Stocks shook off a choppy start to finish higher Monday, as Wall Street kicked off a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 ended 0.7% higher after having been down 0.5% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also recovered from an early slide to eke out a 0.2% gain. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Gains in technology and communications stocks accounted for much of the gains, outweighing losses in consumer goods companies and elsewhere in the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 3.7%. Broadcom climbed 5.5% to also help support the broader market. Walmart fell 2% and PepsiCo slid 1%. Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. U.S.-listed shares in Honda jumped 12.7%, while Nissan ended flat. Eli Lilly rose 3.7% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.5% after it agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. All told, the S&P 500 rose 43.22 points to 5,974.07. The Dow gained 66.69 points to 42,906.95. The Nasdaq rose 192.29 points to 19,764.89. Traders got a look at a new snapshot of U.S. consumer confidence Monday. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence slipped in December. Its consumer confidence index fell back to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Wall Street was expecting a reading of 113.8. The unexpectedly weak consumer confidence update follows several generally strong economic reports last week. One report showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The latest report on unemployment benefit applications showed that the job market remains solid. A report on Friday said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. Worries about inflation edging higher again had been weighing on Wall Street and the Fed. The central bank just delivered its third cut to interest rates this year, but inflation has been hovering stubbornly above its target of 2%. It has signaled that it could deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier anticipated because of concerns over inflation. Expectations for more interest rate cuts have helped drive a roughly 25% gain for the S&P 500 in 2024. That drive included 57 all-time highs this year. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under an incoming President Donald Trump. "Put simply, much of the strong market performance prior to last week was driven by expectations that a best-case scenario was the base case for 2025," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.59% from 4.53% late Friday. European markets closed mostly lower, while markets in Asia gained ground. Wall Street has several other economic reports to look forward to this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its November report for sales of newly constructed homes. A weekly update on unemployment benefits is expected on Thursday. Markets in the U.S. will close at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas.Greater civilisations have fallen because they failed to prevent land degradation and land use changes. “Land” is a broad term referring to solid ground, encompassing everything from mountains to valleys, with a composition that includes soil, rock, sand, and other terrains. Soil, in particular, is essential for sustaining all living beings—sustainability. Soil fertility is both a biophysical and public property. It is also a social property because all of humankind depends on it for food production. A Harvard archaeologist, through research using remote sensing data and excavation findings, reveals exquisite signs of long–lost societies and shows that past civilisations made no attempts to adapt to natural landscapes, continuously insisting on developing urban lands for centuries until their land became uninhabitable, leading to the collapse of entire civilisations. Ancient pessimistic societies had a very thin margin for activism against their rulers’ will. This inflexibility may be the main reason for the collapse of most ancient civilisations worldwide. The United Nations has stressed that societies around the world are still ignoring land degradation, refraining from action against land development, while governments continue urban land expansion under the banner of sustainable cities. This suggests that current societal beliefs are misguided and that more activism is needed to reverse the damage. Previously, it was widely accepted that the Earth was flat—a dominant yet erroneous worldview 2,000 years ago. Similarly, we are mistaken again as we ignore land degradation and fail to conserve global land resources. Research findings Archaeological research shows that civilisations rise and fall depending on how societies manage their land amidst population growth and urbanisation trends. Currently, around 35.9 billion tons of fertile soil are lost annually due to human activities like land use changes and soil erosion. If governments do not respond swiftly, the modern world will suffer a similar fate. Now some small steps to prosecution of environmental harm have already been made at the International Criminal Courts (ICC), Hauge. Netherlands, which has adopted the Rome Statue in 1998. A silent hazard Geoscientists at Virgina University revealed that major cities on the Atlantic