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By challenging the sovereignty of some of Washington's closest allies four weeks before he even returns to the Oval Office, the US-president elect has underscored his credentials as global disruptor-in-chief. His comments have renewed fears from his first term that Trump will end up being harsher on US friends than he is on adversaries like Russia and China. But there are also suspicions that billionaire tycoon Trump is looking for leverage as part of the "art of the deal" -- and that the former reality television star is grabbing headlines to look strong at home and abroad. "It's hard to tell how much of this he really wants, and how much is the latest soundbite that will be heard around the world," said Frank Sesno, a professor at George Washington University and former White House correspondent. "He puts other leaders in position of having to figure out what is literal and what is not," he told AFP. The idea of buying Greenland is not a new one for Trump. He also raised the prospect of purchasing the vast strategic island, a Danish territory, during his first term in office. He revived his push over the weekend when naming his ambassador to Copenhagen, saying the "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity" for US national security. But he received the same answer this time as he did then, with Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede saying on Monday that the resource-rich island was "not for sale." Yet his most headline-grabbing remarks have been on Panama, as he slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through and threatened to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington. Trump said on Sunday that if Panama did not agree "then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America -- in full, quickly and without question." He also hinted at China's growing influence around the canal, which was built by the United States in 1914 to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was returned to Panama under a 1977 deal. Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino dismissed Trump's threats, saying that "every square meter" of the canal would remain in Panamanian hands. Trump responded on TruthSocial: "We'll see about that!" Trump also teased neighboring Canada last week that it would be a "great idea" to become the 51st US state -- but against a dark backdrop of threatened tariffs. Sesno said it was hard for other countries to know how to deal with Trump's comments. "Well, it's clearly a joke. Or is it? said Sesno. "Imagine if you're the President of Panama, how do you react to something like that? You can't ignore it and your country will not let you. So the ripple effect of these comments is extraordinary." Trump's harsh treatment of US allies also stands in stark contrast to his repeated praise for the leaders of US foes -- including Russia's Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine in 2022 in a bid for a land-grab. But there is still likely to be method behind Trump's rhetoric. "Maybe the message is for China" when Trump talks about buying Greenland, said Stephanie Pezard, senior political scientist with the Rand Corporation. Just as Trump expressed concern about Beijing's influence in Panama, China's growing presence in the Arctic and its ties with Russia were "something that the US is really worried about," Pezard told AFP. But there could also be a signal to Denmark that 'If you're too friendly with China, you'll find us in your way" -- even though Denmark and Greenland had been "very good NATO allies." And perhaps Trump knows the reality. Any US plan to "buy" Greenland would be unfeasible "not just in international law but more broadly in the global order that the US has been trying to uphold," she said. dk/bgs

Trump sides with Musk in right-wing row over worker visasA 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and prevent an artificial intelligence "dictatorship" is now heading to a federal judge as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker's ongoing shift into a for-profit company. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. The world's richest man, whose companies include Tesla, SpaceX and social media platform X, last year started his own rival AI company, xAI. Musk says it faces unfair competition from OpenAI and its close business partner Microsoft, which has supplied the huge computing resources needed to build AI systems such as ChatGPT. “OpenAI and Microsoft together exploiting Musk’s donations so they can build a for-profit monopoly, one now specifically targeting xAI, is just too much,” says Musk's filing that alleges the companies are violating the terms of Musk’s foundational contributions to the charity. OpenAI is filing a response Friday opposing Musk’s requested order, saying it would cripple OpenAI’s business and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company. A hearing is set for January before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland. At the heart of the dispute is a 2017 internal power struggle at the fledgling startup that led to Altman becoming OpenAI's CEO. Musk also wanted the job, according to emails revealed as part of the court case, but grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major shareholder and chief executive if the startup succeeded in its goal to achieve better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence , or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how advanced forms of AI could threaten humanity. “The current structure provides you with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI," said a 2017 email to Musk from co-founders Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman. “You stated that you don't want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you've shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you.” In the same email, titled “Honest Thoughts,” Sutskever and Brockman also voiced concerns about Altman's desire to be CEO and whether he was motivated by “political goals.” Altman eventually succeeded in becoming CEO, and has remained so except for a period last year when he was fired and then reinstated days later after the board that ousted him was replaced. OpenAI published the messages Friday in a blog post meant to show its side of the story, particularly Musk's early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it could raise money for the hardware and computer power that AI needs. It was Musk, through his wealth manager Jared Birchall, who first registered “Open Artificial Technologies Technologies, Inc.”, a public benefit corporation, in September 2017. Then came the “Honest Thoughts” email that Musk described as the “final straw.” “Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit,” Musk wrote back. OpenAI said Musk later proposed merging the startup into Tesla before resigning as the co-chair of OpenAI's board in early 2018. Musk didn't immediately respond to emailed requests for comment sent to his companies Friday. Asked about his frayed relationship with Musk at a New York Times conference last week, Altman said he felt “tremendously sad” but also characterized Musk’s legal fight as one about business competition. “He’s a competitor and we’re doing well,” Altman said. He also said at the conference that he is “not that worried” about the Tesla CEO’s influence with President-elect Donald Trump. OpenAI said Friday that Altman plans to make a $1 million personal donation to Trump’s inauguration fund, joining a number of tech companies and executives who are working to improve their relationships with the incoming administration. —————————— The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.

