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0nline slots Hong Kong is set to grapple with a turbulent market in 2025 amid uncertainties stemming from geopolitical tensions and high interest rates, the city’s finance chief has said, vowing to expand ties with other economies and promote the innovation and technology (I&T) sector. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also said on Sunday the city had made “steady progress” over the past year despite similar uncertainties, pointing to improving capital market sentiment and signs of growth in the stock and property markets. Over the past year, the Hang Seng Index has returned to the 20,000 level with the stock market going up by 18 per cent. The average daily transaction volume surpassed HK$132 billion (US$17 billion), a 25 per cent uptick from last year. The city also remained in 4th position globally in terms of IPO fundraising this year. Chan noted that the city’s annual economic growth forecast stood at 2.5 per cent and the current unemployment rate had lowered to 3.1 per cent, while inflation remained mild and residents’ incomes had “recorded a real increase”. But the minister said the retail and catering sectors still faced significant hurdles, even with more than 44 million visitor arrivals being recorded so far this year, a 30 per cent year-on-year increase, and the recent resumption of a multiple-entry visa scheme for Shenzhen residents. “Looking ahead to 2025, uncertainties arising from geopolitics and a prolonged period of high interest rates will contribute to a more turbulent market,” Chan wrote on his official blog.Brentford boss Thomas Frank claimed Brighton forward Joao Pedro should have been sent off during his side’s goalless Premier League draw at the Amex Stadium. Pedro escaped punishment after swinging an arm at Bees substitute substitute Yehor Yarmoliuk without making contact. VAR reviewed the second-half incident but deemed there was no violent conduct. Frank and Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler disagreed about the decision. “As I understand the rules, you can’t swing your arm to try to hit someone,” said Frank. “If you hit them or not, it’s a red, that’s the way I understand the rules.” Frank spoke to the match officials, including referee Andy Madley, about the flashpoint at full-time. “They haven’t seen the situation yet, not on TV afterwards,” said Frank. “To be fair to him, I think the angle can be tricky so that’s why you’ve got VAR.” Asked about Frank’s assessment, Hurzeler replied: “Interesting opinion. I see it completely different. “For me, it’s not a red card. He tried to get free from a person.” Brighton were booed off after their winless run was stretched to six top-flight games. Albion dominated for large periods and hit the woodwork inside four minutes through Julio Enciso. Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken made some important saves before being forced off injured in the 36th minute, albeit his replacement Hakon Valdimarsson was rarely tested on his Premier League debut. The Seagulls remain 10th ahead of Monday’s trip to Aston Villa, with Brentford a position and two points below moving towards their New Year’s Day showdown with Arsenal. Hurzeler thought the jeers at full-time were unfair. “The team doesn’t deserve that because in all the games we had in the last weeks they were all good, they were all intense, they were all where we thought we deserved more” said the German, whose team have lost to Fulham and Crystal Palace and drawn with Southampton, Leicester and West Ham in recent matches. “We try to work hard to satisfy our supporters, we try to give them what they deserve, we try to make them proud. “But the Premier League is tough. We know there will be (tough) periods we have to go through, especially with this young squad. “We try to stick together, find the positive and keep on going.” Brentford, who remain without a top-flight away win this term, had an early Yoane Wissa finish ruled out for offside following VAR intervention but barely threatened, despite an improved second-half showing. Frank, who is awaiting news on Flekken and defender Ben Mee, who also left the field injured, said: “I thought it was a fair point. “Brighton were better in the first half, no big, clearcut chances, and I thought we were better second half. “Overall, I’m happy with the performance, especially the way we defended. “We haven’t had too many clean sheets this season, so in that context I thought it was very impressive against a good Brighton team. “We know we have a lot of players out – we get two more injuries during the game. “The way the players showed their mentality and character and dug in was hugely impressive.”A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here . President-elect Donald Trump has for years been railing against the concept of birthright citizenship in the 14th Amendment. During the 2024 presidential campaign, he promised that, on Day One of his second term, he would issue an executive order ending the current policy, which he said in a video is “based on a historical myth and a willful misinterpretation of the law.” A constitutional amendment beats an executive order every time in the US system of government, but Trump’s position represents the persistent belief that something should be done to stop the children of undocumented immigrants from claiming US citizenship. How might Trump challenge birthright citizenship? In that campaign video, Trump said his executive order will make “clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic US citizenship.” CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez has reported that Trump’s new