• Trump said the US should take control of Greenland, reigniting an old position of his.
• This came shortly after he also suggested the US could take over the Panama Canal.
• In 2019, Trump said the US should buy Greenland, an idea swiftly rejected by the island and Denmark.

President-elect Donald Trump has resurfaced an old position of his, that the US should take over Greenland, just hours after also threatening to take over the Panama Canal.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that "for purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity."

He made the comments in a post announcing PayPal cofounder Ken Howery as his choice for US Ambassador to Denmark.

Greenland, the world's largest island, is an autonomous dependent territory of Denmark, which is a US ally and NATO member.

Trump's pronouncement came just hours after he threatened to take control of the Panama Canal, the manmade waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that "the fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US."

He added: "This complete 'rip-off' of our Country will immediately stop."

In a separate post, Trump wrote: "If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question."

"To the Officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly!" he added.

The US transferred control of the canal to the Panama Canal Authority in 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter.

Panama charges fees for each vessel going through the canal, making it an important economic driver for the country.

Greenland, too, has strategic value. In addition to its own natural resources, it has proximity to the Arctic, where countries like Russia are vying to gain resources and control.

Trump expressed an interest in the US buying Greenland in 2019, during his first term in office. Greenland's government quickly rejected the idea, saying that it wasn't for sale.

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

• The average American expects to spend over $2,000 on holiday costs this season, one survey found.
• Some respondents predicted they would be paying off the debts they accrue into May next year.
• Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey advised saving before the holidays and setting a strict budget.

The most wonderful time of the year often comes with a hefty price tag — and many people expect to be paying for it into next summer.

People's debt balloons "because they don't plan for Christmas, like it sneaks up on them, like they move it or something," personal finance guru Dave Ramsey told "Fox & Friends" last week.

Ramsey's comments were in response to a survey showing that the average American will spend over $2,000 on holiday-related expenses this season, including travel, gifts, food, and clothes.

The survey of 2,000 people was conducted in early November by Talker Research and commissioned by Achieve. A fifth of respondents said they likely wouldn't recover financially until May 2025 or later.

The personal finance guru and host of "The Ramsey Show" described the $2,000 figure as "mindblowing," adding that it was a large sum to spend "all in the name of happiness comes from stuff — and it doesn't."

People can stay out of money trouble by socking away funds each month in preparation for the winter splurge, Ramsey said. They can also avoid overspending by drawing up a budget for gifts and other costs and sticking to it, he added.

"The problem with Christmas is not that we enjoy buying gifts for someone else — that's a wonderful thing," the radio personality said.

"The problem is we impulse our butts off, and we double up what we spend," he continued, pointing the finger at retailers who are "great at putting stuff in front of us that we hadn't planned to buy."

The typical US adult expects to spend $1,012 on gifts alone this holiday season, up from an estimated $975 last year, according to a Gallup survey of at least 1,000 people conducted in November.

Pinched by prices

Household budgets could be squeezed this holiday season. Inflation surged to a 40-year high of over 9% in the summer of 2022 as the cost of food, fuel, housing, and other essentials jumped, and remained above the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2% in November.

The central bank rushed to curb price growth by hiking interest rates from nearly zero to north of 5% within 18 months, sending people's monthly payments for their credit cards, car loans, and other debts skyward. Fed officials have cut rates to roughly 4% since September, but recently indicated they only expect to make two further cuts next year.

The upshot is Americans are likely to face a combination of elevated inflation and steeper rates for a while yet, setting the stage for a costly Christmas.

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Infinity Nikki is my favorite new release of 2024. It's a cotton candy confection of an open-world game that offers a lot more depth and variety than I expected to find. I enjoy the fabulous wardrobe, the low-key puzzles and the charming side quests. But the most surprising thing about Infinity Nikki was something that I've been ignoring in games for years: the photo mode.

I didn't expect this to become a highlight of the Infinity Nikki experience. In fact, when it came up in the long sequence of tutorials during my first session, my initial reaction was, "Oh good, something I can forget about."

Anna Washenko / Infold Games

Photo mode has become a standard feature in single-player AAA games over the past decade. For those unfamiliar, this feature pauses the gameplay to let you pose your protagonist like an action figure, making them mug with a silly expression or hold up a peace sign. You can slap on a filter or make minute adjustments to the focus, aperture and other details to capture a striking image.

Over the years, I've seen people capture Nathan Drake, Ellie and Joel, Aloy and many others striking heroic or hilarious poses. I appreciate those images when they cross my social feeds. And as game graphics become ever more photo-realistic, it makes sense that studios want to give players tools to capture beautiful moments when they happen. But every time I've played a game with a photo mode, I've found that after I take the one picture required by the tutorial, I never open the camera again.

