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2025-01-12   

fruit roulette Valley school districts are taking innovative steps to teach beyond the “Three Rs” — reading, writing, and arithmetic. High school students in the region are learning about everything from life skills to agriculture to digital communication, power and electronics and forestry, giving them a head start on post-secondary aspirations. Innovative curricula, said Andrew Rantz, Milton Area School District director of secondary education, is a recognition that not all paths lead to a four-year, post-secondary institution. “Innovative programs are geared toward a multitude of post-secondary options,” Rantz said. “We don’t look at it as ‘this student is college bound’ or ‘this student is not meant for college.’ We want to know what a student’s career interests are, what pathway can provide them with meaningful, wage-earning employment, and how we help them get on that pathway and become successful.” If the answer leads to 12 years of college to be a surgeon, great, Rantz said. “If it leads to a job with a construction company during their senior year, and they become employed right out of high school, great,” he said. “We just want students to leave Milton with the tools necessary to be a contributing member of our communities.” Shikellamy School District Superintendent Jason Bendle said it is his belief that the three Rs are the minimum that should be provided to students. “As a district, we strive to provide more,” he said. “We are working toward a model where we have offerings and opportunities that interest every student. The three Rs can be taught through any program or pathway. We want to find what interests students and provide them with opportunities that will impact them well beyond the years spent here at Shikellamy.” Danville Area High School Principal Lee Gump said the Three Rs give students a strong foundation. “I continually have discussions with teachers about how they can adapt and change their current course offerings to meet the needs of their students while preparing students for what lies ahead,” he said. Danville’s social studies department recently created new course offerings including criminal justice and international relations. Its agricultural sciences department offers a construction hand & power tools class along with a forestry and natural resource management course. Other examples of these non-traditional courses include adulting 101. “I am excited to work with teachers over the next three months as we develop new courses and new opportunities for DHS students that go well beyond the three R’s,” Gump said. A study released in 2022 and looking at the effects of life skills lessons amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, found “life skills and personal growth in education are crucial skills and students’ core competencies to learn in this modern world,” according to a summary from the Education Resources Information Center which is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education. Life skills are among the many innovative curricula being taught in Valley districts. Lewisburg High School Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Claire Gault leads a course intended to prepare students for post-graduation life with a focus on financial management, independent living, and personal improvement. The “big” ideas covered in class include healthy and cost-effective food choice and preparation; management of income and expenses; and well-informed purchasing. Life skills and understanding disabilities at Midd-West High School is a class taught by Trisha Bailey and Maddie Gaugher. The course was created for students to not only understand various disabilities but also to promote inclusion within the school. Students learn basic American Sign Language, experience navigating the school blindfolded, use Braille, as well as other projects that allow them to research different disabilities. Students who take this class also work with their peers in the Life Skills Classroom. “Students in our Life Skills Classroom enjoy having their peers to learn and socialize with in their classroom,” Bailey said. “This is usually the favorite aspect of this class for many of the students taking Understanding Disabilities. In the past, students cooked together, played games, exercised, read together, crafts, among many other activities. Gretchen Walter and two other teachers at Shikellamy High provide instruction in a class called rehabilitation aide pathways. Some of the subjects offered by the course are sports medicine, advanced strength and conditioning, kinesiology, and medical terminology. These courses, and several others, expose students to various careers, topics and hands-on skills in the health field. In sports medicine, students learn about sports injuries, taping techniques and rehabilitation programs. In advanced strength and conditioning, they develop training programs for various sports. Hands-on activities, “can be taping a body part, compression wrapping, learning to take vitals, etc.,” Walter said. “The students actually learn how to do these and then perform the