In the HBO documentary “Surveilled,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow travels across the globe to investigate and expose the dark underbelly of the multi-billion-dollar advanced spyware industry. The film reveals that repressive regimes aren’t alone in using spyware to hack into citizens’ cell phones and computers clandestinely; democratic governments are also guilty of spying on unknowing individuals. “In recent years, we have seen a succession of Western democracies, where people really thought, “It can’t happen here” have these scandals where the use of commercial spyware technology spirals out of control despite constitutions in place that should prevent it,” says Farrow, whose most recent article for the New Yorker details how the Trump administration could expand the use of commercial spyware in the U.S. The article examines the Department of Homeland Security’s recently signed two-million-dollar contract with the Israeli spyware company Paragon. “A number of experts told me that the Department of Homeland Security acquiring this technology doesn’t necessarily mean, even if it’s intended for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), that it will only be used by ICE for immigration purposes,” says Farrow. “Not that we should lack concern about ICE marrying up Donald Trump ‘s promise of mass deportation with advanced spyware technology. But a lot of the privacy law experts that I spoke with told me that we should all really be concerned even if you don’t think of yourself as being in a vulnerable category. Even if you are not a politician, an activist, or a journalist, you are still looking at a situation where you might not know that you are being targeted until after the fact, and that’s another reason why it was important to me in this documentary, to tell the stories of innocent bystanders who are apolitical, who get caught up in these dragnets.” Farrow began reporting on the spyware industry after he was the target of cyber surveillance during his investigation into Harvey Weinstein that would help launch the 2017 #MeToo movement. “I came to (this subject) quite naturally in the course of being surveilled in various ways myself while reporting on tricky stories that pissed people off,” says Farrow. “It was personally frightening and devastating. It’s not just information gathering; there is a dimension of intimidation to it and, maybe even more consequentially, it shrinks the space for us to do our work as journalists.” Directed by Matthew O’Neill and Perri Peltz, “Surveilled” takes viewers inside the secretive industry while also illuminating how the digital spy business is reshaping contemporary concepts of privacy and power. The docu, which made its world debut at DOC NYC this month, examines ethical dilemmas that citizens and governments must now navigate in the brave new world of cyberespionage. Variety spoke to Farrow about Trump, the future of the #MeToo movement, and how to fend off being hacked. Farrow: I try to stay away from speculation other than talking about the capacities we have right now, the promises being made, and how those could collide in scary ways. We don’t know what will happen, but I do know that an array of serious privacy law experts are in a state of high alarm now looking at the fact that Donald Trump is making this promise of mass deportation. Also, the threats he is making to subject political enemies to tribunals and the idea he has conveyed that journalists who protect sources should go to jail have put privacy law experts in a high state of alarm (because) those promises become a lot scarier when married up with this kind of (spy) technology that his administration will have at its fingertips. It’s a huge concern. If we want freedom of expression and freedom of information, then we need to have privacy rights and devices that can’t be so easily compromised. We need to have checks and balances on these (spy) tools, and one of the big casualties when those checks and balances go away and when these devices are just a public space, and there is no room for private conversations, is journalism. I don’t want to see a reality in which the Trump administration makes good on what he’s saying about imprisoning people in our profession who protect their sources. Unfortunately, that reality becomes a lot more likely to transpire if this tech is used in an unfettered way. Write to your representatives and call them to say that you want accountability on this issue. While there are few complete defenses against advanced hacking technology, a daily reboot of your phone is something multiple tech experts have advised in the course of my reporting. I can’t give a satisfying answer to the question because the important part of my relationship with that reporting is that I really was just acting not as an activist but as an investigative reporter. The separate issue that you raised about Trump’s appointments, I think, is just linked