LONDON (AFP) – The British government said yesterday that it has agreed to a partnership with Qatar that will see the Gulf state invest GBP1 billion (USD1.3 billion) in climate technologies. “The partnership is expected to create thousands of highly skilled jobs over its lifetime and will see the launch of world-leading climate technology hubs across the United Kingdom (UK) and Qatar to accelerate development in climate-friendly technologies,” according to a statement issued during a state visit by Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. British industrial group Rolls-Royce, which manufactures aircraft engines, will receive investments for programmes dedicated to energy efficiency, the statement said. Qatar’s investments in the British economy are estimated at more than GBP40 billion and the emirate indicated in 2022 that it intends to invest another GBP10 billion by 2027. The press release also said the two countries will create a joint academy of genomic medicine, which uses information from genome sequencing, and a joint commission on research into artificial intelligence (AI). Qatar’s emir was welcomed on Tuesday by King Charles III at the start of a state visit where he will also hold talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who wants to negotiate trade deals with Gulf monarchies. Britain has been seeking new trade pacts since leaving the European Union and in late 2021 began talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council (CCG), which groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Britain has joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), signed trade pacts with Australia and New Zealand, and is in negotiations with India.Santino Proctor triumphed in the 200m and shot put competitions at the National Indoor Athletics Centre (NIAC), competing against athletes from south Wales, east Wales, west Wales, and south west England. The Cardiff Athletics Club athlete now holds the title of South Wales champion. From an athletic family, his grandmother Michele Smith represented Wales in the Commonwealth Games, and his mother Tazmin Proctor was also a Welsh track and field champion.
Intuit Stock Falls on Weaker Guidance, but CEO Downplays Fears of Free U.S. Tax AppSaudi Aramco unit in talks to invest $1 billion in US software maker Mavenir, sources say
NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday's targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was 50, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and run the insurance arm since 2021 after running its Medicare and retirement business. As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs. The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His $10.2 million annual pay package, including salary, bonus and stock options awards, made him one of the company's highest-paid executives. The University of Iowa graduate began his career as a certified public accountant at PwC and had little name recognition beyond the health care industry. Even to investors who own its stock, the parent company's face belonged to CEO Andrew Witty, a knighted British triathlete who has testified before Congress. When Thompson did occasionally draw attention, it was because of his role in shaping the way Americans get health care. At an investor meeting last year, he outlined his company's shift to “value-based care,” paying doctors and other caregivers to keep patients healthy rather than focusing on treating them once sick. “Health care should be easier for people,” Thompson said at the time. “We are cognizant of the challenges. But navigating a future through value-based care unlocks a situation where the ... family doesn’t have to make the decisions on their own.” Thompson also drew attention in 2021 when the insurer, like its competitors, was widely criticized for a plan to start denying payment for what it deemed non-critical visits to hospital emergency rooms. “Patients are not medical experts and should not be expected to self-diagnose during what they believe is a medical emergency,” the chief executive of the American Hospital Association wrote in an open letter addressed to Thompson. “Threatening patients with a financial penalty for making the wrong decision could have a chilling effect on seeking emergency care.” United Healthcare responded by delaying rollout of the change. Thompson, who lived in a Minneapolis suburb and was the married father of two sons in high school, was set to speak at an investor meeting in a midtown New York hotel. He was on his own and about to enter the building when he was shot in the back by a masked assailant who fled on foot before pedaling an e-bike into Central Park a few blocks away, the New York Police Department said. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators were looking at Thompson's social media accounts and interviewing employees and family members. “Didn’t seem like he had any issues at all,” Kenny said. "He did not have a security detail.” AP reporters Michael R. Sisak and Steve Karnowski contributed to this report. Murphy reported from Indianapolis. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.Majithia says Randhawa patronised Chaura, claim junked
Man Utd fans have a lot to say about Alejandro Garnacho after performance vs Arsenal, ‘very obvious’ point is clear
