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A little over six months ago Ezra, a young Congolese artist, landed in Australia with his large family straight from one of the largest refugee camps in Malawi to a quiet, leafy street where he appreciated the sounds of chirping birds. or signup to continue reading "Cockatoos are the most unique creatures I've ever seen in my life and that's why I decided to paint them," he told AAP. "There is much security here not the same as overseas, we were insecure." The 18-year-old was referring to Dzaleka, the sprawling United Nations-administered camp housing over 50,000 people, mostly comprised of Democratic Republic of Congolese like himself where millions have fled violence into neighbouring countries in recent years. "Once you move outside of the camp, you would get beaten and robbed. You have no rights once you step outside of the camp," Ezra noted. The renewed fighting in February between Rwanda-backed Tutsi rebels and the army in the resource-rich nation has displaced over seven million internally. "Sometimes I look at it (violence in DR Congo) on social media and feel depressed because we have friends and relatives back in Congo so I usually feel sad about it." Packed in classrooms of 250 students in the Malawi refugee camp where his learning was impeded, Ezra was quickly drawn to stencil drawing and painting aged 9. "I didn't get the chance to study arts formally because I was assisting my family financially but I started learning from my friends and would pick up information from them then use my own perspective and my own ideas." He and one of his brothers would sell chickens at the markets to make ends meet because they would go hungry for days without food due to looters. "Life was so difficult. I couldn't even afford to have my own mobile phone so I couldn't even capture what my paintings are about," he said. Since joining a creative arts mentorship program with Settlement Services International, a large Australian agency tasked with resettling refugees, he has been able to track his progress with photos of his canvases on his phone. The initiative which began last year is spearheaded by Ghasan Saaid, a prolific Sudanese-Australian visual artist who is a manager with the Humanitarian Settlement Program which helps new arrivals navigate their way in Australia from education to housing to finding a job. "Art is powerful because there's emotions and it's a very good tool for healing where artists become leaders in their communities," Mr Saaid explained. "So when we take care of those talents we are increasing the sense of belonging and enriching the cultural scene in Australia too." The creative arts project run out of Sydney provides refugees with artistic opportunities whether it is in music, theatre or visual arts with a professional industry setting. They pair them with experts and masterclasses in collaboration with cultural bodies such as the Art Gallery of NSW and link them with local art centres such as Casula Powerhouse and Blacktown Arts Centre in culturally diverse western Sydney with the view to earning a living off their work. "The art scene in Australia is very difficult to navigate especially with all the settlement barriers so ... guidance is the best thing to nurture them," Mr Saaid said. This was Ezra's experience, having sold one of his paintings displayed at an exhibition at NSW Police headquarters recently. He is hard at work painting a couple of new canvases for an upcoming exhibition next month marking International Human Rights Day. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Advertisement Advertisement
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Tottenham star played for 60 minutes with a broken ankle during Man City win... - talkSPORTBy TravelPulse (TNS) While 2024 was a year that brought about significant, continued post-pandemic recovery for the travel industry, it was also a period of time marked by instability in some locations around the world. From attacks on the rail lines during the Paris Olympics to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, not to mention the war in Ukraine, the global travel realm in 2024 was fraught with challenges. It is against this backdrop that the international security and medical services provider Global Guardian recently released its 2025 Global Risk Map. Published annually, the map is meant to help travelers better understand the current global risk landscape. In order to develop its guidance, experts at Global Guardian assess a long list of country-specific security risk factors and indicators, including crime, health, natural disasters, infrastructure, political stability, civil unrest and terrorism. For 2025, Global Guardian’s assessment results underscore the reality that disruption globally and domestically continues to increase, and now more than ever travelers need to be prepared when exploring the world. As part of the latest assessment, Global Guardian highlighted a handful of specific global regions that are at particular risk of destabilization over the next year and beyond. Here’s a closer look at those regions, along with insights from Global Guardian CEO Dale Buckner, who recently spoke with TravelPulse at length about the risks travelers may face in 2025. Here are the regions at risk of destabilization in 2025: Israel’s existential battle against Iran is set to continue into 2025, says the Global Guardian report. “In July 2024, Israel assassinated Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) safehouse in Tehran, and Iran has pledged revenge,” the report explains. “This comes as Iran and its web of regional proxies took their war on Israel out of the shadows and into the open following October 7, 2023, with seven live fronts.” Global Guardian also predicts that Israel’s regional war will shift from Gaza to the West Bank and Lebanon in the year ahead, heightening tensions with Hezbollah, while Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean will persist. The report