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In a thrilling display of football prowess, Arsenal surged to a 5-2 victory over West Ham United, signaling their intent to challenge Premier League leaders Liverpool. The match, filled with first-half scoring drama, saw Arsenal leap to second in the standings. Key players Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka orchestrated an exhilarating Arsenal attack, contributing significantly to their team's resurgence. With 25 points, Arsenal trails Liverpool by six points, illustrating a formidable chase for the top. Concurrently, Brentford, Bournemouth, and Nottingham Forest achieved notable victories, adding to a weekend rich in football excitement. As the Premier League action shifts to Sunday, all eyes will be on Liverpool's clash with Manchester City at Anfield, with the potential to widen their lead against the defending champions. Other significant matches include Chelsea facing Aston Villa and Manchester United up against Everton. (With inputs from agencies.)

President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China 's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families. Biden said his administration strongly opposes the provision because it targets a group based on gender identity and "interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children.” He said it also undermines the all-volunteer military's ability to recruit and retain talent. > Watch NBC Bay Area News 📺 Streaming free 24/7 “No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our nation,” the president said in a statement. The Senate forwarded the bill to Biden after passing it last week by a vote of 85-14. In the House, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill after House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted on adding the provision to ban transgender medical care for children. The legislation easily passed by a vote of 281-140. Biden also objected to other language in the bill prohibiting the use of money earmarked to transfer detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba , to some foreign countries and into the United States. He urged Congress to lift those restrictions. The annual defense authorization bill, which directs Pentagon policy, provides a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others. The legislation also directs resources towards a more confrontational approach to China, including establishing a fund that could be used to send military resources to Taiwan in much the same way that the U.S. has backed Ukraine. It also invests in new military technologies, including artificial intelligence, and bolsters the U.S. production of ammunition. The U.S. has also moved in recent years to ban the military from purchasing Chinese products, and the defense bill extended that with prohibitions on Chinese goods from garlic in military commissaries to drone technology. The legislation still must be backed up with a spending package. __ Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.Repealing no-fault divorce has so far stalled across the US. Some worry that'll changeTesla and other companies are actively developing self-driving technologies and driverless ride-hailing platforms, and with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team already focused on autonomous vehicles, the tech is highly expected to be a major theme in 2025. According to a Reuters Breakingviews prediction report on Monday, Trump’s moves to minimize regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles and create a federal framework for the technology are expected to supercharge the industry—as increased competition emerges in the U.S. and beyond. With Tesla CEO Elon Musk also set to play a large role in Trump’s administration, heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the company’s own developments in the sector could also stand to benefit substantially. Reuters also predicts that self-driving pilots could expand under the administration, especially as developers aim to increase the amount of data used to train their systems. READ MORE ON SELF-DRIVING REGULATIONS: U.S. agency proposes rules for self-driving vehicle incident reporting Last month, the Trump transition team said that it was already aiming to create a federal self-driving vehicle framework . Additionally, the team earlier this month was reported to be ditching federal requirements on automated driving tech crash reporting , coming as one example of the administration’s aims to streamline regulatory processes in the industry. Internationally, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) categorizes vehicle automation into five automation levels, which are generally adopted in conversations about robotaxis in the U.S. market as well. You can see these categories below, with Level 3 and above generally considered to be full automation, at least at times, while Level 2 and below are considered partial automation. Credit: SAE International According to the data firm Canalys, just 5.5 percent of vehicles sold this year have included Level 2 or more assistance features, such as cruise control and automated lane changes. By 2025, however, Citi research has suggested that models in China below 200,000 yuan (about $28,000) will have these features, playing a major role