Hegseth selection faltersBHOPAL (India), Dec 5 — Just after midnight as poisonous plumes of smoke wafted through the Indian city of Bhopal four decades ago, Gas Devi was born, gasping for every breath. Her feeble cries were drowned out by the screams of men, women and children as they ran to escape the cloud of highly toxic gas leaking from the Union Carbide factory on the night of December 2, 1984. Some 3,500 people were killed in the immediate aftermath, and up to 25,000 are estimated to have died overall in the world’s deadliest industrial disaster. Forty years later, the horror continues to blight the lives of those like Devi — as well as countless others born with deformities since that fateful night. Devi, a daily wage labourer, has constant pain in her chest, one of her lungs is not developed fully and she keeps falling sick. “My life is a living hell,” Devi told AFP, speaking at her shanty in Bhopal, the capital of the central state of Madhya Pradesh. Even if she wanted, she cannot forget the night she was born. “My parents named me Gas,” she said, her eyes welling up. “I believe this name is a curse. I wish I had died that night”. Twenty-seven tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC), used in the production of pesticides, swept through the city of over two million people after one of the tanks storing the deadly chemical shattered its concrete casing. As the white cloud of MIC shrouded areas close to the factory, people started collapsing in the streets. Nathuram Soni, now 81, was among the first to rush out. “People were frothing from their mouths. Some had defecated, some were choking in their own vomit,” said Soni. A handkerchief tied over his nose, Soni used his pushcart to carry his wailing neighbours, many of them infants, to hospital. Unrelenting tragedy Rashida Bee, co-founder of the Chingari Trust charity that offers free treatment to children of gas-affected families, believes those who died were fortunate. “At least their misery ended,” she said. “The unfortunate are those who survived”. Her trust has seen more than 150 children being admitted this year alone with cerebral palsy, hearing and speech impairments and other disabilities. She blames the disorders on the accident and the contamination of the groundwater. Testing of groundwater near the site in the past revealed cancer- and birth defect-causing chemicals 50 times higher than what is accepted as safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency. “This tragedy is showing no signs of relenting,” said Rashida, 68, who has lost several members of her family to cancer since the accident. “The soil and water here are contaminated — that is why kids are still being born with deformities.” Union Carbide, which was acquired by the Michigan-based Dow Chemical Company in 2001, routinely dumped chemical waste years before the disaster, campaigners say. Large evaporation ponds outside the factory were filled with thousands of litres of liquid waste. Toxins penetrated the soil and the water supplying several neighbourhoods. Dow Chemical did not respond to AFP’s request for comment. Tasleem Bano, 48, is convinced of a link between the plant and congenital illnesses. Her son Mohammed Salman’s limbs were splayed when he was born. “His twin brother died in the womb. Salman survived but he could not speak a word till he was six years old,” she said, showing her son’s braces that help him to stand. “Doctors say he is like this because of the gas,” said Tasleem, who inhaled the fumes as a young girl living close to the factory. Salman, 12, could only respond with a toothy grin when asked his name. Like Salman, hundreds of children at the Chingari centre struggle to speak, walk or eat their meals. ‘Corporate massacre’ At the nearby Sambhavna Trust clinic, there is a steady queue of gas survivors seeking treatment. “Data very clearly shows that mortality in the exposed population compared to a matched controlled (population) is much higher,” said Satinath Sarangi, founder of Sambhavna. “In 2011, we’d taken stock through our registered cohorts and we found there was 28 percent more mortality among the gas exposed.” Sarangi, 70, said the MIC fumes damaged the immune system of affected populations and caused chromosomal aberrations, something corroborated by medical research. “Children of gas-exposed parents have much higher prevalence of congenital malformations.” In 1989 Union Carbide, in a partial out-of-court settlement with the Indian government, agreed to pay $470 million in compensation to the victims. But the victims themselves were not consulted in the negotiations, and received just $500 each. The current owners have refused to pay further compensation for the catastrophe that continues to unfold till this day. In 1991, Warren Anderson, Union Carbide chairman and chief executive at the time of the disaster, was charged in India with “culpable homicide not amounting to murder”. But he never stood trial. Anderson died aged 92 in a nursing home in Florida in 2014. A plea seeking compensation of 500,000 rupees ($5,920) from the Indian government for each victim diagnosed with cancer or kidney ailments is languishing in courts. Rachna Dhingra, a social activist from the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, said true justice still evades the survivors. “Until