NoneLast year, tech giant Huawei catapulted to the top of the smartphone market in China when it released the Mate 60 Pro, a phone that contained a tiny computer chip more advanced than any previously made by a Chinese company. The chips used by Huawei’s smartphones have become a symbol in the struggle between China and the United States for control over advanced technology . Huawei’s new Mate 70 phone. Policymakers in Washington have spent years trying to prevent Chinese companies from being able to make the kind of chip Huawei uses in its Mate phone. But Huawei has pressed ahead, and the phone has burnished its image as a national leader, triumphant in the face of US restrictions. Shoppers in China were excited to buy a phone with state-of-the-art components that had been made entirely at home. Huawei was able to appeal to Chinese customers who previously would have been more likely to buy iPhones, eating into Apple’s most important market outside the United States. On Tuesday, Huawei unveiled the next generation of that phone, the Mate 70 series, from its offices in Shenzhen in southeastern China. Richard Yu, Huawei’s consumer group chair, called the flagship device the “smartest” Mate phone. Powered by its homegrown operating system, HarmonyOS Next, which was officially launched last month, the Mate 70 series has artificial intelligence-enabled functions, including improved photography, live transcription and translation of phone calls. Apple has yet to release its AI features in China. Starting at 5499 yuan ($1172) the price of the Mate 70 is meant to compete with the iPhone in China. HarmonyOS Next allows phones to connect with Huawei’s other products: electric cars, smart speakers and watches. But widespread commercial success for the Mate 70 could depend on Huawei’s ability to secure a steady supply of chips. The company relied on Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., or SMIC, to make the chips in the Mate 60 Pro. SMIC, which is partly state owned, is the only maker of advanced chips in China. Analysts said they believed Huawei had again turned to SMIC for the Mate 70. Huawei did not reveal details about the chips in the new phone. A critical question is how advanced the chips are, because that can determine whether they can perform more sophisticated tasks like AI at a faster speed. The chips used by Huawei’s smartphones have become a symbol in the struggle between China and the United States for control over advanced technology. Credit: Bloomberg US officials seeking to control China’s chip development say advanced technology is essential not just for consumer technology like chatbots but also for military superiority. They have tried to prevent Chinese companies from buying these kinds of chips and related machinery, leaving SMIC dependent on dated tools. Experts say SMIC has strained to make enough chips for Huawei. Even though production for some parts in Huawei’s latest phones began in July, the Mate 70 has not gone on sale until now because it has been challenging for Huawei to acquire enough chips, said Lori Chang, a senior analyst at Isaiah Research, a market research company. SMIC did not respond to a request for comment. As of Tuesday, more than 3 million people had signed up on Huawei’s website to reserve the company’s latest flagship phone, which does not require a deposit. The premium version of the Mate 70 is set to go on sale in China on Tuesday, according to Huawei’s website. A critical question is how advanced the chips are, because that can determine whether they can perform more sophisticated tasks like AI at a faster speed. Huawei has been working for years to position itself as synonymous with the country’s tech industry, as Apple is with Silicon Valley. Resurgence despite Washington’s controls is a crucial part of this image. A top Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, became a hero to many in China after her return in 2021 following almost three years of detention in Canada while facing fraud charges in the United States. A series of trade restrictions against Huawei first put in place during the Trump administration pummeled its profits in 2022. Since Meng’s release, Huawei has expanded its product range and developed some of China’s most advanced AI technology. Over the past two years, the company has steadily gained ground in China’s smartphone market. In 2022, three-quarters of the high-end smartphones sold in China were iPhones. This year, it was just about half, as Huawei’s share more than doubled, according to Canalys, a market research firm. “Huawei’s goal over the past few years has been consistent — to reclaim some of the market share that iPhone holds in China,” Chang said. Huawei faces stiff competition from domestic rivals like Xiaomi and Oppo, which sell less expensive devices. To compete, Huawei will have to sell more midrange models, too, said Toby Zhu, a senior analyst at Canalys. But even those devices will require a large number of chips. And as foreign chipmakers like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, stop sending chips to Chinese clients, this could become increasingly difficult as more companies will depend on SMIC for advanced chips. “Not only Huawei but now all China-based AI makers, they face the same issue,” said Linda Sui, a senior director at TechInsights, a market research firm. “If they all ship through SMIC, that’s going to make the supply constraints even worse next year.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times . Get news and reviews on technology, gadgets and gaming in our Technology newsletter every Friday . Sign up here .Losses for big technology stocks pulled major indexes lower on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3% from its record high a day earlier, and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.6%. Losses for Nvidia, Microsoft and Broadcom were the biggest weights on the market. Dell sank 12.2% after reporting revenue that fell shy of forecasts, and HP dropped 11.4% after giving a weaker-than-expected outlook. Treasury yields fell in the bond market. U.S. financial markets will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, and will reopen for a half day on Friday. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Stocks wavered in afternoon trading on Wednesday, as losses for several Big Tech companies offset gains elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% in afternoon trading, even though more stocks were rising than falling in the index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 135 points, or 0.3%, as of 3:05 p.m. Eastern time. Both indexes set records on Tuesday. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%. Losses for tech heavyweights helped pull the broader market lower. Semiconductor giant Nvidia slipped 1.6%. Its huge value gives it outsized influence on market indexes. Microsoft fell 0.9% Several personal computer makers added to Big Tech's heavy weight on the market following their latest earnings reports. HP sank 11.8% after giving investors a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast for its current quarter. Dell slumped 11.9% after its latest quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street forecasts. Gains for financial and health care companies helped counter Big Tech's downward pull. Visa rose 0.9% and Thermo Fisher Scientific added 2.3%. The U.S. economy expanded at a healthy 2.8% annual pace from July through September, according to the Commerce Department, leaving its original estimate of third-quarter growth unchanged. The growth was driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports. The update follows a report on Tuesday from the Conference Board that said confidence among U.S. consumers improved in November, but not by as much as economists expected. Consumers have been driving economic growth, but the latest round of earnings reports from retailers shows a mixed and more cautious picture. Department store operator Nordstrom fell 8.5% after warning investors about a trend toward weakening sales that started in late October. Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters jumped 19.1% after beating analysts’ third-quarter financial forecasts. Weeks earlier, retail giant Target gave investors a discouraging forecast for the holiday season, while Walmart provided a more encouraging forecast. Consumers, though resilient, are still facing pressure from inflation. The latest update from the U.S. government shows that inflation accelerated last month. The personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE, rose to 2.3% in October from 2.1% in September. Overall, the rate of inflation has been falling broadly since it peaked more than two years ago. The PCE, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, was just below 7.3% in June of 2022. Another measure of inflation, the consumer price index, peaked at 9.1% at the same time. The latest inflation data, though, is a sign that the rate of inflation seems to be stalling as it falls to within range of the Fed's target of 2%. The central bank started raising its benchmark interest rate from near-zero in early 2022 to a two-decade high by the middle of 2023 and held it there in order to tame inflation. The Fed started cutting its benchmark interest rate in September, followed by a second cut in November. Wall Street expects a similar quarter-point cut at the central bank's upcoming meeting in December. “Today’s data shouldn’t change views of the likely path for disinflation, however bumpy," said David Alcaly, lead macroeconomic strategist at Lazard Asset Management. "But a lot of observers, probably including some at the Fed, are looking for reasons to get more hawkish on the outlook given the potential for inflationary policy change like new tariffs.” President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China when he takes office in January. That could shock the economy by raising prices on a wide range of goods and accelerating the rate of inflation. Such a shift could prompt the Fed to rethink future cuts to interest rates. Treasury yields slipped in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.25% from 4.30% late Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely follows expected actions by the Fed, fell to 4.22% from 4.25% late Tuesday. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, and will reopen for a half day on Friday.There's still more than a month until Inauguration Day, but President-elect Donald Trump's administration is already off to a rocky start. His first nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, had to drop out of consideration after a week amid allegations that he paid for sex with underage girls . And last week, reports surfaced that Trump may replace his nominee for secretary of defense, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, amid swirling sexual-assault allegations and other concerns about his fitness for office . It's a throwback to the human-resources turmoil that marked Trump's previous stint in the White House. During his first four years, Trump had more failed Cabinet nominations than any president since at least Jimmy Carter — and this time around, he's already the fastest president(-elect) in decades to see a Cabinet nominee fail. Failed Cabinet nominations are a rite of initiation for presidents: Every president since Carter has had at least one of their Cabinet appointees fail to be confirmed by the Senate. (Most, like Gaetz, withdrew rather than face a tough confirmation fight, but one — former Sen. John Tower, former President George H.W. Bush's first choice for defense secretary — was actually voted down .) But Trump set a modern record in his first term when six* of his nominees for jobs that are currently at the Cabinet level** withdrew from consideration. Former President Bill Clinton is second with four failed nominations,*** while former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had three each. All other presidents since Carter had exactly one. Of course, these numbers represent nominees who withdrew over the course of previous presidents' entire terms — and Trump's second term hasn't even started yet. As the chart above shows, it's normal for presidents to whiff on one Cabinet nominee at, or even before, the start of their presidency. Obama even had three: his initial pick for secretary of health and human services and his first two picks for commerce secretary. (For what it's worth, this didn't seem to have a negative impact on his presidency. Obama's average approval ratings stayed above 60 percent through May 2009, and the 2009-10 Congress was one of the most productive in history .) But Trump is already ahead of Obama's pace. Obama's first commerce secretary nominee, then-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, dropped out on Jan. 4, 2009 . Gaetz withdrew on Nov. 21, 2024. In fact, Gaetz withdrew quicker than any other Cabinet appointee has withdrawn in the last 50 years. And while we don't know for sure what will happen in the future, Trump appears to have a good chance to tie or break Obama's record of three failed nominees at the start of a presidency. There's plenty of time left, and plenty of controversial Cabinet appointees who could face difficult paths to confirmation, such as Hegseth, anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , his nominee for secretary of health and human services, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard , his nominee for director of national intelligence. That may seem particularly embarrassing for Trump given that his party is set to hold a 53-47 majority in the next Senate. But historically, most failed Cabinet picks actually haven't been torpedoed by the opposite party; they've withdrawn in the face of (potential) resistance from their own side . Seventeen of the 21 failed Cabinet nominations since the Carter administration have happened when the Senate was controlled by the president's party. Instead, the vast majority of failed Cabinet nominations tanked because a scandal emerged about the nominee. It's a subjective exercise to try to boil down the failure of every past Cabinet appointment to a single reason, but by my reckoning, 14 of the 21 failed because some kind of scandal was swirling around them. Sexual misconduct allegations, like the ones dogging Gaetz and Hegseth, have been among the most