activity on each other. Most of the students in this class want to do something in health care. “Career interests vary from nursing, ultrasound tech and radiology tech to physician assistant and pharmacy.” Electronic principles and applications at Mifflinburg High School starts with the assumption that each student has had no previous experience with electricity or electronics. As such, it is an introduction to understanding that power source, delivering an understanding of electrical terms, electrical applications and electricity production. “My class is an opportunity for the application of knowledge,” instructor Emil Stenger said. “So, it’s not what you know but what you can apply. The doing part. I believe a lot of students, like myself, learn that way the best. Failure is included but it is also a lesson learned and try again. “Recently in electronics class, my students designed windmill propeller systems that generate the most power. Two students’ first trial was no movement ... nothing ... failed attempt. They were reloaded and redesigned. Thirty minutes later they are the leading two in power generated.” In Stenger’s engineering design course, students are required to design six 3-D prints. One student made a replica of her father’s 18-wheel truck. “The details were beyond what I ever expected from any assignment,” Stenger said. At Shikellamy High School, power technology is an elective half-year course open to all ninth through 12th grade students, teacher Andrew Meyer said. In the course, students learn the parts of an internal combustion engine, as well as how they work. “Students primarily work on four-stroke engines, however, we do cover two-stroke engines and the differences between them,” Meyer said. Meyer’s students are required to rebuild the engine and it must run at the end. “Students love tearing into the motors and actually learning how they work,” he said. “Once students have rebuilt their engines, the class is opened up to outside work. District employees and community members are asked to bring in mowers, weed whackers and other powered equipment for the students to repair/tune-up. Students complete all activities as if they were in a small engine repair shop.” Rock n’ roll high school, modern band at Midd-West High School is not your typical marching band program. The course “emphasizes musical styles of the last 50 years (rock, pop, country, jazz, reggae, hip-hop, etc.),” teacher Devin Flynt said. “In modern band 1, students are introduced to all the basic concepts for performing electric guitar, acoustic guitar, electric bass, keyboards, drums and vocals. Once they gain proficiency they may join modern band 2, which is a more peer-to-peer ‘rock band’ type of ensemble where they learn how to perform cohesively as a single unit.” This is the second year that Midd-West’s modern band courses have been offered. “It has truly been remarkable witnessing the growth and development of confidence in these young musicians,” Flynt said. Lewisburg High offer a class on video communication and production, taught by Blake Dutweiler. “High school students are introduced to the dynamic world of professional filmmaking and multimedia creation,” Dutweiler said. “With a focus on industry-leading technology, the course provides students with hands-on experience in every stage of production — pre-production, production and post-production — allowing them to develop a well-rounded understanding of visual storytelling.” As the course progresses, students lear about shots and angles. “They also will complete short films ranging from 30 seconds to five minutes,” Dutweiler said. “This course not only teaches technical skills but also fosters creativity, teamwork and problem-solving, making it an excellent choice for students interested in pursuing careers or hobbies in filmmaking, broadcasting or visual media.” David Sunderland at Mifflinburg High School teaches digital communication in several ways. “I have digital media, sports media and morning video production classes, along with yearbook, digital imaging, graphic communications, non metallic materials, manufacturing enterprise and architectural CAD,” he said. As part of Sports Media, “students take photos of our sports athletes on media day and create the graphics that are posted on Mifflinburg Athletics’ Facebook page. It features an athlete or several and the sports information for that day,” Sunderland said. The goal of Lewisburg High’s farm-to-table course is to provide students with a holistic understanding of how their food impacts the natural world, teacher Alex Oliver said. “Students learn about the entirety of their local food system, starting with soil health and organic gardening practices and ending with food preparation and consumption,” Oliver said. “Upon completion of this course, students will have a robust knowledge of soil and landscape ecology and develop a confidence in implementing these practices in their own backyard.” The bulk of each class day is spent in the greenhouse, completing whatever tasks arise that day: harvesting, planting, transplanting, and watering. “We do try to come inside and process what we’ve done, plan