adds that as “we enter 2025, Israel may assess that its strategic window to prevent a nuclear Iran is rapidly closing and choose to act.” The ongoing civil war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is also of concern, according to Global Guardian’s risk analysis. The conflict “has created a dire humanitarian situation with ethnically motivated violence on the rise,” says the report. Some of the areas of concern in the Latin American region include Venezuela and Mexico, according to Global Guardian. The risk in Venezuela is tied to the country’s long-standing territorial dispute with neighboring Guyana, says the report. “Since 2019, the U.S. Department of State withdrew all diplomatic personnel from U.S. Embassy Caracas and suspended all operations,” explains Buckner. “Violent crimes, such as homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping, and carjacking, are common in Venezuela. Shortages of gasoline, electricity, water, medicine, and medical supplies continue throughout much of Venezuela. Simply put, Venezuela is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for Western travelers and should be avoided.” In Mexico, meanwhile, the problems include drug cartel-related violence and theft, among other issues, says the report. Mexico recently inaugurated its first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, and like her predecessors she will face challenges “reining in cartel violence, corruption, extortion, theft and kidnapping,” says the report. “As such, security continues to be a top concern in Mexico’ ” says the report, which categorizes Mexico as “high risk” when it comes to travel for 2025. Countries classified as high risk experience regular conflict, criminal activity or civil unrest — and have not effectively managed those risks. The Global Guardian report also suggests there may be heightened risks in Mexico now that Donald Trump has been reelected U.S. president. “Bilateral relations between the U.S. and Mexico could dramatically deteriorate. Trump has promised a mass deportation operation, which could sour relations between the U.S. and Mexico, increasing risks to businesses operating in Mexico,” the report adds. Asked to comment on Mexico’s high-risk designation, Buckner stressed that the situation in the country is extremely nuanced, adding that it’s a vast oversimplification to call the entire country high risk. “There are pockets of Mexico that are wildly safe and wonderful to visit and people shouldn’t hesitate to go,” Buckner told TravelPulse. “And there are also pockets that are unsafe and dangerous.” The good news, added Buckner, is that Mexico’s new president is focusing a great deal of effort and energy on addressing the problems surrounding drug cartels, which are the source of a great deal of the risk. Buckner was quick to add however, that as long as there’s demand for drugs, the drug cartel situation is likely to remain problematic. “The U.S. is driving the drug demand — we consume more drugs then the rest of the world,” explained Buckner. “It’s really overly simplified to paint Mexico as the bad guy, because if there wasn’t demand, we wouldn’t need the supply. But the demand is real and violence comes with that.” Representatives for Global Nexus, a government and public affairs consultancy that advises travel and tourism companies and interests in Southern Mexico, told TravelPulse that while drug-related violence has been known to occur, it involves members of the drug cartel targeting each other, they’re not targeting tourists. “There is an ongoing battle between small drug vendors who use the beach to sell product to tourists hanging out on the beach,” explained Ruben Olmos, Global Nexus president and CEO, in reference to the Quintana Roo region, which is popular with tourists. “There have been cases where gunfire has been exchanged between these groups. They are targeting themselves. They are fighting over ‘This is my beach’ and they initiate a shootout.” However, added Olmos, that the U.S. State Department’s risk categorization for Quintana Roo (which is separate from the Global Guardian risk assessment) has not changed. Located on the State Department’s Mexico page, the risk assessment for Quintana Roo remains in the “Exercise Increased Caution” category, which is below the top risk categories of “Do Not Travel” and “Reconsider Travel.” The Exercise Increased Caution designation means “Be aware of heightened risks to safety and security,” explains the State Department’s website. Olmos also pointed out that Mexico is the only country that has a map on the U.S. State Department website that covers every single state in the country, providing details for travelers about which states are safest. In June 2024, thousands of young people took to the streets in Kenya to protest a controversial tax bill. The protesters were met with heavy-handed policing, including the use of live fire and mass arrests, says the Global Guardian risk report. Despite the local security response, protests continued. The success and tenacity of the Kenyan movement has triggered similar protests or dissent in other countries including Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, and Nigeria, says Global Guardian. That is just a portion of the risk Global Guardian sees for Sub-Saharan Africa over the course of 2025. “With multiple conflicts escalating across the continent, aging leaders leaving behind unclear successions, and entrenched regimes with dissipating legitimacy, Sub-Saharan Africa now looks much like the North African and Arab world in the early 2010s,” says the report. “While the dynamic unfolding in Africa might not yet merit the label of “African Spring,” a significant change to the continent’s political status quo is coming.” Several countries received an extreme or high-risk designation on the new Global Guardian risk map for 2025, including more than a few that are popular with leisure travelers or tourists. Extreme risk countries are those that Global Guardian says are “actively