administration could stop issuing passports to the children of the undocumented, engineering a legal showdown over the issue. In addition, Trump’s team might step up “expedited removal” of undocumented immigrants across the country without a court hearing, challenging another sentence of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection to every person under the law. Both Trump and his incoming “border czar,” Tom Homan , have said they will not shy away from deporting the parents of US citizens who are children. “If you come in the country and have a child, that’s on you. You can either take the child with you, but that’s on you,” Homan said on Tuesday in Chicago , adding he would target undocumented people living in cities like Chicago that have sanctuary policies. As president in 2020, Trump tried to restrict visas for pregnant women entering the US for so-called birth tourism. Why does the US have birthright citizenship? The US has birthright citizenship to guarantee that the descendants of people brought to the US against their will and sold as slaves are citizens. In probably the worst moment in the US Supreme Court’s history , the Dred Scott decision of 1857, then-Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote for a 7-2 majority that no descendant of an enslaved person could be a US citizen. Scott was an enslaved man from Missouri who had lived in free territories with his Army surgeon owner. He sued for freedom after returning to Missouri. The decision was undone by the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed that everyone born in the US was a citizen of the US and protected by its Bill of Rights. What does the 14th Amendment say? Here’s the text of the first portion of the amendment: The language is pretty clear. Anyone born in the US is a citizen of the US. For more on the history of the amendment, read this excellent explainer from CNN’s AJ Willingham, written in 2018, when Trump threatened as president to challenge the concept of birthright citizenship. How could the 14th Amendment not apply to the children of the undocumented? One of the main backers of the idea that the amendment does not apply to children of undocumented immigrants born in the US is John Eastman, the very same lawyer who hatched the six-step game plan by which Trump attempted to subvert the 2020 election results. While Trump is returning to the White House, Eastman has since been indicted in Georgia and Arizona for election interference and disbarred in California. But before any of that, he was pushing the idea that the country has been misinterpreting the 14th Amendment for the past 150-plus years. He argued that the phrase in between the commas, “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” essentially disqualifies the children of people not legally living in the US. All it would take is for Congress to pass a law expressly saying the children of people in the country illegally cannot have citizenship, according to Eastman and some other scholars. It’s a fringe theory in that even conservative lawyers and judges have rejected it. Judge invites new ‘invasion’ theory For more on why Eastman’s argument does not apply, look to James Ho, now a Trump-appointed judge on the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Ho wrote in 2006 that the 14th Amendment was enacted expressly to undo the Dred Scott decision and return the US to principles of English common law, by which everyone born in the country was a citizen. Note: The United Kingdom actually did away with unrestricted birthright citizenship with its British Nationality Act of 1981 , but many other countries, including Canada and Mexico on either side of the US, still adhere to the principle. Ho, a potential contender for a Supreme Court seat if one opens up during Trump’s new term, raised many eyebrows when he was interviewed by the libertarian Reason magazine in November. Without commenting on any specific cases, he added a qualification to his legal support for birthright citizenship. Ho said this: Earlier this year, coincidentally, CNN’s John Fritze notes that Ho had used that term, “invasion,” in a concurring opinion on a different topic. “In an opinion this summer dealing with Texas’ construction of a floating barrier on the Rio Grande, Ho wrote that Texas should have prevailed in the case because the state was repelling an ‘invasion’ of migrants,” according to Fritze. Has the Supreme Court ever ruled on this? The Supreme Court did unequivocally find in the case of Wong Kim Ark in 1898 that the children of noncitizens born in the US to “resident aliens” are citizens under the 14th Amendment. Wong Kim Ark was born in the US to Chinese immigrants but denied entry back into the country after a trip to China due to the Chinese Exclusion Act . Ho described the circumstances of that case in his 2006 defense of birthright citizenship. He included this sweeping language confirming the principle of birthright citizenship from the 1898 court: At the time, Ho argued that the decision extended citizenship to people born in the US regardless of immigration status. Why doesn’t Trump just change the Constitution? There hasn’t been a constitutional amendment ratified in more than 30 years. They’re notoriously hard to enact. They can either be proposed by a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers of Congress or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the states. The amendment must then also be ratified by three-quarters of state legislatures or of special conventions called in each state. If talk of Trump and the 14th Amendment sounds familiar, that’s because a different section of the amendment bars people who engaged in or aided insurrection against the US from serving in federal office. The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that the insurrection clause could only be applied to Trump by an act of Congress, clearing the way for his appearance on ballots this fall.Steady Profit Grower Mastercard Hits New High, Primes For Next Move

