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Shareholders in Matthew Moulding’s beauty and wellness business have voted in favour of a plan to spin off its Ingenuity ecommerce platform at a valuation of £90 million. THG, formerly known as The Hut Group, will press ahead with a divestment of its technology platform after 89 per cent of voting shareholders backed the plan at a general meeting on Friday. Ingenuity provides technology to support the online operations of retailers including Holland & Barrett, The Range and L’Oréal. The division has 13 distribution centres and employs about 3,500 people. THG launched a funding round to raise capital of £95.4 million to fund the transaction, and has secured debt funding of £55 million. The company has told investors the money will be used to fund

Stock market today: Wall Street rises at the start of a holiday-shortened weekA huge crocodile that rose to fame with a cameo in hit film Crocodile Dundee has died. Burt died over the weekend, the Crocosaurus Cove reptile aquarium in Darwin, Australia, said. He was at least 90 years old. “Known for his independent nature, Burt was a confirmed bachelor – an attitude he made clear during his earlier years at a crocodile farm,” Crocosaurus Cove wrote in social media posts. The aquarium added: “He wasn’t just a crocodile, he was a force of nature and a reminder of the power and majesty of these incredible creatures. While his personality could be challenging, it was also what made him so memorable and beloved by those who worked with him and the thousands who visited him over the years.” A saltwater crocodile, Burt was estimated to be more than 16 feet long. He was captured in the 1980s in the Reynolds River and became one of the most well-known crocodiles in the world, according to Crocosaurus Cove. The 1986 film stars Paul Hogan as the rugged crocodile hunter Mick Dundee. In the movie, American Sue Charlton, played by actress Linda Kozlowski, goes to fill her canteen in a watering hole when she is attacked by a crocodile before being saved by Dundee. Burt is briefly shown lunging out of the water. But the creature shown in more detail as Dundee saves the day is apparently something else. The Internet Movie Database says the film made a mistake by depicting an American alligator, which has a blunter snout. The Australian aquarium where Burt had lived since 2008 features a Cage of Death which it says is the nation’s only crocodile dive. It said it planned to honour Burt’s legacy with a commemorative sign “celebrating his extraordinary life and the stories and interactions he shared throughout his time at the park”.

Gaetz, Hegseth, Gabbard, Then RFK Jr: Megyn Kelly Warns 'Deep State Is Coming For Them All'

Why a data-first culture is key to unlocking value from AI in insuranceAP News Summary at 2:01 p.m. ESTBIG TEN THIS WEEKMarcus Jordan and Nicole Murphy Get Cozy in Miami Months After the Death of Her Partner Warren Braithwaite