in consumer demand. In China, at least 19 companies are currently testing fully autonomous vehicles, and Goldman Sachs expects the country to see as many as 90 percent of consumer sales to have features of Level 3 autonomy or greaterby 2040, compared to just 65 percent in the U.S. While these technologies are emerging, McKinsey predicts that self-driving could become a $400 billion industry by 2035. Google parent company Alphabet runs Waymo, a Level 4 driverless ride-hailing service that already offers paid rides, while others, including Pony AI and Baidu also offer rentable self-driving vehicles in select areas. BYD has invested $14 billion into self-driving, Toyota has around 1.7 trillion yen ($11.3 billion) going toward software, while Volkswagen has invested $700 million into China’s Xpeng Motors. Li Auto and Xiami are also considered potential competitors in these spaces, and 2025 could prove a big year for commercial self-driving hopefuls. Meanwhile, Tesla isn’t yet operating a paid ride-hailing service, though it gathers data through owner use of its Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. Tesla has touted the potential scalability of its Supervised FSD in the past, given that it’s available at least in some form in all of the company’s vehicles. Musk has also regularly talked about a future in which owners of its vehicles could use an Unsupervised FSD to generate money by giving robotaxi rides while not normally in use. On that theme, Tesla unveiled the Cybercab in October, a fully autonomous, two-seat vehicle with no pedals, set to eventually make it to the market as a driverless ride-hailing vehicle. It’s also set to be equipped with wireless charging and make use of an automated cleaning robot, offering top-to-bottom autonomy for owners. MORE ON FSD SUPERVISED: Watch Tesla’s FSD v13.2 navigate away from park in a tricky situation Despite the unveiling, some have shared skepticism around how long the vehicles could take to reach the market, especially given that production isn’t set to begin until 2026 with commercial deliveries aiming for “before 2027,” according to Musk during the October 10 “We, Robot” unveiling event . On Monday, analyst Gary Black also predicted that fewer than 50 percent of Tesla owners would join the company’s robotaxi fleet , while a Guggenheim researcher in October said Tesla was “extremely unlikely” to reveal a credible path to robotaxi commercialization in the next 12 to 24 months . Others like Waymo are some of the first companies operating paid driverless ride-hails, and the Google-run firm said in August that its robotaxis were already giving 100,000 paid self-driving rides per week . Meanwhile, General Motors (GM) announced this month that it will officially end funding for its commercial self-driving arm Cruise , after one of the company’s driverless vehicles last year ran over and pinned a pedestrian in San Francisco . ALSO RELATED: What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com , find me on X at @zacharyvisconti , or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com . California regulators add new reporting requirements for self-driving cars Need accessories for your Tesla? Check out the Teslarati Marketplace:

( MENAFN - GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: DMGI) (OTCQB: DMGGF) (FRANKFURT: 6AX) ("DMG" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company, announces the issuance of US Patent No. 12,067,572 for Cryptographic Taint Tracking. This patent, issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office, is a continuation of the previously issued U.S. Patent No. 11,257,089. The original patent laid the foundation for a method to detect and track tainted cryptographic wallets, supporting efforts to combat money laundering and fraud. This new patent builds on the innovative technology behind Blockseer's wallet risk scoring method, which reinforces DMG's clean-block mining initiative and its use in mining pools. The patented methods enable real-time identification and monitoring of wallets linked to nefarious activities, enhancing compliance and supporting law enforcement in their mission to safeguard blockchain networks. Key Features of Cryptographic Taint Tracking (Patent 12,067,572): DMG's CEO, Sheldon Bennett commented,“By advancing a novel methodology to detect and prevent suspicious activity in real-time, we're enhancing the trust and safety of the blockchain. This is a notable step forward to enable custody providers and exchanges to ensure regulatory compliance. As we look forward with our Systemic Trust custody subsidiary and Terra Pool as the key enabling elements of our carbon neutral Bitcoin ecosystem, compliance technology, such as what is being enabled by our patent, is core to ensuring that bad actors are prevented from tainting our ecosystem.” Grant of Stock Options and RSUs In addition, DMG announces the granting of stock options and RSUs to employees and directors of the company. A total of 424,680 stock options ("Options") and 2,050,000 restricted stock units ("RSUs") have been granted. The Options are exercisable over five years at a price of $0.38 per share, with vesting in 25% increments on the six-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month anniversaries of the grant date. The RSUs vest in one year; these