Salah nervelessly converted a 63rd-minute penalty, his 16th goal of the season, after French referee Benoit Bastien had been advised to take another look at Donny van de Beek’s clumsy challenge on Luis Diaz. In the process, he became just the 11th man to score 50 goals in the competition – Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe later also joined that exclusive club – on a night when victory at the Estadi Montilivi meant the six-time European champions will enter 2025 sitting proudly at the top of the table. ⭐️ A FIVE STAR PERFORMANCE ⭐️ | — FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) France international Michael Olise produced a moment of magic to set the seal on Bayern Munich’s demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk and ease them towards the knockout stage. Olise’s brilliant stoppage-time run and finish capped a 5-1 victory for the Germans, in which he had early scored from the penalty spot, in Gelsenkirchen. Kevin’s fifth-minute strike had given the home side the perfect start, but Konrad Laimer levelled before Thomas Muller’s 55th goal in the competition sent the visitors in ahead at the break and set the stage for Olise’s double either side of Jamal Musiala’s strike. Jude Bellingham breathed life back into Real Madrid’s campaign as they held off Atalanta to earn a 3-2 victory in Bergamo. 🫲 🫱 — Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) After Charles De Ketelaere had cancelled out Mbappe’s opener from the penalty spot, second-half goals from Vinicius Junior and Bellingham in quick succession put the visitors in charge, although Ademola Lookman’s 65th-minute strike meant the contest was alive until the final whistle. Ross Barkley took Aston Villa a step closer to automatic qualification with a late winner against RB Leipzig in Germany. Villa had led twice through John McGinn and Jhon Duran, but equalisers from Lois Openda and Christoph Baumgartner kept Leipzig in it until substitute Barkley struck five minutes from time to snatch a 3-2 victory. Goals from Goncalo Ramos, Nuno Mendes and substitute Desire Doue – his first in the competition – handed French champions Paris St Germain a much-needed three points after a comfortable 3-0 win at RB Salzburg. He's making a list and checking it twiceB04 won and Nordi scored – nice! 🎅 — Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) Nordi Mukiele left it late to end Inter Milan’s unbeaten Champions League record as Bayer Leverkusen claimed a dramatic 1-0 victory at the BayArena. Mukiele struck in the 90th minute to inflict a first defeat across six games in this season’s competition on the Serie A champions – it was also the first goal they have conceded. Casper Nielsen came off the bench to fire Club Brugge to a 2-1 home victory over Sporting Lisbon after Eduardo Quaresma’s own goal had handed them a way back into the game following Geny Catamo’s early opener. Julien Le Cardinal’s first-half strike was enough to handed Brest a 1-0 victory over Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven, while Kasper Schmeichel’s save from Marko Pjaca’s close-range 80th-minute header ensured Celtic returned from Dinamo Zagreb with a 0-0 draw.