for the future, and learn about how our food and farming decisions impact the Earth,” Oliver said. Midd-West has its own school farm as part of its agricultural education and FFA program, teacher Kassidie Gunell said. “We’re very lucky to have access to it since its not something all schools have,” Gunnell said. “The school farm really allows us to teach concepts in class, then actually let the kids put them into practice. “We’ve spent time in our crop and soil science classes in the fields surveying weeds and taking soil samples. The barn and livestock animals allow us to teach students about safe animal handling, animal nutrition, animal reproduction and breeding, as well as many livestock management practices.” FFA students spend time at the farm maintaining the barn, animals, and grounds. They also help put up hay each summer which has been used to feed our animals, as well as income for our FFA chapter. Gunnell said students also take a special interest in including students from Middleburg Middle School and Middleburg Elementary. The Forestry course at Danville High is very hands-on, teacher Van Wagner said. “Students learn how to measure trees, safely operate chainsaws for timber harvest, and create wood products in our workshop,” he said. “I try to keep a pulse on where the jobs are and provide my students with real-world skills that can launch them toward a career in the forestry field.” Right now there are many job openings in the field of forestry, wood products, and arboriculture, Wagner said. “Students who leave our program are heading into the world with fantastic experiences that will serve them well in the future,” he said. Something that is unique at Danville is a partnership with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resrouces. “Our students are trained by forest firefighters at school,” Wagner said. “Upon completion students receive two separate wildland firefighting certificates making it possible for them to pursue jobs in forest fire fighting once they turn 18 years of age. To the best of my knowledge we are one of the only schools in the state offering these certifications in-house.”Can the company keep up the momentum? Up 119% this year, can BrainChip shares soar again in 2025? You're reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fool's Premium Investing Services. Become a Motley Fool member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources , and more. Learn More BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) shares have been on a strong run to finish the year in 2024, with shares currently up 119% since January. This wasn't a linear growth pattern, however. After peaking at highs of 49 cents apiece in February, shares were heavily sold, bottoming at 15.5 cents in September. They have since taken an upward swing and rest at 37.25 cents at the time of writing. The question now is whether BrainChip shares can sustain this momentum in 2025. Let's take a closer look. What's propelling BrainChip shares? BrainChip shares saw several jumps towards the back end of the year following updates on its Akida neuromorphic technology. In December, the company secured a commercial licence agreement with Frontgrade Gaisler, a Swedish... Zach Bristow

3 ruled out, 2 others questionable for Eagles vs. Rams on Sunday Night Football | Sporting NewsWhy are some NFL teams so bad? It starts with the QBBy Hayley Miller President Donald Trump on Friday urged the Supreme Court to pause a law that could ban TikTok nationwide on Jan. 19 if its Chinese owner doesn’t sell the popular social media app to an American company. In a 25-page amicus brief filed with the court, Trump asked the justices to stay the Jan. 19 deadline — which is one day before Inauguration Day — so his administration could “pursue a negotiated resolution” that would “obviate the need” for the justices to rule on the case. “President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government — concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged,” the brief stated. TikTok and its parent company, China-based ByteDance, appealed to the Supreme Court last week after lower courts rejected its challenge to the law. The justices agreed to hear the challenge and set oral arguments in the case for Jan. 10. The law at the center of the case — called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — stems from bipartisan concerns that the Chinese government could access data about American users. TikTok argues the law violates free speech rights under the First Amendment rights for its roughly 170 million American users. In his brief on Friday, Trump said he takes “no position on the merits of the dispute.” Instead, he suggested he intends to personally negotiate a resolution that focus on “preserving the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans, while also addressing the government’s national security concerns.” This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Hayley Miller is the senior blog editor for MSNBC. Previously, she was a senior reporter on HuffPost's breaking news team. Before she was a reporter, she was a senior editor on HuffPost's blog team.