grants are designed to create an incentive structure that aligns longer-term performance with the Company's growth. About Systemic Trust Company Ltd. Systemic Trust Company is a special purpose trust company incorporated under the Loan and Trust Corporations Act (Alberta). When STC receives its registration and regulatory approval for operations, it will operate as a standalone, independently capitalized, prudently managed trust company and Qualified Custodian offering digital asset custody services for institutional clients. About Terra Pool Terra Pool is the world's first carbon neutral Bitcoin mining pool, designed to reward miners with carbon neutral bitcoin. It plays a crucial role in advancing a carbon neutral Bitcoin ecosystem. When integrated with DMG's subsidiary, Systemic Trust, a digital asset custodian, financial institutions and content creators will gain the ability to send Bitcoin in a carbon neutral and regulatory-compliant manner. About DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. DMG is a publicly traded and vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company that manages, operates and develops end-to-end digital solutions to monetize the digital asset and artificial intelligence compute ecosystems. DMG's sustainable businesses are segmented into two business lines under the Core and Core+ strategies and unified through DMG's vertical integration. For more information on DMG Blockchain Solutions visit: Follow @dmgblockchain on X, LinkedIn, Facebook and subscribe to DMG's YouTube channel. For further information, please contact: On behalf of the Board of Directors, Sheldon Bennett, CEO & Director Tel: +1 (778) 300-5406 Email: ... Web: For Investor Relations: ... For Media Inquiries: Chantelle Borrelli Head of Communications ... Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking information or statements based on current expectations. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include statements regarding DMG's strategies and plans, the development of Systemic Trust, improving fleet efficiency and continuing to execute on Core+ software initiatives, onboarding of new clients to Terra Pool, the opportunity and plans to monetize bitcoin transactions, the continued investment in Bitcoin network software infrastructure and applications, developing and executing on the Company's products and services, increasing self-mining, efforts to improve the operation of its mining fleet, the launch of products and services, events, courses of action, and the potential of the Company's technology and operations, among others, are all forward-looking information. Future changes in the Bitcoin network-wide mining difficulty rate or Bitcoin hashrate may materially affect the future performance of DMG's production of bitcoin, and future operating results could also be materially affected by the price of bitcoin and an increase in hashrate mining difficulty. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, market and other conditions, volatility in the trading price of the common shares of the Company, business, economic and capital market conditions; the ability to manage operating expenses, which may adversely affect the Company's financial condition; the ability to remain competitive as other better financed competitors develop and release competitive products; regulatory uncertainties; access to equipment; market conditions and the demand and pricing for products; the demand and pricing of bitcoin; security threats, including a loss/theft of DMG's bitcoin; DMG's relationships with its customers, distributors and business partners; the inability to add more power to DMG's facilities; DMG's ability to successfully define, design and release new products in a timely manner that meet customers' needs; the ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; competition in the industry; the impact of technology changes on the products and industry; failure to develop new and innovative products; the ability to successfully maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights and defend third-party claims of infringement of their intellectual property rights; the impact of intellectual property litigation that could materially and adversely affect the business; the ability to manage working capital; and the dependence on key personnel. DMG may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the demand for its products, the ability to successfully develop software, that there will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from operating its business, anticipated costs, the ability to secure sufficient capital to complete its business plans, the ability to achieve goals and the price of bitcoin. Given these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The securities of DMG are considered highly speculative due to the nature of DMG's business. For further information concerning these and other risks and uncertainties, refer to the Company's filings on In addition, DMG's past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, failure to obtain regulatory approval, the continued availability of capital and financing, equipment failures, lack of supply of equipment, power and infrastructure, failure to obtain any permits required to operate the business, the impact of technology changes on