Anna Washenko / Infold Games

My issue isn't that these games aren't gorgeous enough to warrant documenting. It's that when I'm in the middle of playing something like The Last of Us, it doesn't occur to me to stop for a snap because I'm so focused on the other gameplay mechanics and goals. Sure, there might be some calmer moments to breathe, but running for your life in a post-apocalyptic wasteland just isn't a time for casually browsing filters. And in other games, taking pics simply doesn't feel like an activity the character would do. Come on, there's no way Kratos would ever take a selfie.

Like all its predecessors, Infinity Nikki is a beautiful game. Miraland comprises picturesque towns and charming landscapes, equally lovely in their sweeping vistas and hidden nooks. Everywhere you look are tons of carefully constructed little interactions that serve no purpose other than encouraging you to stage a cute image. You press a button to take a hot air balloon ride or to blow bubbles at a cafe table. It's a step up from most implementations, where the most you might be able to do is sit on a chair or bench.

Anna Washenko / Infold Games

What fully hooked me on becoming a shutterbug, though, is a system where players are prompted to take pictures of notable locations around Miraland. The first time I found one, it was a lush green grotto where I directed Nikki to sit on a log by an underground lake. It was a pretty spot, sure, but what most delighted me was that my outfit matched the setting perfectly. So I didn't just grab a photo and move on to a more important task. Taking the time to look great is the most important task.

There's no single style point of view in Infinity Nikki. A few special ensembles offer contextual in-game abilities, but most pieces are there just so you can look exactly how you want. Nikki can be an absurd anime character from fantasy land in tulle and sparkles. Or she can look exactly like someone you might see streaming the game on Twitch or TikTok in an oversized hoodie. Or she can pair a top hat with jean shorts and thigh-high knit boots if you want. (And yes, I did want.)

Anna Washenko / Infold Games

This game knows you're there at least partly to play dress-up. It also knows that the obvious thing to do when you play dress-up is to immortalize your best fits with a photo shoot. That's why Infinity Nikki's photo mode feels not just enjoyable, but essential. It's a core part of the game loop. When I assemble a new outfit, I want to find a good setting to snap a pic. When I stumble on a striking location, I think about which poses will best showcase it.

Most of the time, cameras and photo modes do little to enhance my love of a game. They're the metaphorical cherry on top of the sundae. With Infinity Nikki, though, the photo mode is the ice cream. And it is delicious.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/in-infinity-nikki-photo-mode-achieves-its-ultimate-form-133033817.html?src=rss

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© Anna Washenko / Infold Games

Elon Musk's X has hiked prices for its ad-free Premium+ subscription service to $22 a month, up from $16 before ($168 to $229 annually), TechCrunch reported. That represents a 37.5 percent increase, the largest since Elon Musk purchased the platform previously known as Twitter back in 2022. 

One stated reason for the hike is that Premium+ is now "completely ads-free," with X claiming that it's a "significant enhancement" to the previous ad-free experience. It also promised a few other features. "Premium+ subscribers will enjoy higher priority support from @Premium, access to new features such as [X's advanced search tool] Radar, and higher limits on our most cutting-edge Grok AI models," the company wrote in a help page article. X also promised that more subscription revenue would be shared with creators.

Premium+ prices are also rising by a similar amount in Europe, the UK, Canada and Australia. Existing users on monthly subscriptions will keep their current rates until January 20th, and price for other tiers (Basic and Premium) remain unchanged. 

X first introduced the Premium+ subscription tier in October 2023, promising an ad-free experience your "for you" and following timelines, along with existing Premium perks like a blue checkmark. However, users quickly noticed that ads appeared elsewhere on X (profiles, replies, Explore and elsewhere). A further update in August 2024 promised to eliminate those too, but X said that users would still see "occasional branded content in less common areas." Now, it seems, those will be vanquished too. 

X has reportedly lost 2.7 million active users in the last two months, with rival Bluesky gaining nearly the same number over that period. That has likely led to some loss in advertising revenue, which the platform may be hoping to recoup by raising subscription prices. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-hikes-ad-free-premium-subscription-price-from-16-to-22-133016526.html?src=rss

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© Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

KKCO reporter Ja'Ronn Alex was assaulted by a man who followed him back to the station. While Alex was driving back to the station after a story on Wednesday, he noticed a vehicle marked as a Sunshine Rides taxi cab following him. The driver, later identified as Patrick Thomas Egan, reportedly shouted, "Are you even...

"We stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation," the women wrote Instagram Sunday.

The Netherlands international’s current deal expires in the summer.

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