a shopping site fails those basic "eyeball" tests, the smart thing to do is just close that browser tab and walk away. If you want to dig deeper, or if you aren't sure, there are a few quick and easy ways to verify a site's legitimacy. Use a URL/website checker Remember those really sneaky fake URLs that use a letter from another alphabet? The best way to check those (and other problematic elements in a URL) is through a URL verifier/website reputation service, like the ones from URLVoid and Google . Just copy (don't click!) the link, and paste it into the checker. If the site is sketchy, they'll tell you. Look up the site on a registry Domain names all need to be registered and there are several lookup tools to check this, like ICANN's registration lookup (think of it as Spokeo for websites). If a site claims to be Amazon but was registered just a few weeks ago, that's a really big red flag. Similarly, if the site isn't located where it should be, or if the ownership data is obscured, that's grounds for concern. Turn to Google If you have a bad feeling about a particular site, do a quick Google or Bing (or whatever) search that pairs the site's name with keywords like "scam," "fraud," "bogus" or "ripoff" and see what comes up. If you get a lot of hits, that's definitely grounds for concern. Go Forth and Shop (Safely) If a given site fails any or all of those tests, then keeping your wallet in your pocket is definitely the smart choice. Instead of making the purchase, report the site instead to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and the FTC's Report Fraud website. That will get the investigative wheels turning and may help protect someone less wary from falling victim to the scammers. As always, wariness and skepticism are your friends when it comes to avoiding scams. Don't click on links in emails, texts , or social media messages; instead, go to the company's site by typing the URL directly. If you search a company's page on Google, scroll down through the actual search results until you find it instead of clicking on the sponsored results or advertisements at the top. Most of all, remember the golden rule of scam avoidance: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Keeping those principles in mind, and using the tips given here to screen out dubious sites means you'll be able to shop 'til you drop (safely), despite the vast number of scammers out there. And that—as the credit card ads like to say—is priceless. This story was produced by Spokeo and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Get local news delivered to your inbox!President-elect Donald Trump wants to turn the lights out on daylight saving time. In a post on his social media site Friday, Trump said his party would try to end the practice when he returns to office. “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” he wrote. Setting clocks forward one hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall is intended to maximize daylight during summer months, but has long been subject to scrutiny. Daylight saving time was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942. Lawmakers have occasionally proposed getting rid of the time change altogether. The most prominent recent attempt, a now-stalled bipartisan bill named the Sunshine Protection Act , had proposed making daylight saving time permanent. The measure was sponsored by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio , whom Trump has tapped to helm the State Department. “Changing the clock twice a year is outdated and unnecessary,” Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said as the Senate voted in favor of the measure. Health experts have said that lawmakers have it backward and that standard time should be made permanent. Some health groups , including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said that it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun — and human biology. Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do, the date that clocks are changed varies, creating a complicated tapestry of changing time differences. Arizona and Hawaii don’t change their clocks at all. Hawaii doesn’t because it is so far south it has little effect.

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Nissan and Honda to attempt a merger that would create the world's No. 3 automaker TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda have announced plans to work toward a merger that would catapult them to a top position in an industry in the midst of tectonic shifts as it transitions away from its reliance on fossil fuels. The two companies said they signed an agreement on integrating their businesses on Monday. Smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors agreed to join the talks. News of a possible merger surfaced earlier this month. Japanese automakers face a strong challenge from their Chinese rivals and Tesla as they make inroads into markets at home and abroad. What a merger between Nissan and Honda means for the automakers and the industry BANGKOK (AP) — Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan will attempt to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. Honda will initially lead the new management, retaining the principles and brands of each company. Following is a quick look at what a combined Honda and Nissan would mean for the companies, and for the auto industry. Nordstrom to be acquired by Nordstrom family and a Mexican retail group in $6.25 billion deal Century-old department store Nordstrom has agreed to be acquired and taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. Nordstrom shareholders will receive $24.25 in cash for each share of Nordstrom common stock, representing a 42% premium on the company’s stock as of March 18. Nordstrom’s board of directors unanimously approved the the proposed transaction, while Erik and Pete Nordstrom — part of the Nordstrom family taking over the company — recused themselves from voting. Following the close of the transaction, the Nordstrom Family will have a majority ownership stake in the company. An analyst looks ahead to how the US economy might fare under Trump WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump won a return to the White House in part by promising big changes in economic policy — more tax cuts, huge tariffs on imports, mass deportations of immigrants working in the United States illegally. In some ways, his victory marked a repudiation of President Joe Biden’s economic stewardship and a protest against inflation. It came despite low unemployment and steady growth under the Biden administration. What lies ahead for the economy under Trump? Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics spoke recently to The Associated Press. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. American consumers feeling less confident in December, Conference Board says American consumers are feeling less confident in December, a business research group says. The Conference Board said Monday that its consumer confidence index fell back in December to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Consumers had been feeling increasingly confident in recent months. The consumer confidence index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market tumbled more than a dozen points to 81.1. The Conference Board says a reading under 80 can signal a potential recession in the near future. Stock market today: Wall Street rises at the start of a holiday-shortened week Stocks closed higher on Wall Street at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Monday. Several big technology companies helped support the gains, including chip companies Nvidia and Broadcom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Honda's U.S.-listed shares rose sharply after the company said it was in talks about a combination with Nissan in a deal that could also include Mitsubishi Motors. Eli Lilly rose after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The internet is rife with fake reviews. Will AI make it worse? Researchers and watchdog groups say the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce detailed and novel online reviews has put merchants, service providers and consumers in uncharted territory. Phony reviews have long plagued many popular consumer websites, such as Amazon and Yelp. But AI-infused text generation tools enable fraudsters to produce reviews faster and in greater volume, according to tech industry experts. The deceptive practice is illegal in the U.S. and becomes a bigger problem for consumers during the holiday shopping season, when many people rely on reviews to buy gifts. A tech company and watchdog group that uses software to detect fake reviews says AI-generated reviews have multiplied. Romanian lawmakers narrowly approve new pro-European coalition during period of political turmoil BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian lawmakers have voted narrowly in favor of a new pro-European coalition government led by incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The move on Monday could usher in an end to a protracted political crisis in the European Union country following the annulment of a presidential election. Parliament approved the new administration in a 240-143 vote in the 466-seat legislature. The new coalition is made up of the leftist Social Democratic Party, the center-right National Liberal Party, the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities. President Klaus Iohannis swore in the new government on Monday night. Government regulators close investigation into Ford Focus recalls Government safety regulators are closing an investigation into two previous recalls of the Ford Focus after determining that Ford Motor Co. has satisfied its concerns. Ford recalled around 1.5 million Ford Focus sedans from the 2012-2018 model years in 2018 because they could lose power. The issue was a malfunctioning canister purge valve and software that didn’t adequately detect when it was stuck open. Ford fixed the software in two separate recalls, but after cars continued to stall, the government opened an inquiry last year. Earlier this fall, Ford offered to replace the canister purge valve on all of the vehicles, satisfying regulators' concerns. AI will eavesdrop on world's wildest places to track and help protect endangered wildlife PUERTO JIMÉNEZ, Costa Rica (AP) — A biologist hid 350 audio monitors across Costa Rica’s tropical rainforests to spy on endangered spider monkeys in order to help protect them. But she had to go back to collect the data and feed those sounds into artificial intelligence systems that can recognize monkey calls. Now tech giant Microsoft's philanthropic arm is hoping to supercharge AI-assisted wildlife research with new solar-powered devices that can capture sounds, images and other wilderness data for a year or more without human intervention. Researchers say more AI wildlife surveillance is urgently needed to monitor the health of species at risk of extinction.Commanders activate two-time Pro Bowl DT off IR

