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THE first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years has been developed and could be "game-changing" for millions of people with the condition. Asthma attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) flare-ups - also known as exacerbations - can be deadly. Four people with asthma and 85 people with COPD die every day in the UK, according to official figures - with someone having an asthma attack every 10 seconds. People with the conditions are currently treated with steroid tablets. But now an injection has been shown to be more effective, reducing the need for further treatment by 30 per cent. Researchers say their findings, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, could be "game-changing" for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world. Read more on winter illnesses Lead investigator of the trial Professor Mona Bafadhel from King’s College London said: “This could be a game-changer for people with asthma and COPD. "Treatment for asthma and COPD exacerbations have not changed in fifty years despite causing 3.8 million deaths worldwide a year combined." The injection treat flare-ups called "eosinophilic exacerbation" and involve symptoms including wheezing, coughing and chest tightness due to inflammation resulting from high amounts of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell. Eosinophilic exacerbations make up to 30 per cent of COPD flare-ups and almost half of asthma attacks. Most read in Health Until now, steroid drugs have been the main medication. Steroids like prednisolone can reduce inflammation in the lungs but have severe side effects such as diabetes and osteoporosis. Many patients also " fail " treatment and need repeated courses of steroids, re-hospitalisation or die within 90 days. The study, led by scientists at King's College London and sponsored by the University of Oxford , looked at benralizamab, a drug already available that could be re-purposed in emergency settings. The research team explained benralizamab is a monoclonal antibody which targets eosinophils to reduce lung inflammation It's currently used for the treatment of severe asthma. The trial found a single dose can be more effective when injected at the point of exacerbation compared to steroid tablets. Participants in the study, who were high risk of an asthma or COPD attack, were split into three groups by the research team. One group received benralizamab injection and dummy tablets, another received standard of care (prednisolone 30mg daily for five days) and dummy injection and the third group receiving both benralizumab injection and standard of care. Neither the people in the study, or the study investigators knew which study arm or treatment they were given. After 28 days, respiratory symptoms of cough, wheeze, breathlessness and sputum were found to be better with benralizumab. After 90 days, there were four times fewer people in the benralizumab group that failed treatment compared to standard of care with prednisolone. Treatment with the benralizumab injection took longer to fail, meaning fewer episodes to see a doctor or go to hospital. There was also an improvement in the quality of life for people with asthma and COPD. Prof Bafadhel said: “Benralizumab is a safe and effective drug already used to manage severe asthma. "We’ve used the drug in a different way – at the point of an exacerbation - to show that it’s more effective than steroid tablets which is the only treatment currently available. “We hope these pivotal studies will change how asthma and COPD exacerbations are treated for the future , ultimately improving the health for over a billion people living with asthma and COPD across the world.” Geoffrey, from Banbury, said when you're having a flare up, it's very difficult to tell anybody how you feel - you can hardly breathe. "Anything that takes that away and gives you back a normal life is what you want," he added. On the injections, he said: "It's fantastic. I didn't get any side effects like I used to with the steroid tablets. "I used to never sleep well the first night of taking steroids, but the first day on the study, I could sleep that first night, and I was able to carry on with my life without problems. "I want to add that I'm just grateful I took part and that the everyone involved in the ABRA study are trying to give me a better life.” Dr Sanjay Ramakrishnan, Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia , who is the first author of the ABRA trial and started the work while at the University of Oxford, said: “Our study shows massive promise for asthma and COPD treatment. "COPD is the third leading cause of death worldwide but treatment for the condition is stuck in the 20th century. "We need to provide these patients with life-saving options before their time runs out. Dr Samantha Walker, Director of Research and Innovation, at Asthma + Lung UK, added: “It’s great news for people with lung conditions that a potential alternative to giving steroid tablets has been found to treat asthma attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations. "But it’s appalling that this is the first new treatment for those suffering from asthma and COPD attacks in 50 years, indicating how desperately underfunded lung health research is. READ MORE SUN STORIES “Every four minutes in the UK, someone dies from a lung condition. Thousands more live with the terror of struggling to breathe every day. With your help, we're fighting for more life-changing, life-saving research to transform the future for everyone living with breathing