Meet Canada's fanciest pigeon that's preening to keep championship title
These buy-rated ASX dividend stocks offer 7%+ yields - The Motley Fool AustraliaShort Interest in Toray Industries, Inc. (OTCMKTS:TRYIY) Decreases By 46.9%
“Gladiator II” asks the question: Are you not moderately entertained for roughly 60% of this sequel? Truly, this is a movie dependent on managed expectations and a forgiving attitude toward its tendency to overserve. More of a thrash-and-burn schlock epic than the comparatively restrained 2000 “Gladiator,” also directed by Ridley Scott, the new one recycles a fair bit of the old one’s narrative cries for freedom while tossing in some digital sharks for the flooded Colosseum and a bout of deadly sea-battle theatrics. They really did flood the Colosseum in those days, though no historical evidence suggests shark deployment, real or digital. On the other hand (checks notes), “Gladiator II” is fiction. Screenwriter David Scarpa picks things up 16 years after “Gladiator,” which gave us the noble death of the noble warrior Maximus, shortly after slaying the ignoble emperor and returning Rome to the control of the Senate. Our new hero, Lucius (Paul Mescal), has fled Rome for Numidia, on the North African coast. The time is 200 A.D., and for the corrupt, party-time twins running the empire (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger), that means invasion time. Pedro Pascal takes the role of Acacius, the deeply conflicted general, sick of war and tired of taking orders from a pair of depraved ferrets. The new film winds around the old one this way: Acacius is married to Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, in a welcome return), daughter of the now-deceased emperor Aurelius and the love of the late Maximus’s life. Enslaved and dragged to Rome to gladiate, the widower Lucius vows revenge on the general whose armies killed his wife. But there are things this angry young phenom must learn, about his ancestry and his destiny. It’s the movie’s worst-kept secret, but there’s a reason he keeps seeing footage of Russell Crowe from the first movie in his fever dreams. Battle follows battle, on the field, in the arena, in the nearest river, wherever, and usually with endless splurches of computer-generated blood. “Gladiator II” essentially bumper-cars its way through the mayhem, pausing for long periods of expository scheming about overthrowing the current regime. The prince of all fixers, a wily operative with interests in both managing gladiators and stocking munitions, goes by the name Macrinus. He’s played by Denzel Washington, who at one point makes a full meal out of pronouncing the word “politics” like it’s a poisoned fig. Also, if you want a masterclass in letting your robes do a lot of your acting for you, watch what Washington does here. He’s more fun than the movie but you can’t have everything. The movie tries everything, all right, and twice. Ridley Scott marshals the chaotic action sequences well enough, though he’s undercut by frenetic cutting rhythms, with that now-familiar, slightly sped-up visual acceleration in frequent use. (Claire Simpson and Sam Restivo are the editors.) Mescal acquits himself well in his first big-budget commercial walloper of an assignment, confined though he is to a narrower range of seething resentments than Crowe’s in the first film. I left thinking about two things: the word “politics” as savored/spit out by Washington, and the innate paradox of how Scott, whose best work over the decades has been wonderful, delivers spectacle. The director and his lavishly talented design team built all the rough-hewn sets with actual tangible materials the massive budget allowed. They took care to find the right locations in Morocco and Malta. Yet when combined in post-production with scads of medium-grade digital effects work in crowd scenes and the like, never mind the sharks, the movie’s a somewhat frustrating amalgam. With an uneven script on top of it, the visual texture of “Gladiator II” grows increasingly less enveloping and atmospherically persuasive, not more. But I hung there, for some of the acting, for some of the callbacks, and for the many individual moments, or single shots, that could only have come from Ridley Scott. And in the end, yes, you too may be moderately entertained. Related Articles “Gladiator II” — 2.5 stars (out of 4) MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence) Running time: 2:28 How to watch: Premieres in theaters Nov. 21. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.VANCOUVER - Online predators are becoming increasingly resourceful in trolling media platforms where children gravitate, prompting an explosion in police case loads, said an officer who works for the RCMP Integrated Child Exploitation Unit in British Columbia. Data show the problem spiked during COVID-19 when children began spending more time online — but rates did not wane as police anticipated after lockdowns ended. In B.C., they soared, almost quadrupling from 2021 to 2023. Const. Solana Pare is now warning exploitation of children is likely here to stay, as a technological race between police and predators gains momentum. “Technology is becoming more and more available, and online platforms and social media sites are being used by children younger and younger, which provides an opportunity for predators to connect with them,” Pare said in an interview. Police say child exploitation cases in B.C. went from about 4,600 in 2021 to 9,600 in 2022 to 15,920 reports last year. The upwards trend is seen nationally, too. Statistics Canada says the rate of online child sexual exploitation