engaged in conflict, while also experiencing severe criminal activity and civil unrest.These countries are insecure; state institutions are too weak to manage militant groups or large-scale disasters.” They include Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Ukraine, West Bank, Gaza and Yemen. The current list of high-risk countries, which are countries that experience regular conflict, criminal activity or civil unrest and have not effectively managed those risks, includes Bangladesh, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Libya, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, Uganda, Venezuela Officials from the Jamaica Tourist Board provided a statement to TravelPulse in response to Global Guardian’s designation of the country. “Last month, Global Guardian, a private security provider, released its 2025 Global Risk Map, which included Jamaica, amongst other destinations,” said the Tourist Board. “It is important to note that the crime rate against visitors is notably low at 0.01% and the majority of Jamaica’s tourism product remains unaffected.” The country’s tourism officials added that Jamaica has welcomed 3 million visitors this year and boasts a high repeat visitor rate of 42%. “The island is consistently ranked among the top destinations for international travel and visitors continue to come with confidence to enjoy all that Jamaica has to offer,” the statement adds. When it comes to Jamaica, Buckner offered similar comments to those of Mexico, noting that the situation is impacted by drug-related violence and the experience on the ground is nuanced and cannot be painted with a broad brush. “In the same vein as Mexico — Jamaica can be a wonderful place to visit,” says Buckner. “There are pockets of beauty and low crime and as long as you are careful, it’s a very low threat.” Buckner, a retired Army colonel, maintains that the world is indeed a more risky place heading into 2025. The challenges in the Middle East and Ukraine are at the forefront of the instability, but are hardly the only cause for concern. “Israel has now gone to Gaza and cleaned out Hamas, they’re now moving north into Lebanon, and we are convinced Israel will strike Iran,” Buckner said during an interview that took place prior to Israel’s strike on Iran. “If that occurs you are going to see violence across the Middle East.” “But there are over 100 conflicts across the globe,” continues Buckner. When you combine that reality with other challenges the world is currently grappling with, including the destabilizing influences of climate change, there are plenty of risks for travelers to bear in mind when planning a journey for the coming year. He wraps up by offering a few tips for travelers, a check-list of sorts, to work through when planning or considering travel to a specific country in 2025: — If you don’t know who to call or how you are going to negotiate if someone is kidnapped, you shouldn’t go there. — Consumers need to read the fine print on travel insurance because it does not cover war zones, terrorism or natural disasters, says Buckner. And travelers are often surprised and find out too late that these types of events are not covered. — If you get stuck or stranded, if you don’t know who you are going to call to get you out of that situation, know what organizations locally or internationally are available to help you. ©2024 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
American and European stock markets mostly rose on Wednesday after inflation data cemented expectations that the US Federal Reserve will trim interest rates next month. While the Dow fell slightly, the other two major US indices advanced, led by the tech-rich Nasdaq, which piled on almost two percent to close above 20,000 points for the first time. The consumer price index (CPI) rose to 2.7 percent last month from a year ago, up slightly from 2.6 percent in October. "With the CPI numbers broadly in line, it is likely that the Fed will not be derailed and will cut rates again next week," Jochen Stanzl, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. "The data is not a showstopper for the current bull run on Wall Street," he added. Ahead of the data, investors priced in an 86 percent chance the Fed will cut interest rates next week by a quarter percentage point. That rose to more than 98 percent after the CPI data was published. Stocks in Paris and Frankfurt rose ahead of the European Central Bank's own interest rate announcement on Thursday, with analysts expecting another cut as it seeks to boost eurozone growth. Investors are also eyeing political developments in France, where officials said President Emmanuel Macron aims to name a new prime minister "within 48 hours" as he seeks to end political deadlock following the ouster of Michel Barnier. In company news, shares in German retail giant Zalando shed more than four percent on Frankfurt's DAX index, after it acquired domestic rival About You in a deal worth around 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion). Shares in Zara owner Inditex slid more than six percent after a record quarterly profit for the group fell short of market estimates. Among US companies, Google parent Alphabet earned 5.5 percent as it announced the launch of Gemini 2.0, its most advanced artificial intelligence model to date. That added to gains after Google also announced Tuesday details of a breakthrough quantum chip. Shares in Shanghai rose but Hong Kong gave up an early rally to end in the red. Traders were keeping tabs on China to see if it will announce further measures to support its struggling economy as leaders were to gather Wednesday for a conference to hammer out next year's agenda. President Xi Jinping and other top leaders on Monday announced their first major shift in policy for more than a decade, saying they would "implement a more active fiscal policy and an appropriately relaxed" strategy. Those remarks sparked hopes for more interest rate cuts and the freeing up of more cash for