common reasons, also dragging down Tower and Clinton veterans affairs secretary nominee Hershel Gober . But the most common genre of scandal that has doomed Cabinet nominees , interestingly, has been employing or housing an undocumented immigrant or someone who was not authorized to work in the U.S. Contemporary media reports cited that as the reason behind five Cabinet withdrawals. By contrast, I count only two Cabinet nominees who have withdrawn in the face of partisan attacks , and only one who was forced to step aside because of concerns he was unqualified . Two more withdrew because senators took issue with their prickly personalities: John Bolton, one of George W. Bush's nominees for ambassador to the United Nations, was undone by accusations that he was a difficult boss and motivated by ideology over facts ,**** while President Joe Biden's first choice for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, dropped out because she had sent too many mean tweets . One or two***** others withdrew because of apparent ideological differences with the administration that appointed them. This may actually bode well for Trump: Unlike Gaetz and Hegseth, Kennedy, Gabbard and Trump's other nominees so far haven't been accused of any illegal activities. Instead, senators have appeared lukewarm on them because of Kennedy's conspiratorial views and Gabbard's Russian sympathies . Of course, past presidents have never appointed people with such unusual baggage to their Cabinets before, so there isn't exactly a precedent for how they will be handled. As is so often the case, Trump is sailing us into uncharted waters with many of his Cabinet picks, so we don't know what will happen. Footnotes *Including former Rep. John Ratcliffe, who withdrew his nomination for director of national intelligence in August 2019 but was renominated in February 2020 and then successfully confirmed . **Different presidents have designated different offices to be in the Cabinet. In addition to the vice president and the heads of the 15 Cabinet departments, the current Cabinet includes the chief of staff, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, the director of national intelligence, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, the ambassador to the United Nations, the U.S. trade representative, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the director of the Office of Management and Budget. In order to fairly compare the number of failed nominations across time, the data in this article includes all of these offices even if they weren't in the Cabinet during the period in question — and doesn't include offices that were in the Cabinet at the time but aren't anymore. ***Not including Judge Kimba Wood, a reported Clinton nominee for attorney general. On Feb. 5, 1993, Clinton administration officials anonymously told reporters that Clinton would appoint Wood, but the following day, she took herself out of the running because she had employed an undocumented immigrant as a nanny. Because Clinton never explicitly announced Wood's appointment, we've excluded her from our data. ****After Bolton's nomination stalled, Bush used a recess appointment to install him as U.N. ambassador. However, he needed to get confirmed by the Senate in order to stay on in the job, and when that didn't happen, Bolton stepped aside . *****We never got an official answer about why Trump homeland security secretary nominee Chad Wolf bowed out, but we can make a guess: His withdrawal came on Jan. 7, 2021 , just hours after he issued a strongly worded statement condemning the Jan. 6 riot and saying, "Any appearance of inciting violence by an elected official goes against who we are as Americans."club 777 casino 。

VANCOUVER, BC , Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Sandstorm Gold Ltd. ("Sandstorm Gold Royalties", "Sandstorm" or the "Company") (NYSE: SAND) (TSX: SSL) is pleased to provide various developments within its diversified stream and royalty portfolio (dollar figures in USD unless otherwise indicated). Robertson Receives Approval of Key Environmental Permit On November 15 th , the U.S. Bureau of Land Management filed a positive Record of Decision for the Robertson mine, following publication of the project's Final Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") and public review period. The Record of Decision is the last major Federal permit under the National Environmental Protection Act of 1969 ("NEPA"). Robertson is owned by Nevada Gold Mines ("NGM"), a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Corporation, and is located at the north end of Nevada's Cortez District. The project is less than 10 kilometres east of the Pipeline and Cortez Mine Complex, a well-known mining district that hosts NGM gold production from the operating Pipeline, Cortez, and Goldrush mines. Robertson is planned as an open-pit, heap leach operation that will utilize certain infrastructure and facilities at the Pipeline and Cortez Mine Complex. NGM most recently estimated first production at Robertson in 2027, subject to permitting, and feasibility work remains ongoing. For more information about the Robertson mine visit www.barrick.com . For information regarding the Record of Decision, visit the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's website at www.blm.gov and refer to the press release dated November 20, 2024 . Sandstorm has a 1.0%–2.25% sliding scale net smelter returns ("NSR") royalty on the Robertson project. At current gold prices, Sandstorm expects the upper-end of the sliding scale would apply to its royalty. Hod Maden Site Preparation Continues SSR Mining Inc. ("SSR Mining") reports that engineering studies and site preparation activities continue at its Hod Maden project in Türkiye, as the company continues to advance the project through to a construction decision. In the third quarter of 2024, approximately $10.9 million was spent at Hod Maden. SSR Mining will provide guidance on the expected 2025 capital spend at Hod Maden with its annual 2025 guidance. For more information, visit www.ssrmining.com and refer to the press release dated November 6, 2024 . Sandstorm holds a 2.0% NSR royalty and a 20% gold stream on the Hod Maden project. Under the terms of the Hod Maden gold stream, Sandstorm has agreed to purchase 20% of all gold produced from Hod Maden (on a 100% basis) for ongoing per ounce cash payments equal to 50% of the spot price of gold until 405,000 ounces of gold are delivered. Sandstorm will then receive 12% of the gold produced for the life of the mine for ongoing per ounce cash payments equal to 60% of the spot price of gold. Underground Development Commences at Hugo North Extension; Additional High-Grade Intercepts Released Entrée Resources Ltd. ("Entrée") announced the commencement of underground development work at Oyu Tolgoi Lift 1 Panel 1 on the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property in November. This initial phase involves up to 212 metres of lateral development in the southwest corner of the Hugo North Extension ("HNE"), as outlined in the 2024 Oyu Tolgoi Mine Plan, intended to support the development of mine infrastructure. Entrée continues to advance discussions with Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi LLC ("OTLLC") to finalize either (i) the execution and delivery of the existing JV agreement between the parties or, (ii) conversion to an alternative agreement of equivalent economic value to govern their relationship during the development and mining stages of the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property. Entrée, Rio Tinto and OTLLC have identified a potential pathway forward, with corresponding definitive agreements subject to the approval of the entire OTLLC board. Entrée also released additional results from the 2023 drilling program at HNE, which includes both infill and extension holes from surface and underground. In addition to confirming long, high-grade intervals within the existing Hugo North Lift 2 block cave footprint, drill hole EGD 174 was terminated in mineralization at a depth of 1,800 metres, highlighting that the deposit remains open at depth with continuity for deeper potential lifts at Oyu Tolgoi. At depths, the Hugo North deposit dips to the northwest with an increasing proportion located on the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture ground. Underground geotechnical holes UGD 807A, UGD 807B , and UGD 808 confirmed continuity of mineralization outside the potential Hugo North Lift 2 footprint. Highlights from the surface drill results include: Highlights from the underground drill results include: During 2024, drilling has continued at HNE with all holes targeting the potential Lift 2 mineralized footprint. As of October 31, 2024 , OTLLC had advised Entrée that approximately 5,287 metres of underground drilling in 23 diamond drill holes and 2,476 metres of surface drilling in four diamond drill holes had been completed. Entrée will report on the drill results once they have been received and reviewed. For more information, including full details of the drill results, visit www.entreeresourcesltd.com and refer to the press releases dated October 29 and November 4, 2024 . Sandstorm has a copper and precious metal stream with Entrée on the HNE whereby the Company has the right to purchase 0.42% of the copper, 5.62% of gold, and 4.26% of silver produced for ongoing cash payments of $0.50 per pound of copper, $220 per ounce of gold, and $5 per ounce of silver. Equinox Gold to Restart Mining at Aurizona Piaba Pit; Expansion Plans Ongoing Equinox Gold Corp. ("Equinox Gold") expects to resume mining at its Aurizona Piaba pit in the fourth quarter of 2024, following remediation from a geotechnical event caused by persistent heavy rains earlier in the year. Mining has been paused at Piaba since March 2024 , while ore feed at Aurizona has relied on existing stockpiles and mining from the Tatajuba open pit. A revised mine plan incorporating the Tatajuba, Boa Esperança, and Piaba pits has been prepared, and Equinox Gold has concluded that the geotechnical event does not have a significant negative impact on the long-term economic performance of Aurizona. Despite weather challenges, exploration activities in 2024 have included over 6,500 metres of regional drilling at Aurizona, focused on high potential targets. In the first nine months of 2024, nearly 3,500 metres of drilling has focused on resource delineation of the western extension of the Tatajuba deposit. Expansion plans at Aurizona aim to extend the mine life beyond 10 years and increase annual gold production through the development of an underground mine that would operate concurrently with the open pits. Engineering studies for the underground mine beneath the Piaba pit are ongoing, with efforts focused on refining ventilation systems, access layouts, and ore extraction plans. Construction of a portal and underground decline is expected to begin in 2025, enabling underground drilling and bulk sampling and ultimately supporting production operations. For more information, visit www.equinoxgold.com and refer to the company's 2024 third quarter Management Discussion & Analysis. Sandstorm has a sliding scale NSR royalty on the Aurizona mine, including the Piaba, Tatajuba, and Boa Esperança pits. When gold prices are above $2,000 per ounce, Sandstorm's royalty is a 5% NSR. Chapada Optimization Plan Improves Project Cash Flows Following optimization efforts at Lundin Mining Corporation's ("Lundin Mining") Chapada mine in Brazil , mining costs have decreased by 46% compared to 2022. In addition to improved haulage cycle times, fleet availability, and blasting fragmentation, the stockpile feed levels were also optimized. A redesigned mining plan was implemented with a lower annual stripping requirement, reducing annual mining rates by 30 million tonnes. These changes are expected to streamline operations while maintaining output, further improving free cash flow generated from the mine. Lundin Mining is concluding a scoping study on the Sauva deposit, and an updated technical report for the Chapada mine is expected to be filed in 2025. For more information, visit www.lundinmining.com and refer to Lundin Mining's conference call held on November 7, 2024 , discussing the company's 2024 third quarter financial results. Sandstorm holds a copper stream on the Chapada mine, whereby Sandstorm has agreed to purchased, for ongoing per pound cash payments equal to 30% of the spot price of copper, 4.2% of the copper produced up to maximum of 3.9 million pounds ("Mlbs") annually until 39 Mlbs are delivered, then 3.0% of the copper until 50 Mlbs are delivered; then 1.5% of the copper for the life of mine. Updated PEA for High-Grade Coringa Gold Project Serabi Gold plc ("Serabi") has published an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Coringa gold project in Brazil , highlighting significant improvements compared to the 2019 study. Annual production is estimated at 28 thousand ounces ("koz") in 2025 then averaging 36 koz per year between 2026 and 2031 with an 11-year mine life until 2034. The updated PEA reflects an updated Mineral Resource Inventory at Coringa that includes Measured & Indicated Resources of 795 thousand tonnes ("kt") at 7.03 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold containing 179 koz gold and Inferred Resources are 1.45 million tonnes ("Mt") at 5.81 g/t gold containing 271 koz gold. The mine plan utilizes 81% of the total Measured & Indicated Resource inventory and 89% of Inferred Resources (3.16 g/t cut-off). The Coringa project has been in production since July 2022 as an underground operation using open stoping mining methods. Processing of Coringa ore is undertaken at Serabi's Palito Complex, utilizing existing process plant capacity. For more information, visit www.serabigold.com and refer to the press release dated October 21, 2024 . Sandstorm holds a 2.5% NSR royalty on the Coringa project. Notes 1. Drill hole EGD177 is the upper portion of "daughter" drill hole EGD177A, which was previously reported by Entrée Resources Ltd. on July 18, 2024. Qualified Person Imola Götz (M.Sc., P.Eng, F.E.C.), Sandstorm's Vice President, Mining & Engineering is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Ms. Götz has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release. Contact Information For more information about Sandstorm