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As economic uncertainty deepens, the rush for gold continueswith prices for the precious metal topping $4,300 for the first time this week. The going price for New York spot closed at a record $4,326 per troy ounce on Thursday. Futures also traded as high at more than $4,344 per troy ounce Thursday, before falling below the $4,300 mark Friday morning. Still, gold is up significantly over the last week, marking one of its best weeks to date. Gold sales can rise sharply when anxious investors seek a safe haven for their money. For the U.S., the latest gains arrive amid the now weekslong government shutdown and ongoing trade wars abroadwith President Donald Trump most recently threatening to place much higher tariffs on China, before appearing to walk back those potential new levies as unsustainable. Still, his barrage of other import taxes has already strained economies worldwide. Meanwhile, the prospect of lower interest rates is also making gold a more attractive investment. Why are gold prices going up? Gold futures are up nearly 60% since the start of 2025trading at about $4,268 per troy ounce, the standard for measuring precious metals, as of around 11:45 a.m. Friday. Thats up from around $2,670 at the beginning of January. Silver has seen an even bigger percentage jump year to date. Silver futures are up about 70%, trading at over $50 per troy ounce Friday morning. A lot of the rise boils down to uncertainty. Interest in buying metals like gold typically spikes when investors become anxious. Much of this year’s economic turmoil has spanned from Trumps trade wars. Since the start of 2025, steep new tariffs the president has imposed on goods coming into the U.S. from around the world have strained businesses and consumers alikepushing costs higher and helping to weaken the job market. As a result, hiring has plunged while inflation has inched back up. And more and more consumers are expressing pessimism about the road ahead. The U.S. government shutdown adds to those anxieties. Key economic data has been delayedand scores of federal employees are already feeling the effects of furloughs and working without pay as long as the shutdown lasts, which has no immediate end in sight. The Trump administration also moved to use the shutdown to conduct mass firings, although a judge temporarily blocked such action. Separately, analysts have pointed to continued weakness of the U.S. dollar and renewed rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Last month, the Fed cut its key interest rate by a quarter-pointand projected it would do so twice more this year. Investments in gold have also been driven by other factors over time. Over recent years, there’s been strong gold demand from central banks around the worldparticularly amid heightened geopolitical tensions, such as the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine. And on Wall Street this week, several regional banks saw sharp losses amid scrunity over quality of loans, although recovery seemed to be steadying the market on Friday. Meanwhile, investors appeared to be distancing themselves from riskier assets like cryptocurrencywith bitcoin, for example, down 2.67%. Will rising gold prices make jewelry more expensive? Many jewelry merchants and dealers have increasingly reported surges in customers looking to check the value of gold they ownsometimes opting to melt or sell family heirlooms to cash in on the precious metal’s rising price. At the same time, those in the market for gold jewelry may be feeling sticker shock if they cant afford certain products anymoreparticularly if it’s something impacted by both rising material costs and tariffs. Larger retailers like Pandora and Signet have acknowledged these headwinds in recent earnings calls. Is gold worth the investment? Advocates of investing in gold call it a safe havenarguing that the commodity can serve to diversify and balance your investment portfolio, as well as mitigate possible risks down the road as a hedge against rising inflation. Some also take comfort in buying something tangible that has the potential to increase in value over time. Still, experts caution against putting all your eggs in one basket. And not everyone agrees gold is a good investment. Critics say gold isnt always the inflation hedge many claimand that there are more efficient ways to protect against potential loss of capital, such as derivative-based investments. The Commodity Futures Trade Commission has also previously warned people to be wary of investing in gold. Precious metals can be highly volatile, and prices rise as demand goes upmeaning when economic anxiety or instability is high, the people who typically profit from precious metals are the sellers,” the commission noted. Gold demand escalates mercury poisoning warnings The frenzy for gold has also resulted in health and environmental consequences with officials pointing to riing demand for mercury, a toxic metal that is key in illegal gold mining worldwide. Mercury is widely used to separate gold during artisanal or small-scale mining. But it pollutes water, accumulates in fish, makes its way into food and builds up in peoples bodies, leading to neurological and developmental harm. Even small-scale exposure can carry serious risks putting in danger workers who rely on the industry, as well as residents in affected areas more broadly. The Associated Press has reported about the effects of mercury poisoning tied to gold mining in countries like Senegal, Mexico and Peru, among other parts of the world. By Wyatte Grantham-Philips, AP Business Writer