to this wider pattern that we are seeing with those appointments, which has been described by very credible journalists in recent days as a trolling operation. Having people who have disregarded and flouted the very thing that the agency they are going to be running is designed to protect that’s happening over and over again. So, while it has a dimension of perhaps nose-thumbing at standards of consent and accountability around sexual violence, it is really just part and parcel with a moment in which this administration is coming in with a lot of evidence of a lot of different types of disregard for the rule of law. “Surveilled” is currently streaming on Max.By Elizabeth Ayoola, NerdWallet The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments. Kids are often pretty good at being consumers. If you’re a parent with a small business, you have the opportunity to show your kids firsthand what it means to be a producer. Small Business Saturday, which takes place on Nov. 30 this year, may be a great time to do just that. Small Business Saturday was established by American Express in 2010 and encourages consumers to patronize their local stores as a way to keep dollars circulating within their community. Here are three reasons you should consider getting your kids involved in Small Business Saturday, according to two mompreneurs. It teaches them positive work values Ronne Brown is the owner of HERLISTIC, a plant-derived beauty and feminine care brand in Washington, D.C. She’s been participating in Small Business Saturday since she established her business in 2020. The entrepreneur gets her kids (ages 24, 18 and 12), plus her bonus daughter, 10, to help out on Small Business Saturday and beyond. Brown’s kids help with customer service, shipping and fulfillment tasks. That could include counting inventory, quality control or packaging boxes. Other times, help looks like Brown’s 12-year-old daughter keeping her up-to-date with TikTok trends and influencers in the beauty field. “I just want them to understand the price and the value of a dollar and what it actually costs to make it,” Brown says. The mompreneur also hopes her kids learn the benefits of commitment and hard work. “What I want to show them is that you have to work hard every day. And there are gonna be moments where you’re gonna be tired, you’re gonna be exhausted, and you’re not gonna want to do things, and you’re going to have to push through,” she says. It creates an opportunity to earn money Hiring your kids to do legitimate work during Small Business Saturday provides a chance for them to learn pillars needed for a strong financial foundation: earning money , saving money and investing. That said, before hiring kids, it’s critical to understand the child labor laws for your state in addition to the IRS’ rules around hiring kids. Brown says she pays all of her children, including her 24-year-old son who is on payroll. Additionally, she teaches them about investing in the stock market. “I want them to understand the importance of making money, but also investing the money that they’re making,” she says. “Because when I pay them, I always ask them, ‘so what are you gonna do to double this money?’” If you hire your minor kids, they could get a headstart on investing by putting some of their income into a custodial Roth IRA , which requires earned income to open. You could also open them a custodial brokerage account. Another perk of your kids earning income by working for you is that they may be exempt from paying federal income taxes if they earn less than the standard deduction . In 2024, that threshold is $14,600. It gives you extra hands to deal with demand Having your kids add helping hands, whether it be doing administrative tasks or helping customers, can ensure you keep up with a potential increase in sales. A 2024 NerdWallet holiday spending report found that 16% of 2024 holiday shoppers plan to shop on Small Business Saturday this year. Lisset Tresvant, owner of Glow Esthetics Spa in Hollywood, Florida, has been participating in Small Business Saturday since the genesis of her business in 2019. “I do tend to sell more because people are usually more inclined to purchase because of the sales, and it gives them a reason to support us,” she says. To help with the demand, Tresvant’s daughter, 12, and son, 9, fill her skincare products, add labels and help prep items for shipping. Tresvant says she decided to let her kids get involved in her business so they have a better understanding of what she does. Looking beyond Small Business Saturday, hiring your child can also help with succession planning , which is about planning for your departure from your business. Tresvant hopes to pass hers down to her kids one day. “They understand that I’m building this legacy just for not myself, but for them as well,” says Tresvant. Elizabeth Ayoola writes for NerdWallet. Email: eayoola@nerdwallet.com. The article 3 Reasons to Involve Your Kids in Small Business Saturday originally appeared on NerdWallet .