the industry, the impact of viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, secure equipment, and hire personnel, competition, security threats including stolen bitcoin from DMG or its customers, consumer sentiment towards DMG's products, services and blockchain technology generally, failure to develop new and innovative products, litigation, adverse weather or climate events, increase in operating costs, increase in equipment and labor costs, equipment failures, decrease in the price of Bitcoin, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of or statements made by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. MENAFN23122024004107003653ID1109025556 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.Liverpool loud and clear title favourites as they roar out of the fog to go seven clear at topThe NHS in England is launching a world-first trial of a “gamechanging” artificial intelligence tool that can identify patients at risk of type 2 diabetes more than a decade before they develop the condition. More than 500 million people worldwide have type 2 diabetes , and finding new ways to spot people at risk before they develop the condition is a major global health priority. Estimates suggest 1 billion people will have type 2 diabetes by 2050. The condition is a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes and lower limb amputation. It is often linked to being overweight or inactive, or having a family history of type 2 diabetes, although not all those diagnosed are in those categories. Now doctors and scientists have developed a transformative AI tool that can predict those at risk of the condition as much as 13 years before it begins to develop. The technology analyses electrocardiogram (ECG) readings during routine heart scans. It can detect subtle changes too small to be noticed by the human eye that could raise the alarm early about a patient on the road to getting type 2 diabetes. It could enable early interventions and potentially help people avoid developing the condition altogether by, for example, making changes to their diet and lifestyle. The NHS will begin trialling the tool in 2025 at Imperial College healthcare NHS trust and Chelsea and Westminster hospital NHS foundation trust, and will be the first healthcare system in the world to do so, the Guardian has learned. Those involved in developing the technology, called the AI-ECG risk rstimation for diabetes mellitus (Aire-DM), hope it could be rolled out across the health service in England and in other countries within the next few years. “AI holds enormous potential to transform care that could lead to substantial improvements in health,” said Dr Libor Pastika, a clinical research training fellow at Imperial. “By using AI to unlock insights hidden within ECG data, Aire-DM could be revolutionary in identifying future risk of type 2 diabetes early on. “Offering a cheap, accessible, non-invasive way to predict type 2 diabetes risk early, Aire-DM could open up a new window of opportunity for more targeted, preventive care, helping people avoid the condition and its associated complications.” A team led by Dr Fu Siong Ng and Dr Arunashis Sau at Imperial developed the tool using 1.2m ECGs from hospital records. They then used data from the UK Biobank, which holds the genetic data and medical records of more than 500,000 participants, to validate the tool’s ability to detect subtle changes in ECGs. The tool maps tiny ECG patterns more common in those who will go on to develop type 2 diabetes in the future – and then looks for those same patterns in new ECGs. The telltale signs include variations in how the heart’s electrical signal travels, such as small changes in the timing, shape, or patterns of certain electrical waves. The tool can also identify longer electrical activation times or differences in the way the heart’s electrical signals reset. While these changes may seem minor, they reflect early effects of diabetes on the heart’s structure and function, well before symptoms appear. Tests have already shown the tool accurately predicts risk in people of various ages, genders, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds about 70% of the time. When the AI predictions were combined with genetic and clinical information, such as age and blood pressure, accuracy improved further, providing an even clearer picture of risk, the researchers said. Prof Bryan Williams, the chief scientific and medical officer of the British Heart Foundation, a charity that helped fund the development of the tool, said: “This exciting research uses powerful artificial intelligence to analyse ECGs, revealing how AI can spot things that cannot usually be observed in routinely collected health data. “This kind of insight could be a gamechanger in predicting future risk of developing type 2 diabetes, years before the condition begins. “Type 2 diabetes is a rapidly growing health challenge that increases the risk of developing heart disease. However, with the right support it is possible for people to reduce their risk of developing the condition. “We look forward to seeing how this technology could be incorporated into clinical practice, providing an opportunity to intervene early to help reduce risk and even prevent type 2 diabetes and its associated complications, altogether.”

