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The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) on Saturday announced that the State of Qatar has officially joined the Global Coalition for Digital Safety. This announcement was made during the coalition's 11th meeting. HE the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai participated in the meeting via video conference on Thursday, alongside several member states and international organisations that focus on digital safety. It is stated that the move reflects Qatar's commitment to supporting global efforts to enhance digital security and protect digital society In his opening remarks, HE the Minister emphasised the importance of international cooperation in addressing the growing challenges of the digital realm, pointing that Qatar's membership underscores its dedication to shaping inclusive global policies to bolster safety. HE Al Mannai further highlighted Qatar's ongoing efforts, led by the Ministry, to adopt cutting-edge technologies and develop national laws and policies to mitigate risks. He noted that joining the coalition would enhance international partnerships and facilitate the exchange of expertise in digital safety, aligning with the coalition's objectives to establish a safe and sustainable digital environment for all. The Global Coalition for Digital Safety, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, aims to strengthen international collaboration in digital safety. Its objectives include combating harmful content, curbing the spread of misinformation, and protecting users' rights online. The coalition brings together governments, major corporations, and NGOs to create policies and frameworks for a safe and inclusive digital environment. The World Economic Forum provides the regulatory framework and support, enabling the coalition to leverage international platforms to achieve its goals. Related Story Education ministry honours winners in Digital Creativity Olympiad WISH report moots framework for tackling childhood obesity in QatarNovember 23 - A pair of teams with minimal rest will face off in Nassau, Bahamas, on Sunday when No. 22 St. John takes on Georgia. St. John's (5-1), which will play its third game in four days, began the stretch in the Bahamas Championship on Thursday, dropping a heartbreaker to No. 13 Baylor. The Red Storm led by 18 in the first half before Baylor forced overtime. From there, St. John's rallied from five down with 1:47 left to send the game to a second overtime, where it saw Baylor knock down a pair of 3-pointers in the final seven seconds -- including Jeremy Roach's buzzer-beater -- to knock off the Red Storm 99-98. In the third-place game on Friday, St. John's breezed past Virginia 80-55. RJ Luis Jr. led the way with 18 points and four steals, followed by Kadary Richmond's 12 points, as the Red Storm took a one-point lead with 15:21 left in the first half and didn't trail again. "I'm really impressed with our guys, coming off a double-overtime, extremely emotional loss," St. John's head coach Rick Pitino said. "To respond that way was extremely impressive, both offensively and defensively." Pitino, in his second year with the Red Storm, was moved by something off the court on Friday, involving captain Zuby Ejiofor, who chipped in eight points, nine boards, two steals and two blocks. Ejiofor was serenaded by St. John's fans during the win, following his two missed free throws at the end of double overtime against Baylor. "When you've only been in a job for a year, you search for things you love about a place," Pitino said. "Tonight I found out what I love about St. John's. Our fans chanted Zuby's name the whole game, which doesn't happen anywhere else in America. I was really impressed with our fans and I thank them for making Zuby feel good, because he gives you all the energy." Luis leads the Red Storm with 17.3 points per game, followed by Ejiofor (10.7), Aaron Scott (10.5), Deivon Smith (10.3) and Richmond (10.2). Georgia enters Sunday's matchup looking to rebound from its first loss after falling to No. 15 Marquette 80-69 on Saturday. Georgia (5-1) battled back from a 15-point, second-half deficit, but was held to just three points over the final 4:57 in Saturday's loss. Blue Cain led the Bulldogs with a season-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers. "It's a process. It's a journey with this team," Bulldogs head coach Mike White said. "It's about continuing to make strides, continuing to protect our culture. ... At the end of the day, wins and losses are going to take care of themselves. We just have to embrace the process and enjoy it." Five-star freshman recruit Asa Newell was held to a season-low nine points but leads the team with 15.5 points per game. Silas Demary Jr. is second with 13.8. --Field Level Media Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab
BIOVAXYS ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF FIRST TRANCHE OF PRIVATE PLACEMENT AND ANNOUNCES DEBT SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
Trump's lawyers rebuff DA's idea for upholding his hush money convictionIn the News
Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product (GDP) has plunged to US$35 billion, marking a significant contraction attributed to a severe drought, rapid currency devaluation, and instability in global commodities markets. This represents a stark 25% decline from April’s reported GDP of US$47 billion, highlighting the challenges facing the nation’s economy. According to , the economic downturn was disclosed during the presentation of the 2025 National Budget by Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube. The budget outlined several austerity measures, including new taxes on fast food and other goods, in an effort to address the fiscal crisis. President Emmerson Mnangagwa had previously announced a remarkable GDP growth to US$47 billion at Independence Day celebrations in April. However, the Zimbabwe Public Debt Management Office reported that the GDP had since plummeted by US$12 billion, wiping out much of the gains touted earlier in the year. The GDP decline coincides with a 40% slump in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), a gold-backed digital currency launched in April, and growing scepticism over government policies. The currency’s value has eroded significantly due to devaluation, falling from an exchange rate of US$1:ZiG14 to nearly US$1:ZiG30, according to Trust Chikohora, former president of the Comesa Business Council. “The exchange rate played a major role in the collapse of ZiG,” Chikohora told . “Additionally, the impact of the El Niño-induced drought has worsened the economic outlook, with GDP recovery heavily dependent on favourable agricultural conditions in 2025.” Despite the downturn, Minister Ncube projected a GDP recovery to US$38.2 billion in 2025, driven by a 6.6% increase in private consumption and a 5.3% rise in public sector activity. However, economists remain unconvinced. “This reflects unrealistic and overly ambitious budget targets,” said Chenayimoyo Mutambasere, an economist at the Centre for Economic Justice. “A 200% increase in maize imports and declining investments further limit future productivity improvements, creating a cyclical economic challenge.” Stevenson Dhlamini, an economics lecturer at the National University of Science and Technology, pointed to the harsh drought and shocks in the platinum group minerals sector as key factors behind the GDP contraction. “Our GDP has shrunk significantly due to climate change and adverse conditions in key economic sectors,” Dhlamini noted. The rapid GDP decline evokes memories of Zimbabwe’s economic collapse during the decade to 2008 when the economy contracted by 50% amid hyperinflation and political instability. Economists warn that the current trajectory threatens to derail recovery efforts outlined in the 2025 National Budget, with lingering questions about the effectiveness of proposed measures. As Zimbabwe grapples with the fallout of these cascading economic setbacks, analysts stress the need for more robust, consistent policies to steer the nation back to growth and stability.
Even Nvidia's CEO is obsessed with Google's NotebookLM AI tool
NEW YORK (AP) — Having waited 63 years for an Ivy League football title, Columbia had to stand by for another 40 minutes. The Lions had beaten Cornell 17-9 but needed a Harvard loss against Yale to secure a share of first place on the season's final day. So Columbia players retreated to their locker room on a hill a few hundred feet from Wien Stadium to watch the game in Boston on TV as a few hundred fans remained and gazed at the gold-and-orange foliage of Inwood Hill Park glowing in Saturday's afternoon sun. When Yale recovered onside kick with seconds left to ensure a 34-29 Harvard defeat, players let out a scream and streamed back onto the field to celebrate, smoke cigars, lift a trophy and sing “Roar, Lion, Roar” with family and friends. Who would have thunk it? “You had the realization of, oh, I’m a champion, which is something that hasn’t been said here in a while,” co-captain CJ Brown said. Harvard dropped into a tie with Columbia and Dartmouth at 5-2, the first time three teams shared the title since 1982 — the conference doesn't use tiebreakers. “It was nerve-wracking, for sure, but definitely exciting because that's something that not a lot of people have experienced, especially here," running back Joey Giorgi said. There have been several top players at Columbia — Sid Luckman, Marty Domres, Marcellus Wiley among them — but the school is perhaps better known for owners such as the New England Patriots' Robert Kraft and former Cleveland Browns head Al Lerner. Columbia's only previous championship in 1961 also was shared with Harvard. That Lions team was coached by Buff Donelli, a former Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Rams coach who scored for the Americans in soccer's 1934 World Cup. Columbia set a then Division I-AA record with 44 consecutive losses from 1983-88, a mark broken by Prairie View’s 80 in a row from 1989-98. Since 1971, the Lions’ only seasons with winning records until now were 1994, 1996, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. Al Bagnoli, who won nine Ivy titles in 23 years at Penn, couldn't manage one at Columbia from 2015-22. He quit six weeks before the 2023 opener, citing health, and was replaced on an interim basis by Mark Fabish, his offensive coordinator. Jon Poppe, now 39, was hired last December after working as a Bagnoli assistant at Columbia from 2015-17 between stints at Harvard from 2011-14 and 2017-22, plus one season as a head coach at Division III Union College. He led the Lions to a 7-3 record overall, their most wins in a coach's first season