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A blood test for more than 50 types of cancer could significantly boost early detection and speed up diagnosis, according to a new study. Made by U.S. pharmaceutical company Grail, the Galleri test aims to find fragments of DNA in a persons blood that can indicate the presence of a cancerous tumor. Among the cancers that the test can detect, many have no current screening programs. The PATHFINDER 2 study included more than 36,000 people aged 50 and older who had no cancer symptoms. In participants who were followed for more than a year, the test caught some 40.4% of cancer cases. For those who got a positive result on the Galleri test, 61.6% of them went on to be diagnosed with canceran improvement over previous trials of the test. The results were presented on Saturday at the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting in Berlin, and have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Boosting cancer diagnosis In the study, the Galleri test, when combined with already existing screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers, yielded a more than seven-fold increase in the cancer detection rate, according to Grails president Josh Ofman in a press release. Galleri also detected many cancers which dont have standard screening tests, including notoriously hard to diagnose forms of the disease, such as ovarian and pancreatic cancer. More than half (53.5%) of the cancers detected by the test were stage I or II, according to Grail. And the test was also able to predict the origin of the cancer accurately 92% of the time, according to the study. Promising results Grail says the blood test could save lives through early detection. The companys president of biopharma, Sir Harpal Kumar, told the BBC that the results were compelling. “The vast majority of people who die from cancer do so because we find their cancers too late, he said. But other experts cautioned that more research is needed before the test is ready for primetime, Sky News and the BBC reported, with one expert telling the BBC more work would be required to “avoid overdiagnosing cancers that may have caused harm.” The test is currently being trialed in England in 140,000 people, with results expected next year, according to the BBC.
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The Australian government has begun a public education campaign with tips on how to wean children off social media ahead of a world-first national 16-year age limit taking effect in December. Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Friday that information on her agency’s website, esafety.gov.au, explained the new laws and how to navigate them. Starting Dec. 10, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube could be fined up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) if they dont take reasonable steps to prevent Australians younger than 16 from holding accounts. Messages raising awareness will also be shared starting Sunday across digital channels, television, radio and billboards. We want children to have childhoods. We want parents to have peace of mind and we want young peopleyoung Australiansto have three more years to learn who they are before platforms assume who they are, Communications Minister Anika Wells told reporters, referring to the current de facto 13-year age limit for social media accounts based on U.S. privacy legislation. How are Australians reacting to the ban? The Australian age restrictions have already proved polarizing, with some experts warning the changes will harm as well as protect children. More than 140 Australian and international academics signed an open letter to the government last year opposing a social media age limit as too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively. Despite that warning, the laws passed with resounding support last year. The platforms had a year to figure out how to comply without foolproof technology available to verify ages. Inman Grant said the social media age restriction would be a very monumental event for a lot of young people. Teens given checklists to prepare Her agency offered checklists and conversation starters about ways to make the transition, such as following an online influencer through a website rather than a social media account, she said. How do we start weaning them from social media now so it isnt a shock on Dec. 10? How do we help them download their archives and their memories and how do we make sure that theyre in touch with friends and are