Gold Royalties, please visit our website at www.sandstormgold.com or email us at info@sandstormgold.com . ABOUT SANDSTORM GOLD ROYALTIES Sandstorm is a precious metals-focused royalty company that provides upfront financing to mining companies and receives the right to a percentage of production from a mine, for the life of the mine. Sandstorm holds a portfolio of over 230 royalties, of which 41 of the underlying mines are producing. Sandstorm plans to grow and diversify its low-cost production profile through the acquisition of additional gold royalties. For more information visit: www.sandstormgold.com . CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS TO U.S. SECURITYHOLDERS The financial information included or incorporated by reference in this press release or the documents referenced herein has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, which differs from US generally accepted accounting principles ("US GAAP") in certain material respects, and thus are not directly comparable to financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP. This press release and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, have been prepared in accordance with Canadian standards for the reporting of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, which differ from the previous and current standards of the United States securities laws. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve", "probable mineral reserve", "inferred mineral resources,", "indicated mineral resources," "measured mineral resources" and "mineral resources" used or referenced herein and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, are Canadian mineral disclosure terms as defined in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 — Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") — CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (the "CIM Definition Standards"). For United States reporting purposes, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to modernize the mining property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the Exchange Act, which became effective February 25, 2019 . The SEC Modernization Rules more closely align the SEC's disclosure requirements and policies for mining properties with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards, including NI 43-101, and replace the historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants that were included in SEC Industry Guide 7. Issuers were required to comply with the SEC Modernization Rules in their first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021 . As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system, the Corporation is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, mineral reserve and mineral resource information contained or incorporated by reference herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by United States companies subject to the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC now recognizes estimates of "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources." In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "proven mineral reserves" and "probable mineral reserves" to be "substantially similar" to the corresponding CIM Definition Standards that are required under NI 43-101. While the SEC will now recognize "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources", U.S. investors should not assume that all or any part of the mineralization in these categories will be converted into a higher category of mineral resources or into mineral reserves without further work and analysis. Mineralization described using these terms has a greater amount of uncertainty as to its existence and feasibility than mineralization that has been characterized as reserves. Accordingly, U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources, or inferred mineral resources that the Company reports are or will be economically or legally mineable without further work and analysis. Further, "inferred mineral resources" have a greater amount of uncertainty and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. Therefore, U.S. investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred mineral resources will be upgraded to a higher category without further work and analysis. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. While the above terms are "substantially similar" to CIM Definitions, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report as "proven mineral reserves", "probable mineral reserves", "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the reserve or resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules or under the prior standards of SEC Industry Guide 7. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains "forward-looking statements", within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Sandstorm Gold Royalties. Forward-looking statements include the future price of gold, silver, copper, iron ore and other metals, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, realization of mineral reserve estimates, and the timing and amount of estimated future production. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans", or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Sandstorm Gold Royalties to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Sandstorm Gold Royalties will operate in the future, including the receipt of all required approvals, the price of gold and copper and anticipated costs. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, amongst others, failure to receive necessary approvals, changes in business plans and strategies, market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, gold and other commodity price volatility, discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining operational and development risks relating to the parties which produce the gold or other commodity the Company will purchase, regulatory restrictions, activities by governmental authorities (including changes in taxation), currency fluctuations, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility and competition. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over mining operations from which the Company will purchase gold, other commodities or receive royalties from, and risks related to those mining operations, including risks related to international operations, government and environmental regulation, actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, risks in the marketability of minerals, fluctuations in the price of gold and other commodities, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, stock market volatility, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risks to Sandstorm" in the Company's annual report for the financial year ended December 31, 2023 and the section entitled "Risk Factors" contained in the Company's annual information form dated March 27, 2024 available at www.sedarplus.com . Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained or incorporated by reference, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sandstorm-gold-royalties-provides-updates-on-producing-and-key-development-assets-302317866.html SOURCE Sandstorm Gold Ltd.