Wade Taylor IV scored 15 points and dished out 10 assists and C.J. Wilcher added 14 points as No. 13 Texas A&M throttled Abilene Christian 92-54 on Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas. The Aggies (11-2) were in charge from the jump, forging a 19-point lead at halftime and never looking back. Texas A&M scored the first points of the second half, was up by 28 with 13:23 to play and cruised to the finish line while winning its seventh straight game. Taylor's output moved him into second place in the Aggies all-time scoring list. His 1,779 points are now behind only Bernard King, who had 1,990 from 1999-2003. Andersson Garcia and Zhuric Phelps added 12 points each for Texas A&M, which appears to be hitting on all cylinders heading into its Southeastern Conference opener at home against rival Texas on Jan. 4. Phelps added 10 rebounds for the Aggies. Quion Williams led the Wildcats (8-6) with 14 points. Abilene Christian missed its final six shots and went the last 5:24 of the game without a point. The Aggies made a statement in the early going by scoring the game's first nine points over the initial 3 1/2 minutes, with seven of those coming from Coleman. Abilene Christian fought back to within 16-12 after Dontrez Williams' layup with 12:12 left in the half. But A&M swung back, producing a 14-0 run capped by Garcia's layup with 8:51 to play in the half to pull away to a 30-12 advantage. The Wildcats again cut into their deficit, pulling to 30-19 when Cade Hornecker hit a layup with 6:26 to play until halftime. A&M boosted the lead back to 17 points after a pair of free throws by Taylor and got two more from the charity stripe to take a 48-29 edge to the break. Wilcher led all scorers in the half with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc while Garcia hit for 10 points for A&M while making all four of his shots from the floor. The Aggies outshot Abilene Christian 61.5 percent to 40.7 percent before halftime. Quion Williams and Leonardo Bettiol paced the Wildcats with seven points each in the first half. --Field Level MediaWhen it comes to buying top Canadian stocks while they’re undervalued, a 10% discount may not seem that significant. After all, there are plenty of stocks, whether they are value stocks, growth stocks or dividend stocks, that trade at much larger discounts, enticing investors to buy now. However, although a significant discount may seem more attractive, often, the stocks that are most undervalued are also the stocks that are struggling the most. Furthermore, just because a stock has traded higher before, it doesn’t mean it will reach that level again, especially for lower-quality businesses facing significant headwinds. That’s why investors are much better off buying the highest-quality stocks on the market, ones with significant long-term potential. You may not get the same discount when buying the stock, but these businesses have far more potential five and 10 years down the road. Conversely, a stock that appears cheap but lacks significant growth potential might only rebound to its fair value, offering little opportunity for further gains or sustained increases in shareholder value over the long term. So, with that in mind, if you’re looking for top Canadian stocks to buy right now while they are off their highs, here are two of the very best. One of the best growth stocks in Canada to buy right now As I mentioned before a 10% discount may not seem like much, but for a stock like ( ) having the opportunity to buy while its off its high is a significant opportunity. Dollarama has been growing rapidly for years now, both from a share price standpoint and a business operations standpoint. It’s one of the best and most unique businesses because it can take advantage of cheap capital and grow its operations when the economy is strong. However, it also sees a massive boost in sales when the economy faces significant headwinds and consumers are looking to stretch their budgets. Therefore, it’s no surprise that in just the past five years, its sales have increased at a (CAGR) of 10.6%. Furthermore, its normalized (EPS) have increased at a CAGR of 16.3% over those five years. Plus, as Dollarama continues to grow its Canadian business, it’s also now looking for new ways to find growth, such as its investment in the Latin American discount retailer Dollarcity. So, with Dollarama stock now trading at a forward (P/E) ratio of just 31.6 times, down from the high of 35.3 times it just reached back in early November, it’s easily one of the best Canadian growth stocks to buy now. An impressive financial stock trading off its highs In addition to Dollarama, another top-notch Canadian growth stock to buy now is ( ), a stock that’s down more than 20% from its highs. For years goeasy has grown its business rapidly both by finding new avenues of growth, but also by managing its risk. As a financial stock that primarily offers consumer loans to borrowers with below-prime credit ratings, goeasy certainly has a tonne of potential as long as it can manage its risk, which is precisely what it’s done. With charge-off rates almost always within its target range, goeasy earns huge returns on its equity each quarter, increasing shareholder value rapidly. In fact, Dollarama is one of the best and most impressive stocks to buy in Canada, and goeasy’s growth over the last five years has significantly outpaced it. For example, in the last five years, goeasy has increased its revenue at a CAGR of 19.8% compared to Dollarama’s still impressive growth rate of 10.6%. In addition, goeasy’s normalized EPS has increased at an incredible CAGR of 31.9% compared to Dollarama’s growth rate of 16.3%. Therefore, with goeasy offering an even more significant discount, as well as a dividend of just under 2.9%, it’s easily one of the best growth stocks to buy now. Not only does it trade at a forward P/E ratio of just 8.5 times, which is actually below its five-year average of 10.5 times, but you can also earn passive income while you hold goeasy and wait for it to rally back to fair value and beyond.