NEW YORK — In a string of visits, dinners, calls, monetary pledges and social media overtures, big tech chiefs — including Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos — have joined a parade of business and world leaders trying to improve their standing with President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January. “The first term, everybody was fighting me,” Trump said in recent remarks at Mar-a-Lago. “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” Tech companies and leaders have poured millions into his inauguration fund, a sharp increase — in most cases — from past pledges to incoming presidents. What does the tech industry expect to gain out of its renewed relationships with Trump? During an interview this past week, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said the incoming Trump administration seems more interested in hearing about issues that are important to the industry than the Biden administration. “Put all the politics aside, everybody wants to reboot some things,” said Benioff, who stressed he strives to stay nonpartisan because he also owns Time magazine. “We are just at a very exciting moment; it’s a new chapter for America. I think we should all have our best intentions going forward. I think a lot of people realize there is a lot of incredible people like Elon Musk in the tech industry and in the business community. If you tap the power and expertise of the best in America to make the best of America, that’s a great vision. “ A clue to what the industry is looking for came just days before the election when Microsoft executives — who’ve largely tried to show a neutral or bipartisan stance — joined with a close Trump ally, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, to publish a blog post outlining their approach to artificial intelligence policy. “Regulation should be implemented only if its benefits outweigh its costs,” said the document signed by Andreessen, his business partner Ben Horowitz, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the company’s president, Brad Smith. They also urged the government to back off on any attempt to strengthen copyright laws that would make it harder for companies to use publicly available data to train their AI systems. And they said, “The government should examine its procurement practices to enable more startups to sell technology to the government.” Trump pledged to rescind President Joe Biden’s sweeping AI executive order, which sought to protect people’s rights and safety without stifling innovation. He hasn’t specified what he would do in its place, but his campaign said AI development should be “rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.” Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, has spoken openly about the need to boost electricity production to meet increased demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. “The AI battle affects everything from defense to health care to education to productivity as a country,” Burgum said on Nov. 15, referring to artificial intelligence. “And the AI that’s coming in the next 18 months is going to be revolutionary. So there’s just a sense of urgency and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration” to address it. Demand for data centers ballooned in recent years because of the rapid growth of cloud computing and AI, and local governments are competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies. As data centers begin to consume more resources, some residents are pushing back against the world’s most powerful corporations over concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities. “Maybe Big Tech should buy a copy of ‘The Art of The Deal’ to figure out how to best negotiate with this administration,” suggested Paul Swanson, an antitrust attorney for the law firm Holland & Hart. “I won’t be surprised if they find ways to reach some accommodations and we end up seeing more negotiated resolutions and consent decrees.” Although federal regulators began cracking down on Google and Facebook during Trump’s first term as president — and flourished under Biden — most experts expect his second administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be more receptive to business mergers. Google may benefit from Trump’s return after he made comments on the campaign trail suggesting a breakup of the company isn’t in the national interest of the U.S., after a judge declared its search engine an illegal monopoly. However, recent nominations put forward by his transition team favored those who have been critical of Big Tech companies, suggesting Google won’t be entirely off the hook. Cook’s notoriously rocky relationship with the EU can be traced back to a 2016 ruling from Brussels in a tax case targeting Apple. Cook slammed the bloc’s order for Apple to pay back up to 13 billion euros, or $13.7 billion, in Irish back taxes as “total political crap.” Trump, then in his first term as president, piled on, referring to the European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who was spearheading a campaign on special tax deals and a crackdown on Big Tech companies, as someone who “really hates the U.S.” Brussels was eventually vindicated after the bloc’s top court rejected Apple’s appeal this year, though it didn’t stop Cook from calling Trump to complain, Trump recounted in an October podcast. Altman, Amazon and Meta all pledged to donate $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural fund. Salesforce’s Benioff said that he won’t be donating money to the inauguration because of his ties to Time, which named Trump as its “Person of The Year” — a decision that landed a picture of the president elect on the magazine’s cover. “I think we just donated that photo,” Benioff said as he chuckled. “He can use the Time magazine cover for free.” During his first term, Trump criticized Amazon and railed against the political coverage at The Washington Post, which billionaire Bezos owns. Meanwhile, Bezos criticized some of Trump’s past rhetoric. In 