Adaxum is accelerating its mission to redefine the future of digital payments in e-commerce with its blockchain-powered platform, which provides secure, efficient, and fully decentralized payment solutions. Adaxum is accelerating its mission to redefine the future of digital payments in e-commerce with its blockchain-powered platform, which provides secure, efficient, and fully decentralized payment solutions. London, England, United Kingdom, December 28, 2024 /MarketersMEDIA/ -- Adaxum is accelerating its mission to redefine the future of digital payments in e-commerce with its blockchain-powered platform, which provides secure, efficient, and fully decentralized payment solutions. With recent strategic partnerships and feature expansions, Adaxum is setting a new standard for digital transactions, delivering a seamless, user-friendly experience for e-commerce shoppers and merchants alike. Building a Global Network with Strategic Partnerships Adaxum has recently established partnerships with leading e-commerce platforms, blockchain providers, and payment processors, helping to solidify its position as a primary player in cryptocurrency payments. These partnerships have expanded Adaxum's ecosystem, allowing more merchants to adopt crypto payments and providing more opportunities for users to transact seamlessly across borders. The ongoing development of this network enables Adaxum to connect buyers and sellers in a dynamic, open, and decentralized marketplace. Security and Accessibility at the Core Adaxum's platform is built on Ethereum blockchain technology, ensuring transparency and high-security standards in all transactions. This foundation, combined with advanced features like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and enhanced encryption, protects users' data and digital assets while fostering a secure e-commerce environment. Adaxum is committed to making cryptocurrency transactions as safe and reliable as traditional payment options, giving users and merchants the confidence to engage fully in the digital economy. Adaxum Touch & Pay Card: The Future of Crypto Spending The Adaxum Touch & Pay Card introduces a new level of convenience for crypto users, enabling them to use cryptocurrency for everyday purchases directly from their digital wallets. This card solution bridges the gap between crypto assets and traditional payment methods, making it easy for users to spend cryptocurrency in both online and offline environments. The card also serves as a link between Adaxum's digital ecosystem and the physical world, further promoting the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. A Comprehensive Rewards Program for Ecosystem Growth Adaxum's integrated rewards program incentivizes users to participate actively in its ecosystem. Through the program, users can earn rewards for completing specific actions on the platform, such as making purchases or engaging with partner vendors. This reward system not only strengthens the Adaxum ecosystem but also builds a loyal user base that benefits directly from participating in a decentralized, value-driven marketplace. Adaxum's Commitment to Innovation in E-Commerce As Adaxum continues to expand its offerings, its commitment to secure, user-friendly digital transactions remains central. By providing a unified platform that integrates payment, rewards, and transaction solutions, Adaxum is fostering a decentralized e-commerce environment where cryptocurrency can be used in real-world scenarios. This ecosystem empowers users with both flexibility and control, allowing them to fully participate in the future of digital commerce. As Adaxum builds the infrastructure for a decentralized marketplace, it remains at the forefront of digital payments and e-commerce, driving the adoption of crypto solutions for global transactions. Contact Info: Name: Nathan Thomas Email: Send Email Organization: Adaxum Website: https://adaxum.net Disclaimer: This press release is for informational purposes only. Information verification has been done to the best of our ability. Still, due to the speculative nature of the blockchain (cryptocurrency, NFT, mining, etc.) sector as a whole, complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. You are advised to conduct your own research and exercise caution. Investments in these fields are inherently risky and should be approached with due diligence. Release ID: 89149589 Should you come across any errors, concerns, or inconsistencies within this press release's content, we urge you to reach out without delay by contacting [email protected] (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). Our committed team will promptly address your feedback within 8 hours and take appropriate measures to resolve any identified issues or guide you through the removal process. Providing accurate and dependable information remains our utmost priority.