Ruben Amorim says Manchester United are a massive club but not a massive team as he continues to try and turn around a group that need to “run like mad dogs” if they are to become winners. A poor start to Erik ten Hag’s third season in charge last month led the Red Devils to turn to the 39-year-old, who immediately lifted the mood after swapping Sporting for Old Trafford. Amorim followed a draw at Ipswich in his opening match with entertaining wins against Bodo/Glimt and Everton, yet he repeatedly attempted to manage expectations. “I think that is very clear,” Amorim said of the scale of the job. “We are a massive club, but we are not a massive team, and we know it. It’s no problem to say it. “So, we want to improve, we are in a different moment from Arsenal, but you could feel it during the game. “I think we have to believe more because we were not dominant in the game, but we had control in the game. “Not so many chances for Arsenal – of course a lot of set pieces – but we were OK, especially in the first half. We had some good things in that moment, but you could feel that there’s so much to do. “I felt that Arsenal had problems to block our build up but then when they were defending the goal it was quite comfortable for them, so we are learning these things and trying to improve in two days.” United’s problems mean they enter the weekend 13th in the Premier League standings – quite the sight for fans of a club who have won an English record 20 league titles. Asked if perceptions around the club need to change, Amorim said: “That will not change because this club has glories in the past. “Our players have to understand that this is a very difficult position, so we are not (one of) the best teams in the league, and we have to say that and to think that clearly. “If you think in everything, it will be a problem. Let’s focus on the small details and then we will improve it as a team.” Amorim has had precious little time to work on such details having started during an international break followed by a relentless winter schedule. Saturday’s home game against Forest is United’s third of nine matches in December and came with a demand for effort on top of technical quality. “It’s impossible to win the Premier League without a team like that – that every moment runs back, runs forward,” Amorim said. “It is impossible to win. If you want to win, we have to do it. “Even with the best starting XI in the planet without running they will not win nothing, so that is very clear. “If we want to win the Premier League, we have to run like mad dogs. If not, we are not going to win.” “It doesn’t matter about the system,” the former United manager said. “It has to do with the characteristics of the players and we don’t have many, with all the respect, mad dogs – the ones who bite the ball all the time and press all the time. We don’t have many with that spirit.” Amorim will hope not to be feeling similar after facing Forest, having previously said he needs to improve the “physical aspect of the team”. “The problem to be fit enough is if they can cope with that,” United’s head coach said. “If they are used to do that in training, they will do that in games. “So, they are professional athletes, they can improve this. You cannot be faster, but you can run more with training. We are in that path.”

Shares of Nvidia fell Monday after China said it is investigating the high-flying U.S. microchip company over suspected violations of Chinese anti-monopoly laws. In a brief news release with few details, Chinese regulators appear to be focusing on Nvidia's $6.9 billion acquisition of network and data transmission company Mellanox in 2019. Nvidia shares about 3% Monday. They are still up 179% so far this year. Considered a bellwether for artificial intelligence demand, Nvidia has led the AI sector to become one of the stock market’s biggest companies, as tech giants spend heavily on the company’s chips and data centers needed to train and operate their AI systems. Nvidia's shares have surged this year along with the California company's revenue and profit due to AI demand. According to data firm FactSet, about 16% of Nvidia's revenue comes from China, second only to its U.S.-generated revenue. A spokesperson for the company based in Santa Clara, California, said in an emailed statement that Nvidia is “happy to answer any questions regulators may have about our business.” In its most recent earnings release, Nvidia posted revenue of $35.08 billion, up 94% from $18.12 billion a year ago. Nvidia earned $19.31 billion in the quarter, more than double the $9.24 billion it posted in last year’s third quarter. The earnings release did not break out revenue from China. The company's market value rocketed to $3.5 trillion recently, passing Microsoft and briefly overtaking Apple as the world's most valuable company. China’s antitrust investigation follows a report this summer by technology news site The Information that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating complaints from rivals that Nvidia was abusing its market dominance in the chip sector. The allegations reported include Nvidia threatening to punish those who buy products from both itself and its competitors at the same time. David Bieri, an international finance expert at Virginia Tech, said that China’s investigation is “not about what Nvidia is doing in China, per se” but rather a signal to the incoming Trump administration. China, Bieri said, is looking to set the tone of future relations. The Chinese government, he said, is telling the U.S. “don’t mess with us, because all of your darling corporations that your version of capitalism needs to prosper have entanglements” with China. Nvidia will have to revise its strategy in China or come up with provisions in their budgets for the type of uncertainty business with China will bring, Bieri said. “I don’t think this is something that they can shake off,” he said. “I also have a tremendous amount of faith in the brilliance of the management strategy of a corporation like Nvidia to not only pay attention to credit risk, market risk and operational risk, but also to political risk.” Nvidia’s invention of graphics processor chips, or GPUs, in 1999 helped spark the growth of the PC gaming market and redefined computer graphics. Last month, it replaced Intel on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, ending the pioneering semiconductor company's 25-year run on the index. Unlike Intel, Nvidia designs but doesn’t manufacture its own chips, relying heavily on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., an Intel rival. ___ Associated Press Technology Writer Sarah Parvini in Los Angeles contributed to this report.PEOPLES FINANCIAL CORPORATION ANNOUNCES A REGULAR CASH DIVIDEND AND THE PAYMENT OF A SPECIAL DIVIDENDQuarterbacks in spotlight when No. 6 Miami visits SyracuseUS rushes to uncover new information on whereabouts of Austin Tice after collapse of Syrian regime

Kamala Harris says ‘fight is not over’. Her team knew it never really began