aware of mental health support if theyre feeling down when theyre not tethered to their phones over the holiday period? she added. The agency’s teen “get ready” checklist includes suggestions such as “map your digital world” and to take practical steps like finding other ways to follow their favorite influencers online or scheduling regular phone calls with their friends. The entire list is as follows: Understand what’s changing and why Workout which accounts you’ll lose Map your digital world Explore other ways to connect and belong Build your community Protect your digital memories Avoid last-minute stress Find support Will other countries follow Australia’s lead? Australias move is being watched closely by countries that share concerns about social media impacts on young children. Denmarks Ambassador to Australia Ingrid Dahl-Madsen said her government would use its current presidency of the Council of the European Union to push the agenda of protecting children from social media harms. This is something that is a global challenge and we are all looking at how we can manage it best and we are looking to Australia and we will be looking at what Australia does, Dahl-Madsen told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in Melbourne on Monday. Its so important that Australia and Demark and the EUwe share lessons, we compare experiences and we can push forward hopefully practical progress on this, she added. It was about “protecting our children in this digital world that is increasingly complicated.” The Danish government last week proposed legislating an age limit of 15. But Dahl-Madsen said Denmark would consider letting parents exempt their children who were 13-14. Australia has no similar exemption. By Rod McGuirk, Associated Press
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Meta is rolling out a new Facebook feature that the company says will help users share more photosbut which could also be used to help train its AI. The opt-in feature allows Facebooks AI to access your phone’s camera roll in order to find photos it finds “shareworthy,” and to suggest edits using its AI tools. Users can then decide if they want to share the images or not. “With your permission and the help of AI, our new feature enables Facebook to automatically surface hidden gems those memorable moments that get lost among screenshots, receipts, and random snaps and edit them to save or share,” Meta said in its announcement explaining the new feature on Friday. The platform will also suggest fun edits for users to share. The new feature has been rolled out in the US and Canada, and Meta aims to roll it out in additional countries soon. What are users opting into? Metas latest feature announcement says that for users who opt in, the feature makes photo sharing suggestions that “are private to you,” and that nothing will be shared unless you agree. Meta also said Facebook won’t “use media from your camera roll to improve AI at Metaunless you use its AI to edit or upload the photos. Fast Company reached out to Meta for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication. Meta already gathers Facebook user data to train its AI. In a 2023 announcement, Meta said it could use any user data shared on Facebook or Instagram to train its AI. “Generative AI models take a large amount of data to effectively train, so a combination of sources are used for training, including information thats publicly available online, licensed data and information from Metas products and services,” the company said at the time. “Publicly shared posts from Instagram and Facebook including photos and text were part of the data used to train the generative AI models underlying the features.” Metas terms also state that “your interactions with AI features can be used to train AI models. Examples include messages to AI chats, questions you ask and images you ask Meta AI to imagine for you.” This is also not the first time Meta has asked users permission to look at their camera rolls. In June, Facebook began asking users for access to their phones camera roll to automatically suggest AI-edited versions of their photos, including images they had not posted for public viewing. Users who wanted to use the feature were prompted to opt-in to “cloud processing,” allowing Facebook access to their camera roll, as well as opting in to Meta’s Terms of Service, which includes agreeing to allow its AI to “retain and use that information to provide more personalized Outputs.” At the time, Meta told The Verge that it was not currently using those photos to train its AI models. Fast Company has previously written about how hard Meta has made it for Instagram users to opt out of AI training. Users who want to opt out have to answer a series of questions and explain why they don’t want the app to use their data. Requests are then subject to a review process, which suggests the company can decide whether to honor the request. Meta noted in its Friday announcement that users can manage or disable the new AI photo feature at any time in Facebook’s camera roll settings.