Gary Lineker has been accused of “shameful contempt for women” after expressing support for an article attacking Israel in the newspaper. posted “This” on X alongside headlined ‘Sport may be a blunt tool of social change, but it’s time to take a stand against Israel’. Women’s sport campaigners have reacted with outrage at the political post which comes as against football’s failure to stop biological males playing in the women’s game. The BBC’s best-paid presenter, who next summer, failed to respond to hundreds of requests to address the issue – including from nine-time Wimbledon champion – after inviting potential questions for his podcast a fortnight ago. However, on Friday Lineker waded into another febrile political debate as he endorsed the thoughts of his favoured journalist Liew, who had written “even if sport is a blunt and pointless tool of social change, it must nonetheless be deployed” against Israel. “Because there remains – even in this warped, f----- fairground mirror of a world – a thing called right and a thing called wrong,” says the article. In response to the link posted on Lineker’s X account, Mara Yamauchi, who holds the fifth-fastest marathon time for a British woman in history, wrote: “I can’t believe you are promoting Liew who thinks every female Olympic gold won by a man would be fine. Thousands asked you to cover males in the F category in your podcast. You didn’t. I used to respect you. Now I see you are yet another man who has contempt for females. Shameful!” Emma Hilton, a developmental biologist and Sex Matters trustee, added: “When is it time to stand up for women, Gary? Liew said that if every podium place in an Olympic competition was taken by a transwoman, that would be inspiring. You OK with that? You had about a thousand people asking you to talk about males in women’s football and you’ve said, by my count, precisely nothing.” Liew has himself previously come under attack from women’s sport campaigners, having expressed concern over what he perceived as attacks on the transgender community in . “Let’s say the floodgates do open,” he wrote. “Let’s say transgender athletes pour into women’s sport, and let’s say, despite the flimsy and poorly-understood relationship between testosterone and elite performance, they dominate everything they touch. They sweep up grand-slam tennis titles and cycling world championships. They monopolise the Olympics. They fill our football and cricket and netball teams. Why would that be bad? Really? Imagine the power of a trans child or teenager seeing a trans athlete on the top step of the Olympic podium. In a way, it would be inspiring.” Lineker spoke this summer on his podcast of his admiration for Liew’s journalism. The former England striker also previously declared “cut out the divisive nonsense” as he expressed agreement in 2022 with former defence secretary Grant Shapps who suggested that transgender people should “be able to get on and live their lives”. When he came under attack from campaigners at the time, Lineker wrote on social media that his comment referred to “the war on woke and not any specific subject”. However, he has yet to address the issue at all this year amid mounting concern at an alleged absence of Football Association safeguards. Many critics have cited coverage of a for questioning during a grass-roots match whether an opponent was “a man”. Lineker, who was at the centre of , steps down from the broadcaster’s flagship show at the end of this season. He will continue presenting FA Cup coverage and will also front the World Cup 2026 coverage as part of an 18-month reduced-rate contract extension, however.Hezbollah fires about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel in heaviest barrage in weeksThomas Sorber, Georgetown roll past Coppin State
EXCLUSIVE Father of British ex-soldier, 22, who was 'captured by Putin's forces while fighting for Ukraine on Russia soil' says he's terrified he'll be tortured in captivity after he was paraded on TV By RICHARD MARSDEN and ED HOLT Published: 22:00, 24 November 2024 | Updated: 22:04, 24 November 2024 e-mail View comments A British former soldier has been captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine in Kursk, his family confirmed tonight. The ‘mercenary’ fighter, James Scott Rhys Anderson, was paraded in front of the cameras and a short video clip published by Kremlin-backed sources online. The 22-year-old’s father told the Daily Mail he was in ‘complete shock’ to discover his son’s fate and said he fears he will be tortured. Scott Anderson, 41, said he and other family members had begged his son not to go to Ukraine before he joined up around eight months ago. But he said his son would not be dissuaded because ‘he thought what he was doing was right’. He said: ‘I’m hoping he’ll be used as a bargaining chip but my son told me they torture their prisoners and I’m so frightened he’ll be tortured.’ Speaking at the family home in Banbury, Oxfordshire, Mr Anderson Sr added he had been due to come home for Christmas in only a few weeks’ time. The father-of-four said: ‘We spoke on WhatsApp almost every day until he went on his most recent operation. He was acting as a signalman. Mr Anderson, appeared in the footage with an unkempt beard, his hair closely cropped and wearing green combat fatigues, but with no visible bruises or marks of torture James Anderson with his father Scott Anderson. The 41-year-old said he and other family members had begged his son not to go to Ukraine before he joined up around eight months ago James with his sister. He had been in the Army for four years, having gone to Army Foundation College as a 17-year-old ‘James last came home only a month and a half ago. He said his Ukrainian commander had made a promise that he’d contact me if he was ever killed or captured. ‘When he called me and sent the video I was in complete shock and in tears. I could see straight away it was him. He looks frightened, scared and worried. ‘I didn’t want him to go. I did try to persuade him not to go - my whole family tried to persuade him. ‘He wanted to go out there because he thought he was doing what was right. He was dead against what was happening to the Ukrainian people. ‘Since he went out earlier this year, he’s fallen in love with a Ukrainian although I don’t know her name. ‘I last spoke to him when I last saw him but we used to talk on WhatsApp every day. He’d tell me where he’d been and the things he’d seen. ‘He was alive, healthy. He sent me a video when he was at Sumy. Then he was being posted within the last week.’ Mr Anderson senior, who said he served a short prison sentence for a domestic matter at the time his son joined the Ukrainians, said he has been contacted by Foreign Office officials Mr Anderson Sr said he said his son would not be dissuaded from going to Ukraine because ‘he thought what he was doing was right’ His son had been in the Army for four years, having gone to Army Foundation College as a 17-year-old In the footage released by his captors, Mr Anderson can be heard describing his decision to go to fight for Ukraine in the Russian territory as a ‘stupid idea’ His son had been in the Army for four years, having gone to Army Foundation College as a 17-year-old. After leaving the Army last year, he became a civilian custody officer for Thames Valley Police, prior to joining the Ukrainians. In the footage released by his captors, Mr Anderson can be heard describing his decision to go to fight for Ukraine in the Russian territory as a ‘stupid idea’. He states he was a former soldier with the British Army, in the Royal Signals corps, between 2019 and 2023, but said he was dismissed. He said he then applied for the International Legion of fighters helping Ukrainian troops. Ukraine made a surprise incursion into Russia in the summer and seized 500 square miles of territory in the Kursk region. It has since lost 40 per cent of this territory, according to recent reports. In the video, Mr Anderson said: ‘When I left, got fired from my job, I applied for the international legion. I’d lost everything, my dad was in prison, I’d seen it on the TV. It was a stupid idea’. Mr Anderson, appeared in the footage with an unkempt beard, his hair closely cropped and wearing green combat fatigues, but with no visible bruises or marks of torture. He described travelling from Luton to Krakow, Poland, before travelling into Ukraine. A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.’ In 2022, six British nationals - fighters Sean Pinner, Aiden Aslin, Andrew Hill and John Harding, and aid volunteers Dylan Healy and Paul Urey - were captured by Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and threatened with the death penalty. Father-of-four Mr Urey, aged 45, died in Russian captivity, while the other five were eventually released in September that year following negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, brokered by Saudi Arabia and involving former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich. In a message to Mr Anderson, Mr Harding, 61, said: ‘I’d say to him, don’t give up hope. I’d hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Mr Anderson senior, who said he served a short prison sentence for a domestic matter at the time his son joined the Ukrainians, said he has been contacted by Foreign Office officials Mr Anderson Sr with James's grandmother Jacqueline Payne Ukrainian soliders fighting in the Kursk region. Andersen was captured by Putin's forces in the Russian region where Ukraine holds several hundred square kilometres Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk region of Ukraine ‘I’m sure there’ll be people from the Ukrainian side trying to negotiate his release but I understand it’s a lot worse to be captured now than when I was. There seem to be fewer negotiations going on. ‘When I was first captured, I was held in solitary but when they ran out of space, they put all us Brits together and we used to encourage each other.’ Mr Harding, who had been fighting in Ukraine for four years before being captured and subjected to interrogation and torture, added: ‘I was quite aggressive when I was first captured but it didn’t work. ‘If I was him, I’d be the grey man, try and keep my head down. You’ve got to give them (the Russians) some information but you try not to give them any information which could be of use.’ Mr Anderson’s capture comes just over a month after Russia’s defence ministry claimed that its forces killed two British ‘mercenaries’ in Ukraine. The Kremlin said that the fighters were killed during an attack on the Ukrainian village of Mykhailivka, in the Donetsk region, which was taken over by Russian forces on October 13. The defence ministry quoted the deputy commander of the Russian battalion that led the assault, Igor Krasilnikov, as saying: ‘There were two servicemen from Britain, mercenaries. They basically stayed in that stronghold. In July, Peter Fouche, 49, a former London taxi driver, was buried after he was killed in June, as his unit clashed with Russian troops. At the funeral ceremony, Ukrainian soldiers carried Mr Fouche’s coffin through Kyiv’s landmark Independence Square, the site of mass protests in 2014 that forced out a pro-Russian president. Russian President Vladimir Putin records a televised address in Moscow The burnt wreckage of a car in Kursk. Inside the region, it has been claimed that North Korean soldiers are fighting alongside Russians Read More Top Russian general and 500 North Korean soldiers 'killed by British Storm Shadow missiles' Ukraine holds several hundred square kilometres of the Kursk region, which borders the northeast of Ukraine, but Putin's forces are gradually pushing them back. Inside Kursk, it has been claimed that North Korean soldiers are fighting alongside Russians. The capture comes after a top Russian general, along with 500 North Korean soldiers, were allegedly killed by British Storm Shadow missiles in a devastating attack. The strike launched by Ukraine on November 20 wiped out Lt-Gen Valery Solodchuk and also resulted with 18 Putin officers reported lost, with a further 18 wounded, it has been claimed. Earlier reports suggested that a Kim Jong-un general had also been left injured in the attack as he commanded troops backing Vladimir Putin's Ukraine invasion. The strike carried out by Ukraine was the first time UK Storm Shadow missiles had been used blast targets deep inside Russia. It is understood that the pinpoint missiles had hit a Putin command post and military facility with the scale of Russian losses now alleged to be enormous. Russian Lt-Gen Valery Solodchuk (pictured) was reported to have been killed in the UK-supplied Storm Shadow strike by the Ukrainian armed forces on 20 November This is the moment missiles believed to be British Storm Shadow missiles struck inside Russia The strike carried out by Ukraine was the first time UK Storm Shadow missiles had been used blast targets deep inside Russia. One image following the attack showed a written indentation on a chunk of metal reading: 'Storm Shadow' Russian authorities have not yet confirmed losses which would be grievous to both Russia and North Korea if confirmed, and the reports are yet to be independently verified. The Storm Shadows were targeted on November 20 at an underground military facility in Maryino on a Tsarist estate, in Kursk region. New footage shows a Storm Shadow missile involved in the attack as it flew towards its target, it is claimed. Read More BREAKING NEWS Russia warns West WW3 is on way: Ambassador says missile strikes 'seriously escalates situation'' If true, the losses may explain Putin's furious reaction - firing a new Oreshnik hypersonic missile at Dnipro, and his public boasts he had a new super weapon which was unstoppable by the West. Moscow also threatened that the use by Ukraine of NATO-supplied missiles meant Putin could legitimately hit back with nuclear missiles. The Russian officers reportedly killed are from Putin's Southern and Eastern Military Districts. The strike carried out by Ukraine was the first time UK Storm Shadow missiles had been used blast targets deep inside Russia. US-based Global Defense Corp reported that 500 North Korean soldiers were killed alongside Russian officers, however, there was no independent confirmation. Some 10,000-plus North Koreans are believed to have been moved across Siberia to the war zone after being ordered to serve Putin by their leader Kim Jong Un. They are either currently fighting for Putin or about to be deployed. Kim's decision to inject North Korean soldiers into Russia to help in Putin's bloody war has raised concerns among Kyiv's allies who worry that the move may exacerbate what is already Europe's largest conflict since WWII. Images shared on social media showed what appeared