OpenAI to partner with military defense tech company

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Cam Miller threw three touchdown passes, ran for another and second-seeded North Dakota State blew past a 14-point deficit to beat 15th-seeded Abilene Christian 51-31 on Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs. The Bison (11-2), in the FCS playoffs for a 15th straight season and winner of nine FCS titles, will host seventh-seeded Mercer in the quarterfinals. Abilene Christian (9-5) took a 17-3 lead on a 13-yard TD pass from Maverick McIvor to J.J. Henry, a 90-yard run by Sam Hicks and a Ritse Vaes 29-yard field goal early in the second quarter. The Bison then took over, starting with Jackson Williams' 100-yard kickoff return to start a run of 31 consecutive points, 17 coming in the second quarter for a 20-17 halftime lead. The scoring streak ended when Nehemiah Martinez’s 53-yard return helped set up Hicks’ 3-yard score to get the Wildcats within 34-24. But the Bison matched that TD on their ensuing drive on Miller’s 36-yard connection with Bryce Lance to cap their 21-point third quarter. Again, the Wildcats got within 10 early in the fourth quarter on Rovaughn Banks Jr.’s 2-yard TD run. But NDSU’s Marcus Gulley returned an interception 37 yards to the ACU 9 and the Crosa kicked a field goal and Logan Kopp followed with a 31-yard pick-6. Miller was 20 of 29 for 274 yards passing. McIvor threw for 153 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Hicks ran for 153 yards on 16 carries. ACU, champion of the United Athletic Conference, was in its first FCS playoffs since joining the classification in 2013, and beat Northern Arizona in its first-round game. Crosa has made his 262nd career PAT to pass NDSU's Cam Pederson (2015-18) and set an FCS record. ___ AP college football: and . Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: The Associated PressTwo senior members of the federal cabinet were in Florida Friday pushing Canada’s new border plan with Donald Trump’s transition team, a day after Trudeau himself appeared to finally push back at the president-elect over his social media posts about turning Canada into the 51st state. Both Trudeau and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who Trudeau has been courting to become Canada’s next finance minister, shared posts on X Thursday, a day after Trump’s latest jab at Canada in his Christmas Day message. It isn’t clear if Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who has repeatedly insisted Trump’s 51st state references are a joke, will raise the issue with Trump’s team when he and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly meet with them in Palm Beach. The two are there to discuss Canada’s new $1.3 billion border plan with just under four weeks left before Trump is sworn in again as president. He has threatened to impose a new 25 per cent import tariff on Canada and Mexico the same day over concerns about a trade imbalance, as well as illegal drugs and migration issues at the borders. The broad strokes of Canada’s plan were made public Dec. 17, including a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of the border, and improved efforts using technology and canine teams to seek out drugs in shipments leaving Canada LeBlanc’s spokesman, Jean-Sébastien Comeau, said the ministers will also emphasize the negative impacts of Trump’s threatened tariffs on both Canada and the U.S. Comeau said the ministers will build on the discussions that took place last month when Trudeau and LeBlanc met Trump at Mar-a-Lago just days after Trump first made his tariff threat. It was at that dinner on Nov. 29 when Trump first raised the notion of Canada becoming the 51st state, a comment LeBlanc has repeatedly since insisted was just a joke. But Trump has continued the quip repeatedly in various social media posts, including in his Christmas Day message when he said Canadians would pay lower taxes and have better military protection if they became Americans. He has taken to calling Trudeau “governor” instead of prime minister. Trudeau had not directly responded to any of the jabs, but on Thursday posted a link to a six-minute long video on YouTube from 2010 in which American journalist Tom Brokaw “explains Canada to Americans.” The video, which originally aired during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, explains similarities between the two countries, including their founding based on immigration, their trading relationship and the actions of the Canadian Army in World War 2 and other modern conflicts. “In the long history of sovereign neighbours there has never been a relationship as close, productive and peaceful as the U.S. and Canada,” Brokaw says in the video. Trudeau did not expand about why he posted a link to the video, posting it only with the words “some information about Canada for Americans.” Carney, who is at the centre of some of Trudeau’s recent domestic political troubles, also called out Trump’s antics on X Thursday, calling it “casual disrespect” and “carrying the ‘joke’ too far.” “Time to call it out, stand up for Canada, and build a true North American partnership,” said Carney, who Trudeau was courting to join his cabinet before Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister last week. Freeland’s sudden departure, three days after Trudeau informed her he would be firing her as finance minister in favour of Carney, left Trudeau’s leadership even more bruised than it already was. Despite the expectation Carney would assume the role, he did not and has not made any statements about it. LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister instead the same day Freeland quit. More than two dozen Liberal MPs have publicly called on Trudeau to resign as leader, and Trudeau is said to be taking the holidays to think about his next steps. He is currently vacationing in British Columbia. Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press