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Year 2024— a montage of grief and gladness. Under the burden of its violent pulse, humanity bowed, bloodied and broken, beneath the endless rain of brutality, across Ukraine, Palestine, and many places around. The earth swelled with sorrow— groaning under jackboots of hatred, and charred whispers of dreams wiped out. The planet cried out—melting ice, drowning shores, forests consumed in apocalyptic flames. We fed the beast of climate despair with every careless flick of a match. We didn’t listen to warnings whispered by water and wind. Politics raged, borders shifted like restless ghosts. Leaders rose, some with bombs, others with bogus olive branches. Truth shattered into spectacle of agendas, empathy became a relic, exchanged only when convenient. Buzz of AI grew louder and faster. We made machines to mimic us, and, in the process, lost essence of our souls. Our civilization slipped through chinks of our glossy hi-end gadgets. Pixel by pixel, byte by byte, we swapped sincerity for screens, forgetting value of shared silence. And yet...and yet... A baby’s first cry in a bombed-out hospital, echoed through rubble-strewn streets. Poets still wrote. Musicians played. Dreamers dreamed. And healers healed, even when wounds seemed deep. All in sync to sow wildflowers in wastelands! A year of no endings but a year of reckoning— 2024 holds a mirror up to our faces, compelling us to see the fragility and fickleness of the world we had built. A year where humanity stood baffled, asking not what we had lost but what we were still willing to save? What will we say to the future? That we burned? Or that, in the ash, we found the nerve to erase and re-rise? Or would we crumble, undone by our own absurdity and futility? Only Time Will Tell !Women entrepreneurs are essential for the Canadian economy, a fact recognized by the government’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy . This strategy was launched in 2018 and has seen nearly $7 billion be put toward supporting women-owned businesses in Canada. Although women in Canada engage in entrepreneurship more than in other comparable countries, there is still a significant gender gap . Only 15 per cent of women are engaged in startups and seven per cent are owner-managers of established businesses, compared to 24 per cent and nine per cent of men, respectively. If women participated in entrepreneurship as much as men, global GDP would rise by an estimated three to six per cent, adding $2.5 to $5 trillion to the global economy . This is not just about economic growth, but is a broader ethical and societal issue. By limiting women’s entrepreneurial participation, we are also limiting women’s opportunities for employment, empowerment and the promotion of gender equality more broadly. To make entrepreneurship more gender-inclusive, it’s important to confront the underlying biases that create barriers for women. As experts and researchers in entrepreneurship, we’ve identified five common misconceptions about women and entrepreneurship that need to be challenged. The first misconception is that women are not motivated to become entrepreneurs. This misconception partly arises from the gendered language that is often used to describe entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial language tends to be masculine, using terms like “risk-takers,” “achievement-oriented” and “confident,” which are all characteristics more commonly associated with men . This perceived mismatch may contribute to the belief that women are less motivated to pursue entrepreneurship. While women are less likely than men to start a business, in reality, there is strong entrepreneurial motivation among women. Women make up 37 per cent of self-employment statistics in Canada. The second misconception is that women are not successful entrepreneurs. This has to do with traditional measures of success, which focus on business size, profitability and growth rate. Relative to men, women are more likely to run smaller businesses with lower profitability and growth , but this does not necessarily mean they underperform. First, small businesses — regardless of the owner’s gender — have limited profitability and growth in general. Second, women are more likely to be part-time entrepreneurs because they often have to balance business ownership with family and household responsibilities. And third, women are over-represented in lower-growth and lower-wage industries like retail and food services . These factors explain the lower performance levels for women entrepreneurs, which are influenced by socially constructed and historical factors, not an inability to be successful. The third misconception is that women entrepreneurs are not capable of securing business funding. While women entrepreneurs are less likely to receive financial backing , this is not because of lack of capabilities. Instead, women are less likely to ask for financial funding, either because they don’t require it or because they’re discouraged from applying due to fear of rejection. When women do seek financial backing, they’re usually asked different questions than men are , which affects their outcomes. Finance providers tend to ask women questions that focus on potential failures, while they ask men about potential success. Since the framing of questions influences their responses, women’s answers — which are often focused on preventing failure — instil less confidence and lead to less funding. The fourth misconception is that women are risk averse, preventing them from becoming entrepreneurs. There is some research that points to this misconception being true; one study , for instance, found that women exhibit higher levels of risk aversion when making financial decisions compared to men. However, most women are not inherently risk-averse. This perception is likely a result of how women are socialized according to cultural norms and expectations. Women are often expected to be more communal and caring , while men are expected to be more competitive and risk-taking. The way we define and understand “risk” may also contribute to this misconception. Success stories about entrepreneurs often focus on financial risk — something more commonly associated with men. Less attention is given to the risks women are more likely to take, such as standing up for their beliefs or choosing the ethical route when faced with a dilemma, even if it might result in lower financial success. The fifth misconception is that women fail to build the right networks as entrepreneurs. Research shows women tend to develop more formal mentoring and networking relationships , such as through professional associations, while men typically have a mix of both formal and informal connections. Formal mentoring