reported to police rose by 58 per cent from 2019 to 2022, and police data show cases have continued to rise. The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre reported that from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, it received 118,162 reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation offences — a 15 per cent increase compared with the previous year. Online child sexual exploitation, Pare explained, includes offences such as sextortion, child luring and the creation or distribution of sexually explicit images of a minor. “We don’t see these types of reports going away,” Pare said. “We only see them increasing because the use of electronic devices and social media, and kids being online earlier and earlier is becoming more common. There’s going to be more opportunity for predators to target children online.” Monique St. Germain, general counsel for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said the most common type of child luring is communicating with a youth online in order get them to produce sexual abuse material. She said “the pandemic accelerated those types of cases, and it hasn’t slowed down.” “The tools (Canadian authorities) have to deal with this type of behaviour are inadequate for the scope and the scale of what’s going on,” she said. THE RISE OF ‘SEXTORTION’ Online exploitation gained international attention in 2015 in the case of Port Coquitlam, B.C., teenager, Amanda Todd, who died by suicide after being blackmailed and harassed online by a man for years, starting when she was 12. The month before the 15-year-old died, she uploaded a nine-minute video using a series of flash cards detailing the abuse she experienced by the stranger and how it had affected her life. It’s been viewed millions of times. Dutch national Aydin Coban was extradited to Canada for trial and, in October 2022, he was convicted of charges including the extortion and harassment of Todd. Since then, the term “sextortion” has made its way into the vernacular as more cases come to light. Among them was Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old Prince George, B.C., boy who died by suicide in October 2023 after falling victim to the crime. In New Brunswick that same month, 16-year-old William Doiron took his own life after falling victim to a global sextortion scheme. Mounties across Canada have issued news releases warning of increased cases in their communities, noting that the consequences for the victims can include self-harm and suicide. St. Germain said technology, such as artificial intelligence, is also becoming more user-friendly. “The existence of that technology and its ease of use and ready accessibility is a problem, and it is going to be an increasingly large problem as we move forward,” she said. Pare said police are also adapting to technological advancements in order to keep up with the ever-changing online landscape. “Police are constantly obtaining training on digital technologies to increase our knowledge and understanding of all the intricacies involving their use and how to capture any digital evidence,” she said. Pare said the true rates of the crime are impossible to determine, but pointed to increased social awareness and legislation across North America around mandatory reporting of child abuse material from social media companies as a potential reason for the increase. It’s not going undetected any longer, she said. “Additionally, there’s been a lot of use in artificial intelligence to detect child exploitation materials within those platforms.” Pare said “it’s up to each individual platform” to ensure there is no child sexual abuse material on their sites or apps. “With mandatory reporting, it’s putting the onus back on the electronic service providers to ensure they have measures in place to prevent this from happening, and if it is happening that it is being reported,” she said. “That being said, there are times when things don’t get located.” That is why the Canadian Centre for Child Protection has been advocating for the adoption of the Online Harms Bill that the federal government introduced in February, St. Germain said. “It’s shocking that up until now, we’ve relied on companies to self regulate, meaning we’ve just relied on them to do the right thing,” she said. “What we are seeing in terms of the number of offences and in terms of all the harm that is happening in society as a result of online platforms is completely tied to the decision not to regulate. We need to have rules in any sector, and this sector is no different.” ‘CANADA IS REALLY BEHIND’ The Online Harms Bill covers seven types of harms, from non-consensual sharing of intimate images to content that can be used to bully a child. Earlier this month, Justice Minister Arif Virani announced the Liberal government will split the bill into two parts: dealing with keeping children safe online, and combating predators and issues related to revenge pornography. “We are putting our emphasis and prioritization and our time and efforts on the first portion of the bill,” Virani told reporters on Dec. 5. Such measures would include a new Digital Safety Commission of Canada, which would compel social media companies to outline how they plan to reduce the risks their platforms pose to users, particularly minors. It would have the power to levy fines and evaluate companies’ digital safety plans. St. Germain said such a split “makes sense,” noting that most objections to the bill are related to changes to the Criminal Code and not measures around curbing harms to children. “There obviously are differences of opinion in terms of what