Guessing game over Trump's Treasury pick adds to US bond market's negative mood

Obama Democracy Forum will convene to focus on tools for bipartisan dialogueSwapo stalwart and former prime minister Nahas Angula says last week’s general election was the worst in Namibia’s post-independence history, adding that the looming victory by ... If you are an active subscriber and the article is not showing, please log out and back in. Free access to articles from 12:00.Navigating The Risks: Our Deep Dive Into The Scammed Digital Assets Reclaiming World In Asia And CanadaUS TikTok content creators warn followers to find them on Instagram, YouTube

CNBC Daily Open: South Korea and its markets are not unfamiliar with impeachmentWASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a “political resolution” to the issue. The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by Jan. 19 while the government emphasized its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk. “President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” said Trump’s amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump’s choice for solicitor general. The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table. Trump has also reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the app during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger voters, especially male voters, by pushing content that was often macho and aimed at going viral. He said earlier this year that he still believed there were national security risks with TikTok, but that he opposed banning it. This month, Trump also met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The filings Friday come ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10 on whether the law, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based parent company or face a ban, unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. The law was was signed by President Joe Biden in April after it passed Congress with broad bipartisan support. TikTok and ByteDance filed a legal challenge afterwards. Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute, leading TikTok to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The brief from Trump said he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.” In their brief to the Supreme Court on Friday, attorneys for TikTok and its parent company ByteDance argued the federal appeals court erred in its ruling and based its decision on “alleged ‘risks’ that China could exercise control” over TikTok’s U.S. platform by pressuring its foreign affiliates. The Biden administration has argued in court that TikTok poses a national security risk due to its connections to China. Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to spread or suppress information. But the government “concedes that it has no evidence China has ever attempted to do so,” TikTok’s legal filing said, adding that the U.S. fears are predicated on future risks. In its filing Friday, the Biden administration said because TikTok “is integrated with ByteDance and relies on its propriety engine developed and maintained in China,” its corporate structure carries with it risk.

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( MENAFN - Jordan Times) LONDON - The world is losing a winnable battle. UN Secretary-General António Guterreswarns that the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on the verge of becoming“the epitaph for a world that might have been”. Can the patient be resuscitated? Decisions made in the coming days will have a significant bearing on the answer. On December 7, governments will announce their funding pledges for the International Development Association (IDA) the branch of the World bank Group that delivers finance to the world's poorest countries (with annual per capita incomes below $1,315). IDA replenishment happens every three years, which means that commitments made today span the critical investment period for salvaging the SDGs. Unfortunately, it isn't looking good, with several key donors failing to pull their weight. The 78 countries covered by the IDA are where the battle for the SDGs will be won or lost. Home to 500 million people surviving on less than $2.15 per day, they account around for 70 per cent of extreme poverty and over 90 per cent of world hunger. Worse, it is children who are on the front lines. In a recent ODI report, my co-authors and I estimate that some 257 million children in IDA-eligible countries are growing up hungry, with devastating consequences for their health and educational prospects. Recent setbacks have compounded already severe challenges, triggering major reversals. After being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, IDA countries have been buffeted by post-pandemic economic slowdowns, rising food prices and surging public debt. Over half are falling further behind rich