2019, Amazon also argued in a court case that Trump’s bias against the company harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract. More recently, Bezos struck a more conciliatory tone. He recently said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York that he was “optimistic” about Trump’s second term, while also endorsing president-elect’s plans to cut regulations. The donation from Meta came just weeks after Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president, but voiced a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump’s response to his first assassination attempt. Still, Trump in recent months had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!It could have been a photo people posted on family WhatsApp groups on what seemed like a routine day—a young girl in a crowded metro, clicked by a friend. The difference, however, was that it was not a friendly click. The photo was maliciously made public on social media. An anonymous social media handle posted the picture, “calling the girl out” for “having an affair with a Hindu boy”. The post’s caption said: “The girl in hijab was in a relationship with a Hindu boy”, who had “gotten off the metro at a station” before the picture was supposedly taken. What followed was a barrage of comments against the girl in particular and women from Kashmir working or studying outside the Valley in general. Religion was invoked, the girl was vilified. This is one brazen example of social media defamation of girls in Kashmir—a Muslim-majority region not known to enforce diktats on either dress or morality, except for a brief period in the 1990s when an all-women separatist organisation, Dhuktaran-e-Milat, tried to enforce hijab. The movement did not last, as it failed to garner public support. The Dhuktaran cadre, known for throwing colour on “non-hijabi women”, was denounced for humiliating girls publicly. However, for some time now, fast-sprouting faceless accounts/handles have been using social media as a platform for the resurgence of this very narrative. For them, everything spells problems—girls enjoying a musical evening at a college fest, marriages, relationships and even friendships happening outside of religion and region. In a similar incident a few months ago, a Kashmiri girl and her friends, who happened to be her non-local classmates, were attacked by a mob of local boys. Later, the video of the altercation was uploaded on social media. The video identified the girl, her residence, and the educational institute. The video was, however, taken down, sources say, following intervention by the local police. BY Mehroob Mushtaq Not Standalone Incidents These incidents are not standalone. For years, the social media landscape in Kashmir is reeking of misogyny. The real-life misogyny is spilling onto social media platforms. Taking a leaf from the right-wing book, Kashmiri men, like the Hindutva brigade in the rest of the country, want to take control of “what women do” and “what they wear”. Some call it the rise of the “right in Kashmir”, others a “mere reaction” to what is happening in the rest of the country in the name of “ love jihad ”. Technology and social media are providing the required tools to spread this misogyny. Girls are trolled for anything from riding a bike to reciting poetry. “ Papa ki pari ” is a highly abused tagline, used not only in Kashmir but the rest of the country as well. Social Scientists agree that cyber misogyny is on the rise. “Social media is a new platform that has given people the agency and space to express themselves. The abuse that women face in private and public spaces is now being witnessed on virtual platforms as well. Women face ‘digital abuse’ for numerous reasons, and misogyny is the most important one,” said sociologist Farah Qayoom. BY Zahir Abdullah The trend started with trolling women for their choice of clothes and careers, demeaning their achievements and has now become a new form of harassment for Kashmiri women on social media. Any out-of-the-box video featuring a girl, any achievement highlighted on social media has some keyboard warrior sitting on a prowl. In February 2022, Srinagar’s Aroosa Parvaiz, who had topped class 12 board exams in the science stream, was trolled for not wearing a hijab after photographs of her without a headscarf went viral across social media. The 17-year-old girl, who was hailed as an achiever by people, was soon targeted for her appearance with derogatory comments and vicious attacks flooding social media. Some people hide behind the anonymity of unidentified accounts and use hate and trolling as weapons of harassment and character assassination. The incident happened in the backdrop of Karnataka’s hijab ban in educational institutes. More recently, in October, a video from a college festival in SKUAST, Jammu, was relentlessly shared on X with sermons of “dwindling morals of Kashmir students, especially girls”. The X user called the video “a serious concern” because young female students were seen clapping and enjoying the musical programme. Questions were raised about Kashmiri values and the dwindling morality. In another post, the same user posted a video of a male singer singing in woods and called it “mesmerising”. BY Ather Zia Shrinking Social Media Space Experts agree social media spaces are shrinking for women in Kashmir, and most women are leaving platforms for fear of being trolled. “On social media platforms, many Kashmiri women are targeted for their dress, not covering their head, their appearance, and so on. Often, it is seen that the ones doing it use religion to malign women. Misogynist religious ideology is reflected when many Kashmiri women are asked to keep their heads covered, to wear a certain type of dress, and are accused of having relations with Hindu boys,” Qayoom adds. However, she adds that the digital abuse that women face is not confined to Kashmir but is the same as it is in the rest of the country. “It’s a reflection of the larger social inequality that women are inferior to men that