SINGAPORE: She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me. She loves me not. Our beloved National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) must have recently felt like a teenager entering a sea of raging hormones and feeling overwhelmed. Upon receiving an internal circular signalling a broader policy shift to gradually move away from using NRIC numbers as a method of authentication, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) misunderstood it as a green light to unmask the numbers in the roll-out of its new Bizfile portal. Once netizens discovered that the Bizfile portal’s people search function was turning up NRIC numbers as well, a furore ensued. ACRA has since withdrawn that feature and apologised for the confusion . A LEGACY SYSTEM MOVING INTO A DIGITAL WORLD The NRIC was introduced in a time when modes of identity verification were primarily physical. It was used to ascertain individuals’ identities for all types of actions and transactions - entry into buildings, opening and operating bank accounts, registration for government services. For many, it was associated with the ability to access or exercise one’s rights and privileges living in Singapore. However, its use quickly expanded over time to extend to other less formal purposes - announcing the winners of lucky draw prizes, for instance, and even as security for the renting of leisure bicycles, leading to worries that the NRIC had been “cheapened”. This (and similar) practices were legislated away with the introduction of the Personal Data Protection Act, which by its guidelines restricted the use of NRICs and mandated the masking of NRIC numbers where their use was needed or involved. The love had returned. Today, it has evolved into a multi-purpose identifier used across government agencies, private businesses, and digital platforms. Its ubiquitous use has made it indispensable - but this convergence has also made it a possible single point of failure. In the recent Bizfile portal fuss, there was a moment where it felt as if the NRIC was going to be abandoned - damaged beyond repair. However, assurances and explanations by the government suggest that it still has a role to play, albeit a different one than previously assumed. ACRA's mishap highlights the vulnerabilities of such centralised systems. If compromised, the fallout affects not just personal privacy but also national security and public trust. This incident also reignited a critical conversation about the role and security of the NRIC in Singapore. THE CASE FOR DECENTRALISED IDENTITY MANAGEMENT For decades, the NRIC has been a cornerstone of identity management, but in an era of rising cybersecurity threats and digital transformation, it is time to reconsider its function and safeguard its relevance. Singapore’s Smart Nation vision emphasises resilience and adaptability in an increasingly technologically advanced world. A logical next step is transitioning from a centralised identity model to a decentralised, blockchain-based framework. Decentralised identity (DID) systems allow individuals to retain control of their personal data while granting selective access to third parties. Imagine all your personal information collected in one place, much like a physical wallet or purse which contains your credit cards, bank cards, library card, name card, membership cards, discount cards and a smattering of cash. Continuing to use NRICs for all authentication processes is a bit like handing over the entire wallet to pay for an ice cream, rather than just retrieving the cash or bank card you need. A well-designed DID system would allow us to create similar digital “wallets” for our personal data, allowing us to control who can get what information. By adopting this approach, Singapore can reduce dependency on a single identifier such as the NRIC. Such a system could involve the use of digital wallets or tokens linked to an individual’s identity, encrypted and verifiable without exposing raw data. This method aligns with global trends, such as the European Union’s eIDAS 2.0 initiative, and offers better protection against data breaches. These newer systems compare against the US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which had in its June 2017 Digital Identity Guidelines set out a digital identity model, and the Russian government’s e-government system of trusted identities (ESIA) which use trusted intermediaries. ENHANCED SECURITY PROTOCOLS FOR NRIC DATA Until such a transition is feasible, certain steps can be taken to fortify the NRIC system. These include: A CULTURAL SHIFT IN IDENTITY AND DATA PROTECTION Beyond technological upgrades, we must shift the cultural mindset around identity. Singaporeans need to be educated on the importance of safeguarding their personal information, much like how the nation has emphasised financial literacy. Clear guidelines on when and where NRIC data can be shared should be communicated widely. In addition, this mishap has crystallised the importance of the data protection officer, especially in organisations that set data use policy or make significant decisions on personal data in their products and services. In this day and age, the role of the data protection officer and/or chief data officer is a critical and active one and not a passive side-show. For organisations dealing in personal data, they should be key players in decision-making processes. AN OPPORTUNITY TO SET A STANDARD The ACRA incident isn’t just a wake-up call - it’s an opportunity. Singapore has long been a regional and global leader in areas of governance and innovation. As countries all over the world face increasingly complex dilemmas amid political and economic uncertainty, how can we set a global standard for secure, forward-thinking identity management? In striving to develop and enhance our uses and processes around the NRIC in order to meet the challenges of the digital age, we can ensure that everyone in Singapore is afforded access to the efficiency of tech-enabled systems and services, but well-protected from the dangers of misuse and abuse. The NRIC is more than just a number - it represents the trust Singaporeans place in their institutions. Let’s not squander that trust. Instead, let’s reimagine the NRIC as a secure and modernised cornerstone of Singapore’s Smart Nation aspirations. Bryan Tan is a partner at Reed Smith Singapore and is a contributor to Data Protection Law in Singapore. The views expressed here are his own.Opposition fighters are closing in on Syria’s capital in a swiftly developing crisis that has taken much of the world by surprise. Syria's army has abandoned key cities with little resistance. Nervous residents in Damascus describe security forces on the streets. The state news agency has been forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad has left the country. Who are these opposition fighters ? If they enter Damascus after taking some of Syria’s largest cities , what then? Here’s a look at the stunning reversal of fortune for Assad and his government in just the past 10 days, and what might lie ahead as Syria’s 13-year civil war reignites . This is the first time that opposition forces have reached the outskirts of the Syrian capital since 2018, when the country’s troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The approaching fighters are led by the most powerful insurgent group in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham , or HTS, along with an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. Both have been entrenched in the northwest. They launched the shock offensive on Nov. 27 with gunmen capturing Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and the central city of Hama, the fourth largest. The HTS has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. But the group said in recent years it cut ties with al-Qaida, and experts say HTS has sought to remake itself in recent years by focusing on promoting civilian government in their territory as well as military action. HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani told CNN in an exclusive interview Thursday from Syria that the aim of the offensive is to overthrow Assad’s government. The HTS and Syrian National Army have been allies at times and rivals at times, and their aims might diverge. The Turkish-backed militias also have an interest in creating a buffer zone near the Turkish border to keep away Kurdish militants at odds with Ankara. Turkey has been a main backer of the fighters seeking to overthrow Assad but more recently has urged reconciliation, and Turkish officials have strongly rejected claims of any involvement in the current offensive. Whether the HTS and the Syrian National Army will work together if they succeed in overthrowing Assad or turn on each other again is a major question. While the flash offensive against Syria’s government began in the north, armed opposition groups have also mobilized elsewhere. The southern areas of Sweida and Daraa have both been taken locally. Sweida is the heartland of Syria’s Druze religious minority and had been the site of regular anti-government protests even after Assad seemingly consolidated his control over the area. Daraa is a Sunni Muslim area that was widely seen as the cradle of the uprising against Assad’s rule that erupted in 2011. Daraa was recaptured by Syrian government troops in 2018, but rebels remained in some areas. In recent years, Daraa was in a state of uneasy quiet under a Russian-mediated ceasefire deal. And much of Syria's east is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group backed by the United States that in the past has clashed with most other armed groups in the country. Syria's government now has control of only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus. Much depends on Assad’s next moves and his forces' will to fight the rebels. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces have started carrying out the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. And Syrian troops withdrew Saturday from much of the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, according to a pro-government outlet and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. If that city is captured, the link would be cut between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where he enjoys wide support. “Homs to the coastal cities will be a very huge red line politically and socially. Politically, if this line is crossed, then we are talking about the end of the entire Syria, the one that we knew in the past,” said a Damascus resident, Anas Joudeh. Assad appears to be largely on his own as allies Russia and Iran are distracted by other conflicts and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah has been weakened by its war with Israel, now under a fragile ceasefire. The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, seeks urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition,” saying the situation is changing by the minute. He met with foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran on the sidelines of the Doha Summit. President-elect Donald Trump in his first extensive comments on the developments in Syria said the besieged Assad didn’t deserve U.S. support to stay in power. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,” Trump posted on social media. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.