problems. Together, we’ll make sure that families everywhere never face a lung condition without the best treatment and care. “Our vision is a world where everyone has healthy lungs. We can only get there with your help.” Steroid tablets can be lifesaving but can have side effects, particularly if you’re taking higher doses over a long period of time. Most of these side effects are unlikely with a short course of steroids, but they may happen if you keep needing short courses to deal with symptoms that keep coming back, or because you keep having asthma attacks. Some side effects may be noticeable straight away, such as stomach problems, or changes to your mood (feeling depressed, or feeling ‘high’ or manic). Others may only be noticeable after weeks or months, such as weight gain, or a puffy ‘moon’ face. These are unlikely with a short course of steroids but can happen with repeated courses. Some side effects may develop over time. You’re more at risk of side effects like steroid-induced diabetes, or osteoporosis or thin skin and bruising if you’ve been taking steroid tablets for a long period of time, or if you need several short courses of high dose steroids in a year. Some 93 per cent said they had at least one condition linked to taking oral corticosteroids long-term. Source: Asthma + LungNoneCould Trump’s criminal cases have ended differently?
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian Senate on Thursday began considering a ban on children younger than 16 years old from social media after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported the age restriction. The world-first bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts is likely to be passed by the Senate on Thursday, the Parliament’s final session for the year and potentially the last before elections, which are due within months. The major parties’ support for the ban all but guarantees the legislation will become law. But many child welfare and mental health advocates are concerned about unintended consequences. Unaligned Sen. Jacqui Lambie complained about the limited amount of time the government gave the Senate to debate the age restriction, which she described as “undercooked.” “I thought this was a good idea. A lot of people out there thought it was a good idea until we looked at the detail and, let's be honest, there's no detail,” Lambie told the Senate. The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly carried the bill 102 votes to 13. Once the legislation becomes law, the platforms would have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced. The platforms complained that the law would be unworkable, and urged the Senate to delay the vote until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how young children could be excluded. Critics argue the government is attempting to convince parents it is protecting their children ahead of general elections due by May. The government hopes that voters will reward it for responding to parents' concerns about their children's addiction to social media. Some argue the legislation could cause more harm than it prevents. Criticisms include that the legislation was rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, is ineffective, poses privacy risks for all users, and undermines parental authority to make decisions for their children. Opponents of the bill also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of the positive aspects of social media, drive them to the dark web, discourage children too young for social media to report harm and reduce incentives for platforms to improve online safety.LAGOS – SITA, the air transport technology solutions, has formed a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Airport (RSI), becoming one of the Specialised Airport Systems (SAS) providers for the airport’s new Main Terminal Building. The partnership, according to SITA’s media consultant, marks a milestone in the growing collaboration between RSI and SITA, following its work on the successful deployment of the airport’s Air Taxi Terminal. RSI is a pivotal part of Red Sea destination, developed by Red Sea Global. By 2030, the airport is expected to serve one million guests annually, with a peak capacity of 900 passengers per hour. A digitally powered passenger journey would be instrumental to handling this level of traffic while avoiding bottlenecks and keeping the passenger journey smooth and pleasant. Under this new agreement, SITA would deliver smart solutions powering everything from passenger processing to baggage reconciliation, airport operations, and beyond. SITA Flex and SITA’s Maestro departure control system together would automate check-in and departure processes and allow passengers to use their mobile device as their remote control for the journey. SITA Bag Manager would provide advanced baggage reconciliation; tracking every bag loaded onto a plane, ULD, or cart in real time throughout the airport, the solution would offer passengers peace of mind and free up staff to focus on more complex tasks. A suite of airport management solutions would ensure RSI harnesses the power of data to monitor and swiftly reallocate resources where they are most needed, while SITA’s Information Display Systems will keep passengers fully informed with down-to-the-minute flight updates. RSI will benefit from swift and economical implementation of all SAS in the new terminal building as SITA leverages the infrastructure already deployed in the Air Taxi Terminal, as well as streamlined operations thanks to full interoperability of these solutions. Selim Bouri, President, Middle East & Africa, SITA, said: “As the region gears up to welcome more travelers than ever before, RSI’s Main Terminal Building rises to the challenge of welcoming them effectively and efficiently. “Our comprehensive suite of solutions will ensure smooth operations for the airport’s teams while enhancing the passenger experience every step of the way. We are proud to have gained the trust and confidence of Red Sea International Airport through our work together so far and look forward to a longstanding collaboration.” Andrew Tyler Smith, Chief Guest Experience Officer, Red Sea International Airport, said: “As the key gateway to The Red Sea destination, our vision is to integrate cutting-edge technological solutions that will make us a world-leading facility. “Our aim is not only to enhance the guest experience from the moment of touchdown, but also to firmly establish our commitment to sustainability. By leveraging advanced innovations, we aim to demonstrate our dedication to environmental stewardship and sustainable practices. Technological innovation will be the backbone of our offering. In SITA we have found a trusted technology partner attuned to that mission and able to deliver the agile, reliable, and seamlessly interoperable solutions to make our vision a reality.”BEIRUT — Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the militant group's heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with cease-fire efforts to halt the all-out war. An Israeli bomb squad policeman carries the remains of a rocket that was fired from Lebanon on Sunday in Kibbutz Kfar Blum, northern Israel. Some of the rockets reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said. The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the militants. Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines. Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on U.S.-led cease-fire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war. Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups. The Israeli police bomb squad inspects the site after a missile fired from Lebanon hit the area Sunday in Petah Tikva, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war as Israel launched airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire on northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there. In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing. The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was unclear whether injuries and damage were caused by rockets or interceptors. Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later. Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 29 people and wounding 67, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. A flock of birds flies above the smoke from Israeli airstrikes Sunday in Dahiyeh, Beirut. Smoke billowed above Beirut again Sunday with new strikes. Israel's military said it targeted command centers for Hezbollah and its intelligence unit in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, where the militants have a strong presence. Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north. The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to the Lebanese c... The European Union’s top diplomat called Sunday for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.” U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week. Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group. Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate $208 million to assist the Lebanese military. But Borrell later said that he did not “see the Israeli government interested clearly in reaching an agreement for a cease-fire" and that it seemed Israel was seeking new conditions. He pointed to Israel’s refusal to accept France as a member of the international committee that would oversee the cease-fire's implementation. The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the monthlong 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of U.N. peacekeepers. With talks for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza stalled, freed hostages and families of those held marked a year since the war's only hostage-release deal. “It’s hard to hold on to hope, certainly after so long and as another winter is about to begin," said Yifat Zailer, cousin of Shiri Bibas, who is held along with her husband and two young sons. Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead. Most of the rest of the 250 who were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack were released in last year's cease-fire. Talks for another deal recently had several setbacks, including the firing of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who pushed for a deal, and Qatar’s decision to suspend its mediation. Hamas wants Israel to end the war and withdraw all troops from Gaza. Israel has offered only to pause its offensive. The Palestinian death toll from the war surpassed 44,000 this week, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. On Sunday, six people were killed in strikes in central Gaza, according to AP journalists at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. How often do you buy something online ? A couple of times a month? A couple of times a week? A couple of times a day? Everybody's answer will be different, but collectively, it's done a lot: Online retail accounted for over $1 trillion of purchases in the U.S. in 2022 and a record $277.