coast are sinking by 1 to 5 mm per year. New York City, for instance, is sinking at an average of 1 to 2 mm annually. The city’s 1,084,954 buildings weigh about 1.68 trillion pounds—almost double the weight of all humanity combined. The Netherlands sinks at a rate of around 7 mm a year despite having an incredibly sophisticated system to keep the country afloat, now paying the price for unprecedented land use changes. This fate may be possible in Colombo if land use changes continue with numerous skyscrapers along the coastline. Researchers believe that, in the next 25 years, there could be significant repercussions, with skyscrapers in urban areas eventually collapsing if land use changes persist. Against this backdrop, this research aims to explore the relationship between four variables: land use change, environmental activism, international treaties, and the environmental rule of law, while examining whether environmental activism can help mitigate land depletion. The research reveals that environmental litigation has significantly increased over the last decade due to a rise in environmental activism along with international treaties aimed at curbing land degradation. Despite these developments, environmental legal frameworks remain fragmented, with insufficient coordination between national governments, indicating that the international community requires global, progressive environmental activism to address land degradation leading to ecocide law–unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts. By adding ecocide law as a fifth crime to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the perpetrators of environmental destruction would suddenly be liable to arrest, prosecution and imprisonment that can be justifiable. Lastly, global environmental law must be jointly studied with human–land activity with ecology, society and law concurrently. Country policies should occupy a central place in the current debate over ‘law and society with ecology. Law and society with environmental law studies provide an important contribution to mitigating 21st–century emerging issues that provide green ideas for scholars in science, technology, engineering, social, economic, policy, and environmental study areas. In our previous publication, this researcher speculated a similar argument for social change through business and society dimensions. This research will be published in a peer-reviewed Scopus-indexed journal. The authors continue the dossier on ‘business and society’ and ‘society and ecology’ with environmental law research through the lens of a holistic health, safety and environmental management paradigm. (Dr. W. M. Wishwajith is an Agricultural and Food Scientist and Dr. S. P. H Spencer Vitharana works as an Environmental and Applied Scientist.)One dead in Ecuador, Peru ports closed amid massive waves
The "Juan Soto sweepstakes" are taking over baseball this winter. Most of the league seems to be at a complete standstill as everybody holds their breath and waits for Soto to sign. There are basically five teams left in the running to acquire Soto: the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Toronto Blue Jays. Make that six teams, if you want to count the Philadelphia Phillies. Each team has its own recruiting pitch. For the Red Sox, they're going with an all-hands-on-deck approach, which includes Red Sox legend David Ortiz making a pitch to Soto. Ortiz and Soto have a good relationship that's dated back years. Ortiz was recently asked how he would speak to Soto in order to help recruit him to Boston. "I would just tell him it's a great organization. I would tell him to surround yourself with a good organization. I have a very good relationship with Juan. If I see him before in the Dominican where we live, and we talk, I would tell him that the finances, you know, the finances are whatever, they'll take care of themselves," Ortiz told Newsweek Sports on Friday. "I would love for him to go to the Red Sox. He's a phenomenal player. Go to a good organization. The Red Sox are a great organization; they take care of their players." With the Red Sox emerging as one of the top suitors, to have such a well-respected member of the Baseball Hall of Fame recruiting Soto to play in Boston is going to be pretty tough to look past. Soto and Ortiz's personal relationship has opened the door for the Red Sox to sign the $650 million superstar. Now it's up to the front office to get the deal done. Ortiz spoke to Newsweek while attending his 16th Annual "Weekend With Papi" Celebrity Gold Classic, raising money for the David Ortiz Childen's Fund, which raises money for lifesaving pediatric heart surgeries in the Dominican Republic and New England. As part of his fundraising efforts, Ortiz is holding a silent auction loaded with priceless items that will be live until Saturday, Nov. 23 at 9:30 p.m. ET. You can also donate to the cause on the David Ortiz Childen Fund's website . More MLB: Red Sox, Tigers, Astros Listed As Potential Fits For $119 Million World Series LegendASML DEADLINE ALERT: ROSEN, A GLOBAL AND LEADING LAW FIRM, Encourages ASML Holding N.V. Investors With Losses In Excess Of $100K To Secure Counsel Before Important Deadline In Securities Class Action - ASMLThomas Sorber collected 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks to pace Georgetown to an 83-53 win against shorthanded Coppin State on Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas pulled away from the Eagles with a 21-2 run early in the second half. Georgetown held Coppin State to 22 percent shooting in the second half and 18 percent from behind the arc. Georgetown (11-2) is off to its best start since the 2011-12 season. Drew Fielder recorded 20 points and 13 rebounds while Malik Mack had 15 points and 11 assists for the Hoyas. Georgetown played without its leading scorer Jayden Epps, who missed the game with a lower-body injury. Toby Nnadozie scored 22 points and Julius Ellerbe III added 12 to go along with six steals for the Eagles (1-13). The Hoyas' decisive second-half run started with Caleb Williams' steal that led to a Fielder lay up as Georgetown took 49-37 lead. Moments later, Fielder's turnaround in the lane put the Hoyas up 56-37. Sorber's jam with 6:36 left gave Georgetown a 67-41 advantage. The pesky Eagles rattled off a 7-0 run but got no closer than 19 points the rest of the game. The Eagles played without three of their top four scorers but forced 14 Georgetown turnovers in the first half and hit 5-of-8 3-pointers. Ellerbe corralled a loose ball near half court and distributed it to Nnadozie who converted a contested layup to pull CSU within 12-11. But the Hoyas held a 24-10 rebounding edge in the first half as Sorber and Fielder were a force inside the paint. The Hoyas created separation as Sorber worked the high-low game with a catch in the lane and a left finger roll for a 25-15 Hoyas' lead with 8:40 left in the first half. Zahree Harrison's 3-pointer kept the dogged visitors close and capped a 5-0 run that cut the Georgetown lead to 25-20. Nnadozie closed the first half with a 3-pointer and the Hoyas held a 37-30 lead. --Field Level Media
MOUNT CARMEL — Shazier Bethea scored nine of his game-high 20 points during the third quarter as the Miners handed the Red Tornadoes their first loss of the season in the non-league contest. Down 42-40 to start the fourth quarter, Minersville (6-2) outscored Mount Carmel 14-7 in the final frame. Dante Carr also finished in double figures with 10 points for the Miners. Sophomores Jaylen Delaney and Jude Lazicki each had 14 points for the Red Tornadoes (8-1). Minersville 54, Mount Carmel 49 Minersville (6-2) 54 Logan Hutsko 4 1-1 9; Chase Zimerofsky 1 0-0 2; Shazier Bethea 8 1-3 20; Bradley Kostishak 4 0-0 8; Dante Carr 4 2-2 10; Jordan Bowers 2 0-0 5. Totals 23 4-5 54. 3-point goals: Bethea 3, Bowers. Did not score: None. Mount Carmel (8-1) 49 Chase Balichik 2 0-0 6; Matthew Balichik 4 0-0 9; Jude Lazicki 5 2-4 14; Jaylen Delaney 6 2-5 14; Luke Blessing 1 0-0 2; Noah Shimko 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 4-9 49. 3-point goals: C. Balichik 2, Lazicki 2, M. Balichik. Did not score: Tait Adams. Score by quarters Minersville;12;7;21;14 — 54 Mt.Carmel;17;8;17;7 — 49Stocks closed higher on Wall Street at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Monday. Several big technology companies helped support the gains, including chip companies Nvidia and Broadcom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a week
A person’s face is covered by a Chinese flag fluttering in the wind in Beijing in an undated photograph.Photo: Bloomberg ‘UNITED FRONT’: Beijing provides Internet ‘influencers’ with templates and directions, such as criticizing Taiwanese politicians, the rapper said By Chung Li-hua and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writer 請繼續往下閱讀... Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) in a video showed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bribes Taiwanese online influencers in its “united front” efforts to shape Taiwanese opinions. The video was made by YouTuber “Pa Chiung (八炯)” and published online on Friday. Chen in the video said that China’s United Front Work Department provided him with several templates and materials — such as making news statements — with some mentioning Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politician Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and asking him to write a song criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party. 請繼續往下閱讀... He said he had produced content for China as requested, but did not receive the royalties as promised by a Beijing-based management company for his song Chinese Bosses (中國老總), which is sung in an exaggerated Taiwanese accent with lyrics implying a pleasant life for businesspeople in China. Chen said he also founded a company in China jointly with a business partner from the Jinjiang Taiwan Compatriots Friendship Association, who worked as his manager and later poached all his employees and capital invested in the company. He was labeled as a fraud and a “Taiwanese independence separatist,” and attacked by Chinese Internet trolls, after he released an online video condemning his former business partner for betraying him. “I finally realized the hard way that where I was staying [China] was not a place of democracy,” Chen said, adding that there is a huge difference between democratic Taiwan and autocratic China. The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday said it is in control of the situation where Taiwanese influencers allegedly vilify the government’s policies, lure Taiwanese to work in China or engage in “united front” campaigns requested by the Chinese government. The National Security Act (國家安全法) prohibits people from engaging, initiating, funding, hosting, manipulating, directing or developing an organization for a foreign country, including China, Hong Kong and Macau, external hostile forces, or any type of organizations, institutions, or groups established or controlled by them, or a representative dispatched by such organizations, institutions or groups, the council said. The Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) prohibits people from receiving instructions, being commissioned or funded by external hostile forces to engage in activities that disrupt social order, spread disinformation or interfere with elections, it said. Article 33-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) prohibits individuals, juristic persons, organizations or other institutions from engaging in any form of cooperation with the Chinese military, political parties or any organization of a political nature, it added. 新聞來源: TAIPEI TIMES 不用抽 不用搶 現在用APP看新聞 保證天天中獎 點我下載APP 按我看活動辦法While the horror in Palestine continues, political drama has suddenly flared in other parts of the world, namely South Korea and France. At the same time, the bloody Ukraine War in Eastern Europe grinds on with very powerful contesting military forces dangerously poised in that region. Numbed as we are from constantly watching the sick bloodletting in Gaza, we Sri Lankans could wonder whether, equipped as we are with a most stable and proficient Government in Colombo, we should offer our ‘good offices’ to the West. Sri Lanka’s recent record of most peaceful elections that has placed a reformist national leadership surely qualifies us to mediate in the volatile politics of those very centres of power that, for decades, preached to us about ‘peace’ and ‘democracy’. Sri Lankan civic organisations that already share their expertise on election conduct with other Asian states, such as PAFFREL (People’s Alliance for Fair and Free Elections) and CMEV (Centre for Monitoring Election Violence), may now be needed to help out further afield, perhaps Westwards. After all, do we not want competence and decency in those centres of world power that could, at their nefarious whim, upturn what is left of the so-called ‘World Order’? Political intrigue Former French Premier Michel Barnier French President Emmanuel Macron Those familiar with the history of political intrigue and debauchery at the heart of the ancient Roman Empire during its long decline, now keenly note the similar features increasingly characterising the United States, the latest geopolitical hegemon in decline. The world today watches bemused as Washington’s future Government appoints new top officers already known for their sordid sexual decadence, opportunism and constitutional antics. ‘Bemused’, it might be, but the world community, whose sensibilities are lacerated by the public Gaza genocide and the openly cynical posturing of the perpetrators, may no longer care if those perpetrating States and their societies are tied up in knots. A weaker hegemon is possibly better than a strong, efficient one, some of its victims could argue. The problem is that some of America’s incoming Government officials, with pasts of near-criminality and obvious mediocrity, may soon be in charge of the world’s dominant economy and most powerful and most globally interventionist military. How will such ‘governance’ in Washington impact on the rest of humanity? To realise possible impacts, people need to read up, for example, on US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for Washington’s Departments (equivalent to Government Ministries in other countries) of Defence, Justice, Homeland Security, and Education among other vital arms of the American Government. Just query the internet on these nominees to learn of their ‘qualifications’. Their various antics could make entertaining reading if not for the serious implications of their assuming office. Wise to the governance implications, the electorally triumphant Republican Party (GOP) has already rejected some other Trump nominations. But, still, Americans are faced with the possible appointment of a head of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) who has previously vowed to disband some of that world famous Bureau’s most vital intelligence and investigative units. Another nominee wants to ‘abolish’ the entire Department of Education. And, whether the world’s richest man, Elon Musk of Tesla, X and SpaceX fame will accept a non-existent ‘Department for Government Efficiency’ (GOE) remains to be seen, though it has no Cabinet rank. Surely, by now, he must realise that national governance is very different from business. Perhaps his Artificial Intelligence (AI) apps could advise him. Meanwhile, in an act of classic nepotism, outgoing US President Joe Biden has given a pardon to his already convicted son (on gun and tax evasion charges) Hunter Biden. Of course, Hunter Biden had not committed murder like some Sri Lankan