countries as global inequalities widen. Poverty reduction has slowed from an already inadequate pace, and progress against hunger has stalled. Debt service is crowding out vital investment, with repayments now outweighing spending on health and basic education. Against this bleak backdrop, access to affordable development finance has been shrinking. Real (inflation-adjusted) financial transfers to Africa from donors have fallen, and rising real interest rates have priced most IDA countries out of sovereign bond markets (or otherwise subjected them to punitively high borrowing costs). The IDA is the single most powerful multilateral financial weapon in the anti-poverty arsenal. In the last fiscal year, it provided $31 billion in support for member countries and was by far the largest source of development finance for Africa, which benefits from zero-interest grants, concessional loans repayable over 30-40 years, or both. Such finance is an SDG lifeline, because it is overwhelmingly directed to areas with demonstrated benefits for the poor, such as social protection, investments in child and maternal health, and education. With a generous replenishment, the IDA could help lift millions out of extreme poverty, extend opportunities for improved health and learning, and support adaptation to climate change. Moreover, for donors seeking value for money, the IDA has a unique advantage: Every $1 received can deliver $3.50. The IDA can leverage the World Bank's AAA credit rating to secure low-interest financing by issuing bonds and lending the proceeds to developing countries. When donors deliver funds through bilateral aid programmes or global health funds, the money that comes out mirrors the money that goes in. But the IDA offers a much bigger bang for the buck. The IDA also mitigates damaging international-aid practices. Currently, only around 8 per cent of poverty-related development assistance is delivered through government budgets. The rest arrives through project funds controlled by donors, leading to fragmentation, weak coordination and high transaction costs for governments. Hence, Ethiopia had to manage 454 aid transactions for agriculture alone in 2021. By contrast, the IDA delivers support through national budgets for nationally owned programmes, which is why governments across Africa strongly support it. The World Bank has rightly made the case for a major IDA increase. Last year, the bank's president, Ajay Banga, called on donors to provide more than $120 billion, which would make this replenishment“the biggest of all time”. Sadly, that ambition has faded, with current pledges implying a replenishment of less than $105 billion - smaller than the previous one, in real terms. While US President Joe Biden's administration has announced an increased IDA commitment, and several smaller countries and new donors have also stepped up, some major G7 economies have stepped back. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a summit aimed at creating a new global financial pact to tackle poverty and the climate crisis; but this year, he is set to cut France's contribution to the IDA. Equally disappointing is the United Kingdom, which was among the largest contributors to the IDA in the decade ending in 2022, a legacy of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's leadership. The picture changed dramatically in the last IDA replenishment, when the UK contribution was halved as Conservative governments took a wrecking ball to the aid budget. This year's replenishment gives the new Labour government an opportunity to start rebuilding Britain's reputation as a“development superpower”. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has promised a new era in which the UK will“use realist means to pursue progressive ends”. Reversing the Conservatives' cuts with a 54 per cent increase to the UK contribution (representing a commitment of $2.2 billion) would certainly meet those criteria. And yet, the Treasury wants to cap any additional contribution at 20-40 per cent. That would be a travesty. While the Treasury is correct to note that it inherited a poisoned chalice of unsustainable public finance from its Conservative predecessors, it is wrong to suggest that the UK cannot afford to send a positive signal in the interest of international cooperation and its own soft power. Making matters worse, the government has effectively shelved long-standing aid commitments by maintaining previous governments' policy of subjecting them to impractical and implausible fiscal tests, one of which is to achieve a budget surplus (something that has happened only four times since 1971). There is nothing realist or progressive about using implausible goals as a pretext to turn one's back on the world's poor. The UK should fully restore the IDA cuts made by the Conservative government. The IDA may not be perfect, but it's the best tool that we have for restoring the hope that the SDGs once instilled. Governments should use it. Kevin Watkins, a former CEO of Save the Children UK, is a visiting professor at the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at the London School of Economics. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2024. MENAFN02122024000028011005ID1108949049 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.None

LPGA, USGA to require players to be assigned female at birth or transition before puberty