FRANKFURT, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is all but certain to cut interest rates again on Thursday and signal further easing in 2025 as inflation in the euro zone is nearly back at its target and the economy is faltering. The ECB has already cut rates at three of its last four meetings. Debate has nevertheless shifted to whether it is easing policy fast enough to support an economy that is at risk of recession and facing political instability at home and the prospect of a fresh trade war with the United States. That question is likely to dominate Thursday's meeting but policy hawks, who still command a comfortable majority on the 26-member Governing Council, are likely to back just a small cut of 25 basis points, taking the benchmark rate to 3%. In a possible compromise with more dovish policymakers, the cut could come with tweaks to the ECB's guidance to make clear that further policy easing is coming provided there are no new shocks to inflation, which could hit the central bank's 2% target in the first half of 2025. "Fundamentals fully justify the December cut and a more dovish forward guidance, given the deterioration in the growth picture. Underlying inflationary pressures have eased and risks of further headwinds to growth have increased after the U.S. election results," Annalisa Piazza at MFS Investment Management said. A cut is warranted because fresh projections will show inflation, above target for three years now, back at 2% in a few months' time. That is partly because economies are barely growing across the 20 countries that share the euro. The outlook is so fraught with risk that some policymakers argue the ECB now risks undershooting its inflation target, as it did for nearly a decade before the pandemic, and should move more quickly to avoid falling behind the curve. But hawks say inflation is still a risk given rapid wage growth and the fast-rising cost of services, so that a steady stream of incremental steps is appropriate. U.S. protectionism and political instability in France and Germany are further reasons for caution. Governing Council members simply do not know what policies will be approved by president-elect Donald Trump's new U.S. administration, how Europe will respond - or what the economic impact will be. Political turmoil in France and Germany's upcoming election add to the uncertainty and could force the ECB to step in, reinforcing arguments that it should leave itself space to take bold action if needed. "The risk of a confidence crunch that could yet lead to a much steeper downturn in France, spreading through the euro zone via trade links, has inevitably risen," Sandra Horsfield at Investec said. "Keeping powder dry for such an eventuality might be wise. Besides, a steep cut now might fan rather than ease market qualms," she added. Financial markets have fully priced in a 25 basis point rate cut on Thursday, with the odds of a bigger step now close to zero - a big change from a few weeks ago when a half percentage point cut was seen as a real possibility. Investors then see a cut at every meeting until June, followed by at least one more cut in the second half of 2025, taking the deposit rate to at least 1.75% by year-end. Any change in the ECB's guidance for the future is likely to be at the margins. It could drop its reference to needing "restrictive" policy to tame inflation, an implicit signal that rates will come down at least to the so-called neutral level at which they are neither stimulating nor slowing economic activity. The problem is that neutral is an undefined concept and each policymaker has a different estimate, putting the range between 1.75% and 3%, with most seeing it between 2% and 2.5%. But the ECB is likely to keep its intentions vague after having burned itself repeatedly by making explicit commitments that proved difficult or impossible to keep. "Given the massive international geopolitical and policy uncertainty, the 'data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction' is still appropriate," Lorenzo Codogno at LC Macro Advisors said. Sign up here. Editing by Catherine Evans Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab
Hydrogen Generation Market to grow by USD 49.7 Billion from 2024-2028, driven by fertilizer demand and AI-driven market transformation - TechnavioMIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he was caught off guard by reports early Tuesday that linebacker Shaq Barrett wants to unretire. The two-time Super Bowl winner signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins in March, then abruptly announced his retirement on social media in July, just days before the start of Miami's training camp. “Just to be candid, obviously there's a reason why you target and sign somebody," McDaniel said Tuesday afternoon. “I was fully caught off guard, or caught by surprise this morning as I found out.” McDaniel indicated the Dolphins have not had any conversations with Barrett recently. Miami holds the 32-year-old’s contractual rights. ESPN first reported the news. “It was kind of news as you guys got it,” McDaniel said. He also said he hasn't had a chance to think about Barrett potentially rejoining the team, and that his immediate focus is on Miami's Thursday night game at Green Bay. “The team is counting on me to think about the Packers,” he said. "I'll get with (GM) Chris (Grier), and we'll work through that. There's a ton of implications that go along with it in terms of team and roster stuff, so we'll