is the best way forward, and what kind of regulatory approach makes sense, and who should the regulator be, but there does seem to be consensus on the idea that we need to do more in terms of protecting children online,” she said, adding that the organization is still in support of the second half of the bill. She said the United Kingdom previously passed its own Online Safety Act that will come into effect in 2025, which includes requiring social media firms to protect children from content such as self-harm material, pornography and violent content. Failure to do so will result in fines. “Canada is really behind,” she said. “The amount of information that has come out of the U.K., the amount of time and care and attention that their legislatures have paid to this issue is really quite remarkable, and we really hope that Canada steps up and does something for Canadian children soon.” In the absence of national legislation, province’s have filled the void. In January, B.C. enacted the Intimate Images Protection Act, providing a path for victims to have online photos, videos or deep fakes expeditiously removed. Individuals are fined up to $500 per day and websites up to $5,000 a day if they don’t comply with orders to stop distributing images that are posted without consent. B.C.‘s Ministry of the Attorney General said that as of Dec. 11, the Civil Resolution Tribunal had received a total of 199 disputes under the Intimate Images Protection Act. It said the Intimate Images Protection Service had served more than 240 clients impacted by the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, adding that four awards of $5,000 each and one for $3,000 had been supplied as of mid-December. Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Saskatchewan have also enacted legislation targeting unauthorized distribution of intimate images. St. Germain said the use of provincial powers is also necessary, but it’s not enough. “A piece of provincial legislation is going to be very difficult to be effective against multiple actors in multiple countries,” she said, noting that the online crime is borderless. “We need something bigger — more comprehensive. We need to use all tools in the tool box.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2024.
One of the striking things about how furiously many people reacted to the news last week that MSNBC “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with President-Elect Donald Trump was how quaint their defenders sounded. “It is insane for critics to NOT think all of us in the media need to know more so we can share/report more,” Jim VandeHei, co-founder of Axios and Politico, said on social media. It would be journalistic malpractice for the hosts of a morning television news program not to take a meeting with a president-elect, right? But “Morning Joe” isn’t traditional journalism, and last week’s incident is a telling illustration of the broader trend of impartial fact-finding being crowded out in the marketplace by opinionated news and the expectations that creates. Scarborough, a former congressman, and his wife, veteran newswoman Brzezinski, didn’t just talk about the presidential campaign from their four-hour weekday perch. They tirelessly and emotionally advocated for Democrat Kamala Harris, likening Trump to a fascist-in-waiting. “They have portrayed themselves as bastions of integrity standing up to a would-be dictator,” says Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief now professor at George Washington University’s school of media and public affairs. “What the followers see is the daily procession of people on the show constantly talking about the evils of Donald Trump and then Joe and Mika show up and have high tea with the guy.” The social media blowback was instant and intense. “You do not need to talk to Hitler to cover him effectively,” was one of the nicer messages. More telling is the people who have responded with action. “Morning Joe” had 770,000 viewers last Monday, its audience — like many shows on MSNBC — down from its yearly average of 1.09 million because some of the network’s liberal-leaning viewers have tuned away after what they regard as depressing election results. That’s the day Scarborough and Brzezinski announced they had met with Trump the previous Friday. By Tuesday, the “Morning Joe” audience had slipped to 680,000, according to the Nielsen company, and Wednesday’s viewership was 647,000. Thursday rebounded to 707,000. It’s only three days of data, but those are the kind of statistics about which television executives brood. “The audience for the polarized news-industrial complex has become unforgiving,” says Kate O’Brian, outgoing head of news of the E.W. Scripps Co. The Washington Post learned this last month when it lost a reported 250,000 subscribers — presumably the bulk of them non-Trump supporters — after announcing it would not endorse a candidate for president. A draft of an editorial endorsing Harris had already been in the works. Mixing news and opinion isn’t new; many U.S. newspapers in the 1800s were unabashedly partisan. But for most of the past century, there was a vigorous effort to separate the two. Broadcast television, licensed to serve the public interest, built up fact-based news divisions. What began to change things was the success of Fox News in building a conservative audience that believed it was underserved and undervalued. Now there’s a vigorous industry catering to people who want to see their points of view reflected — and are less interested in reporting or any content that contradicts them. The most notable trend in 2024 campaign coverage