NEW YORK — Stocks fell broadly on Friday as Wall Street closed out a holiday-shortened week on a down note. The losses were made worse by sharp declines for the Big Tech stocks known as the “Magnificent 7,” which can heavily influence the direction of the market because of their large size. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 66.75 points, or 1.1%, to 5,970.84. Roughly 90% of stocks in the benchmark index lost ground, but it managed to hold onto a modest gain of 0.7% for the week. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 333.59 points, or 0.8%, to 42,992.21. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite shed 298.33 points, or 1.5%, to 19,722.03. Semiconductor giant Nvidia slumped 2.1%. Microsoft declined 1.7%. Each has a market value above $3 trillion, giving the companies outsize sway on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. A wide range of retailers also fell. Amazon fell 1.5% and Best Buy slipped 1.5%. The sector is being closely watched for clues on how it performed during the holiday shopping season. Energy stocks held up better than the rest of the market, with a loss of less than 0.1% as crude oil prices rose. “There’s just some uncertainty over this relief rally we’ve witnessed since last week,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial. The S&P 500 gained nearly 3% over a three-day stretch before breaking for Christmas. On Thursday, the index posted a small decline. Despite Friday’s drop, the market is moving closer to another standout annual finish . The S&P 500 is on track for a gain of about 25% in 2024. That would mark a second consecutive yearly gain of more than 20%, the first time that has happened since 1997-98. The gains have been driven partly by upbeat economic data showing that consumers continued spending and the labor market remained strong. Inflation, although still high, has also been steadily easing. A report Friday showed that sales and inventory estimates for the wholesale trade industry fell 0.2% in November, after a slight gain in October. That weaker-than-expected report follows an update on the labor market Thursday that showed unemployment benefits held steady last week. The stream of upbeat economic data and easing inflation helped prompt a reversal in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy this year. Expectations for interest rate cuts also helped drive market gains. The central bank recently delivered its third cut to interest rates in 2024. Even though inflation has come closer to the central bank’s target of 2%, it remains stubbornly above that mark and worries about it heating up again have tempered the forecast for more interest rate cuts. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market’s path ahead and shifting economic policies under incoming President Trump. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade. Amedisys rose 4.7% after the home health care and hospice services provider agreed to extend the deadline for its sale to UnitedHealth Group. The Justice Department had sued to block the $3.3-billion deal, citing concerns the combination would hinder access to home health and hospice services in the U.S. The move to extend the deadline comes ahead of an expected shift in regulatory policy under Trump. The incoming administration is expected to have a more permissive approach to dealmaking and is less likely to raise antitrust concerns. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark index surged as the yen remained weak against the dollar. Stocks in South Korea fell after the main opposition party voted to impeach the country’s acting leader. Markets in Europe gained ground. Bond yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.62% from 4.59% late Thursday. The yield on the two-year Treasury remained at 4.33% from late Thursday. Wall Street will have more economic updates to look forward to next week, including reports on pending home sales and home prices. There will also be reports on U.S. construction spending and snapshots of manufacturing activity. Troise writes for the Associated Press.Stock market today: Wall Street’s rally stalls as Nasdaq pulls back from its recordPSNI's new gender pronoun name badges branded "woke nonsense" by DUP Policing Board member

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A since-deleted TikTok purportedly depicts a person using an illegal flamethrower to burn the words “TRUMP” and “USA” onto a street in Glen Burnie, according to a screen recording obtained by the Capital Gazette. Before it was taken down, the TikTok post was used by Anne Arundel County Fire investigators to file one felony and two misdemeanors against . Authorities say McQuin, 35, set the road outside his home ablaze less than two weeks after Donald Trump won the presidency for a second, nonconsecutive term. Attorney Richard Altmark, who identified himself in an email as representing McQuin, declined to comment Wednesday. Messages sent to social media accounts for McQuin’s wife, who investigators say first published the TikTok, were not returned. The 30-second video, first published Nov. 15, shows a person walk up to a black-outlined set of letters on a street. A line of small flames ignites a blue ring of fire that expands across the road. The flamethrower soon pushes a streak into the air before the person directs