work through that as we just got the news today.” Barrett has 400 tackles, 59 sacks, 22 forced fumbles and three interceptions in nine seasons — four with Denver and five with Tampa Bay. He was a second-team All-Pro with the Buccaneers in 2019, with a league-high 19 1/2 sacks. The Dolphins waived veteran safety Marcus Maye on Tuesday and activated rookie safety Patrick McMorris from injured reserve. Maye, who signed with the Dolphins in June, played in 11 games with three starts for Miami this season. He had 30 tackles and a tackle for loss. He could re-sign to the team's practice squad if he clears waivers. Maye previously played for New Orleans, but was cut in a money-saving move in March after two seasons with the Saints. Maye's release made room on the roster for McMorris, who was drafted in the sixth round by Miami in April. He began the season on injured reserve because of a calf injury. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
‘Some may seek to deny or delay the clean-energy revolution that’s underway in America, but nobody — nobody — can reverse it. Nobody. Not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits.” Still-President Joe Biden said that on a recent visit to Brazil. His administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, for example, included $400 billion in subsidies for solar power, electric vehicles and other renewable-energy technologies. Its goal is to slash carbon emissions, the main driver of climate change and the environmental chaos it unleashes. President-elect Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax.” And drilling remains his answer for every energy question. Never mind whether Trump or anyone else thinks climate change is real. One thing that is very real is the jobs the Inflation Reduction Act is creating. It happens that 60% of these new jobs are in red states. If their Republican representatives don’t want them, no problem. There are plenty of other takers. People are also reading... But they apparently do want these jobs. At least 18 House Republicans have made clear to House Speaker Mike Johnson their opposition to repealing the Inflation Reduction Act. Meanwhile, some of the big oil companies that held fundraisers for Trump have clean-energy projects funded by it, too. They also don’t want Biden’s package of incentives canceled, at least the parts that benefit them. Responsible world leaders regard a warming planet as a security as well as environmental threat. Melting glaciers and associated rising sea levels are flooding towns and cities, endangering ports, roads and other infrastructure. Higher temperatures are stoking more intense storms, heat waves, droughts and wildfires. They are wrecking ecosystems. This is a worldwide problem demanding a worldwide solution. Under Biden, the U.S. has met a pledge to increase international climate financing this year to more than $11 billion. Obviously, neither Trump’s heart nor his brain is engaged in dealing with this threat to our future. And so where can Americans turn for leadership on this existential crisis? They can turn to California. If it were a country, California would be the world’s fifth-largest economy. It’s not an easy place for Trump to push around, and the Golden State cares a whole lot about climate change. For example, Trump seems hot to end the electric-vehicle tax credit. If that happens, Gov. Gavin Newsom says, California will offer its own tax rebate. And he seems to be structuring the credit so that some popular Tesla models won’t qualify for it. The governor insists that he merely wants to help other carmakers “take root” in the EV market. But another motive is to stick it to Elon Musk over the Tesla founder’s California bashing and his glomming onto Trump. On this matter, California has a good deal of muscle. About 1 in 3 EVs sold in the U.S. is sold in California. As other carmakers bring out new and less expensive EV models, California could help break Tesla’s longtime dominance. Trump says he wants to open the environmentally fragile Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. We’ll see. “I would be surprised if any major oil company, or even any middle oil company, submits bids,” Larry Persily, publisher of the Alaska-based newspaper Wrangell Sentinel, said. “It is a high-cost, highly speculative play.” And for all the whining about the price of gas, it’s already below $3 a gallon in many places. You know, that supply-and-demand thing. Biden’s various legislative accomplishments have unlocked an estimated $1 trillion for green-energy technologies and the factories needed to build them. America is going ahead with the transition. Trump can’t stop it. And to those who want to pass over its economic benefits, go ahead. Others will happily take your place. Harrop, who lives in New York City and Providence, Rhode Island, writes for Creators Syndicate: fharrop@gmail.com . Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!He has your nudes. She got the message by text from a girl she barely knew: Your friend, he has your photos on his phone. How could that be, the 16-year-old Toronto high school student remembers thinking. The boy with the photos was a close friend, someone she trusted. And besides, she thought, she had never sent a nude to anyone. “I was like, ‘What? That’s not possible,’” the girl said. Her mind drifted to the worst-case scenario — “Has someone taken photos of me while I was asleep?” In late January of this year, a group of teens between the ages of 15 and 17 went to Toronto police to report what they thought was a crime. A boy they knew had made naked pictures of all of them — his classmates, friends and girls he only knew through social media. Using artificial intelligence tools, he put their faces onto someone else’s naked body, creating explicit “deepfake” porn of them without their consent, essentially out of thin air. To the girls and their parents, the act should have been illegal. However, in a move that illustrates a growing dilemma facing investigators and lawmakers tasked with handling the exploding world of AI technology, Toronto police disagreed. The girls gave statements at the station. Nearly a month later, investigators called them back to explain the situation in a PowerPoint presentation, saying there were gaps in legislation to address the deepfake images and insufficient evidence to prove the photos were distributed. There would be no charges. The legalities surrounding AI-generated deepfakes are murky in Canadian law, particularly in Ontario. Are deepfakes illegal to possess? Are they child pornography if depicting a minor? Is your image legally yours if it’s been attached to someone else’s body? What’s known as deepfake porn involves superimposing a person’s face on someone else’s naked body in a realistic way. In the past, creating fakes would require the use of Photoshop and a relatively high degree of skill — but developments in AI have made it so anyone can generate convincing nude photos with just a few clicks. “Nowadays, you don’t need any tech skills at all,” said Kaitlynn Mendes, a sociologist at Western University who researches “technology-facilitated gender-based violence,” which includes deepfakes. Modern AI tools are so good that users can even create convincing videos without much effort. You can to watch him go about your mundane tasks. You can as he walks out to his adoring fans. Or, you can create realistic porn featuring . Deepfake porn involving minors falls into a “grey area” of Canada’s laws around consent, revenge porn and child exploitation, said Suzie Dunn, an assistant law professor at Dalhousie University whose research centres on deepfakes. Although deepfake porn isn’t clearly defined as illegal in the Criminal Code, the provision for child pornography could apply, Dunn said. It considers material child pornography, “whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means.” There is also a provision that makes it an offence to share explicit images of another person without their consent. However, on a plain reading of the law, Dunn said that only includes authentic nude images of someone. Regulations often lag behind technological advances, Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer said in a statement. In the girls’ situation, investigators from the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit worked closely with a specialized ICE Crown attorney, Sayer said, “dedicating extensive time to the investigation and to explaining the legal challenges that can arise in prosecuting such cases.” The Star interviewed five female high school students who were portrayed in explicit deepfakes and has agreed not to name them — nor their parents — because they are minors, as is the boy they accuse of creating the images. As they tell it, the girls learned about the photos one weekend in late January. During a co-ed slumber party, a separate group of teens came across the nude pictures while scrolling on the boy’s cellphone. They were looking for the selfies they had previously taken on his device. One of them video-recorded the photos as evidence and, with help from her friends, managed to identify every girl depicted in the images. They contacted each one immediately. I didn’t know how to tell my mom. What was I supposed to say? As the girls’ phones blew up with texts and calls, gossip about their faked nudes spread like wildfire, and the boy accused of making them started shifting the blame. “I just started panicking,” said one girl, who was 15 and halfway through her Grade 10 year at the time. “I didn’t know how to tell my mom. What was I supposed to say?” Unlike the others, who were either friends or acquaintances of the boy, this teen had never spoken to him. “I had zero connection,” she said. Another girl said a bikini picture she posted to Instagram was turned into a nude that looked “disgustingly real.” After, she wished she never saw it. “Looking at the picture makes me uncomfortable.” For the 16-year-old who confronted the boy, her former friend, the most upsetting realization was that he manipulated selfies of her face that she had sent him when she was as young as 13. “The images he got were from the girls’ Instagrams. But then the images he used for me were (non-explicit) images I had sent him on Snapchat,” she said. The day she learned about the images, she asked two male friends to accompany