prevails in our society,” she says. Statistics show women across the world are subjected to abuse. A 2023 UN report says 16-58 per cent of women are targeted online in Kashmir; however, it is being used as a tool for the subjugation of females. Creating Synthetic Role Models Another phenomenon Kashmir watchers believe that fuels the misogyny is the “synthetic role model narrative”. “A certain set of women, who are pro-administration, mostly seen supporting the BJP at the Centre government and its stance on Kashmir , are being promoted as role models for Kashmiri women and girls,” says a politician who did not want to be named. “The state facilitates these women; they call themselves social media influencers but are government mouthpieces. This type of social remodelling and botched reengineering has also made people sceptical of the rise of girls as social media opinion-makers or role models. And as a consequence, common women and girls are unfortunately bearing the brunt,” he adds. This “role model” trend started in 2019, when a girl claiming to be Kashmiri featured in viral videos extending support for abrogation of Article 370. A media article later revealed the girl was not “a Kashmiri Muslim” as was being projected but a Sindhi who claimed ancestry in Kashmir. The young girl, who later married a Kashmiri politician from BJP, has since spoken in various international forums supporting India’s reading down of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Experts say such achievers and influencers undermine the real achievers and leave people with a sense of doubt. “State manufacturing role models, stigmatises the narratives and helps further fuel misogyny,” says an expert. BY Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra Surprising as it may sound, in a place like Kashmir, where any social media post can lead to years in jail, the trend is catching on unabated. Police say they initiate action upon receiving complaints. Whether the complaint is from the victim or flagged by another person, the concerns are met with “swift and decisive action”. However, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, V K Birdi, urged “women to report the incidents”. “We acknowledge the problem, are cautious, and try to scan social media for such incidents. But people have to also come forward. If any girl feels threatened, she can register a complaint at our cyber police station, and we will take the required action. We have acted very swiftly many times when women have complained,” he says. “However, if the content is viral and risks the safety of the women/girls, action is taken without any complaints,” he adds. Is cyber harassment of women a reaction to the “love Jihad” conspiracy theory in the rest of the country? “They have anti-conversion laws, and we can’t even talk about it”, “are you supporting organised bhagwa ‘love traps’, “are you also sleeping with some Hindu?”, and many similar replies with extremely unparliamentary language were reactions this reporter got after objecting to a misogynist post regarding interfaith relationships. Most of the abusive replies were from accounts formed a few months ago with just a few followers. Although cyber trolling is a common phenomenon, social scientists say the trolls are taking refuge in the “love jihad conspiracy” being fuelled in the rest of the country. Every time an Islamophobic incident takes place in the rest of the country, misogynistic and trolling incidents of women are on the rise. Earlier this year, many X accounts, including that of a senior politician, ran into trouble with law enforcement agencies when the marriage certificate of a local Kashmiri Muslim girl with a Hindu non-Kashmiri boy was widely circulated on social media. Another document confirming her religious conversion also went viral. The incident had many Kashmiris crying foul claiming such marriages and conversions were part of “organised bhagwa love traps”. Many users on X claimed the Centre and state were closing their eyes to the cases where the brides happened to be Muslim, especially Kashmiri. BY Naseer Ganai Junaid Azim Mattu , former mayor of Srinagar, posted the same documents on his X account, trying to draw a parallel with a case of a cleric of Dargah Hazratbal, who was barred from performing religious duties for “helping a man convert to Islam”. “A 23-year-old Muslim girl, Humerah, from a village in Baramulla is converted to Hinduism by Sanatan Vedic Samaj Kalyan Sansthan, given a name Purni, and married to a certain Mr. Parihar from Maharashtra by an organisation that proclaims, “approved by the government of India. No cry for Love Dharam Yudh?” Mattu had written. Existence of Traditional Misogyny While Kashmir has not been a strictly patriarchal society but it’s also not a matriarchal society as well. Although women have traditionally been given opportunities in education and employment, men have greater power and social status than women. Qayoom said that the problem is that “in a traditional society like Kashmir, children are not socialised to accept gender equality”. “We don’t inculcate a gender-sensitive approach in our children. Boys are made to believe that they are superior, and girls are inferior. When such boys grow up, they harbour a misogynistic attitude, and it is reflected in their expressions over social media and other such platforms,” Qayoom says. Qayoom believes there is a need for comprehensive strategies to address this pressing issue; people must learn to create a balance between traditional and cultural beliefs and modern life. Social scientists say society has to be reminded that respect for women cannot be only for those, those who live in your home, your mother and daughters but it has to be extended to those whom you don't know. Those whom you meet in unfamiliar situations like social media. “These interactions would define who you are,” says Qayoom. These interactions cannot be governed by premature judgements, the patriarchal norms and predetermined or predefined rules particularly for women.