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Your pantry, your portfolio, even your flight plans all made headlines this week. The FDA turned everyones favorite spice into a hazard warning, while the worlds wealthiest got a new credit card that skips the whole Social Security number thing. Washingtons still stuck in neutralthough a few lucky borrowers are finally seeing their student loans disappearand airports are feeling the fallout. Meanwhile, Bitcoins on a downward spiral, golds having a moment, and the housing markets math still doesnt add up no matter how many times you punch the calculator. Retailers, at least, seem to be thriving in chaos. Walmart doubled down on AI, cutting a deal with OpenAI so shoppers can chat their way through checkout, then followed up with plans to blanket its supply chain in smart sensors. Over in the cultural corner, major news outlets refused to play ball with the Pentagons new press rules, and the Boy Scoutsnow Scouting Americarolled out merit badges in AI and cybersecurity. If that sounds like a lot, it is. The throughline? Whether its your cinnamon or your shopping list, everything familiar is getting rewired in real time. Here’s a look at what made headlines this week. FDA widens ground cinnamon warning over elevated lead The FDA expanded its list of ground cinnamon products to avoid, citing testing that found elevated lead levels and urging consumers to discard affected items. Sixteen products now sit on the list, spanning multiple distributors and retailers with specific lots and best-by dates. No illnesses are confirmed, but the agency warns long-term exposure can harm childrens development, and the list has grown through multiple updates since July 2024. A premium no-SSN card takes aim at AmEx Platinums turf Fintech startup Karta unveiled a $300-annual-fee premium card for affluent non-residents with U.S. assetsno Social Security number required. Perks mirror marquee travel cards (lounges, events, protections), and the product is managed via WhatsApp with AI-assisted service. Backed by $5.4 million in seed funding and 22 banking partners, Karta is targeting customers hit by steep foreign card fees and the wind-down of AmExs International Dollar Card. IBR student-loan forgiveness resumes for eligible borrowers Notices are landing in inboxes for borrowers on the Income-Based Repayment student loan plans whove hit 20- or 25-year payment thresholds. The move restarts discharges paused in July amid systems updates and litigation fallout. Its not a new programjust the promised IBR relief catching upso borrowers should keep paying until they receive official confirmation. Scouting America adds AI and cybersecurity merit badges Scouting America introduced new badges covering machine learning basics, prompt communication, deepfake awareness, and cybersecurity concepts this week. The goal is to marry traditional be prepared ethos with digital-age fluency. Its also a retention play as membership has fallen from historic peaks, with newer badges designed to meet kids where they liveonline. Flight delays mount as shutdown enters week three A mix of bad weather and shutdown-related staffing strain produced tens of thousands of flight delays across the long weekend. Trade groups say flying remains safe, but chokepoints at Northeast hubs added to traveler frustration. With Congress still gridlocked, operational unpredictability remains the near-term baseline. Bitcoin swoons while gold shines After notching an all-time high earlier this month, Bitcoin slid to a four-month low this week as investors rotated toward gold. Macro jittersfrom tariffs talk to the federal shutdownpressed risk appetite. The move highlights cryptos evolving safe-haven narrative: sometimes it benefits from stress, sometimes the old haven still wins. Zillow: Unrealistic rate cuts needed for affordability Back-of-the-envelope modeling suggests the average 30-year mortgage would need to drop to ~4.43% to make a median home affordable to a median-income buyer (assuming 20% down). In several coastal markets, even 0% rates wouldnt fix the math given taxes, insurance, and upkeep. Zillows takeaway: dont bank on ratesor pricesbailing out budgets soon. Walmart to enable ChatGPT checkout with OpenAI Walmart announced an agentic commerce tie-up so shoppers can purchase via natural language directly in ChatGPT. The integration leans on OpenAIs Instant Checkout and Agentic Commerce Protocol, pitching fewer clicks and more personalization. Investors liked the direction of travel, framing it as an on-ramp to AI-assisted shopping at mass scale. Major outlets reject Pentagon press rules Major news outlets including The New York Times, AP, and Fox News have said they wont sign the Defense Departments new required policy governing access and information requests, leading them to leave the Penagon this week. Newsrooms argue the rules impact routine reporting and set a troubling precedent; the government says theyre common-sense procedures. The standoff raises practical questions about credentialing and transparency. Walmart rolls out ambient IoT sensors across supply chain In a parallel modernization push, Walmart plans millions of battery-free sensors on pallets to track inventory across 4,600 stores and 40+ distribution centers, expanding nationwide in 2026. The data will feed Walmarts AI systems to improve accuracy, cold-chain compliance, and on-shelf availability. Its a scale bet that visibility equals veloctyand profit.
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