it to the ground. Doing so, the word “TRUMP” appears across Hickory Hollow Drive in an orange glow. One photograph then shows the same person posing with their work before transitioning to another with the enflamed “USA.” The TikTok ends with a clip of the person setting off a firework. During the entire video, a song celebrating Trump and denouncing President Joe Biden plays in the background, while “God Bless America!” sits onscreen in red font. Investigators responded to the Creekside Village community Nov. 15 following a vandalism complaint, according to charging documents. The burn marks, they said, had stretched between 15 and 20 feet in length and approximately 5 feet in width, costing $5,500 to repair. After speaking with someone in the neighborhood’s homeowners association, investigators were told a video of the incident had been posted online by McQuin’s wife, according to charging documents. Most of the TikTok page is dedicated to two pigs she cares for, though one post makes reference to a construction site outside the White House and says, “Hang them all!” As of Monday, the flamethrower video could no longer be viewed on the wife’s TikTok account. A representative from the Creekside Village Homeowners Association declined to comment or provide the name of its president Wednesday. The association’s website does not list its board members. The flamethrower McQuin allegedly used can be purchased in every state except Maryland, according to its manufacturer, Exothermic Technologies. Though the Florida-based company describes the device allegedly used in Glen Burnie as a “long range torch,” capable of launching fire up to 25 feet, it said flamethrowers are “outright prohibited” in Maryland. State law categorizes flamethrowers as “ ,” similar to a grenade, Molotov cocktail or missile. The felony McQuin faces for possessing a destructive device carries with it a 25-year maximum sentence and/or a fine upwards of $250,000. Though a summons has been issued for McQuin to appear before a judge, a date was not specified in the court record.FREMONT, Calif. & CLEARWATER, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 12, 2024-- TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) today announced it will report its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of fiscal 2024 before the U.S. market opens on Thursday, January 9, 2025. A conference call to review the results will be held at 6:00 a.m. PT / 9:00 a.m. ET the same day. The quarterly earnings press release and a live audio webcast of the earnings call will be accessible at ir.tdsynnex.com , and a replay of the webcast will be available following the call. About TD SYNNEX TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem. We are an innovative partner helping more than 150,000 customers in 100+ countries to maximize the value of technology investments, demonstrate business outcomes and unlock growth opportunities. Headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, and Fremont, California, TD SYNNEX’s 23,000 co-workers are dedicated to uniting compelling IT products, services and solutions from 2,500+ best-in-class technology vendors. Our edge-to-cloud portfolio is anchored in some of the highest-growth technology segments including cloud, cybersecurity, big data/analytics, AI, IoT, mobility and everything as a service. TD SYNNEX is committed to serving customers and communities, and we believe we can have a positive impact on our people and our planet, intentionally acting as a respected corporate citizen. We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer of choice for talent across the IT ecosystem. For more information, visit www.TDSYNNEX.com, follow our newsroom or follow us on LinkedIn , Facebook and Instagram . Safe Harbor Statement Statements in this news release that are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance that may be suggested in this release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release. Copyright 2024 TD SYNNEX Corporation. All rights reserved. TD SYNNEX, the TD SYNNEX Logo, and all other TD SYNNEX company, product and services names and slogans are trademarks of TD SYNNEX Corporation. Other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212703934/en/ CONTACT: Jack Huddleston, CFA Investor Relations 510-668-8436 ir@tdsynnex.comBobby Eagle Global Corporate Communications 727-538-5864 bobby.eagle@tdsynnex.com KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA FLORIDA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MOBILE/WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY SECURITY PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SOFTWARE INTERNET DATA ANALYTICS DATA MANAGEMENT IOT (INTERNET OF THINGS) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOURCE: TD SYNNEX Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/12/2024 04:05 PM/DISC: 12/12/2024 04:04 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212703934/enStock market today: Wall Street gains ground as it notches a winning week and another Dow record