to be fragments of a British Storm Shadow missile in Marino, Kursk, on November 20 US-based Global Defense Corp reported that 500 North Korean soldiers were killed alongside Russian officers, however, there was no independent confirmation (file photo) South Koreans watch Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin during a recent meeting The Storm Shadow missile attack last week hit the sanatorium of the Russian Presidential Affairs Directorate in Maryino, a former Tsarist estate, say reports. Britain's Storm Shadow missiles are capable of dodging air defences - making them a nightmare attack weapon for their enemy. The £800,000 rockets use GPS technology to precisely blast targets, and can travel through the air at 600mph. Storm Shadow missiles have already been used by Ukraine inside its own territory for some time, but Kyiv now appears to have been granted permission to use the weapons to strike within Russia. Storm Shadow - called Scalp by the French - is a weapon equipped with a navigation system that once launched, descends to a low altitude to avoid detection before locking onto its target using an infra-red seeker. On the final approach, the missile climbs to a higher altitude to maximise the chances of hitting the target. On impact, it penetrates the target before a delayed fuse detonates the main warhead. The strike comes after Russia issued a warning that British support for Ukraine could 'lead to a collision between nuclear powers' in a grave threat as President Vladimir Putin vowed to launch more hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine. Putin has said he will fire more of Russia 's new hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile being launched as part of nuclear deterrence forces drills in Russia on October 29, 2024 Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launchers roll on Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 9 Andrey Kelin, Russia's ambassador to the UK, cited American support for Ukraine to use Western missiles against targets in Russia, backed by Britain and France, in his warning that 'this seriously escalates the situation' and 'can lead to a collision between the nuclear powers'. The Kremlin suggested this week it was 'entitled' to fire upon 'the military targets of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities' in a thinly-veiled threat to the West, after the US gave its support for Kyiv using ATACMS missiles against Russian and North Korean forces in Russia. After striking the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with an experimental hypersonic missile early on Thursday, Putin ordered the mass production of the 'unstoppable' Oreshnik, believed to be able to reach Britain in under 20 minutes. 'There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production,' Putin said. Ukraine Russia Share or comment on this article: Father of British ex-soldier, 22, who was 'captured by Putin's forces while fighting for Ukraine on Russia soil' says he's terrified he'll be tortured in captivity after he was paraded on TV e-mail Add commentKobe Sanders tied a season high with 27 points as Nevada claimed fifth place in the Charleston Classic with a 90-78 victory over Oklahoma State Sunday afternoon in South Carolina. Sanders helped the Wolfpack (6-1) earn a second win following one-possession games against Vanderbilt and VCU. After hitting the decisive 3-pointer with five seconds left in Friday's 64-61 win over VCU, Sanders made 7 of 10 shots, hit three 3s and sank 10 of 13 free throws Sunday. Nick Davidson added 223 points as Nevada led by as many as 19 and shot 58.9 percent. Brandon Love contributed 11 on 5-of-5 shooting as the Wolfpack scored 46 points in the paint and scored at least 85 for the fourth time this season. Marchelus Avery led the Cowboys (4-2) with 15 points and Arturo Dean added 13. Robert Jennings and Abou Ousmane added 11 apiece but leading scorer Bryce Thompson was held to seven points on 1-of-9 shooting as Oklahoma State shot 42 percent and 73.2 percent (30-of-41) at the line. After Avery's 3 forged a 12-12 tie with 13:41 remaining, Nevada gradually gained separation. The Wolfpack took a 24-15 lead on Chuck Bailey's jumper in the paint with 8:28 left but the Cowboys inched back, getting within 33-31 on a dunk by Avery with 4:11 left. Another Bailey jumper staked Nevada to a 40-33 lead by halftime. Nevada began pulling away early in the second half as it scored eight in a row for a 52-40 lead on a basket by Love with 16:44 left. A 3 by Sanders opened a 62-43 lead with 14:06 remaining before Oklahoma State charged back. After Nevada made eight straight shots, the Cowboys countered with 11 straight points and trailed 62-54 with 11:19 left on a 3-pointer by Avery. Thompson made his first basket by sinking a jumper with 10:37 left to get Oklahoma State within 64-56 left, and Keller's triple cut the margin to 70-64 nearly three minutes later. The Cowboys were within 78-72 on a basket by Avery with 3:56 remaining, but he fouled out about a minute later and the Wolfpack outscored Oklahoma State 12-6 the rest of the way as Sanders sank five free throws. --Field Level Media