NEW YORK (AP) – United States (US) stocks rose to records on Friday after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2 per cent, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 123.19 points, or 0.3 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8 per cent to set its own record. The quiet trading came after the latest jobs report came in mixed enough to strengthen traders’ expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates again at its next meeting in two weeks. The report showed US employers hired more workers than expected last month, but it also said the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked up to 4.2 per cent from 4.1 per cent. “This print doesn’t kill the holiday spirit and the Fed remains on track to deliver a cut in December,” according to head of multi-sector investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management Lindsay Rosner. The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September to offer more help for the slowing job market, after bringing inflation nearly all the way down to its two per cent target. Lower interest rates can ease the brakes off the economy, but they can also offer more fuel for inflation. Expectations for a series of cuts from the Fed have been a major reason the S&P 500 has set an all-time high 57 times so far this year. And the Fed is part of a global surge: 62 central banks have lowered rates in the past three months, the most since 2020, according to Michael Hartnett and other strategists at Bank of America. Still, the jobs report may have included some notes of caution for Fed officials underneath the surface. Senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute Scott Wren pointed to average wages for workers last month, which were a touch stronger than economists expected. While that’s good news for workers who would always like to make more, it could keep upward pressure on inflation. “This report tells the Fed that they still need to be careful as sticky housing/shelter/wage data shows that it won’t be easy to engineer meaningfully lower inflation from here in the nearer term,” Wren said. So, while traders are betting on an 85 per cent probability the Fed will ease its main rate in two weeks, they’re much less certain about how many more cuts it will deliver next year, according to data from CME Group. For now, the hope is that the job market can help US shoppers continue to spend and keep the US economy out of a recession that had earlier seemed inevitable after the Fed began hiking interest rates swiftly to crush inflation. Several retailers offered encouragement after delivering better-than-expected results for the latest quarter. Ulta Beauty rallied nine per cent after topping expectations for both profit and revenue. The opening of new stores helped boost its revenue, and it raised the bottom end of its forecasted range for sales over this full year. Lululemon stretched 15.9 per cent higher following its own profit report. It said stronger sales outside the US helped it in particular, and its earnings topped analysts’ expectations. Retailers overall have been offering mixed signals on how resilient US shoppers can remain amid the slowing job market and still-high prices. Target gave a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season, for example, while Walmart gave a much more encouraging outlook. A report on Friday suggested sentiment among US consumers may be improving more than economists expected. The preliminary reading from the University of Michigan’s survey hit its highest level in seven months. The survey found a surge in buying for some products as consumers tried to get ahead of possible increases in price due to higher tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump has threatened. In tech, Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 10.6 per cent for one of the S&P 500’s larger gains after reporting stronger profit and revenue than expected. Tech stocks were some of the market’s strongest this week, as Salesforce and other big companies talked up how much of a boost they’re getting from the artificial-intelligence (AI) boom. All told, the S&P 500 rose 15.16 points to 6,090.27. The Dow dipped 123.19 to 44,642.52, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 159.05 to 19,859.77. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.15 per cent from 4.18 per cent late Thursday. In stock markets abroad, France’s CAC 40 rose 1.3 per cent after French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to stay in office until the end of his term and to name a new prime minister within days. Earlier this week, far-right and left-wing lawmakers approved a no-confidence motion due to budget disputes, forcing Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his Cabinet to resign. In Asia, stock indexes were mixed. They rallied 1.6 per cent in Hong Kong and one per cent in Shanghai ahead of an annual economic policy meeting scheduled for next week. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.6 per cent as South Korea’s ruling party chief showed support for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk-yeol after he declared martial law and then revoked that earlier this week. Yoon is facing calls to resign and may be impeached. Bitcoin was sitting near USD101,500 after briefly bursting above USD103,000 to a record the day before.

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