was the diminishing influence of so-called legacy news brands in favor of outlets like podcasts that offered publicity-hungry politicians a friendly, if not supportive, home. Trump, for example, visited several podcasters, including the influential Joe Rogan, who awarded Trump with an endorsement. “I won’t even call it journalism,” Sesno says. “It’s storytelling.” The past decade’s journey of Megyn Kelly is one illustration of how opinion can pay off in today’s climate. Once one of the more aggressive reporters at Fox News, she angered Trump in a 2015 debate with a pointed question about his treatment of women. She moved to the legacy outlet NBC News, but that didn’t work for her. She has since started a flourishing podcast with conservative, and Trump-friendly, opinion. Among cable TV-based news brands, CNN has tried hardest to present an image of impartiality, even if many conservatives disagree. So the collapse in its ratings has been noteworthy: the network’s audience of 4.7 million people for its election night coverage was essentially half the 9.1 million people it had for the same night in 2020. O’Brian is leaving Scripps at the end of the year because it is ending its 24-hour television news network after finding impartiality was a tough business. Scripps is continuing a streaming news product. That’s the environment Scarborough and Brzezinski work in on “Morning Joe.” “They are very talented show hosts,” Sesno says. “But they are not out on the front lines doing journalism, seeking truth in the way that a professional journalist does.” Hours after the hosts’ announcement that they had met with Trump, an MSNBC colleague, legal contributor and correspondent Katie Phang, said on X that “normalizing Trump is a bad idea.” Scarborough had made a point of saying that was not what he was attempting to do. “It’s not up to you or your corrupt industry to ‘normalize’ or not ‘normalize’ any politician who wins an election fair & square,” Christina Pushaw, the pugnacious aide to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, replied to Phang. “Americans had their say; Trump will be your president come January whether you ‘normalize’ it or not. I would suggests journos should accept reality.” Quaintness alert: Sesno is among those who believe the “Morning Joe” hosts did the right thing. Whatever the motivations — and there are some who believe that worries that a Trump administration could make life difficult very difficult for them was on the hosts’ minds — opening a line of communication to ensure that a show based on politics is not completely cut off from the thinking of a presidential administration makes business sense, he says. A little humility doesn’t hurt. Even if her own job has proven that it’s not a great business now, Scripps’ O’Brian has seen enough focus groups of people who yearn for a more traditional journalism-based approach to believe in its importance. “I think that there is still a need for nonpartisan news,” says the former longtime ABC News producer, “and maybe what brings it back to where it used to be will be an exhaustion from the hyper-polarized climate that we currently live in.”
Croatia's president faces conservative rival in election run-off
Lucknow: A seven-page chapter featuring Lucknow girl and young yoga instructor Kavyanjali Singh Chauhan , alias Vanya, has been incorporated in class 1 Hindi textbook for CBSE schools. Based on NCERT syllabus, the Hindi textbook named ‘ Nav Kislay ' for class 1 will carry the chapter on Vanya in academic session 2025-26. The chapter about Vanya, who began teaching yoga at the tender age of 8, is titled ‘Yog ki gudiya: Vanya'. Vanya acquired her yoga expertise from her father Nagendra Bahadur Singh Chauhan, who is renowned for conducting approximately 100 complimentary yoga camps for public. Currently 16 years old, Vanya is a class 12 student of SR Global school. During the Covid period, a 45-minute documentary showcasing how Vanya and her father Nagendra assisted people in learning yoga was broadcast on national television and various social media platforms."The book adheres to NCERT syllabus and holds special significance for us as it features our daughter," said Chauhan, adding, "This lesson spans from page number 61 to page number 67 and details extensively my daughter Kavyanjali Singh Chauhan ‘Vanya's' yoga knowledge," expressed her proud father. He elaborated that the chapter commenced with his daughter's narrative of teaching yoga and helping people maintain fitness. It chronicles how she initiated yoga at age 8 and mastered even the most challenging asanas effortlessly. Beyond their locality in ‘Bakshi ka talab', she provided complimentary yoga instruction and conducted online sessions during the Covid period. "Initially, I brought her along to observe my yoga sessions in organised camps and I was astounded when I discovered this 8-year-old instructing women in precise yoga asanas during the camp," said Chauhan. "Yoga enables me to maintain fitness, enhance focus, improve concentration, and retain lessons effectively. I achieved 96.4% marks in class X boards, which I believe resulted from both my diligence and yoga practice," stated Vanya. She added that she felt honoured to be featured in CBSE Hindi textbook. While aspiring to become a civil servant, she intends to continue teaching yoga. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss the yearly horoscope 2025 and Chinese horoscope 2025 for Rat , Ox , Tiger , Rabbit , Dragon , Snake , Horse , Goat , Monkey , Rooster , Dog , and Pig zodiac signs. Spread love this holiday season with these New Year wishes and messages .