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023 alone. Retailers ranging from titans like Amazon and Walmart, down to local small-town shops work very hard to land their share of that business. Sadly and inevitably—so do criminals and scammers. At any given moment, they operate millions of bogus sites. So how can you spot those fake online shopping sites? Spokeo provides a guide. In the early days of the internet , it took some genuine skills to set up a website, but those days are gone. A quick search will show that there are lots of apps and services offering websites on a prefabricated "fill in the blanks" basis, and most web hosts provide those tools as part of the service when someone signs up with them. It's even easier on social media . If you were opening a "side hustle" business tomorrow from your home, you could set up your own Facebook page tonight in under an hour, with exactly zero knowledge of websites. Once that page is set up, you just need to throw a few dollars in the direction of Facebook's advertising department, and they'll start advertising your page to users. It's no harder to promote a website, except in that case, you'd give your advertising dollars to Google. This is a simplified overview, but the main point holds: Establishing a presence online has become a very democratized process, open to anyone with minimal skills and even the smallest budget for advertising. That's been a boon for legitimate entrepreneurs, but it also makes life very easy indeed for scammers. There are multiple types of bogus websites . Some are imposters, created to look very much like a legitimate commercial or government site that you're familiar with, such as Amazon or Netflix. Others don't imitate a specific site, but instead attempt to capture the look and feel of those sites in general (whether that be a retail site, a government or bank page, or even something relatively shady like a gambling or porn site). Next, scammers find ways to drive traffic to their site. Often that's through phishing texts or emails, but deceptive ads on social media or search engines like Google and Bing work just as well. Once a browser arrives at the criminals' site (or, in some cases, downloads their app), any number of bad things can happen. One is that they'll download malware onto your devices, which can capture passwords or steal personal information. A more straightforward risk is that the browser will cheerfully enter their personal and banking/credit card information, thinking they're making a legitimate purchase. That's largely why fake online shopping sites are so dangerous, and so useful to scammers and identity thieves. Most bogus sites share some or all of those characteristics, but shopping sites are a very specific type of bogus site with some quirks of their own. One characteristic to count on—whether the website directly impersonates a major retailer like Amazon, a niche retailer like MEC, or just positions itself as an anonymously general retail site—is that it will offer unusually low pricing on high-demand products. That might be a mass-market item like the latest gaming console, a suddenly in-demand item that's unavailable through normal channels (remember trying to get masks and sanitizing wipes during COVID-19?), or something as mundane as disposable diapers or high-capacity computer drives. Whatever the product, the advertised price will be low enough to get attention. The bogus site will have any number of ways to transfer a browser's money to its coffers, depending on the scammers' intentions and skillset. A few of the most common include: These are all aside from the potential to infect devices or steal payment information . Sites focused on identity theft might consider a faux purchase to be just the added gravy. How common is online shopping fraud? Well, the news is pretty bad. The FTC's 2022 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book recorded over 327,000 online shopping complaints, the fourth-highest category for overall complaints and second among fraud categories. You would expect these sites to be more prevalent during the final quarter of the year, corresponding to the holiday gift-giving season—Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas itself—and they are, but that doesn't mean you can relax during the other nine months of the year. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, or APWG, identified nearly a million fake or phishing websites during the first quarter of 2022 alone (not a busy time of year for shopping), for example. To be clear, only 14.6% of those were eCommerce sites, but that still translates to well over 140,000 bogus shopping sites. The true number is almost certainly higher because the APWG only tracks the ones that use a phishing approach. Many opt to simply buy advertising instead (or as well), and those won't be captured in the APWG's statistics. However you slice it, there's a definite risk of encountering these sites when you shop. The good news is that bogus shopping sites aren't hard to spot, once you're aware of the risk. They aren't built for permanence; scammers pull them together quickly and cheaply and then abandon them once they stop producing.That "just good enough" approach leaves plenty of visible signs you can detect. Below, here's what to look for when recognizing fake online shopping sites. Bad images Bogus sites don't have direct access to the real products' manufacturing images, so they resort to copying and pasting from legitimate sites. \That means bogus sites' product images (and often their fake logos, if they impersonate a legitimate site) are fuzzy and low-res. A URL that's slightly "off" Imposter sites obviously can't have the same URL as the legitimate site, so they'll usually have a URL that looks right, but isn't quite. They might have a typo in the name, or incorporate the real