lending. New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 44,148.56 (close) New York - S&P 500: UP 0.8 percent at 6,084.19 (close) New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.8 percent at 20,034.89 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 8,301.62 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,423.40 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 20,399.16 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 39,372.23 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.8 percent at 20,155.05 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,432.49 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0498 from $1.0527 on Tuesday Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2752 from $1.2771 Dollar/yen: UP at 152.40 yen from 151.95 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.31 from 82.42 pence Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.8 percent at $73.52 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.4 percent at $70.29 per barrel burs-jmb/mlmNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes got back to climbing on Wednesday after the latest update on inflation appeared to clear the way for more help for the economy from the Federal Reserve . The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to break its first two-day losing streak in nearly a month and finished just short of its all-time high. Big Tech stocks led the way, which drove the Nasdaq composite up 1.8% to top the 20,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, lagged the market with a dip of 99 points, or 0.2%. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get the latest need-to-know information delivered to your inbox as it happens. Our flagship newsletter. Get our front page stories each morning as well as the latest updates each afternoon during the week + more in-depth weekend editions on Saturdays & Sundays.General Park An-su, the army chief of staff, insisted he had not had any role in the planning of the martial law order. SEOUL - South Korea’s military – agents of terror and violence in the 1970s and ’80s – spent decades scrupulously cleaning up its image to become what many people in the country came to see as a modern and disciplined force. But that image was shattered on Dec 5 when the general who led a short-lived spasm of martial law this week was grilled in Parliament, a rambling appearance that cast the military as ill-prepared and disorganised from the top down. “We were not militarily prepared because it was put into action in such a hurry,” General Park An-su, the army chief of staff, told a parliamentary hearing on Dec 5. “There was confusion.” His testimony offered the first opportunity for lawmakers to question the military about the martial law order handed down on the night of Dec 3 by President Yoon Suk Yeol. The decree plunged the country into a political crisis, sparking widespread anger that drove thousands of protesters to the streets . Mr Yoon was forced to reverse course after just six hours. Gen Park insisted that he had not had any role in the planning: He told lawmakers he had been caught off guard, first learning of it when Mr Yoon announced the extraordinary move on television. The military’s follow-up announcement, under his name, banned “all political activities” and public rallies and asserted control over media outlets, among other steps. But in his account on Dec 5, Gen Park claimed he had not read it until his signature was requested. He described being at a loss over how to proceed as commander, unsure of what steps to take beyond trying to set up a new office. His testimony was clearly aimed at rebutting the idea that the military had returned to its old, brutal ways . But it appeared unlikely to ease any of the anger from protesters – some of whom had lived through the traumatic era of military rule and had been part of the popular uprising that ushered in South Korea’s democracy. The country’s deputy defence minister, Mr Kim Seon-ho, testified that Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun had ordered in the troops. The defence minister, a former bodyguard of the president, resigned before the hearings and did not testify. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel now
Law and order crackdown won’t make Jews saferNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes got back to climbing on Wednesday after the latest update on inflation appeared to clear the way for more help for the economy from the Federal Reserve . The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to break its first two-day losing streak in nearly a month and finished just short of its all-time high. Big Tech stocks led the way, which drove the Nasdaq composite up 1.8% to top the 20,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, lagged the market with a dip of 99 points, or 0.2%. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
Billionaire Israel Englander Is Selling Nvidia and Buying These Other Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks InsteadWASHINGTON — When Elon Musk first suggested a new effort to cut the size of government, Donald Trump didn’t seem to take it seriously. His eventual name for the idea sounded like a joke, too. It would be called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a reference to an online meme featuring a surprised-looking dog from Japan. But now that Trump has won the election, Musk’s fantasy is becoming reality, with the potential to spark a constitutional clash over the balance of power in Washington. Trump put Musk, the world’s richest man, and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, in charge of the new department, which is really an outside advisory committee that will work with people inside the government to reduce spending and regulations. Last week, Musk and Ramaswamy said they would encourage Trump to make cuts by refusing to spend money allocated by Congress, a process known as impounding. The proposal goes against a 1974 law intended to