NoneFormer US President Jimmy Carter Dead at 100
Percentages: FG 45.614, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 5-18, .278 (Garzon 3-7, Moore-McNeil 1-3, Striplin 1-1, Ciezki 0-2, Parrish 0-4, LaMendola 0-1) Blocked Shots: 3 (Garzon 2, Parrish 1) Turnovers: 16 (Moore-McNeil 3, Parrish 3, Meister 2, Ciezki 2, Garzon 2, Striplin 1, Bargesser 1, LaMendola 1, Sandvik 1) Steals: 6 (Moore-McNeil 5, Striplin 1) Technical Fouls: None Percentages: FG 39.706, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 4-24, .167 (Weiss 3-10, Rafiu 1-3, Avlijas 0-1, Collins 0-1, Henderson 0-5, Page 0-1, Simmons 0-3) Blocked Shots: 2 (Rafiu 1, Page 1) Turnovers: 11 (Henderson 4, Weiss 3, Rafiu 1, Avlijas 1, Collins 1, Simmons 1) Steals: 4 (Henderson 1, Weiss 1, Page 1, Simmons 1) Technical Fouls: None A_299 Officials_Ashlee Goode, Saif Esho, Joseph Vaszilyhacker Photo: VCG Senior White House officials met on Friday with telecommunications executives to discuss what the White House called "China's significant cyber espionage campaign targeting the sector," Reuters reported, which Chinese experts believe to be another round of persistent hype surrounding the issue of China. The White House meeting was hosted by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology. "The meeting was an opportunity to hear from telecommunications sector executives on how the US Government can partner with and support the private sector on hardening against sophisticated nation state attacks," the White House said in a statement. Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Washington Post on Thursday the breach was "worst telecom hack in [US] history - by far." Experts revealed that the US deliberately fabricates evidence of cyberattacks to tarnish China's image. On May 24, 2023, cybersecurity authorities from the Five Eyes countries - the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand - issued a joint advisory, claiming they had identified activities linked to a "China state-sponsored cyber actor" called Volt Typhoon, which had impacted networks across US critical infrastructure. On April 15 and July 8, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and 360 Digital Security Group released reports exposing the Volt Typhoon narrative as a fabrication by the US government. Multiple cybersecurity authorities in the US have been pushing a false narrative to secure more funding, while companies like Microsoft seek larger contracts from these agencies, according to the investigation. In October, China released the third report on Volt Typhoon, while the US side remained silent on the matter. It can be said that the narrative of "China threat" and "China collapse" appears frequently, with often-changing themes, such as reports from Microsoft or issues in the telecommunications industry, Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. "These arguments all lack factual basis, and they continually shift the so-called subjects of infringement. Many of the information sources are anonymous and lack substantial support," Lü said. As Lü put it: "The international community sees clearly who is conducting long-term monitoring and espionage on its allies, carrying out indiscriminate cyberattacks on other countries. The actions of the US, lacking substantial evidence, will ultimately expose only the vulnerabilities in its own security system." Responding to a similar US accusation of Chinese "state-sponsored hackers," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on November 14 that: "We have no interest in interfering in other countries' internal affairs through cyberspace and oppose spreading China-related disinformation out of a political agenda."