since George F. Sanford's team went 9-3 in 1899. Poppe had wife Anna and 7-year-old daughter with him in the locker room watching the countdown to the title. “Sixty-three years of whatever into now,” he said. “Just seeing a lot of that history myself, personally. This is a hugely — a feeling of elation, seeing my dad on the field, a lot of emotional things with that.” Before a crowd of 4,224, quarterback Caleb Sanchez's 1-yard touchdown run put Columbia ahead in the second quarter. Giorgi's 1-yard TD run opened a 14-3 lead in the third and Hugo Merry added a 25-yard field goal in the fourth, overcoming three field goals by Alan Zhao. Giorgi rushed for 165 yards and finished his career with 2,112, second in school history. He and Brown missed what would have been their freshman season in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Given Columbia's athletic history — the most successful sport is fencing — it is not an obvious football destination. “I saw the dedication, whether it resulted in wins or losses,” Brown said. “I saw their dedication to the product that they put out on the field and also the athletic department, the facilities that we had here, the busses on schedule and stuff, I was like, OK, they care about their athletes. People here want to win and it doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past, it matters what we’re going to do now.” Poppe cited a mindset. “You get 10 opportunities, unlike other sports, it is a grind to play this sport and prepare the way we do just for 10,” he said. As the final whistle sounded in Boston, Brown noted an unusual initial reaction in the locker room. “It was like kind of awe when they recovered the kick,” he said. “It was a lot quieter than you would think it would be, but you could feel the joy and the elation.” They accomplished what more than six decades of their predecessors had failed to. As the players headed out, Poppe had a final word. “Day off tomorrow,” he said. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.AP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:40 p.m. ESTLookman Bags 7th Serie A Goal As Atalanta Beat Parma To Go Top
Resolve to Be Resilient: Top Cyber Priorities for State and Local GovernmentIrish premier praises Dublin woman who won civil case against Conor McGregor
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — John Elway says any remorse over bypassing Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL draft is quickly dissipating with rookie Bo Nix's rapid rise, suggesting the Denver Broncos have finally found their next franchise quarterback. Elway said Nix, the sixth passer selected in April's draft, is an ideal fit in Denver with coach Sean Payton navigating his transition to the pros and Vance Joseph's defense serving as a pressure release valve for the former Oregon QB. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, obituaries, sports, and more.NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution's suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea "absurd." The Manhattan district attorney's office asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to "pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful," Trump's lawyers wrote in a 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump's lawyers filed paperwork this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won't include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn't sentenced and his appeal wasn't resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined comment. It's unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump's request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution's suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump's parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution's suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the "ongoing threat" that he'll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. The prosecution's suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they contend. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump tapped for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution's novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to "fabricate" a solution "based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump" who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September "and a hypothetical dead defendant." Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what's already a unique case. "This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding," prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn't "precipitously discard" the "meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers." Prosecutors acknowledged that "presidential immunity requires accommodation" during Trump's impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury's verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Other world leaders don't enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation's wars in Lebanon and Gaza. Trump has fought for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. Trump's hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in each case. Trump was scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November, but following Trump's Nov. 5 election win, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president's sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.