company's name into their URL in a non-standard way ("myfakesite.amazon.com.123xyz.com"), or—sneakiest of all—use a letter from a different language's character set , which looks the same to the eye, but not to the computer. Broken links The scammers may have simply copied and pasted user interface elements from a legitimate site, in which case many links on the site may be broken (or simply not clickable). Lots of missing elements A legitimate retail website will have several pages of legalese, often starting with a pop-up about its cookie policy or privacy policy. You should certainly expect to see a detailed document spelling out shipping policies, return and refund policies, and similar details. If those are missing or brief and vapid, it's probably a fake site. Limited options for payment Sites that plan to take your money and run will often show oddly specific payment options, from wire transfers to gift cards to cryptocurrency. The thing those payment methods have in common is that it's very difficult to get money back once it's spent. Sites geared around capturing your personal or payment information, on the other hand, may insist on getting your credit card. Typos, grammar, and linguistic errors Simple, silly language errors are often a red flag. Scammers may not be native English speakers, and it shows up in awkward or sometimes inappropriate phrasing. Errors in actual product listings aren't necessarily a smoking gun—you'll see them frequently on real Amazon pages—because they come from the manufacturers, who are often not English speakers. Language errors on the rest of the site are more of a concern. HTTP vs. HTTPS In the address bar of your browser, a legitimate retail site's URL will start with HTTPS, rather than HTTP, and will show a closed lock symbol. The majority of fake sites now also have an HTTPS URL and will show the lock (so this isn't as helpful as it used to be), but less-sophisticated scammers may miss that detail. You can automatically rule those ones out. And, of course, the biggest red flag of all is an unrealistically low price on the product you're looking for. We all want to get a really good deal, but that impulse will often lead you astray. If a shopping site fails those basic "eyeball" tests, the smart thing to do is just close that browser tab and walk away. If you want to dig deeper, or if you aren't sure, there are a few quick and easy ways to verify a site's legitimacy. Use a URL/website checker Remember those really sneaky fake URLs that use a letter from another alphabet? The best way to check those (and other problematic elements in a URL) is through a URL verifier/website reputation service, like the ones from URLVoid and Google . Just copy (don't click!) the link, and paste it into the checker. If the site is sketchy, they'll tell you. Look up the site on a registry Domain names all need to be registered and there are several lookup tools to check this, like ICANN's registration lookup (think of it as Spokeo for websites). If a site claims to be Amazon but was registered just a few weeks ago, that's a really big red flag. Similarly, if the site isn't located where it should be, or if the ownership data is obscured, that's grounds for concern. Turn to Google If you have a bad feeling about a particular site, do a quick Google or Bing (or whatever) search that pairs the site's name with keywords like "scam," "fraud," "bogus" or "ripoff" and see what comes up. If you get a lot of hits, that's definitely grounds for concern. Go Forth and Shop (Safely) If a given site fails any or all of those tests, then keeping your wallet in your pocket is definitely the smart choice. Instead of making the purchase, report the site instead to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and the FTC's Report Fraud website. That will get the investigative wheels turning and may help protect someone less wary from falling victim to the scammers. As always, wariness and skepticism are your friends when it comes to avoiding scams. Don't click on links in emails, texts , or social media messages; instead, go to the company's site by typing the URL directly. If you search a company's page on Google, scroll down through the actual search results until you find it instead of clicking on the sponsored results or advertisements at the top. Most of all, remember the golden rule of scam avoidance: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Keeping those principles in mind, and using the tips given here to screen out dubious sites means you'll be able to shop 'til you drop (safely), despite the vast number of scammers out there. And that—as the credit card ads like to say—is priceless. This story was produced by Spokeo and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
It goes from bad to worse for ( ) shares. Prior to today, the ASX mining stock was down 60% since the start of the year. In early trade, the graphite producer's shares have sunk a further 32% to a multi-year low of 18 cents. Why are Syrah shares being sold off again? Investors have been rushing to the exits today after the company released an on its Balama project in Mozambique. As some readers may be aware, there has been major civil unrest in the East African country this year. So much so, ( ) was forced to for its Mozal Aluminium operation earlier this week. The civil unrest has been driven by the results of Mozambique's general election, with the ruling Frelimo party extending its majority across both Provincial and National levels of government. These results are being contested by opposition parties, citing allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities. Nationwide