Denmark is poised to cement its place as a leader in medical cannabis regulation. On November 19, Minister of the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde proposed making the country's medical cannabis trial scheme permanent, a bold move following years of steady growth in patient participation. The trial scheme, introduced in 2018, aimed to provide patients with conditions such as multiple sclerosis and cancer access to medical cannabis treatments. Extended in 2021, the program is set to expire at the end of 2025. However, its success has been undeniable. Over the last three years, more than 20,000 prescriptions have been redeemed, and approximately 1,800 patients are currently benefiting from cannabis-based medicines. Minister Løhde highlighted the program’s impact: "We see that many patients who receive medical cannabis prescriptions appear to benefit from the treatment. This includes cancer patients suffering from severe nausea after chemotherapy and people with multiple sclerosis experiencing intense pain." The government's proposal reflects its commitment to ensuring continued legal access to medical cannabis for patients. Minister Løhde emphasized the need for collaboration, stating, "We first need to hear the perspectives of the parties involved in the agreement." On November 19, Løhde invited representatives from political groups behind the original agreement—SF, Liberal Alliance, Red-Green Alliance, Danish People’s Party, and the Alternative—to discuss the scheme's future. Denmark's cannabis industry also welcomed the news. Thomas Skovlund Schnegelsberg , CEO of Danish MMJ producer Stenocare, expressed optimism about the proposal. "It is excellent news for patients and Stenocare that the government is now taking steps toward permanent legalization. We are confident that the future of medical cannabis treatment is in good hands," adding that "the permanent legalization will establish a clear framework for the future, offering clarity beyond December 2025 and justifying investments in new products that deliver value to both doctors and patients." As negotiations unfold, Denmark appears ready to solidify its role as a pioneer in regulated medical cannabis, offering hope and legal options to patients across the country. Cover image made with AI © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Maxeon Solar Technologies Announces Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results
This comes weeks after Newsom and his administration passed new refinery and carbon credit regulations that will add up to $1.15 per gallon of gasoline and require Californians with gasoline-powered cars to earn up to another $1,000 per year in pretax income to afford. “We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,” said Newsom in a statement. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose rocket launches were recently blocked by a California regulatory board that cited his personal politics, shared his disapproval on his social media platform, X, after Newsom staff told Bloomberg that Tesla models would not qualify for California rebates. “Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California,” said Musk. “This is insane.” Musk recently moved SpaceX and X out of California, citing a new law signed by Newsom banning parental notification for gender change requests from K-12 students. The credits would be paid for through California’s cap-and-trade program, which requires carbon emitters to purchase credits from the state — costs which are generally passed on to consumers in the form of more expensive gasoline, energy, and even concrete. Emitters buy a few billion dollars worth of credits from California each year, with the state’s $135 billion high speed rail project getting the lion’s share of the revenue. The California Resources Board — all but two of whose voting members are appointed by the governor — recently approved $105 billion in EV charging credits and $8 billion in hydrogen charging credits to be largely paid for by drivers of gas cars and diesel trucks. An investigation by The Center Square found the change was pushed by EV makers and the builders of EV charging systems. Buyers of EV chargers, who pay for the energy and own the charger, sign installation contracts that permanently give away their rights to government or other EV charging credits generated from fueling a vehicle with electrons instead of gasoline. These chargers are often bundled with the purchase of an EV, or covered entirely by utility or government rebates, meaning they are permanent, zero-or-low-cost revenue streams for the company collecting the credits.
