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DAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad , gathering in the capital's historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule. The newly installed interim prime minister delivered the sermon at the Umayyad Mosque, declaring that a new era of “freedom, dignity and justice” was dawning for Syria. The gatherings illustrated the dramatic changes that have swept over Syria less than a week after insurgents marched into Damascus and toppled Assad. Amid the jubilation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with allies around the region and called for an “inclusive and non-sectarian” interim government. Blinken arrived in Iraq on a previously unannounced stop after talks in Jordan and Turkey, which backs some of the Syrian insurgent factions. So far, U.S. officials have not talked of direct meetings with Syria's new rulers. The main insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus early Sunday. The group has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad's fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past, though HTS is still labeled a terrorist group by the United States and European countries. HTS's leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the great Syrian people for the victory of the blessed revolution.” “I invite them to head to the squares to show their happiness without shooting bullets and scaring people,” he said. “And then after, we will work to build this country, and as I said in the beginning, we will be victorious by the help of God.” Huge crowds, including some insurgents, packed the historic Umayyad Mosque in the capital's old city, many waving the rebel opposition flag — with its three red stars — which has swiftly replaced the Assad-era flag with with its two green stars. Syrian state television reported that the sermon was delivered by Mohammed al-Bashir, the interim prime minister installed by HTS this week. The scene resonated on multiple levels. The mosque, one of the world's oldest dating back some 1,200 years, is a beloved symbol of Syria, and sermons there like all mosque sermons across Syria were tightly controlled under Assad's rule. Also, in the early days of the anti-government uprising in 2011, protesters would leave Friday prayers to march in rallies against Assad before he launched a brutal crackdown that turned the uprising into a long and bloody civil war. “I didn’t step foot in Umayyad Mosque since 2011," because of the tight security controls around it, said one worshipper, Ibrahim al-Araby. “Since 11 or 12 years, I haven’t been this happy.” Another worshipper, Khair Taha, said there was “fear and trepidation for what’s to come. But there is also a lot of hope that now we have a say and we can try to build.” Blocks away in Damascus' biggest roundabout, named Umayyad Square, thousands gathered, including many families with small children — a sign of how, so far at least, the country's transformation has not caused violent instability. “Unified Syria to build Syria,” the crowd chanted. Some shouted slurs against Assad and his late father, calling them pigs, an insult that would have previously led to offenders being hauled off to one of the feared detention centers of Assad’s security forces. One man in the crowd, 51-year-old Khaled Abu Chahine — originally from the southern province of Daraa, where the 2011 uprising first erupted — said he hoped for “freedom and coexistence between all Syrians, Alawites, Sunnis, Shiites and Druze.” The interim prime minister, al-Bashir, had been the head of a de facto administration created by HTS in Idlib, the opposition's enclave in northwest Syria. The rebels were bottled up in Idlib for years before fighters broke out in a shock offensive and marched across Syria in 10 days. Similar scenes of joy unfolded in other major cities, including in Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Latakia and Raqqa. Al-Sharaa, HTS' leader, has promised to bring a pluralistic government to Syria, seeking to dispel fears among many Syrians — especially its many minority communities — that the insurgents will impose a hard-line, extremist rule. Another key factor will be winning international recognition for a new government in a country where multiple foreign powers have their hands in the mix. The Sunni Arab insurgents who overthrew Assad did so with vital help from Turkey, a longtime foe of the U.S.-backed Kurds . Turkey controls a strip of Syrian territory along the shared border and backs an insurgent faction uneasily allied to HTS — and is deeply opposed to any gains by Syria's Kurds. In other developments, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey’s Embassy in Damascus would reopen Saturday for the first time since 2012, when it closed due to the Syrian civil war. The U.S. has troops in eastern Syria to combat remnants of the Islamic State group and supports Kurdish-led fighters who rule most of the east. Since Assad's fall, Israel has bombed sites all over Syria, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands. It has also seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone. After talks with Fidan, Blinken said there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the U.S. on what they would like to see in Syria. That starts with an "interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said. Fidan said the priority was “establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant” — referring to the Islamic State group and the Kurdistan Workers Party. Ankara considers the PKK within Turkey's borders a terrorist group, as it does the Kurdish-backed forces in Syria backed by the U.S. A U.S. official said that in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fidan both told Blinken that Kurdish attacks on Turkish positions would require a response. The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic talks. The U.S. has been trying to limit such incidents in recent days and had helped organize an agreement to prevent confrontations around the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which was taken by Turkey-backed opposition fighters from the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces earlier this week. In Baghdad, Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, saying both countries wanted to ensure the Islamic State group — also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh — doesn't exploit Syria's transition to re-emerge. “Having put Daesh back in its box, we can’t let it out, and we’re determined to make sure that that doesn’t happen," Blinken said. The U.S. official who briefed reporters said that Blinken had impressed upon al-Sudani the importance of Iraq exercising its full sovereignty over its territory and airspace to stop Iran from transporting weapons and equipment to Syria, either for Assad supporters or onward to the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon. Lee reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.
GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest private prison contractors, filed a federal lawsuit last month against California officials to strike down a state law allowing local public health officials to inspect immigration detention facilities. The Florida-based company argued in a filing that California’s law , signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in August, is unconstitutional because it steps on the federal government’s authority to manage detention centers. By extension, GEO claimed intergovernmental immunity as a contractor. “This case involves the latest in a string of attempts by the State of California to ban federal immigration enforcement in the state, or so significantly burden such efforts as to drive federal agencies and contractors involved in that constitutionally mandated national security function from California,” according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of California. GEO spokesperson Christopher Ferreira did not respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit names Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Kern County health officer Kristopher Lyon as defendants. All three declined to comment. A first hearing is scheduled for February. GEO Group could expand its grip on immigration detention facilities now that former President Donald Trump won a second term. Trump has promised a mass deportation of immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization, and investors sense Trump’s policies will create a boon for private prison companies such as GEO. GEO’s stock skyrocketed, increasing 75% , after Trump’s victory. People and groups associated with the private prison giant spent roughly $5.6 million on lobbying and donations this past election cycle, much of it going to conservative political action committees, including $1 million to Make America Great Again Inc., according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks campaign finance and lobbying data. César García Hernández, an immigration law professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, said a judge will most likely block implementation of the California law while litigation is pending. In March, a federal judge blocked Washington state from enforcing most of a law to increase oversight and improve living conditions at that state’s only private immigration detention facility. “GEO has been rather successful in turning to the courts in order to block access to its facilities,” García Hernández said. “The private prison company is trying to insulate itself by taking cover under the fact that it is operating this facility under contract with the federal government.” California’s bill grants local public health officers, who routinely inspect county jails and state prisons, the ability to inspect private detention facilities, including all six federal immigration centers in California. Detainees have complained of health threats ranging from covid-19, mumps, and chickenpox outbreaks to contaminated water, moldy food, and air ducts spewing black dust. State lawmakers have attempted to regulate immigration facilities with mixed results. In 2019, Newsom, a Democrat, signed a measure banning private prisons and detention facilities from operating in California. But a federal court later declared the law unconstitutional, saying it interfered with federal functions. In 2021, California lawmakers passed a bill requiring private detention centers to comply with state and local public health orders and worker safety and health regulations. That measure was adopted at the height of the covid-19 pandemic, as the virus tore through detention facilities where people were packed into dorms with little or no protection from airborne viruses. Under the new law, public health officers will determine whether the facilities are complying with environmental rules, such as ensuring proper ventilation, and offering basic mental and physical health care, emergency treatment, and safely prepared food. Unlike public correctional facilities, which are inspected every year, health officers will inspect private detention centers as they deem necessary. Supporters say public health officers are well positioned to inspect these facilities because they understand how to make confined spaces safer for large populations. But GEO argued that California health codes and regulations aren’t always consistent with federal standards. The lawsuit pointed out, for instance, that California requires detainees at risk of self-harm or suicide to be transferred to a mental health facility. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement rules grant detention centers more discretion, allowing them to transfer a detainee to a mental health facility or keep them in suicide-resistant isolation at the detention center through monitoring every 15 minutes. GEO also warned in its complaint that implementing the law could cost up to $500,000. Immigrant advocates say the federal government has done a poor job ensuring health and safety. In a paper published in June , researchers showed that immigration officials and a private auditor conducted inspections infrequently — at least once every three years — and provided limited public information about deficiencies and if or how they were addressed. In response, detainees have filed suits alleging crowded and unsanitary conditions ; denial of adequate mental and medical health care; medical neglect ; and wrongful death by suicide. “Why shouldn’t they let an inspector go inside the facilities if they are abiding by the standards,” said Jose Ruben Hernandez Gomez, who