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The Ducks will ring in December by hosting the Ottawa Senators on Sunday in a matchup of teams that are an eyelash under .500 with designs on gaining some upward momentum. They’ll enter the clash with identical .477 points percentages that situate them near the bottom of their respective divisions but not far behind a crowded pack of middling clubs. The Ducks have had more of a defensive inclination while the Senators have shown more scoring pop to date. Ducks coach Greg Cronin said his team hadn’t “had too many stinkers” of late, and that’s been reflected by their 5-3-1 record across their past nine games, with four of their five-plus-goal games this season arriving in that span. “Since we got back from that New York trip, I think we’ve been on a pretty good path in terms of playing with an identity and competing,” Cronin said. They had to grind hard on Black Friday, when they played what Cronin described as something of a postseason-style game against the Kings at Honda Center. Though they fell 2-1 to what veteran forward Ryan Strome described as a “mature, veteran team” that they couldn’t quite edge past despite playing a “disciplined, structured and north-south” game, the Ducks still felt they carried forward some positive indicators from their recent play. “It was a good hockey game. We competed hard. I thought we dictated a lot of the game. We played similar to the way we’ve been playing,” Strome said. Kings coach Jim Hiller concurred. With teams frequently playing the Southern California franchises back to back, he and Cronin get constant looks at one another’s teams during pre-scouts, and Hiller assessed the Ducks’ performance quite favorably. “I thought – we’ve played them this year, I’ve scouted them this year – I thought that’s the best game they’ve played this year. I thought they played very well,” Hiller said. Time will tell if Sunday’s match elicits similar plaudits from Ottawa coach Travis Green, who spent parts of two seasons with the Ducks as a player and is in his first year as the Sens’ head coach after previously guiding the Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils briefly. Though Brock McGinn has made some progress in his return, he and Robby Fabbri remained unavailable. So, too, did Leo Carlsson, whose upper-body injury has kept him out of the Ducks’ past two matches. Cam Fowler will be a game-time decision. Troy Terry has four points across his three-game scoring streak, while Trevor Zegras just snapped a four-gamer that saw him compile six points. For Ottawa, forwards Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson each have seven points in the Sens’ past five outings. Captain Brady Tkachuk, whom Cronin suggested could be a model for his own power forward Mason McTavish, has racked up five points during a three-game surge. Those are the three Senators scoring above a point per game this season, with Stützle’s 28 points in 22 games leading the way. Ottawa at Ducks When: 5 p.m. Sunday Where: Honda Center How to watch: Victory+
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By MARC LEVY HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania conceded his reelection bid to Republican David McCormick on Thursday, as a statewide recount showed no signs of closing the gap and his campaign suffered repeated blows in court in its effort to get potentially favorable ballots counted. Casey’s concession comes more than two weeks after Election Day, as a grindingly slow ballot-counting process became a spectacle of hours-long election board meetings, social media outrage, lawsuits and accusations that some county officials were openly flouting the law. Republicans had been claiming that Democrats were trying to steal McCormick’s seat by counting “illegal votes.” Casey’s campaign had accused of Republicans of trying to block enough votes to prevent him from pulling ahead and winning. In a statement, Casey said he had just called McCormick to congratulate him. “As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last,” Casey said. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on Nov. 7, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead. As of Thursday, McCormick led by about 16,000 votes out of almost 7 million ballots counted. That was well within the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. But no election official expected a recount to change more than a couple hundred votes or so, and Pennsylvania’s highest court dealt him a blow when it refused entreaties to allow counties to count mail-in ballots that lacked a correct handwritten date on the return envelope. Republicans will have a 53-47 majority next year in the U.S. Senate. Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter
Adams puts up 21, CSU Northridge defeats Montana State 72-69 in OTBaku: Countries agreed on Sunday to an annual finance target of $460 billion to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of climate change, with rich countries leading the payments, according to a hard fought deal clinched at the COP29 conference in Baku. The new goal is intended to replace developed countries’ previous commitment to provide $150 billion per year in climate finance for poorer nations by 2020. That goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025. Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 UN Climate Summit. Credit: AP Countries also agreed on rules for a global market to buy and sell carbon credits that proponents say could mobilise billions more dollars into new projects to help fight global warming, from reforestation to deployment of clean energy technologies. On Saturday, negotiators went from one big room where everyone tried to hash out a deal together into several separate huddles of upset nations. More to come Reuters Get to the heart of what’s happening with climate change and the environment. Sign up for our fortnightly Environment newsletter. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Climate crisis Azerbaijan United Nations Most Viewed in Environment LoadingPHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Dorn's 21 points helped Elon defeat Navy 69-63 on Saturday night. Dorn shot 6 of 15 from the field, including 6 for 13 from 3-point range, and went 3 for 4 from the line for the Phoenix (4-3). TK Simpkins scored 20 points while shooting 6 for 14 (4 for 7 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds. TJ Simpkins had 15 points and shot 4 of 11 from the field, including 0 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 7 for 10 from the line. The Midshipmen (3-5) were led by Austin Benigni, who recorded 18 points. Sam Krist added 12 points and two steals for Navy. Cam Cole also recorded 11 points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Wild weather smashes five states
In Surveilled ( now streaming on Max ), celeb journalist Ronan Farrow investigates how governments use powerful spyware to hack phones and keep tabs on people. The cynical among us won’t be surprised to hear this. But that cynicism is further fortified by Farrow’s discovery that it’s not just fascist despots enacting this breach of privacy and civil liberties – democratic governments are using the software to monitor their own citizens, among them political dissidents and journalists. Farrow grew interested in the topic after his high-profile exposes of Harvey Weinstein and Leslie Moonves’ resulted in him being surveilled by private investigators who used his phone to track him. Farrow has since published multiple pieces in The New Yorker about this troubling technology, with his 2022 story headlined “How Democracies Spy on Their Citizens” forming the basis of this eye-opening hour-long documentary. SURVEILLED : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? The Gist: The NSO Group is a cyberintelligence organization based in Israel, and infamous for its software dubbed Pegasus, which allows users remote access to smartphones. The company’s only customers are governments, and both parties claim Pegasus is used solely to combat organized crime and terrorism. The software is credited for being a key component in the arrest of infamous Mexican cartel lord El Chapo – but it also has been linked with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi government agents. Pegasus exploits code loopholes in various apps, most famously WhatsApp, which scrambled to patch its security vulnerabilities to combat the spyware, and subsequently sued NSO. The most distressing thing about Pegasus? It can worm its way into phones and not only access its data – photos, web history, etc. – but record audio and video without the user even being aware of it. The documentary follows Farrow throughout 2021 and 2022 as he travels from continent to continent investigating this shady activity. Scrutiny on NSO in the wake of its very public controversies found the company adopting a new philosophy of “transparency,” which meant Farrow was allowed to visit its lavish Tel Aviv headquarters to interview various employees – under the watchful eye of its PR rep, of course. The company opened the doors to the press, “up to a point,” Farrow narrates. He walked away with a variety of assertions that NSO’s vetting process for assuring its government clients use Pegasus responsibly is tight. Take our word for it is the takeaway. Trust us. Of course, Farrow distrusts such assurances and digs deeper. He finds a former NSO employee willing to dish on the company’s questionable ethics as long as his identity remains anonymous. He travels to Toronto, where activists at a group known as Citizen Lab have developed a means of testing phones for traces of Pegasus activity. Farrow then follows that thread to Spain, specifically Barcelona, where Citizen Lab investigator Elies Campo learned that the democratic government has been using Pegasus to spy on activists, journalists and politicians supporting a separatist movement in Catalan. From there, Farrow returns to the U.S. to ask politicians what they’re doing to combat such surveillance tactics, and if they’re using them in any capacity. The answer is complicated of course, but it’s also