protests associated with the electoral process is causing widespread disruptions throughout Mozambique, including at several mining operations. What's happening at Syrah? Unfortunately for this ASX mining stock, it has also been caught up in the civil unrest, with protests around historical farmland resettlement grievances getting larger. This has led to its subsidiary Twigg Exploration and Mining declaring a force majeure event for the Balama Graphite Operation under the terms of its Mining Agreement with the Mozambique Government. Commenting on the situation the company said: With conditions continuing to deteriorate across Mozambique and further National Government opposition protest actions recently announced, Syrah is unable to undertake a production campaign at Balama in the December 2024 quarter that is required to replenish finished product inventory, and for customer sales. Consequently, force majeure is declared under the Mining Agreement. Syrah advised that it remains committed to achieving a positive resolution of the protest and addressing all legitimate resettlement concerns. However, it acknowledges that "resolution of the Balama protest will take time due to broader unrest and disruptions across Mozambique and the new Mozambique Government not being formed until January 2025." Big consequences While the failure to replenish inventory for customer sales is bad, it gets much worse for Syrah. It notes that these events have triggered events of default in its loans with the US government. It said: The impacts and duration of the protest actions have triggered events of default in the Company's loans with United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and United States Department of Energy (DOE). Syrah is engaging with DFC and DOE regarding these events of default. These certainly are difficult times for Syrah and its shares. Once again, this highlights the dangers of mining (and investing) outside tier-1 jurisdictions.Stocks to Watch on December 30: Reliance Infrastructure, JSW Energy, IOL Chemicals and more'We need new leadership': Atlantic Liberal caucus calls for Trudeau's resignation
Jon Coupal: New laws coming in the new year Californians need to know aboutWall Street's holiday cheer ended abruptly on Friday, with all three main benchmarks closing lower in a broad-based sell-off affecting even tech and growth stocks that had driven markets higher through much of the shortened trading week. The decline ended the Dow Jones Industrial Average's five-session winning streak that had followed a 10-session decline, its worst losing stretch since 1974. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 65.34 points, or 1.08 per cent, to end at 5,972.25 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 294.69 points, or 1.47 per cent, to 19,725.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 321.73 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 42,992.58. "Today feels like there is quite a bit of profit-taking across the board," said Michael Reynolds, vice president of investment strategy at Glenmede. "We are more than two years into a pretty strong bull market ... so it's really not surprising to see some people taking their profits and rebalancing their portfolios ahead of the new year." The sell-off thwarted the seasonal Santa Claus rally, in which stocks traditionally rise during the last five sessions of December and the first two of January. Since 1969, the S&P 500 has climbed 1.3 per cent on average, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. Thursday's session hinted at momentum stalling, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting marginal losses to end multi-session winning runs. Rising US Treasury yields had been catching investors' attention, with the benchmark 10-year note hitting a more than seven-month high in the previous session. The yield hovered close to that mark on Friday, at 4.62 per cent. Higher yields are seen as hampering growth stocks, as they raise borrowing costs for business expansion. These stocks, especially the so-called Magnificent Seven technology megacaps which had been key drivers of the market's 2024 rally, were also caught up in Friday's sell-off. For the second successive day, Tesla led decliners among the group. "We have a higher cost of capital whenever rates go up like this, and they have gone up pretty significantly over the last month or so," said Glenmede's Reynolds. "Investors may just be reassessing the bets they are taking when the cost of capital is higher, perhaps looking at some of the valuations on the Mag 7 and wondering whether they can find better value elsewhere." Most of the 11 major S&P sectors fell. The worst performers on Friday were the three indexes which have been 2024's leading lights: consumer discretionary, information technology and communication services. Despite Friday's travails, all three indexes recorded weekly gains. News events helped some stocks to buck the market sell-off. Amedisys gained after the home health service provider and insurer UnitedHealth extended the deadline to close their $US3.3 billion ($A5.3 billion) merger. Lamb Weston climbed after a filing showed activist investor Jana Partners is working with a sixth executive to push for changes at the French fry maker, a move which could result in a majority of the company's board being replaced. Trading volumes in this holiday-shortened week have been below the average of the last six months and are likely to remain subdued until January 6. The next major focus for markets will be the December employment report due on January 10.