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Thomas Frank unhappy with officials in game with BrightonZimbabwean rapper Holy Ten has intensified his beef with controversial businessman and “tenderpreneur” Wicknell Chivayo, accusing him of attempting to buy his support with an insulting offer. The conflict centers around Chivayo’s proposition to gift Holy Ten a luxury car in exchange for backing the ruling party during the last Zimbabwean elections. However, Holy Ten rejected the offer, calling it deeply offensive. “I support the president, but I don’t support the president so that I get a GLE,” Holy Ten stated. “The fact that you are even telling me you wanted to buy me a GLE is insulting. If someone wants to buy me a car, they need to start at the G-Wagon.” Holy Ten’s remarks come amid his growing frustration with Chivayo, a businessman known for his close ties to the government. Chivayo’s offer of a Mercedes-Benz GLE was seen by the rapper as an attempt to secure his political allegiance, but Holy Ten has made it clear that he is not interested in such materialistic gestures. The exchange highlights the ongoing tensions surrounding wealth, power, and political influence in Zimbabwe, with Holy Ten pushing back against attempts to buy his loyalty. His comments also reflect his stance on authenticity and integrity, making it clear that his support cannot be bought. “I’m not someone who is swayed by material things,” Holy Ten emphasized. “If you want my support, it should come from a place of true understanding, not just because you can offer me a car.” This clash between Holy Ten and Chivayo has sparked further debate about the intersection of politics and celebrity culture in Zimbabwe, with many watching closely to see how the feud unfolds. By A CorrespondentNEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing lower as Wall Street ends a holiday-shortened week on a down note. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% Friday and the the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 333 points, or 0.8%. The Nasdaq composite dropped 1.5%. The “Magnificent 7” stocks weighed on the market, led by declines in Nvidia, Tesla and Microsoft. Even with the loss, the S&P 500 had a modest gain for the week and is still headed for its second consecutive annual gain of more than 20%, the first time that has happened since 1997-1998. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.62%. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks are dragging down the market Friday as Wall Street closes out a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, with more than 90% of stocks in the benchmark index losing ground. The benchmark index was managing to hold onto a modest gain for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 418 points, or 1%, to 42,878 as of 1:43 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.8%. Technology stocks were the biggest weight on the market Friday. Semiconductor giant Nvidia slumped 2.7%. Its enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes. Other Big Tech stocks losing ground included Microsoft, with a 2% decline. A wide range of retailers also fell. Amazon fell 1.9% and Best Buy slipped 1.8%. The sector is being closely watched for clues on how it performed during the holiday shopping season. Energy stocks held up better than the rest of the market, with a loss of just 0.1% as crude oil prices rose 1.4%. The S&P 500 gained nearly 3% over a 3-day stretch before breaking for the Christmas holiday. On Thursday, the index posted a small decline. “There's just some uncertainty over this relief rally we've witnessed since last week,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial. Despite Friday's drop, the market is moving closer to another standout annual finish . The S&P 500 is on track for a gain of around 25% in 2024. That would mark a second consecutive yearly gain of more than 20%, the first time that has happened since 1997-1998. The gains have been driven partly by upbeat economic data showing that consumers continued spending and the labor market remained strong. Inflation, while still high, has also been steadily easing. A report on Friday showed that sales and inventory estimates for the wholesales trade industry fell 0.2% in November, following a slight gain in October. That weaker-than-expected report follows an update on the labor market Thursday that showed unemployment benefits held steady last week. The stream of upbeat economic data and easing inflation helped prompt a reversal in the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy this year. Expectations for interest rate cuts also helped drive market gains. The central bank recently delivered its third cut to interest rates in 2024. Even though Inflation has come closer to the central bank's target of 2%, it remains stubbornly above that mark and worries about it heating up again have tempered the forecast for more interest rate cuts. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market’s path ahead and shifting economic policies under incoming President Donald Trump. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade. Amedisys rose 4.7% after the home health care and hospice services provider agreed to extend the deadline for its sale to UnitedHealth Group. The Justice Department had sued to block the $3.3 billion deal, citing concerns he combination would hinder access to home health and hospice services in the U.S. The move to extend the deadline comes ahead of an expected shift in regulatory policy under Trump. The incoming administration is expected to have a more permissive approach to dealmaking and is less likely to raise antitrust concerns. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark index surged as the yen remained weak against the dollar. Stocks in South Korea fell after the main opposition party voted to impeach the country’s acting leader. Markets in Europe gained ground. Bond yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.61% from 4.59% late Thursday. The yield on the two-year Treasury slipped to 4.31% from 4.33% late Thursday. Wall Street will have more economic updates to look forward to next week, including reports on pending home sales and home prices. There will also be reports on U.S. construction spending and snapshots of manufacturing activity.