a big fat yes, although entirely within the civil liberties of the citizenry. Farrow’s takeaway? Take our word for it. Trust us. What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Kill Chain , The Swamp , After Truth ... all docs, like Surveilled , that we wish didn’t have to exist. Performance Worth Watching: Campo is an underappreciated hero of the movement to combat Pegasus, at great personal sacrifice – we learn that the Spanish government hacked his family members’ phones to keep tabs on him. Memorable Dialogue: Farrow asks Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes if the U.S. government uses Pegasus. The politician says yes, but only so the FBI can be fully informed about how it works so they can better combat it: “The notion that, for the first time in our history, we’re gonna say we’re gonna let all the bad guys have technology that we’re not going to use – that’s a novel concept. And when you really think it through, a little bit of a scary concept.” Sex and Skin: None. Our Take: “A little bit of a scary concept.” Understatement of the year. Another disconcerting truth Farrow underscores in Surveilled ? “You can’t put the tech genie back in the bottle,” a U.S. government official says. In other words, once Pegasus is out there flying around, it can’t be eradicated. Now, if you’re wondering what kind of grim, hopeless conclusion Farrow reaches by the end of the doc, well, here it is: “Our only path toward privacy might be living without our phones.” Loll that notion around in your brain, parse it critically with all the even-handed logic and reason you can muster, consider the context of life in America (and other countries wrangling with political instability, of course) and the conclusion you’ll reach is pithy and obvious: We’re doomed. Sorry to be a bummer. Just reflecting the tone and message of this documentary. But hey, at least we’re better informed about things, right? It’s always better to know things than not know things, I keep telling myself, not sure if I’m lying to myself at least a little bit, and realizing that this is always the silver lining one paints atop bad news. We do get some glimpses into the diligence of serious investigative journalism as we watch Farrow poke and prod and dig and ask difficult questions. It’s not his responsibility to spin things positive or make us feel better. He doesn’t offer a viable solution to the problem of state-sponsored citizen surveillance; let’s face it, asking billions of people to smash their phones with a peen hammer is like asking a crocodile to please let go of your leg, because ow, that hurts. We’re too dependent on the tech, and many of us are all too willing to look the other way, or compromise our civil liberties for the sake of convenience, or be complicit in that look all you want because I never do anything wrong sense. These notions bubble up during the course of Surveilled , alongside a quieter subtextual assertion that we shouldn’t expect allegedly democratic governments to do the right thing for the sake of the greater good, the U.S. included. Consider the words Rep. Himes uses here: “the bad guys.” What a relative term. The U.S. government is certainly considered to be “the bad guys” in other parts of the world, and maybe even within its own borders. Also not particularly reassuring: The Pegasus ordeal puts massive tech conglomerates like Apple and Microsoft on the frontlines of the battle against NSO, since their products are being exploited for nefarious means; on one hand, Big Tech has lots of money and sharklike lawyers at their disposable, but on the other, we trust them as much as the government to do the right thing. All kinds of troublesome information spills out of Surveilled , a documentary that offers reportage so vital, it’s no fun to watch whatsoever. Our Call: For better or worse, we’re more informed about very bad things after watching Surveilled . STREAM IT, then go pour yourself 17 stiff drinks. John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Auckland air traffic controllers’ view partly blocked by new airport buildingThrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in IPG Photonics Co. ( NASDAQ:IPGP – Free Report ) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,758 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,525 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in IPG Photonics were worth $1,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in IPG Photonics by 5.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 10.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 11.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 45,444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,121,000 after acquiring an additional 4,503 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in IPG Photonics in the first quarter worth about $2,687,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in IPG Photonics by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 916,877 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,375,000 after acquiring an additional 11,548 shares in the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. IPG Photonics Price Performance IPGP opened at $78.