Take Five: Under pressureTrump asks Supreme Court to delay TikTok ban so he can weigh in after he takes office

Dipped Products PLC last week acquired 100% equity of Hi-Care Thai Gloves Company Ltd ., in Thailand for $ 11 million. The Company said the move follows the completion of the due diligence study, and completion of the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (SSPA) on 21 November 2024. The acquisition and funds will be by Dipped Products (Thailand), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. “This strategic acquisition aligns with the Company’s objectives to expand its global footprint in the rubber glove manufacturing industry and strengthen its presence in international markets,” said DPL in a filing to the Colombo Stock Exchange on Friday. Set up in 2013, Hi-Care Thai Gloves, has a production capacity of 1 billion gloves per annum. DPL’s manufacturing operations in Thailand, set up in 2005, made revenue of Rs. 6.7 billion in FY24 and has 477 employees. The latest acquisition is the first since 2023 when DPL acquired Rozenbal Polska in Poland and acquisition of Icoguanti, Italy in 2016. DPL operates manufacturing facilities both in Sri Lanka and Thailand, complemented by marketing arms in Italy, France, Poland, Middle East and an Electrician Glove testing facility in India. It caters to the diverse needs of a clientele spanning 70 countries. DPL, which also has extensive interest in plantations, in FY24 achieved a revenue of Rs. 74 billion and an after tax profit of Rs. 5.8 billion, down by 8% and 32% respectively from the previous year. In the first half of FY25, Group revenue rose by 10% to Rs. 40.4 billion and after tax profit by 14% to Rs. 2.2 billion.US President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a “political resolution” to the issue. The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by January 19 while the government emphasised its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk. “President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” said Mr Trump’s amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case. The filings come ahead of oral arguments scheduled for January 10 on whether the law, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based parent company or face a ban, unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute, leading TikTok to appeal to the Supreme Court. The brief from Mr Trump said he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office”.

AI Boom Makes 139-Year-Old Cable Maker Japan’s Hottest Stock - BloombergTEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel said Sunday that the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found after he was killed in what it described as a “heinous antisemitic terror incident.” The UAE's Interior Ministry later said authorities arrested three suspects involved in the killing of Zvi Kogan. The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel “will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death.” Israeli authorities did not say how they determined the killing of Kogan was a terror attack and offered no additional details. Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Thursday, ran a kosher grocery store in the futuristic city of Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords . The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel . But Israel's devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, after months of fighting with the Hezbollah militant group, have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the the UAE. Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, has also been threatening to retaliate against Israel after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack. The Emirati government did not respond to a request for comment. However, senior Emirati diplomat Anwer Gargash wrote on the social platform X in Arabic on Sunday that “the UAE will remain a home of safety, an oasis of stability, a society of tolerance and coexistence and a beacon of development, pride and advancement.” Early on Sunday, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency acknowledged Kogan’s disappearance but pointedly did not acknowledge he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him only as being Moldovan. The Emirati Interior Ministry described Kogan as being “missing and out of contact.” “Specialized authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the Interior Ministry said. The ministry later said that three “perpetrators” had been arrested “in record time” without giving additional details. Netanyahu told a regular Cabinet meeting later Sunday that he was “deeply shocked” by Kogan's disappearance and death. He said he appreciated the cooperation of the UAE in the investigation and that ties between the two countries would continue to be strengthened. Israel's largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for "their swift action." He said he trusts they “will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.” Israel also again warned against all nonessential travel to the Emirates after Kogan's killing. “There is concern that there is still a threat against Israelis and Jews in the area,” a government warning issued Sunday said. Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism based in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood in New York City. It said he was last seen in Dubai. The UAE has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners. The Rimon Market, a kosher grocery store that Kogan managed on Dubai’s busy Al Wasl Road, was shut Sunday. As the wars have roiled the region, the store has been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians. Mezuzahs on the front and back doors of the market appeared to have been ripped off when an Associated Press journalist stopped by on Sunday. Kogan’s wife, Rivky, is a U.S. citizen who lived with him in the UAE. She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The UAE is an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and is also home to Abu Dhabi. Local Jewish officials in the UAE declined to comment. While the Israeli statement did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE. Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country. Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing British Iranian national Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, though Tehran has denied involvement. Iran also kidnapped Iranian German national Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed in October . Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of material from 11 contributing columnists , along with other commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here . ••• Although America’s divisive presidential election is now behind us, casting votes did not do much to heal our country’s deep philosophical and political divides. We remain a polarized people, with about half the nation pleased about the electoral outcome and the other half perplexed by it. In a healthy democracy, there will always be vigorous debate and disagreement about what policy prescriptions are best for our cities, states and nation — and who is best equipped to lead them. A consensus is always hard to find in a country as geographically, racially and socioeconomically diverse as ours. But self-rule requires societal self-assessment. And an honest reflection on the worrying level of political enmity that exists today reveals we must do better for American democracy to thrive. The hostility on both sides of the aisle is not conducive to a free society functioning well, as it makes substantive discourse between disagreeing parties impossible and instills fear in many that exercising First Amendment rights will get them in trouble at home or at work. Democracy requires reflection, rigor and reason. It calls us to be calm, attentive and courteous. All things sorely lacking in recent ballot box contests. So how can this caustic political climate be reset? One potential simple solution: friendship. When we hold true friends who vote differently from the way we do, we can empathize with what motivates those on the other side of causes we care about. And that understanding allows for a more thoughtful approach to and investigation of our own views. By humanizing our public policy adversaries, politically diverse relationships help hold us back from using the cheapest and most destructive partisan tool: demonizing the opposition. My own anecdotal observations along with recent studies confirm that Americans are more and more segregating their relationships based on politics. An Axios poll of young adults revealed 33% of respondents would “definitely not” or “probably not” befriend someone who voted for a different presidential nominee. And according to a study by the Survey Center on American Life, 15% of people torpedoed acquaintances over political disagreements alone. It’s not hard to understand this troubling trend. Life can be a lot easier if one silos among people who see the world the same way. Let’s be honest: It’s gratifying to have our views affirmed and much harder to have them challenged. It’s effortless just to reject the political opposition as morally reprehensible and much more difficult to impersonally advocate one’s ideas with good argument and data instead. But failing to interact on a personal level with people we disagree with coarsens our politics, eliminates the philosophical and factual accountability that comes from respectful disagreement and makes us too strident with each other. Conservatives are a rare breed in my hometown of St. Paul, and if I chose my friendships based on partisan leanings I’d be a very lonely guy. But most of my best friends and neighbors here are dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. They are smart and well informed, and they deepen and enrich my own views by arguing their side of things with me. We listen to and learn from one another — and even though our minds are rarely changed, our opinions are refined for the better. But, more importantly, my left-of-center friends in the Saintly City are interesting, kind and of good character. How foolish it would be to cut such people out of my life simply because they vote differently. And I am grateful they keep me in theirs. While maintaining friendships across party lines sounds like a good idea in theory, it can be tough work. It requires of us a decision to love each other even in the face of disagreement and to honor our friends’ right to freedom of speech and thought. And while we can confront our friends’ views and preferred political candidates, we also must be willing to be the one who is challenged and to welcome such confrontation. A bipartisan friendship commands intellectual humility and leaves open the idea that we might be wrong. If one cannot do this and lacks friendships with significant political differences, it’s strong evidence one is an ideologue, which is not a good thing to be. Philosophically intolerant dogmatists have trouble getting along with those they conflict with on matters of political profundity. That type of intolerant attitude does not work well in a system of self-government that requires a free flow of ideas and discourse. And it’s an unhealthy and unhelpful characteristic to have if one wants to be productive and happy in a pluralistic society. “Everyone notionally understands his or her own fallibility,” the conservative Princeton Prof. Robert P. George, who enjoys a well-known and close friendship with Democratic Socialist Cornel West, wrote in a recent social media post. “But notionally isn’t enough. The test comes when someone disagrees with you about something you regard as profoundly important — when someone dissents from your deepest, most cherished, even identity-forming beliefs ... It takes genuine strength of character and courage — truly, and not merely notionally, to recognize our fallibility. Fellow truth-seekers can be friends because they recognize their own fallibility and are willing to be challenged, as well as to challenge. They’re eager to learn from each other. Unlike ideologues, they don’t allow infatuation with their own opinions to impede pursuit of truth.” Don’t we all want to be truth-seekers? Dogmatism seems like a downer. Sunny Hostin, the liberal-leaning co-host of the television program “The View,” encouraged her Democratic viewers to cut off contact with family and friends that voted the other way during the upcoming holidays. What daft advice. Our relationships with loved ones should always surmount politics, no matter what. And we can all help unite our fractured nation after this bruising election by committing to respectfully engage with those we disagree with and listen more earnestly to ideas we do not like. Loving those who think differently from us can also truly be one of life’s great treasures. Don’t rob yourself of it.Citius Oncology, Inc. Reports Fiscal Full Year 2024 Financial Results and Provides Business Update