Secret Service director touts changes as Congress presses him on Trump assassination attemptNoneAt least one judge has seen the transphobic hysteria for what it is. In denying a request to upend this week’s Mountain West volleyball tournament and/or force San Jose State to leave one of its players home, a federal judge called out the disingenuousness of the lawsuit. And in doing so, revealed the farce behind this sudden groundswell of opposition to transgender women athletes. “The Court finds their delay in filing this action and seeking emergency relief related to the MWC Tournament weakens their arguments," U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews wrote in his ruling issued Monday. “The movants could have sought injunctive relief much earlier if the exigencies of the circumstances required mandatory court intervention.” For three years now, San Jose State’s volleyball team has included a transgender woman. (Neither the young woman nor San Jose State has confirmed it but, as Crews pointed out, no one has denied it, either.) The Mountain West Conference created a participation policy for transgender athletes back in 2022, which included forfeit as punishment for refusing to play a team with a transgender athlete, and athletic directors at every school in the conference agreed to it. Yet not until this season, after the player had been outed by a right-wing website and then thrown under the bus by one of her own teammates, did the howling and forfeits begin. This is an important point, so I’m going to repeat it: For two years, the San Jose State player was on the volleyball team and the world continued to spin. No one was injured, no one was assaulted in a locker room, no legion of transgender women showed up in formation behind her to take over women’s sports. The San Jose State player practiced and played and no one, not her teammates and not her opponents, took issue with it. Whether that’s because no one realized she’s transgender or it was deemed inconsequential are two sides of the same coin. So what changed? Other than teammate Brooke Slusser and the other grifters deciding that demonizing a young woman would get them a spot on Fox News? Nothing . Not a damn thing. If the San Jose State player was such a threat, if the Mountain West’s transgender participation policy was so onerous, surely the athletes and the schools who filed the lawsuit would have done so immediately. Unless, of course, this was all for show. In which case, waiting until the 11 th hour would add fuel to their faux outrage. “At the earliest, Moving Plaintiffs or their institutions began to learn that one of SJSU’s teammates was an alleged trans woman with an article published in the spring of 2024. And they certainly had knowledge of this alleged player when the string of member institutions started forfeiting matches against SJSU in September 2024,” Crews wrote. Predictably, Slusser and three other athletes filed a notice of appeal. But the likelihood of it succeeding would seem to be slim, as well, given Crews’ painstaking detailing of precedent. The anti-trans ilk likes to claim that allowing transgender women to play sports is a violation of Title IX. But Crews says it’s actually the opposite, taking five pages of his 28-page ruling to cite previous Supreme Court and Tenth Circuit cases that found discriminating against someone for being transgender is sex discrimination. Which is prohibited by Title IX. “The (plaintiffs') Title IX theory raised in this case directly conflicts with Title IX’s prohibition on discrimination against trans individuals,” Crews wrote. San Jose State is the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Conference tournament, which begins Wednesday. The Spartans have a bye in the first round and will play either Boise State or Utah State on Friday. Those are two of the schools that forfeited games during the regular season, which means we’re about to find out how committed to the bigotry those teams are. For all the shrieking there is about transgender women athletes, it’s the cisgender women pushing the forfeits who cost their fellow athletes opportunities to play and saddled their teams with losses. It’s those women, not the San Jose State player, who are the real threat . Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
Get TECNO’s latest AI-powered PHANTOM V Flip 2 5G on its first sale for only P27,999El Salvador’s president is triumphant after his bet on bitcoin comes trueFBI sought to record calls of Chicago Democrat who earlier ran Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign
MILAN, Italy (AP) — Atalanta went to the top of Serie A when Ademola Lookman scored with three minutes remaining to beat AC Milan 2-1 on Friday. Atalanta’s ninth win in a row was a fitting gift to coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who was awarded the coach of the month award earlier in the day for guiding his team to a perfect record in November. Charles De Ketelaere put the home side ahead with a towering header after 11 minutes only for Milan to level 11 minutes later. Theo Hernández released Rafael Leão on the right wing and his inviting cross was converted by Álvaro Morata. Milan, which lost Christian Pulišić to a knock before halftime, looked set to end Atalanta’s impressive run but Lookman nipped in at the back post to nod home a corner in the dying moments. Atalanta has 34 points, two more than Napoli, which has a game in hand against Lazio on Sunday. Milan was in seventh place. Serie A champion Inter defeated Parma 3-1 and extended the Milan club’s unbeaten run to 13 games. Federico Dimarco put the home side ahead five minutes before halftime when he worked a neat one-two with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and fired a low shot past Zion Suzuki. Nicolò Barella made it two eight minutes into the second half when he finished a fast counterattack with aplomb. Marcos Thuram's 10th goal of the season made it 3-0 in the 66th. A Matteo Darmian own goal gave some late consolation for Parma. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerCrypto dilemma Digital currency jumps by over 50% since Trump’s victory in presidential elections in early November The PSX is not the only market to have surged past a six-figure barrier this month. The world’s largest cryptocurrency: Bitcoin, has now risen past the $100,000 mark on the back of US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power. His pro-crypto stance and nomination of a pro-crypto head for the US securities regulator has helped sparked a bullish run in the Bitcoin market. The digital currency has jumped by over 50 per cent since Trump’s victory in the presidential elections in early November and has risen by 140 per cent since the start of the year. However, anything that rises so quickly can fall just as fast and the volatility of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general is one of the many factors that have made regulators across the world wary of this new class of digital finance. As far as Pakistan is concerned, local traders and investors are mostly spectators when it comes to the cryptocurrency world, with the state banning the trading and mining of virtual currencies back in 2018. Pakistan’s approach is in line with that of the largest economy in the Global South, China, where the government has banned cryptocurrency mining and transactions but is coming up with its own Central Bank Digital Currency. And while cryptocurrencies are still legal in India, the government has cracked down on several of the largest crypto exchanges and reports claim that most of its regulators are in favour of more stringent measures against the industry including bans. Crypto also has plenty of sceptics in the developed world, although regulators there have been relatively more lenient thus far. So, aside from volatility, what is it about crypto that has attracted such widespread regulatory backlash? To answer this question one has to start with what cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin really are. Unlike regular fiat currencies, crypto currencies are not issued by any central authority and are, in theory, immune to government manipulation or interference. Instead, most cryptocurrencies are based on a decentralised network of computers and secured by cryptography, making them nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. They can also facilitate payments cheaper and faster by ditching the need for third-party intermediaries like banks, something that would theoretically help a country that relies as heavily on cross-border remittances as Pakistan. The lack of government regulation can also help circumvent sanctions, often unjustly imposed by the West on the Global South. However, it is precisely this anarchical aspect of crypto that has many worried. There have been reports of criminal and terrorist organisations using crypto currencies. It is also unclear what impact of the increasing adoption of crypto will be on the traditional fiat-based financial system and the billions who currently depend on it for basic amenities and development. This is all without even getting into the damaging effects energy-intensive crypto mining has on the environment and its vulnerability to unethical practices. But simply banning new technologies is never a good solution. Attempts to come up with something that can offer the benefits of crypto while mitigating its risks, as being done in China, should be encouraged. One must also note that crypto currencies will impact many other tech developments including microprocessor development for faster computers and better software too. Blanket exclusion from this market as is being done in Pakistan risks leaving the country out of many important tech developments.NCCN Hosts Patient Advocacy Summit on Improving Access to Accurate Health Information
Australians can expect to use more artificial intelligence tools in 2025, according to tech experts, but the software will also become smarter, more regulated, and less likely to make things up. or signup to continue reading The forecasts come after a record-breaking year for generative AI tools, which saw the software introduced to smartphones, televisions, vehicles and social networks, and increasingly welcomed in universities, workplaces and government agencies. But with the value of AI expected to soar to $US826 billion by 2030, up from $US184 billion in 2024 according to , big changes are on the way. These are five AI trends to watch in the coming year, according to Australian academics and industry experts. AGENTS OF CHANGE While generative AI tools first appeared as chatbots in late 2022, the technology will power "agents" in 2025. In launching Gemini 2.0 in early December, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said AI agents would be able to perform a series of tasks automatically and "bring us closer to our vision of a universal assistant". "We have been investing in developing more agentic models, meaning they can understand more about the world around you, think multiple steps ahead, and take action on your behalf with your supervision," he said. The tech giant is not alone in striving to create smarter AI, UNSW AI Institute