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -22.49 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $76.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.12. IPG Photonics Co. has a 1 year low of $61.86 and a 1 year high of $111.11. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades IPGP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IPG Photonics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.50. Check Out Our Latest Report on IPG Photonics IPG Photonics Company Profile ( Free Report ) IPG Photonics Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells various high-performance fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, and diode lasers used in various applications primarily in materials processing worldwide. Its laser products include hybrid fiber-solid state lasers with green and ultraviolet wavelengths; fiber pigtailed packaged diodes and fiber coupled direct diode laser systems; high-energy pulsed lasers, multi-wavelength and tunable lasers, and single-polarization and single-frequency lasers; and high-power optical fiber delivery cables, fiber couplers, beam switches, chillers, scanners, and other accessories. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IPGP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for IPG Photonics Co. ( NASDAQ:IPGP – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for IPG Photonics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for IPG Photonics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
A new study has found that a growing number of Brits are uninterested in buying a new car , hanging on to their old model for years longer. The world is currently facing some of the biggest changes since the invention of the motor car at the end of the 19th century, with the shift towards electric power and development of autonomous technology meaning designs are changing at a rapid rate. However, Umesh Samani, Chairman of the Independent Motor Dealers Association , noted that these developments are not translating into more sales , with drivers more inclined to hang on to their current model. He explained: "People are definitely spending money to keep their cars on the road as opposed to upgrading. The majority just want a car which gets them from A to B, and it’ll stay that way. "People are already planning these things in their head. They know that down the road, there won’t be a choice of petrol , so they’re thinking ‘well, this could be my last one so I’ll keep it longer’." The introduction of new electric vehicles is largely encouraged by mandates imposed by Governments worldwide in a bid to lower the effects of climate change, particularly to improve air quality in urban environments. The UK is no exception, with the Government proposing a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel models in 2030, and plug-in hybrids in 2035. In addition, car manufacturers also face strict quotas surrounding the number of EVs they must sell, risking a £15,000 fine for each model left unsold. Whilst around a quarter of all new cars sold in November 2024 were electric, there are still a considerable percentage of motorists who do not wish to make the switch anytime soon. As a result, the average car on the UK roads is getting older. According to a study published in April 2024 by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the typical age of a car in the UK being nine years old. In particular, the study found that the average cost of new cars is increasing, with Auto Trader highlighting that motorists typically fork out more than £40,000 for their next model. Across the board, new car prices have risen significantly over the past few years due to a wide variety of reasons, particularly the rising cost of labour and tightening Government legislation surrounding safety features and emissions meaning companies are forced to add more technology into their models, reducing profit margins. Umesh noted that this is causing manufacturers to drop models that were once some of the most popular, particularly entry-level city cars like the Citroen C1 and Nissan Micra. He added: "People want little cars like that as a runabout, but they’re not making little sports cars any more. There aren’t many of what I call desirable cars on the market, and people aren’t particularly jumping up and down to buy EVs." Moreover the city cars that remain on sale have seen some of the most significant rises. In 2014, a Fiat 500 1.2 POP cost motorists £8,047. Today, the equivalent 500 1.0 Mild Hybrid costs more than double at £16,800. Whilst the amount of UK drivers interested in buying a new car is on the decline, the Government have vowed to rethink the current mandate surrounding electric vehicles in order to put less pressure on manufacturers. Under the current EV quota system, the SMMT predict that car companies will be fined a combined total of £1.8 billion, despite spending a further £4 billion discounting the cost of electric models to boost interest. A number of motoring experts have suggested that more incentives need to be put in place to make sure EVs are more affordable to consumers whilst also supporting businesses.SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Spencer Knight made 20 saves, Mackie Samoskevich scored with less than a second left in the second period, and the Florida Panthers got four goals in the third to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-0 on Saturday and complete a two-day sweep. Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Evan Rodrigues and Adam Boqvist also scored for Florida, which won 6-3 at Carolina on Friday. The Panthers have won three straight — that streak following a stretch of six losses in seven games for the Stanley Cup champions. It was Knight's fourth career shutout, his first since Nov. 9, 2022 — also at home against Carolina. Spencer Martin made 23 saves on 28 shots for the Hurricanes, who have dropped four of their last six games (2-3-1). It was Martin's fourth consecutive start for Carolina. Hurricanes: This was the first time all season that the Hurricanes failed to get a point in the game immediately following a loss. Carolina was 4-0-1 after a defeat entering Saturday. Panthers: A big day for Samoskevich — his alma mater Michigan beat Ohio State in football on Saturday, that game ending just before the Florida-Carolina game started. The Panthers are 5-0-0 when he scores this season. Sam Reinhart had each of the four most recent Florida goals at 19:59, before Samoskevich got his Saturday. The Panthers scored two goals 11 seconds apart in the third to make it 5-0, and Yaniv Perets replaced Martin in the Hurricanes' net with 8:12 remaining. It was the second NHL appearance for Perets, who came on once in relief for Carolina last season. Ekblad's goal was his first in a span of 1,045 regular-season shifts since Feb. 20. Carolina starts a two-game homestand Tuesday against Seattle. Florida goes to Pittsburgh to start a two-game trip on Tuesday. AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
UCF will attempt to shake off a dreadful offensive performance when it collides with LSU on Sunday afternoon in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. The Knights (4-1) couldn't get anything going against No. 19 Wisconsin on Friday, going 21-for-62 from the field (33.9 percent) and just 2-for-17 from 3-point range (11.8 percent) en route to an 86-70 loss. Jordan Ivy-Curry finished with 13 points while Keyshawn Hall and Dior Johnson added 11 apiece for UCF, which never led and fell behind by as many as 23. Knights coach Johnny Dawkins is hoping that his team's struggles don't carry over into the meeting with the Tigers (4-1). "We have to do better offensively," Dawkins said. "We have to space the floor better. We have to balance our offense between our perimeter and our bigs. Those are things that we didn't do consistently (on Friday)." LSU also needs to clean things up after committing 15 turnovers in a 74-63 setback against Pitt on Friday. Tigers forward Jalen Reed doesn't believe giving the ball away will be a lingering issue. "I feel like a lot of our turnovers were more on us than them," Reed said. "I feel like a lot of the turnovers were careless, but we're a better team than that and I feel like we'll take care of the ball better moving forward." Reed and Vyctorius Miller each posted 14 points in the loss to the Panthers, with Reed also hauling in seven rebounds. Cam Carter chipped in 11 points. Carter is putting up a team-leading 16.4 points per game. Jordan Sears (12.0 points per game), Reed (11.0) and Miller (10.2) also have scoring averages in double figures. Ivy-Curry (16.8 points per game), Hall (16.2) and Darius Johnson (13.0) have been leading the way for UCF. Sunday marks the first-ever meeting between the Knights and Tigers. --Field Level MediaEVP At Nordson Buys $361K of Stock
U.S. stock indexes edged higher in morning trading Tuesday, as gains for some Big Tech stocks made up for weakness elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 14 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:58 a.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was up 0.7%. Gains in technology, financial and other sectors tempered a pullback by health care, energy and other stocks. Chip company Broadcom rose 1.3%, while semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 1.2%. American Airlines fell 1.2% after the airline briefly grounded flights nationwide due to a technical issue. U.S. Steel slipped 0.5% a day after an influential government panel failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of the nearly $15 billion proposed sale to Nippon Steel of Japan. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.62% from 4.59% late Monday. European markets were mostly higher. Markets in Asia mostly gained ground. U.S. markets will close at 1 p.m. Eastern and stay closed Wednesday for Christmas. Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to this week, including a weekly update on unemployment benefits on Thursday.