her to the boy’s house to confront him. When they arrived, a police car was out front, and an officer was inside — “Someone else had already called the police,” the girl said. The boy’s father let her in, but not her friends. She said the officer and the boy’s parents had no idea multiple girls were involved. The parents made their son apologize despite the boy denying he was responsible. The cop allegedly told the girl: “You don’t need to worry, the pictures have been wiped,” she recalled. The experience was “super surreal,” she said. “I was crying in his living room on his couch, begging him to tell me the truth.” That weekend, she and about 12 other girls went to police. They feared the boy shared the doctored photos or posted them online. “Are these everywhere?” the 16-year-old remembers thinking. “Do people have these?” The ordeal left some girls feeling humiliated and violated, causing their mental health and school work to suffer at a time when most were writing exams. “It was hard to focus because of all the chatter,” one said. Are these everywhere? ... Do people have these? Another, the boy’s former friend, stayed in her room for days after learning about the pictures and skipped out on dance class. “I didn’t want to be surrounded by mirrors after seeing ‘myself’ like that,” she said. There were various layers to the girls’ case that made it unclear if deepfake images would be considered illegal. According to them and their parents who listened to the police presentation, a key question was: did the boy share the deepfakes with anyone else? When the investigator told them there was no proof of distribution and the boy made the photos for “private use,” some of the girls said the accused had shown the pictures to a few other boys they knew. (It’s unclear if police interviewed the boys. According to the girls, investigators told them the boys came forward only after they were asked to, and that they could have been pressured into saying what the girls wanted police to hear.) Dunn suggested that police would have wrestled with whether or not the so-called private use exception would apply. In general, the law protects minors who create explicit photos of themselves or their partner for private use, but do not share them with anyone else. I didn’t want to be surrounded by mirrors after seeing ‘myself’ like that In the context of deepfakes, Dunn said an analogy would be if a teen boy cut out a picture of a young girl and placed it onto the face of a Playboy magazine photograph. Whether the private use exception to deepfake porn would hold up in court, to Dunn’s knowledge, it “has never been tested.” Using AI models to produce sexual material is a “very different” scenario, she added, noting companies that own the AI applications could store images in their databases. Would that be captured under “private use,” Dunn questioned, even if the person who made the photos didn’t show them to anyone? To one parent, the girls’ situation felt like a “test case” — an opportunity for investigators to apply the criminal code and set an example for other police jurisdictions dealing with similar matters. Toronto criminal defence lawyer William Jaksa has represented two clients who were subject to police investigations into AI-generated child pornography, one of whom had his charges dropped because there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. After learning from the Star about the case involving the girls, Jaksa commended Toronto police for what sounded like a thorough investigation, saying they took the extra step of consulting a Crown attorney before making a decision. “They could have very easily just laid the charges and let the Crown sort it out later,” he said. “But the reputational damage will have already been done to the kid, and that will always appear somewhere on his Toronto police record.” Mendes, the sociologist at Western, noted that not everyone wants charges laid in situations like this, especially if the accused is a classmate or peer. “Often, people just want the images taken down.” She also said many victims wouldn’t necessarily end up using the law as a resource because it’s expensive, time-consuming and complicated. Regardless, she and Dunn agreed criminal law should cover deepfakes to establish what is and isn’t acceptable. “It’s people understanding their rights, even if they don’t pursue a criminal or a civil case,” said Mendes, who is also Canada’s research chair in inequality and gender. “That sets an important message to society that, ‘Hey, this isn’t cool.’” A week or two after the girls went to police, they returned to the station individually to give full statements. Then, in mid-February, they were called back for a presentation on why police would not lay charges. The outcome left the girls feeling dismissed, disappointed and angry. One mother said it was yet another reminder of why women and girls often don’t report when they’re sexually assaulted, abused, or, in this case, the subject of non-consensual explicit material. “These girls are thinking, ‘We’ve done the right thing in reporting it, and nothing is going to happen,’” she said. Another parent felt as though police “minimized” the