often offers fewer career development benefits compared to informal connections. Women are less likely to engage in informal mentoring, not because they lack interest or ability, but because there are fewer women entrepreneurs to connect with. Despite this, women are actually more active than men in supporting others’ careers, both men and women. These misconceptions about women entrepreneurs are rooted in the historically masculine nature of entrepreneurship and can be barriers to women becoming successful entrepreneurs. By challenging these stereotypes and promoting gender inclusivity in entrepreneurship, we can help remove obstacles and create a more supportive environment for women entrepreneurs. Ingrid Chadwick received funding from the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture (FRQ-SC) for this project. Alexandra Dawson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.Fantasy Baseball: Kyle Tucker goes to Cubs in trade that clears Matt Shaw's path, raises Isaac Paredes' value

Stock indexes closed mixed on Wall Street at the end of a rare bumpy week. The S&P 500 ended little changed Friday. The benchmark index reached its latest in a string of records a week ago. It lost ground for the week following three weeks of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1%. Broadcom surged after the semiconductor company beat Wall Street’s profit targets and gave a glowing forecast, highlighting its artificial intelligence products. RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, surged after raising its revenue forecast. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. On Friday: The S&P 500 fell 0.16 points, or less than 0.1%, to 6,051.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86.06 points, or 0.2%, to 43,828.06. The Nasdaq composite rose 23.88 points, or 0.1%, to 19,926.72. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 14.19 points, or 0.6%, to 2,346.90. For the week: The S&P 500 is down 39.18 points, or 0.6%. The Dow is down 814.46 points, or 1.8%. The Nasdaq is up 66.95 points, or 0.3%. The Russell 2000 is down 62.10 points, or 2.6%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 1,281.26 points, or 26.9%. The Dow is up 6,138.52 points, or 16.3%. The Nasdaq is up 4,951.37 points, or 32.7%. The Russell 2000 is up 319.82 points, or 15.8%.SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Two people were rescued and a third swam to safety after a California pier under construction partially collapsed and fell into the ocean Monday as the state’s central coast was pounded by heavy surf from a major storm expected to bring hurricane-force winds to the seas off the Pacific Northwest, authorities said. Residents were warned to stay away from low-lying areas near the beaches around the Santa Cruz Wharf, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of San Francisco, as the storm rapidly gained strength. “You are risking your life, and those of the people that would need to try and save you by getting in or too close to the water,” the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office said on the social platform X. Lifeguards rescued two people from the water, officials with Santa Cruz Fire Department said. No one had serious injuries, Mayor Fred Keeley said. The mayor said the section of the wharf that collapsed had been damaged over time. The structure was in the middle of a $4 million renovation following destructive storms last winter. “It’s a catastrophe for those down at the end of the wharf,” said David Johnston, owner of Venture Quest Kayaking, who was allowed onto the pier to check on his business. Tony Elliot, the head of the Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Department, estimated that about 150 feet (45 meters) of the end of the wharf fell into the water around 12:45 p.m. It was immediately evacuated and will remain closed indefinitely. Some of the wharf’s pilings are still in the ocean and remain “serious, serious hazards” to boats, the mayor said. Each piling weighs hundreds of pounds and is being pushed by powerful waves. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s has been briefed and the state’s Office of Emergency Services is coordinating with local officials, his office said. Forecasters warned that storm swells will continue to increase throughout the day. “We are anticipating that what is coming toward us is more serious than what was there this morning,” the mayor said. Ocean swells along California’s central coast could reach 60 feet (18 meters) as the Pacific storm gains strength through Monday, the weather service said. “A rapidly developing storm will bring hurricane force winds to the areas well offshore of the Pacific Northwest tonight,” the weather service’s Ocean Prediction Center said on X. The end of the pier that broke off had been shut down during renovations. The portion, which included public restrooms and the closed Dolphin restaurant, floated about half a mile (0.8 kilometers) down the coast and wedged itself at the bottom of the San Lorenzo River. Those who fell into the water were two engineers and a project manager who were inspecting the end of the wharf, officials said. No members of the public were in the area. Building inspectors were now looking at the rest of the Santa Cruz Wharf’s structural integrity. Monday’s collapse came about a year after the Seacliff State Beach pier just down the coast was battered beyond repair by a heavy winter storm. Further up the West Coast, dangerous surf conditions and waves up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) were expected from the central Oregon coast up through southwestern Washington. Winds could peak near 80 mph (130 kph) and a high surf warning in effect until 10 p.m. Monday night, forecasters said. In a post on X, the National Weather Service office in Portland, Oregon, said “it will likely go down as some of the highest surf this winter.” ___ Dazio reported from Los Angeles.