today, not a single individual has gone to jail — even for a day — for killing more than 25,000 people and injuring half a million people, and contaminating the soil and groundwater,” she said. “People in the city are continuing to fight because there is no legal mechanism to hold these corporations accountable worldwide. “Bhopal has taught corporations how to get away with murder.” — AFPHAIL: Prince Abdulaziz bin Saad bin Abdulaziz, the governor of Hail, inaugurated the Excellence Center for Salmon Production on Saturday, the largest facility of its kind in the Middle East. A collaboration between the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture and King Abdulaziz University, the center aims to produce 100,000 tons of salmon annually, bolstering Saudi Arabia’s food security and aquaculture sector, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The 10,000-square-meter facility features the latest marine technology, including recirculating aquaculture systems and aquaponics units, which integrate fish and vegetable production. It is designed to reduce the Kingdom’s reliance on salmon imports, currently at 23,000 tons per year. Prince Abdulaziz hailed the project as a cornerstone of Vision 2030, promoting sustainable development and economic diversification, while attending officials highlighted its potential to enhance innovation, create jobs, and serve as a model for sustainable aquaculture in the region, SPA added.
If You’d Describe Yourself As A Disney Adult, Here Are 40 Products You Just Might WantArsenal have momentum back after ‘crazy’ win at West Ham – Mikel ArtetaWASHINGTON (AP) — Carmelo Pacheco's 18 points helped Mount St. Mary's defeat Howard 79-75 on Saturday. Pacheco shot 6 for 8 from beyond the arc for the Mountaineers (5-2). Dallas Hobbs shot 5 of 16 from the field, including 1 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 7 from the line to add 17 points. Terrell Ard Jr. had 16 points and shot 4 of 6 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. Anwar Gill finished with 18 points for the Bison (3-5). Blake Harper added 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals for Howard. Joshua Strong also had 12 points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .None
Clay's 15 help Morehead State take down Alice Lloyd 94-63NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of the people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday's fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO in a targeted killing on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was 50, ran the insurance arm of the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. since 2021 and had worked at the company for 20 years. He previously led its Medicare and retirement businesses. As CEO, Thompson led a business that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs. The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His $10.2 million annual pay package, including salary, bonus and stock options awards, made him one of the company's highest-paid executives. The University of Iowa graduate began his career as a certified public accountant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and had little name recognition beyond the industry. Even to investors who own its stock, the parent company's face belonged to CEO Andrew Witty, a knighted British triathlete who has testified before Congress. Thompson’s few moments of public attention stood in contrast to his role in reshaping the way Americans get health care. At an investor meeting last year, he outlined his company's shift to “value-based care,” paying doctors and other caregivers to keep patients healthy, rather than focusing on treating them when they get sick. “Health care should be easier for people,” Thompson said at the time. “We are cognizant of the challenges. But navigating a future through value-based care unlocks a situation where the ... family doesn’t have to make the decisions on their own.” Thompson also drew attention in 2021 when the insurer, like its competitors, was widely criticized for a plan to start denying payment for what it deemed non-critical visits to hospital emergency rooms. “Patients are not medical experts and should not be expected to self-diagnose during what they believe is a medical emergency,” the chief executive of the American Hospital Association wrote in an open letter addressed to Thompson. “Threatening patients with a financial penalty for making the wrong decision could have a chilling effect on seeking emergency care.” United Healthcare responded by delaying rollout of the change. Thompson was scheduled to speak at an investor meeting when he was shot around 6:45 a.m. outside the New York Hilton Midtown by a masked assailant who fled on foot, the New York Police Department said. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators were looking at Thompson's social media accounts and interviewing employees and family members. He said Thompson walked out of the hotel alone. “Didn’t seem like he had any issues at all,” Kenny said. "He did not have a security detail.” AP reporter Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report. This story corrects the style of the company’s name to UnitedHealthcare.Percentages: FG .449, FT .667. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.