harm caused to her daughter when being interviewed by police. She said the detective told the teen that the images were not actually of her — to which her daughter replied: “Yeah, but everyone thinks they are me,” she said. Later, during the presentation, the parent said the general attitude from police in the room was “easy, breezy, casual. ‘You guys will move on from this.’” While Sayer said she couldn’t speak to specifics about the case, she emphasized the care investigators put into ensuring victims feel safe and supported — such as by offering the support of a victim services worker. “While gaps in the law can make it difficult to lay charges in some circumstances, this in no way diminishes the trauma experienced by victims,” she said. The five female students who spoke to the Star attended two high schools under the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). At one school, the girls said they were grateful for the swift support, including exemptions from exams and access to counselling services. At the other school, where the accused also attended, the students and their parents expressed disappointment with the response, suggesting administration prioritized the school’s reputation and legal concerns over their safety. During a meeting with the principal about the incident, one girl said she felt as if she was being told: “Why don’t you think of his feelings instead?” The boy was suspended, the teens and parents said, but only after mounting pressure, and the school was going to allow him to return. In the end, they said the boy chose not to come back and later transferred to a new school. In a statement, TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said the school “took immediate steps to address the very serious allegations” on the day officials became aware of them. He declined to elaborate on what those steps were, citing “privacy reasons.” “Understanding how difficult this must be for the impacted students, the administration checked in with them and their families on a number of occasions and offered a number of supports,” the statement said. Bird said the school board initially opened an investigation into the matter but halted its inquiry at the request of Toronto police while they carried out their own probe. When police closed their investigation, the board followed suit. The only positive outcome the students and their families said they saw from the school was new language added to its student code of conduct: that students must not possess or be responsible for “the creation or distribution of inappropriate or illegal images,” including pornographic images generated by AI. Nationally, experts and observers have sounded the alarm that Canada needs to better protect victims of deepfakes, especially as the issue is expected to worsen. When , the world’s biggest pop star, , there was outrage and legal threats. The pictures were removed from X, and lawmakers everywhere started paying attention. The Toronto case is a far less public example. Ontario and the territories are the only regions in Canada without intimate image laws that either address deepfakes explicitly or provide protections against “altered” or “fake” photos — which experts said could be applied to deepfakes. (Quebec was .) Other legislation, such as the recently introduced Online Harms Act, takes aim at social media companies for sharing and amplifying harmful content on their platforms. The federal bill requires them to remove material that sexually victimizes a child if intimate content is posted without their consent, including deepfakes. There are additional civil options to address deepfakes, too, including laws related to defamation, privacy and copyright. Though pursuing criminal charges isn’t as promising of an avenue for victims, there have been at least two known cases in Canada where a person was convicted of child pornography for making deepfakes. In April 2023, for using AI to make synthetic videos of child pornography. Earlier this year, of creating and possessing child porn, including an image of a teen girl that he manipulated into a deepfake nude. Police seized 150 photos of children that they suspected the pastor planned to run through the “nudify” application. In both cases, the photos had been shared with the girls themselves or distributed on a larger network — elements that couldn’t be proven in the Toronto case. In interviews with the five girls, a recurring theme emerged: they don’t want other young women to experience what they did. While the gossip at school has subsided, the emotional and psychological toll lingers. Some have turned to therapy to help them cope. “Until recently, I would think about it constantly,” said the teen who described her deepfake as hyper-realistic. She previously loved posting on social media but no longer feels she can enjoy it as much. It can “make you so vulnerable to anybody on the internet.” At school, she said students are taught to be careful online because of adults with nefarious intentions. But, the teen asked, how come no one ever talks about people their own age? “People following your account already can be the predator. Not some grown man on a fake account.”