Eight boys teams and eight girls teams are slated to compete in the annual Central Heights High School Holiday HoopFest Thursday through Saturday. The teams will all start off in pool play and the top two teams from each pool will advance to bracket play, Action will tip off at 10 a.m. Thursday when the Blue Devils take on Hudson. The Lady Devils will follow that up with a game vs. Rusk. The Lady Devils will take on Christian Homeschool Sports Ministries (CHSM) at 4:40 p.m. Thursday and the Blue Devil will close off the day with a matchup against Westwood. Friday’s action will begin at 10 a.m. when the Central Heights boys take on Tatum. The Central Heights girls will play Hemphill at 3:20 p.m. and pool play is slated to begin after that at 4:40 p.m. The boys teams competing are Central Heights, Center, Hudson, Westwood, Tatum, Hitchcock, Pollok Central and Lorena. The girls teams competing are Central Heights, Rusk, Hitchcock, Texas Truth, CHSM, Diboll, Rusk and Hemphill. Central Heights head basketball coach and athletic director Kevin Herron said he likes to use the tournament to schedule tough opponents. “Most people that are good, want to go and play good competition,” Herron said. “If you schedule tough, you’ll get tough. We’ve got the No. 1, the No. 3 and the No.5 ranked 3A teams in the state this weekend. We’ll see how we stack up. We’re either going to be close, right there with them or far behind. “Hitchcock has won back-to-back state titles and they won our tournament last year,” Herron said. “Palestine Westwood has one of the best players in the state, if not the best and Tatum brings to town a really deep, solid team. We will be full strength for the first time all year. Hudson is a solid quality team, well disciplined, well coached. Center, the same, they’ve got some size and athleticism. Lorena is a very solid 4A team and Pollock Central, the winner of our district last year, brings the whole team back. They’re very good, very disciplined.”TORONTO — When Geoffrey Hinton strode across the Stockholm Concert Hall stage Tuesday to receive his Nobel Prize for physics from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, he was beaming. It has taken decades for many beyond the science community to realize the British Canadian computer scientist's life's work was so significant it eventually formed the foundation of artificial intelligence. But on Tuesday, as he accepted the Nobel diploma and its accompanying gold medal with co-laureate John Hopfield, there was no question about the importance of Hinton's discoveries nor how he has shaped history. Instead, there was only pride for the affable 77-year-old, often called the godfather of AI — and that pride stretched from Stockholm to Toronto. A crowd of about 100 students and colleagues at the University of Toronto, where Hinton is a professor emeritus, gathered at the school's downtown campus to watch the Nobel ceremony. Two other watch parties took over the school's Mississauga and Scarborough campuses. Any mention of physics or a sighting of Hinton, clad in a dark suit and white bow tie, generated rousing applause at the Toronto gathering. When the man of the hour headed to retrieve his accolade from the King, a few former students and colleagues wiped tears from their eyes. "There is, at least for me, this sense that Prof. Hinton created the whole ecosystem here, where there are thousands of people who are working on his ideas," Michael Guerzhoy, one of Hinton's former students who went on to teach a course Hinton had once led at the university, said before the ceremony began. The idea that earned Hinton the Nobel dates back to the 1980s, when he was working at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and AI was far from the buzzy technology it is today. It was then that Hinton developed the Boltzmann machine, which learns from examples, rather than instructions, and when trained, can recognize familiar characteristics in information, even if it has not seen that data before. "It was a lot of fun doing the research but it was slightly annoying that many people — in fact, most people in the field of AI — said that neural networks would never work," Hinton recalled during a press conference on the October day he was named as a Nobel laureate. "They were very confident that these things were just a waste of time and we would never be able to learn complicated things like, for example, understanding natural language using neural networks — and they were wrong." Neural networks are computational models that resemble the human brain's structure and functions. When Nobel physics committee chair Ellen Moons presented Hinton to receive his award, she said these networks are good at sorting and interpreting large amounts of data and self-improve based on the accuracy of the results they generate. "Today, artificial neural networks are powerful tools in research fields spanning physics, chemistry and medicine, as well as in daily life," she said. John DiMarco wasn't surprised that Hinton's work paved the way for such possibilities, but the IT director for U of T's computer science department was taken aback that Hinton's Nobel came in the unlikely physics category. DiMarco met Hinton roughly 35 years ago in a job interview and quickly took note of his proclivity for humour and the quirks in how his mind works. "He is quite insightful and he goes straight to the core of things," DiMarco said. "He would sometimes come out of his office and share some new idea. We didn't always understand what he was sharing, but he was very excited about it." Many of those ideas required lots of computing power the school's systems didn't have, so DiMarco's team patched together a solution with graphics processing units from video game consoles. DiMarco brought one of Hinton's GPUs to the watch party, which was also attended by Joseph Jay Williams, the director of U of T's Intelligent Adaptive Interventions Lab. Williams took one of Hinton's classes and said the Nobel winner "changed the course of my life" by encouraging him to go to grad school, which then led him to win the XPRIZE Digital Learning Challenge, a global competition aimed at rewarding people who modernize learning tools and processes. Other notable mentees and alumni of Hinton's classes include OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and Cohere co-founders Nick Frosst and Aidan Gomez. With his Nobel win and so many esteemed protege, Williams said Hinton has become a "reluctant celebrity" who is hounded for photos every time he's on campus. Hinton, however, has taken a much more humble approach to his recent win, which he learned of on a trip to California. He initially thought the call from the academy that gives out the Nobel was "a spoof," but later realized it had to be real because it was placed from Sweden and the speaker had a "strong Swedish accent." The award the academy gave him comes with 11 million Swedish kronor (about $1.4 million) from a bequest arranged by Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. Hinton and Hopfield will split the money, with some of Hinton's share going to Water First, an Ontario organization working to boost Indigenous access to water, and another unnamed charity supporting neurodiverse young adults. Hinton has said he doesn't plan to do much more "frontier research." "I believe I'm going to spend my time advocating for people to work on safety," he said in October. Last year, Hinton left a role he held at Google to more freely speak about the dangers of AI, which he has said include bias and discrimination, fake news, joblessness, lethal autonomous weapons and even the end of humanity. At a Stockholm press conference over the weekend, he said he doesn’t regret the work he did to lay the foundations of artificial intelligence, but wishes he thought of safety sooner. “In the same circumstances, I would do the same again,” he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024. Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