chief scientist Toby Walsh said, but the challenge ahead would be substantial. While AI chatbots answered questions or composed text, he said, AI agents would be tasked with making decisions and acting on them, creating legal and ethical challenges if something went wrong. "It's the real challenge of AI: systems that have some autonomy, some ability to act on their own in the real world," he said. "When you give it the ability to take control over parts of your computer or buy things and do things for you, the potential for things to go wrong is much greater." STRICT RULES The will gradually come into force in 2025, with a ban on some high-risk AI uses in February, such as social scoring, and obligations on general AI systems enforced by August. While some rules are already having an impact on internet users, University of the Sunshine Coast computer science lecturer Erica Mealy said its benefits were stacked in favour of European residents who were being offered the chance to opt in to AI features rather than having to opt out of them. "If you're not in the EU, too bad, so sad, we will make you opt out," she said. "That relies on you having more knowledge of the platforms and knowing what has been turned on." But Australia is likely to get its first legal restrictions on generative AI technology in 2025, with a parliamentary inquiry recommending the introduction of a law dedicated to regulating high-risk AI uses. The also recommended any law include restrictions on general purpose AI tools, and that the government consult with creative workers on the use of their copyright material. AI IN EVERYTHING First Samsung, then Google, now Apple: all three major smartphone manufacturers have added generative AI tools to their devices. The technology will enter even more technological spaces in 2025, Prof Walsh said, as manufacturers develop innovative ways to use the technology and embed it in all parts of an operating system, rather than keeping it in a single app. "A bit of AI is going to be sprinkled into everything electrical," he said. "Every device and every workflow is going to have some AI sitting in the background, trying to help you out." Users can expect generative AI technology to enhance more photos and videos they capture, Prof Walsh said, to appear in more cars, on more online platforms, and embedded in more services. BIG BUSINESS While the technology is expected to enter a lot of pockets in 2025, AI is forecast to play an even bigger role in the business world. The technology was named as the most revolutionary tech of 2025 by several Atlassian executives, and Team Anywhere head Annie Dean said it would continue to remove menial, routine tasks to help workers focus on larger projects. "AI will erase busywork and give teams the exactly support they need to explore and execute big ideas, faster," she said. "When teams collaborate with AI, they can more easily bring their ideas to life." The federal government has also revealed plans to launch a in the coming year to build on the $2 billion in venture capital invested in local AI applications in 2023. The plan is expected to launch in late 2025, following industry and public consultations. FOUNDATIONAL FIXES Investments in artificial intelligence are expected to keep growing in 2025, and some funds will be directed to fixing and improving foundation models. While more work was needed to tackle hallucinations, in which AI tools generate incorrect or nonsensical information to fill in knowledge gaps, Prof Walsh said, future research would also focus on expanding their abilities. "The foundation models are very good at retrieving information, summarising information, but they're very bad at reasoning," he said. "There are plentiful examples where they will say one plus one is not the same as two." To build on AI models' reasoning ability, researchers will need to train the technology in greater real-world context, such as gravity and rain, which programs are unable to experience. "AI is advancing at an amazing rate and that's because at the moment the world is spending a billion dollars a day on it," he said. "We are at the peak of the hype cycle and at some point the froth will blow off the top of the glass, but companies are still seeing a significant return." Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . Advertisement
By The Associated Press Albany Great Danes (7-0) at Siena Saints (2-4) Loudonville, New York; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Albany visits Siena after Lilly Phillips scored 24 points in Albany’s 80-59 win over the Stonehill Skyhawks. The Saints are 1-1 on their home court. Siena is fifth in the MAAC in rebounding with 30.2 rebounds. Zyriah Price paces the Saints with 6.2 boards. The Great Danes are 3-0 on the road. Albany ranks fifth in the America East with 9.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Kayla Cooper averaging 3.0. Siena scores 58.2 points per game, 4.3 more points than the 53.9 Albany allows. Albany averages 7.7 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.7 more made shots on average than the 6.0 per game Siena allows. TOP PERFORMERS: Ahniysha Jackson is scoring 14.2 points per game with 2.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the Saints. Cooper is scoring 19.6 points per game and averaging 8.9 rebounds for the Great Danes. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Profound Medical Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Shares
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in TMC the metals company Inc. of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadlines - TMC