Round-the-clock aerial surveillance, drug detection fuel beefed-up border plan19.12.2024 – 20:25 Sentrycs Tel Aviv, Israel (ots/PRNewswire) Sentrycs Concludes a Year of Record Growth with its C-UAS Technology Capable of Addressing the Growing Drone Threat Across Four Continents Sentrycs, a technology leader in the Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) industry, announced today its continued progress globally within the public safety market. The company recently closed agreements with two new law enforcement organizations, including one in North America. These new agreements will deliver core protocol manipulation sensor solutions across a wide variety of scenarios, from fixed sites to vehicle-mounted (mobile) operations. The deals mark another significant milestone for the company, which has seen its business quadruple, year over year, along with continued adoption of its pioneering technology which is now deployed across sensitive facilities and strategic assets worldwide. The company has seen a noticeable spike in C-UAS interest heading into 2025, especially as in recent weeks, concerns have grown over unexplained drone sightings throughout several east coast states in the US. These sightings have prompted calls from both officials and citizens for swift action to identify and mitigate these mysterious flights. Unregulated or malicious drone activity poses significant risks to public safety and critical infrastructure, ranging from unauthorized surveillance and smuggling to potential terrorist threats where commercially available drones can quickly and inexpensively be weaponized. Addressing these challenges requires sophisticated solutions capable of countering such threats effectively while ensuring no interference with other communication systems that rely on the same frequency bands as the drones themselves. Sentrycs' solution is one of the few available technologies that addresses these challenges head-on, offering reliable and field-proven capability designed to safeguard public safety with no collateral damage. Leveraging proprietary technology, Sentrycs' passively detects, identifies and tracks drones, significantly reducing the possibility of false detections, a constant challenge encountered with other technologies. The platform also allows the operator to mitigate (or neutralize) the drone in seconds, directing it to a designated safe landing spot or returning the device to its original home location, avoiding the need for kinetic engagements that often cause collateral damage. "Recent events here in the US, specifically those in New Jersey really highlight the need to monitor unregulated drone activity, as it poses significant risks to public safety and critical infrastructure. Every single day our technology is supporting missions to monitor or mitigate illegal drone activity. Our global footprint means we address a variety of threats from ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) to enable human trafficking and drug smuggling, to even improvised explosive devices being delivered by the drones themselves" said Jason Moore, Chief Revenue Officer at Sentrycs. "Addressing these challenges demands sophisticated solutions that counter such threats immediately and effectively without interfering with critical communication systems or causing collateral damage" About Sentrycs Founded in 2017, Sentrycs is a leader in integrated Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) technology, providing innovative solutions for drone threat detection and mitigation. The company is dedicated to advancing C-UAS technology through continuous research and development, ensuring its products remain at the forefront of the industry. With its solutions deployed across four continents, Sentrycs is committed to safeguarding public safety and critical infrastructure worldwide. CONTACT: Info@sentrycs.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2585358/Sentrycs_Counter_Drone.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2422730/5087617/Sentrycs_Logo.jpg View original content: https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/counter-drone-technology-leader-sentrycs-announces-its-latest-public-safety-deals-including-new-customers-in-north-america-302336542.html Contact: +97254626236 Original content of: Sentrycs, transmitted by news aktuell

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Amazon knocks £40 off ghd Gold Hair Straighteners ahead of ChristmasA MUM of three with a loving husband, marketing exec Kellie James*, 49, of Barnet, North London, is happy with her secret habit. Grabbing the all-important after-school snack, and my handbag and coat, I head toward the door. But before I hit the school run, I need to do one more thing to prepare myself for my kids’ return — watch a ten-minute porn video. Many days, as the clock rolls around to 2.45pm, I reach for my mobile and watch a sexy romp. People who know me would be shocked, but it makes me a calm, relaxed mum when I meet the children at the school gates. Nobody’s kid deserves a mum who is tightly wound, and is nagging them from the minute they step out of school. Read more on porn And after having some “me time”, which is exactly what my viewing habits are, I am not that tense, wired mother. I am happy, relaxed and genuinely delighted to hear about their day. It makes me a great mum. Women watching sex is a massive taboo, but I watch porn on my phone daily — and sometimes I will indulge twice a day. Most read in Fabulous None of my friends talk about porn, and I’m sure they’d think of me as some kind of deviant if I confessed to it. I’m a mum to three gorgeous young kids and happily married . My husband and I have been together for 11 years and I like having sex with him, but find that I’m often just too tired to bother. After having children, we are both so exhausted and sex has sadly been put on the back-burner. It was during lockdown in March 2020 that our intimate time hit rock bottom, with the kids always under our feet — and that’s when I started looking at porn. I simply enjoy it and genuinely believe it makes me a better mum. I’m not alone. A new study of 1,200 women found 77 per cent admitted to having watched porn in the last month. I’m one of them but, while 28 per cent of the women said they viewed at least once a week, I’m