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Asian Seed Congress: Asia-Pacific Region Leads Global Seed Trade, InnovationISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces launched an operation Tuesday night to disperse supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan who had gathered in the capital to demand his release from prison. The latest development came hours after thousands of Khan supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barrier of shipping containers blocking off Islamabad and entered a high-security zone, where they clashed with security forces, facing tear gas shelling, mass detentions and gunfire. Tension has been high in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister began a “long march” from the restive northwest to demand his release. Khan has been in a prison for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party says are politically motivated. Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, led the protest, but she fled as police pushed back against demonstrators. Hundreds of Khan’s supporters are being arrested in the ongoing nighttime operation, and police are also seeking to arrest Bibi. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters that the Red Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies, and the surrounding areas have been cleared. Leaders from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, have also fled the protest site. Earlier Tuesday, Pakistan’s army took control of D-Chowk, a large square in the Red Zone, where visiting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is staying. Since Monday, Naqvi had threatened that security forces would use live fire if protesters fired weapons at them. “We have now authorized the police to respond as necessary,” Naqvi said Tuesday while visiting the square. Before the operation began, protester Shahzor Ali said people had taken to the streets because Khan had called for them. “We will stay here until Khan joins us. He will decide what to do next,” Ali said. “If they fire bullets again, we will respond with bullets,” he said. Protester Fareeda Bibi, who is not related to Khan’s wife, said people have suffered greatly for the last two years. “We have really suffered for the last two years, whether it is economically, politically or socially. We have been ruined. I have not seen such a Pakistan in my life,” she said. Authorities have struggled to contain the protest-related violence. Six people, including four members of the security services, were killed when a vehicle rammed them on a street overnight into Tuesday. A police officer died in a separate incident. Dozens of Khan supporters beat a videographer covering the protest for The Associated Press and took his camera. He sustained head injuries and was treated in a hospital. By Tuesday afternoon, fresh waves of protesters made their way unopposed to their final destination in the Red Zone. Most demonstrators had the flag of Khan’s party around their shoulders or wore its tricolors on accessories. Naqvi said Khan’s party had rejected a government offer to rally on the outskirts of the city. Information Minister Atta Tarar warned there would be a severe government reaction to the violence. He said the government did not want Bushra Bibi to achieve her goal of freeing Khan. “She wants bodies falling to the ground. She wants bloodshed,” he said. The government says only the courts can order Khan’s release. He was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament. In a bid to foil the unrest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services in some parts of the country. Messaging platforms were also experiencing severe disruption in the capital. Khan’s party relies heavily on social media and uses messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to share information, including details of events. The X platform, which is banned in Pakistan, is no longer accessible, even with a VPN. Last Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested. Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible because of shipping containers blocking the roads. All education institutions remain closed. Pakistan's Stock Exchange lost more than $1.7 billion Tuesday due to rising political tensions, according to economist Mohammed Sohail from Topline Securities. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Flag football uses talent camps to uncover new starsKelly Ripa wasn't loving the start of her day on Wednesday, and she had to listen to her husband Mark Consuelos tell some awful Thanksgiving related jokes during the opening segment of Live . These resulted in several groans from the long-running TV star, much to her husband's amusement, and at one point she even told him: "No, let's talk politics, anything but this!" while shaking her hands in the air. When Mark finally finished listing off the jokes from his list, she said: "That's it, that's the finale?" in response to his joke about an apple pie at Thanksgiving. "That's it, I'm cancelling Thanksgiving. Those jokes made me cancel Thanksgiving!" Of course, the star was only joking herself, and is getting ready to welcome all three of her children back home for the long weekend. Kelly and Mark are doting parents to Michael, 27, Lola, 23, and Joaquin, 21, who all currently live in different places. Michael lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn, while Lola splits her time between NYC and London. Joaquin, meanwhile, is a student at the University of Michigan. The family have a stunning townhouse located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which is the ideal place for hosting. They also have a vacation home in the Hamptons. Kelly and Mark's children are likely to bring their partners to the festivities too, who also have a good relationship with the famous couple. Mark previously spoke about spending time with his children and their partners over the holiday season during a chat with People just after Christmas in 2023, and said how nice it was that they all enjoy hanging out with their parents. "It was lovely...it was really nice people to spend time with. They did a great job. We love them all. I just was really proud of the fact that our kids wanted to hang out with us," he said. He continued: "That's kind of the goal after you raise them and we're still raising them, but they're adults, so we're not really, we're kind of done. They're on their own for the most part. But I was just really thrilled and honored that my kids would want to spend time with me and my wife. "And not be embarrassed by bringing their boyfriend or a girlfriend around," he added. Kelly and Mark's children are incredibly down-to-earth despite their privileged upbringing, and they are totally unphased by seeing their parents on the TV too, having grown up both watching them on telly as well as appearing on Live throughout their childhoods. They have all followed their parents in the creative industry too. Michael is an aspiring actor, Lola an aspiring singer, and Joaquin is studying drama at college.

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