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Justin Trudeau dined with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago Friday. President-elect Donald Trump said his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was very productive where they discussed many issues including the drug crisis. On Truth Social, Trump said Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of US families. The statement came as Trudeau said he had an excellent conversation with Trump. Trudeau flew to Florida in an unexpected meeting with Trump after the President-elect announced there would be 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico if the two countries failed to address the immigration and drug problem. Trudeau came to Mar-a-Lago and had dinner with Trump becoming the first G7 leader to meet Trump after his election victory "I just had a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, where we discussed many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address, like the Fentanyl and Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration, Fair Trade Deals that do not jeopardize American Workers, and the massive Trade Deficit the U.S. has with Canada. I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China. Too much death and hardship! Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of U.S. Families. We also spoke about many other important topics like Energy, Trade, and the Arctic. All are vital issues that I will be addressing on my first days back in Office, and before," Trump posted on Truth Social. As Trudeau headed back to Canada from Florida, he said he had an excellent conversation with Trump but it was not clear whether Trudeau's tax concerns were alleviated. A person familiar with the details of the leaders' hastily arranged meeting Friday night said it was a positive wide-ranging dinner that lasted three hours. The official, who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said topics included trade, border security, fentanyl, defence, Ukraine, NATO, China, the Mideast and pipelines, as well as the Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Canada next year.
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FG Trade/E+ via Getty Images Destination XL Group, Inc. ( NASDAQ: DXLG ) reported Q3 2024 results , posting a continuation of a very challenging trend of sales down 10/11% on a comparable basis. Despite the company's efforts to maintain merchandise margins Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
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Wade Taylor IV scored 15 points and dished out 10 assists and C.J. Wilcher added 14 points as No. 13 Texas A&M throttled Abilene Christian 92-54 on Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas. The Aggies (11-2) were in charge from the jump, forging a 19-point lead at halftime and never looking back. Texas A&M scored the first points of the second half, was up by 28 with 13:23 to play and cruised to the finish line while winning its seventh straight game. Taylor's output moved him into second place in the Aggies all-time scoring list. His 1,779 points are now behind only Bernard King, who had 1,990 from 1999-2003. Andersson Garcia and Zhuric Phelps added 12 points each for Texas A&M, which appears to be hitting on all cylinders heading into its Southeastern Conference opener at home against rival Texas on Jan. 4. Phelps added 10 rebounds for the Aggies. Quion Williams led the Wildcats (8-6) with 14 points. Abilene Christian missed its final six shots and went the last 5:24 of the game without a point. The Aggies made a statement in the early going by scoring the game's first nine points over the initial 3 1/2 minutes, with seven of those coming from Coleman. Abilene Christian fought back to within 16-12 after Dontrez Williams' layup with 12:12 left in the half. But A&M swung back, producing a 14-0 run capped by Garcia's layup with 8:51 to play in the half to pull away to a 30-12 advantage. The Wildcats again cut into their deficit, pulling to 30-19 when Cade Hornecker hit a layup with 6:26 to play until halftime. A&M boosted the lead back to 17 points after a pair of free throws by Taylor and got two more from the charity stripe to take a 48-29 edge to the break. Wilcher led all scorers in the half with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc while Garcia hit for 10 points for A&M while making all four of his shots from the floor. The Aggies outshot Abilene Christian 61.5 percent to 40.7 percent before halftime. Quion Williams and Leonardo Bettiol paced the Wildcats with seven points each in the first half. --Field Level MediaBEIRUT — 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. Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!