more of a regular than most — as watching porn is something I incorporate daily into my busy life. I work full-time for a charity as a marketing executive, and as I often work from home I schedule porn-watching time into my breaks. If I’m in the office, I factor it into the times I am alone at home without the kids. Favourite is threesomes My usual routine would be to watch it in my bedroom in my lunch hour, maybe for about ten minutes or even less. Watching a bit before the school run is great — my working hours are arranged around school pick-up, so the fact that I’m rushed makes me more aroused. I sometimes masturbate while watching, and other times I watch it to feel turned on but won’t take it any further. I admit I usually feel bad afterwards — part of this might be because it feels like a compulsion, almost like vaping . During the first lockdown, my hours became more home-based and one lunchtime I realised I’d never thought to look on my phone at porn. It was an urge that came out of the blue, and something I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing when I had been entirely office-based. But from that first viewing, I looked pretty much every day. I feel guilty because some of the pornography isn’t very ethical and depicts women being degraded and treated badly — though I only watch porn where it looks consensual and I certainly hope the women aren’t being forced to do it. There was absolutely no way I could reveal I watch it regularly. I recently went out with some mum friends in the evening and we were talking about sex . One of the mums admitted her partner regularly viewed porn, and I watched how the other mums reacted. They were all horrified and said they were certain their partners didn’t watch it, and would worry that their other half was attracted to other women if they caught them viewing. Realisation hit me at that moment — there was absolutely no way I could reveal I watch it regularly as they’d probably judge me. It’s strange that so many people watch it but pretend they don’t. Once, when I was very drunk, I told a friend I sometimes watched it. She blushed, looked embarrassed and changed the subject, and I never brought it up again. I couldn’t sleep for days after, as I was convinced she’d never speak to me again, but when we met for coffee the next week she pretended it hadn’t happened. I find work super-stressful because I have a difficult manager who is unpredictable, and we have a lot of long meetings on Zoom. These are often tedious and if I’m working from home, I will sometimes watch porn right after a meeting to distract myself and to relax. It gets me away from work, and helps access a different part of myself. A quick watch of porn is an easy way for me to take care of sexual tension. Watch it together It takes longer to feel satisfied when I have sex with my husband, whereas if I masturbate while watching porn I can be finished in about five minutes. I have mentioned to my husband that I’ve watched it as a one-off, not revealing how often. He didn’t seem fussed by my revelation and said we should maybe watch it together, but that has never happened. Sometimes I worry porn watching is creating a distance between us, as I suspect he’s watching it too and doing that instead of having sex with me. This leads me to worry about the type of sex that he watches and what his preferences are. My favourite category is usually threesomes — two men and one woman. Interestingly, I would never like to do this in real life , so it’s escapism for me to watch something totally different. I definitely notice that I am getting more used to watching porn and am no longer shocked by seeing different types of sex, as I was at first. But I still do not watch films where girls are victims — that is morally wrong. I know deep down there is too much judgment for that. There must be some kind of algorithm, as the site I use definitely shows me more of the same on my phone — it always offers up threesomes. I always check that I’m browsing privately, turn down the sound if my husband is home and make sure I’ve deleted my browsing history so the family won’t inadvertently see things they shouldn’t. I have no plans to stop watching porn but wish I could feel better about it, and less ashamed. Dating app Ill­citEncouters.com reports that 80 per cent of women feel more comfortable discussing and watching porn compared to five years ago. This makes me feel wishful about chatting about my viewing habits freely with my mates over a glass of wine ­— but I know deep down there is too much judgment for that. My gut tells me to keep my porn viewing secret, but I’m pretty sure my pals are probably watching it too and just not admitting to it. *Name has been changed ...But don't get addicted PSYCHOLOGIST Emma Kenny has advice for those who feel their porn habit is getting too much. She says: “That dopamine high from viewing it can be addictive.” Here Emma shares some words of advice . . . WORK OUT WHAT’S BEHIND YOUR PORN INTEREST : Why are you turning to porn? Is it because you’re stressed, bored or feeling disconnected from your partner ? Once you understand the reason, you can tackle it head on. For stress, try something calming like yoga or five minutes of deep breathing. If boredom is the culprit, find something that excites you, whether it’s bingeing a new TV series or diving into a good book. Recognising what’s driving you helps to break the cycle of automatic behaviour. MAKE IT A REWARD, NOT A REFLEX : Think of porn like a slice of chocolate cake – delicious as a treat, but unhealthy if consumed too often. When you use it as a reward, rather than a routine, it becomes more enjoyable and less of a habit. For example, after a busy week at work, let it be a Friday night treat rather than something you turn to on your lunch break. Keeping it special helps you to maintain control, stop it feeling like a necessity and set limits. CHANGE UP THE MOMENT WITH SOMETHING RANDOM : If you want to cut back how much you use, next time you feel the urge, do something completely unexpected instead. Blast your favourite song, try a five-minute workout or even start decluttering that drawer. READ MORE SUN STORIES Distracting yourself with something random gives your brain a chance to reset and interrupts the habit loop. Little moments like these can help you to regain control without feeling as though you are missing out.

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