With 25 percent of the vote according to two exit polls, Ciolacu appeared to be well ahead of far-right challengers looking to capitalise on this EU member's concerns about inflation and the war in neighbouring Ukraine. The same exit polls gave second place to centre-right former journalist turned small-town mayor Elena Lasconi at 18 percent, with two far-right candidates scoring 15 and 16 percent. In the absence of an outright winner in the first round -- scoring more than 50 percent -- the top two candidates go through to a second-round run-off in the poor NATO member on December 8. Ciolacu, a Social Democrat, is leading a field of 13 contenders in the race to take over from President Klaus Iohannis in the largely ceremonial post. He welcomed the exit polls putting him in the lead, but said all the votes would have to be counted before he knew who he would face in the second round. Lasconi too, was cautious. "The scores are very tight, it's not yet time to celebrate," said the 52-year-old politician. Far-right leader George Simion, 38, who some had forecast might take second place, is for the moment in fourth. Exit polls put him just behind the 62-year-old pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu. But Simion said Sunday evening: "We'll see the results of the ballot boxes at 11:00 pm (2100 GMT)." Ciolacu's party has shaped Romania's politics for more than three decades, and as he voted Sunday he promised stability and a "decent" standard of living. But political analyst Cristian Parvulescu told AFP: "The far right is by far the big winner of this election." Simion saw his popularity surge by tapping into voter anger over record inflation while promising more affordable housing. Looking for a new election breakthrough for European far-right parties, Simion warned of possible "fraud" and "foreign interference" when voting. But he added: "I am happy that we are giving Romanians hope and the prospect of a better future." The stakes are high for Romania, which has a 650-kilometre (400-mile) border with Ukraine and has become more important since Russia invaded its neighbour in 2022. The Black Sea nation now plays a "vital strategic role" for NATO -- as it is a base for more than 5,000 soldiers -- and the transit of Ukrainian grain, the New Strategy Center think tank said. Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election has further "complicated" Romania's choice, political analyst Cristian Pirvulescu told AFP. Known for his fiery speeches, Simion is a Trump fan who sometimes dons a red cap in appreciation of his idol. Simion opposes sending military aid to Ukraine, wants a "more patriotic Romania" and frequently lashes out against what he calls the "greedy corrupt bubble" running the European Union. Having campaigned hard to win over Romania's large diaspora working abroad, he said the country had only "minions and cowards as leaders". Pirvulescu predicted that if Simion reached the second round his AUR party would get a boost in the December parliamentary election. "Romanian democracy is in danger for the first time since the fall of communism in 1989," he said. "I'm really afraid we'll end up with Simion in the second round," 36-year-old IT worker Oana Diaconu told AFP, expressing concern about the far-right leader's unpredictable nature and attacks on the European Union. The campaign was marked by controversy and personal attacks, with Simion facing accusations of meeting with Russian spies -- a claim he has denied. Ciolacu has been criticised for his use of private jets. Some observers had tipped Lasconi, now mayor of the small town of Campulung and head of a centre-right opposition party, as a surprise package. Sunday's exit polls appeared to suggest they were right. During campaigning, she had said she wanted a future "where no one has to pack their suitcases and leave" the country and for "institutions that work". bur/js-jj/Pete Hegseth’s Mom Calls Him ‘Abuser of Women’ in Released Email