prevent future presidents from following in the footsteps of Richard Nixon, who held back funding that he didn’t like. “We are prepared for the onslaught from entrenched interests in Washington,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal. “We expect to prevail. Now is the moment for decisive action.” Trump has already suggested taking such a big step, saying last year that he would “use the president’s long-recognized impoundment power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings.” It would be a dramatic attempt to expand his powers, when he already will have the benefit of a sympathetic Republican-controlled Congress and a conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court, and it could swiftly become one of the most closely watched legal fights of his second administration. “He might get away with it,” said William Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. “Congress’ power of the purse will turn into an advisory opinion.” Right now, plans for the Department of Government Efficiency are still coming into focus. The nascent organization has put out a call for “super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.” Applicants are encouraged to submit their resumes through X, the social media company that Musk owns. In the Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy provided the most detailed look yet at how they would operate and where they could cut. Some are longtime Republican targets, such as $535 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Other plans are more ambitious and could reshape the federal government. The two wrote that they would “identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions,” leading to “mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy.” Civil service protections wouldn’t apply, they argue, because they wouldn’t be targeting specific people for political purposes. Some employees could choose “voluntary severance payments to facilitate a graceful exit.” But others would be encouraged to quit by mandating that they show up at the office five days a week, ending pandemic-era flexibility about remote work. The requirement “would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.” Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said such cutbacks would harm services for Americans who rely on the federal government, and he suggested that Musk and Ramaswamy were in over their heads. “I don’t think they’re even remotely qualified to perform those duties,” he said. “That’s my main concern.” Kelley said his union, which represents 750,000 employees for the federal government and the city of Washington, D.C., was ready to fight attempts to slash the workforce. “We’ve been here, we’ve heard this kind of rhetoric before,” he said. “And we are prepared.” There was no mention in the Wall Street Journal of Musk’s previously stated goal of cutting $2 trillion from the budget, which is nearly a third of total annual spending. Nor did they write about “Schedule F,” a potential plan to reclassify federal employees to make them easier to fire. Ramaswamy once described the idea as the “mass deportation of federal bureaucrats out of Washington, D.C.” However, Musk and Ramaswamy said they would reduce regulations that they describe as excessive. They wrote that their department “will work with legal experts embedded in government agencies, aided by advanced technology,” to review regulations that run counter to two recent Supreme Court decisions that were intended to limit federal rulemaking authority. Musk and Ramaswamy said Trump could “immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission.” Chris Edwards, an expert on budget issues at the Cato Institute, said many Republicans have promised to reduce the size and role of government over the years, often to little effect. Sometimes it feels like every budget item and tax provision, no matter how obscure, has people dedicated to its preservation, turning attempts at cuts into political battles of attrition. “Presidents always seem to have higher priorities,” he said. “A lot of it falls to the wayside.” Although DOGE is scheduled to finish its work by July 4, 2026, Edwards said Musk and Ramaswamy should move faster to capitalize on momentum from Trump’s election victory. “Will it just collect dust on a shelf, or will it be put into effect?” Edwards said. “That all depends on Trump and where he is at that point in time.” Ramaswamy said in an online video that they’re planning regular “Dogecasts” to keep the public updated on their work, which he described as “a once-in-a-generation project” to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse.” “However bad you think it is, it’s probably worse,” he said. House Republicans are expected to put Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally from Georgia, in charge of a subcommittee to work with DOGE, according to two people with knowledge of the plans who were not authorized to discuss them publicly. Greene and Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, have already met with Ramaswamy, the two people said. Musk brought up the idea for DOGE while broadcasting a conversation with Trump on X during the campaign. “I think we need a government efficiency commission to say like, ‘Hey, where are we spending money that’s sensible. Where is it not sensible?’” Musk said. Musk returned to the topic twice, volunteering his services by saying “I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.” “I’d love it,” Trump replied, describing Musk as “the greatest cutter.” Musk has his own incentives to push this initiative forward. His companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, have billions of dollars in government contracts and face oversight from government regulators. After spending an estimated $200 million to support Trump’s candidacy, he’s poised to have expansive influence over the next administration. Trump even went to Texas last week to watch SpaceX test its largest rocket. DOGE will have an ally in Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who has railed against federal spending for years. He recently told Fox News that he sent “2,000 pages of waste that can be cut” to Musk and Ramaswamy. “I’m all in and will do anything I can to help them,” Paul said. Get local news delivered to your inbox!A fresh coat of paint and track lighting has turned a former gender-affirming clothing shop into an art gallery, library and gathering space with a similar community-minded mission. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * A fresh coat of paint and track lighting has turned a former gender-affirming clothing shop into an art gallery, library and gathering space with a similar community-minded mission. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? A fresh coat of paint and track lighting has turned a former gender-affirming clothing shop into an art gallery, library and gathering space with a similar community-minded mission. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS From left: Revolution Wellness Centre’s Carla Taylor co-founded Matter Queer Space with spouses Bre Cristobal Calma and Nix Cristobal Calma in the basement below the centre. Matter Queer Space Manitoba — located in the previous basement home of Closet Space at 433 Graham Ave. — is a non-profit venture designed to offer LGBTTQ+ and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) Winnipeggers a welcoming place to connect over art, books and shared interests. “A lot of (hanging out) happens in bars and not all queers are into that scene.” Matter was founded by spouses Bre and Nix Cristobal Calma and friend Carla Taylor, who runs Revolution Wellness Centre on the building’s main floor. “There aren’t a lot, if any, spaces in the community right now to just come and be together,” Bre says, adding the goal is to offer barrier-free programming to visitors of all ages. “Having a queer intergenerational space, that’s a really big thing because the queer community can be segmented in some ways,” Nix says. “A lot of (hanging out) happens in bars and not all queers are into that scene.” The basement is bright and cosy, with a gallery room at one end, library shelving in the middle and seating areas throughout. There are plans to add a gender-affirming retail shop in the future. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Matter Queer Space Manitoba is a new art gallery, library and programming space for the local LGBTTQ+ and BIPOC community. In addition to art shows and workshops, the programming schedule is going to be community-driven, meaning anyone is invited to pitch and host public or private events that fit with Matter’s mandate. Ideas discussed so far include yoga classes, movie nights, craft groups and a reading club. “Not a book club, where you have to sit and talk; instead, you sit and collectively read together. You’re not necessarily forced into socialization that may be uncomfortable for some people, but it still gives you an opportunity to be out and around people that you know will accept you as you are,” Taylor explains. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS While Matter Queer Space Manitoba launches Saturday with an open house and maker’s market, the gallery space will open in January. It’s the kind of gathering that speaks to the project’s overall ethos. “We picture this space as a bit of an introvert haven,” Taylor says. Matter launches Saturday with an open house and mini maker’s market from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. featuring goods from 15 queer vendors, with sensory-friendly and mask-required shopping during the first two hours. The first art exhibit is set to open in January, featuring the work of local visual artist and muralist Cat Hues, a.k.a. Pink Panda. Matter’s founders believe it will be one of the city’s first permanent gallery spaces designated specifically for showing work by marginalized LGBTTQ+ artists. “It’s surprising it hasn’t been done yet because there are a lot of wonderful, racialized, trans, queer, non-binary artists,” says Nix, who is also a multimedia artist. “We picture this space as a bit of an introvert haven.” With every exhibit, the featured artist will be invited to host talks and art-making workshops for the public, the results of which will be turned into a group show curated by the artist. “We really want to challenge the idea of meritocracy. This idea that you have to have a degree in art curation to curate an exhibit,” Bre says. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Matter’s library — which is the continuation of a project started by Taylor and friend Renu Shonek in 2019 — is stocked with borrowable books by bell hooks, Joshua Whitehead, James Baldwin and others. A book drive by Winnipeg’s Willow Press has brought dozens of new titles into the fold and Matter is accepting donations of used books of any genre by queer BIPOC authors. “We know these books are out there, but not everyone does. It’s nice to bring them together in a collection to learn about more authors and more talent in the community, and even to encourage some of our community members in their own writing and creativity,” Taylor says. To reduce financial barriers for visitors, the programming at Matter will be offered on a pay-what-you-can basis. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Other than donations collected through a GoFundMe campaign, the organizers have been footing the bill for the project out-of-pocket. They hope to find sustainable, long-term funding in the future. “This has definitely been a passion project and a labour of love. The three of us are just community members, none of us have experience doing any of this — running galleries or libraries — but it’s a space that we wanted to see and we knew there was a need for,” says Bre. “Nobody else was doing it, so someone had to.” Visit for more information. eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Arts & Life department since 2019. . Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.