Democrat Bob Casey concedes to Republican David McCormick in Pennsylvania Senate contestOn Monday I got a call about Dr Yang Hengjun’s worsening health and the latest humiliating mistreatment of him in prison. We hoped that it would be raised at the Xi-Albanese meeting early Tuesday morning Australian time. Given last week’s odd praise for PM Albanese by the state-owned outlet China Daily, we had to make sure there was no fear of loss of face by bringing up something contentious, and which highlighted our differences. It was out of character for China Daily to praise a Western leader, and sweet talk from the government mouthpiece should make one suspicious. Was it a sophisticated insult ("high-class tar" as Chinese slang goes) to divide and conquer our political landscape, or to soften Australia into giving up something at the G20 summit? We hope our prime minister leveraged China’s "goodwill" to press hard on helping Dr Yang. As someone who was locked up in the same place as Dr Yang, I know the weight of each word that comes out of incarceration, especially regarding hunger, health, deprivation. The words of suffering are distilled and compressed, and sometimes it feels like throwing stones into a valley and hoping for a small echo. As someone who also had no voice and was helped by journalists, media outlets, politicians and ordinary people, I am duty-bound to speak up for Dr Yang. In his July 21 letter to family obtained and translated by Sky News Australia, Dr Yang tells of his difficult transition to jail life - saying he still prefers the scorching sun to the "comfort" of air-conditioned detention. It is heartbreaking to read that "in February 2024, when I was taken to the Beijing Intermediate Court for sentencing, both my experience and the judgment of experienced lawyers indicated that I would be sentenced to at most five years". "But the result was (suspended) death sentence with reprieve. When I returned to the detention centre, I told my cellmates, and they thought I was joking, but I just walked around for two hours without reading a book, which convinced them," the letter continues. "Because for the past five years, unless I was following the rules (sitting on the wooden plank bed and doing nothing else) or eating or exercising, I had never spent ten minutes without reading." When the footage of China bundling British journalists away from the Starmer-Xi meeting at the G20 summit came out this week, I had a sense of déjà vu. Just like when I was blocked from the cameras during Chinese premier Li Qiang’s visit. It's that same disregard of journalists as if swatting flies away, the same indifference to how it looks in the world media, because none of this will show up in the alternate universe created by the Great Firewall of China. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong democracy sentencings also hit close to home. My friend Kevin Yam, who has a $1 million HK dollar bounty on his head, laments that it could just as well be him behind bars instead of the others. Gordon Ng, an Australian citizen, who went to Waverley Secondary and then UNSW, was sentenced to seven years and three months for helping to publicise Hong Kong's primary elections, for believing in free and fair elections to counterbalance tyranny. Would he be forgotten by the Australian government because he has dual citizenship? Forgotten by the Australian people because he doesn't have an ocker personality? If we are to balance Australia’s interests with our values, we should fairly and openly call out behaviours breaching our standards just as often as we talk up our trading relationship with China – or can we? Are our values worth $320 billion? While Xi told Biden on November 16 about the uncrossable four red lines – "the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, China’s path and system, China’s development right", there were more random hate crimes out of China. Another car ramming – this time at a primary school in Hunan, coming on top of last week’s horrific rampage at a sports centre in Zhuhai. Plus a disgruntled tech school graduate stabbing fellow students in Jiangsu province. It adds to a tragic list and has come to be known as the "Xianzhong" phenomenon, in reference to a Ming dynasty. The nightmarish footage of blood being pressure-hosed in Zhuhai reminded me of a recent seminar I went to. Wang Dan, 1989 Tiananmen protest leader, spoke on China’s current mood, and pointed to a song called ‘Big Dream’ which had gone viral in China for capturing the zeitgeist. It is a melancholic song that goes through a Chinese person’s life from the age of 6 to 88 - the refrain "so what do I do?" echoing the helplessness and desperation many feel in the face of unemployment, lack of housing, difficulty in finding a partner and unaffordable healthcare. So far the song hasn’t been censored because it doesn’t openly criticise the regime, but the title does cock an ironic brow at president Xi’s "China Dream". Given the strains of government finances, the faint drummings of war (both military and trade), a decidedly challenging future with an ageing population and underfunded social welfare, state controls have become tighter on expression of simmering discontent, even at the risk of ruptures that we are seeing. On Saturday I took my kids to see a performance at the Melbourne Arts Centre called 'Made in China 2.0', it is brilliant, moving, entertaining and thought-provoking. But the creator, who is Chinese, asked everyone not to share online what the show is about – because what has happened to me may happen to him. The next day I met him and exiled Chinese writer Murong Xuecun. Our discussion turned to "How to prepare for Chinese incarceration" which entails everything from fattening up to having multiple copies of signed power of attorney for human rights lawyers and drafted statements to be released at each stage of the judicial process. It is darkly funny but also a serious necessity for anyone critical of the Chinese regime in China. For those of us who don’t have to fear incarceration, if we don’t speak up, we are wasting our freedom of speech.