political assassins who have been favoured with Presidential pardons here. Bemused as we are with all these goings-on in some of the ‘Great’ powers, the sudden political drama in South Korea briefly diverted attention. South Korea Last Tuesday evening, elected President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, suddenly publicly announced ‘Martial Law’ status in his country. However, after a brief period of shock and alarm, the political Opposition rallied and forced through a vote in the National Assembly that overruled the Presidential Declaration. It all happened within about six hours, according to news agencies. By late morning Wednesday, Koreans were learning that President Yoon had withdrawn the Martial Law status and normal Government had been restored, removing the prospect of a revival of military dictatorship for which South Korea was notorious just over 40 years ago. Yesterday, the President apologised to the Korean nation for imposing Martial Law. He was due to face an Impeachment Motion yesterday. By Wednesday evening, even as things began to calm down, demonstrators continued to crowd the stairways of the National Assembly building in Seoul with posters reading, ‘Impeach Yoon Seok Yeol’. Giving a sudden televised address to the nation, President Yoon had proclaimed the need to “protect the country from North Korean communists and eliminate anti-State elements”. Yoon, known to be facing possible prosecution for governance irregularities, and rapidly losing popularity, had claimed a need to “rebuild and protect the country from falling into ruin”. News agencies reported that by deploying troops to blockade the National Assembly building overnight, Yoon attempted to stop Parliamentarians from interfering in his plans. But backed by angry massed supporters, Legislators entered Parliament and voted to lift Martial Law, which eventually lasted for only around two hours. By Wednesday morning, South Korea had survived its first attempted coup in more than 40 years. National life resumed a semblance of normality. But hundreds of protesters and citizens gathered in front of the National Assembly to join demonstrations led by members of the Opposition Democratic Party who, a few hours earlier, had put forward a Bill to impeach Yoon. Previously, South Korean Presidents have been impeached for mis-governance, especially massive corruption and the Korean Supreme Court has upheld such decisions. Analysts said that the Korean Armed Forces, one of Asia’s most powerful and with a long history of political authoritarianism in the past, had carefully remained largely neutral. However, the Korean Defence Minister, who has resigned, is regarded as being involved in Yoon’s coup attempt and is expected to face criminal prosecution along with Yoon. Yoon was expected to resign by yesterday but many democracy activists are remaining vigilant for any further disruptions. Business circles were happy that the Korean economy, one of the world’s strongest, was able to resume business without serious interruption. South Korea, a close US military ally since the Korean Civil War in the early 1950s and during the entire Cold War, has a history of decades of brutally repressive military rule that ended only in 1988. The establishment of democracy took decades of struggle, including the famous Gwangju uprising, a mass protest in May 1980, in the southern city of Gwangju. Hundreds of protesters were killed in the subsequent crackdown by the military dictatorship. France Last week also saw France, Europe’s strongest economy after Germany, thrown into political instability when French Legislators on the Right and Left combined to vote out the Centre-Right Government appointed a few months ago by Centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Last Wednesday evening, 331 French Legislators from Left and Right-wing parties, out of 577 Legislators in the National Assembly, voted in favour of removing the European Union’s (EU) former Brexit negotiator Premier Michel Barnier, 73. Barnier’s resignation came just as he was presenting the National Budget for 2025. French Legislators from the country’s Left-wing alliance, New Popular Front (NFP), tabled the vote in opposition to Barnier’s austerity budget. This was supported by the far-Right National Rally (RN) led by nationalist firebrand Marie Le Pen, when the Premier tried to push the Budget through the Assembly without a vote. Both the Right and Left forces are alert to the immense unpopularity of Barnier’s economic policies that are essentially the policies of the French President who is notorious for his neo-liberal outlook. The Budget included more cuts in social welfare spending and higher taxation. Macron himself is rejecting calls to resign. President of France since 2017, he has a mandate until 2027, when the country’s next Presidential Elections are due to take place. He is now expected to appoint a stop-gap Government to push through a modified Budget shorn of the social spending cuts that would otherwise provoke another negative vote in the Assembly. Analysts see this as a political triumph for both the French Right and Left groups.Striking historic parallel implies Washington Commanders could be on special path | Sporting News