NEW YORK: Over the American Thanksgiving weekend, two girl-centric movies about female empowerment – one starring an animated Polynesian teenager and the other a bunch of singing witches – crushed at the box office. Moana 2 , from Walt Disney, had the biggest Thanksgiving Day opening in history. Universal Pictures’ Wicked , which debuted the week prior, set a record for a Broadway-to-screen adaptation. Together, they led the holiday stretch to its best numbers ever. And it was women who drove the results. Moana’s audience was two-thirds female, while Wicked’s opening weekend topped that at 75 per cent. The election might have been won by the manosphere, a collection of “anti-woke” influencers who extol traditional gender norms and hypermasculinity. But the box office results were a reminder that girl culture is still driving large swaths of the economy. GIRL CULTURE DRIVING THE ECONOMY And expect demand for it to build during a second Trump administration. Companies should pay attention to a female audience looking for ways to immerse itself in art and entertainment that embraces overtly feminist themes and takes seriously the complexities of being a girl and a woman – precisely because the political sphere will not. The girl power energy of this moment feels more subdued than it did in the summer of 2023 when the troika of Barbie , Beyonce and Taylor Swift not only shattered records but drove a level of spending that was credited with helping head off a recession. Deflating the vibes, of course, is the painful reminder that the US presidency still remains out of reach for women. However, the numbers show that commanding the culture is not. Beyond the Thanksgiving weekend, Inside Out 2 – a movie about the feelings of a teenage girl – is set to become the biggest film of 2024. On the small screen, the original Moana is the most streamed movie of the past half decade, racking up more than 1 billion hours watched. In the music world, Swift on Sunday (Dec 8) played the final performance of her nearly two-year, five-continent, 51-city Eras Tour, which became the first to surpass US$1 billion in revenue even before it hit its halfway point. Women dominated the Grammy award nominations, led by Beyonce – now not just the most-winning but also the most-nominated artist in history. She was honoured alongside a slew of other female stars including Swift, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. THE CULTURE WE CONSUME While young women are attempting to live their best lives in the girl power economy, young men increasingly are residing in the manosphere. On some level, its rise can be read as a reaction to the forces that are driving girl culture: More women in the workforce than ever before – where it’s increasingly common for them to outearn their partners; women more likely to go to college and to graduate, and less likely to be living at home with their parents. The manosphere peddles the idea that men have been emasculated by the success of women, and that the breakdown of traditional gender roles is responsible for their feelings of loneliness and aimlessness. The playbook of the manosphere – and those who capitalise on it – is to grow its influence by undermining women’s progress. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro’s 43-minute diatribe against the Barbie movie — in which he lights a bunch of the dolls on fire in a trash can — has been viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube. To vice president-elect JD Vance, the powerful women at the helm of the Democratic Party are just a bunch of “childless cat ladies.” The culture young men and women are consuming reflects their feelings but also reinforces them. Even the way it is consumed supports their diverging worldviews. The girl power economy is comprised of massive, joyful and optimistic cultural moments that are shared together. (Nearly half of Wicked purchases are for three or more tickets, for example.) Meanwhile, the manosphere is mostly absorbed in isolation, on podcasts and YouTube off in the splinted parts of the internet. POLITICAL SPLIT BY GENDER Nowhere has the consequences of this split played out more starkly than in the 2024 US presidential election, when Vice President Kamala Harris leaned into girl culture and Donald Trump embraced the grievance politics of the manosphere. When the vote was tallied, the gender split was greatest among the youngest voters. An analysis by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement found that women under 30 voted for Harris by a 17-point margin, while their male counterparts went for Trump by 14. Young women, whose worldview has been informed by the overturning of Roe v Wade and the #MeToo movement, are 15 percentage points more likely to say they are liberal than men of the same cohort, according to Gallup. Twenty-five years ago, the gap was just five percentage points. Some businesses are viewing the election results as a reason to reallocate their investments – away from themes that embrace women’s progress and instead double down on retrograde notions of gender. We have already seen this kind of reactionary reversal play out as companies scurry away from their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. But smart executives will see the demand for content that speaks not only to women’s empowerment, but also to the frustration they feel over stalled progress and what remains out of reach.

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