was detained for 16 months and released in April 2023. “If they have nothing to hide, they shouldn’t be filing a lawsuit.” Hernandez Gomez went on a hunger strike for 21 days after filing dozens of grievances alleging abusive treatment and poor sanitation. Last month, eight members of California’s congressional delegation urged the Department of Homeland Security to end its contracts with two GEO-operated immigration centers, Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center, where multiple hunger and labor strikes were held this year. Strikers demanded an end to inadequate medical and mental health services, poor living conditions, and solitary confinement. Advocates fear GEO’s legal victories could be dangerous for the health of immigrants. After Washington state’s Department of Health was denied access to the Northwest ICE Processing Center, the state’s only immigration center, two people died in the facility, including one in October. This article was produced by KFF Health News , which publishes California Healthline , an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation . ( KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.) ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Mumbai’s Art Deco charm at risk: Can the city save its iconic architectural heritage?Celebrity MasterChef: Full contestants list with photos
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There are more than 150,000 Canadians working in legal cannabis, and millions of licensed square feet of cannabis greenhouses in this country produce more than a billion grams a year. A flag with a cannabis leaf is held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on April 20, 2016. CHRIS ROUSSAKIS/AFP/Getty Images Ben Kaplan is the author of Catch a Fire: The Blaze and Bust of the Canadian Cannabis Industry , out Jan. 14 on Dundurn Press. Forgotten in the midst of the 2020 cannabis stock market meltdown is the production, employment and real estate boom that emerged from the end of marijuana prohibition in Canada. When the government acted boldly to legalize recreational cannabis on Oct. 17, 2018, Canadian entrepreneurs steered 16 homegrown startups to valuations of more than $1-billion each. These companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars around the world (but mostly in Canada) to build greenhouses, lighting systems, million-dollar cannabis-storage vaults, and grew thousands of tonnes of a hot new agricultural product. Canada, it’s been said, doesn’t make stuff any more. Labour productivity in construction is at a 30-year low and our business sector hasn’t expanded since 2019. We’re getting killed by the United States in the goods sector and stagnation might already be causing deterioration in Canadian public services. But legal marijuana showed Canadian productivity can blossom. The hype, the stock pump-and-dumps, the bad actors and the valuations that towered over revenue figures like storm clouds over the beach turned people off the industry. But cannabis production thrived – quickly, regulated, and at scale. Licensed cannabis producers created thousands of new jobs, employing engineers, electricians, surveyors and scientists to meet demand that in 2016 Deloitte estimated would exceed $12-billion a year. When the Cannabis Act was passed, the legal market grew from about 350,000 medical users to 28 million potential new customers over the age of 19. Cannabis is often viewed as a failed business story. Indeed, companies – and investors – lost millions of dollars in the boom, although bankruptcies in the sector slowed to a handful in 2023. The industry is nevertheless an example of Canadian might, when the government and business banded together to do something that hadn’t been attempted anywhere in the world. We raised capital and deployed it, building an industry that still produces the best, cleanest, most highly regulated and consistent cannabis in the world. The timeline to get to that point was astounding. In 18 months after recreational cannabis legalization, marijuana went from illegal to “essential service,” with pot shops remaining open during the pandemic, not only helping save Canadian jobs and agriculture, but also supporting commercial real estate when shuttered storefronts dominated main streets across the country. “We didn’t set out to say, ‘Oh, I’m from Canada, can I please come in sixth?’” Canopy Growth WEED-T founder Bruce Linton, who secured $5-billion in funding from Constellation Brands, told me. Canopy’s valuation reached $22-billion in 2018 and the Smiths Falls, Ont.-based company has operations in Germany, Australia and Peru. In cannabis, Canadian founders didn’t run to New York or Silicon Valley for advice on how to run their companies. Cannabis brands were headquartered in Canadian small towns. Mr. Linton served Tim Hortons’ coffee to Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart in Smiths Falls; and Altria, Marriott and Coca-Cola executives looking to explore CBD partnerships met with Mr. Linton and Aurora Cannabis’s ACB-T Terry Booth, his Albertan rival, in their hometowns . These companies didn’t chase Americans. The Americans had to come here. Cannabis production wasn’t only massive – it was homegrown, and stayed Canadian-owned. There was patriotism in marijuana, so marijuana tycoons kept their capital in Moncton, Gatineau, Leamington, Ont., and Calgary, headquarters of Raj Grover’s High Tide HITI-X , which had revenue growth of 6 per cent year-over-year in its most recent quarter, proving Canadian weed productivity does not have to end. Canada can produce more than uranium and oil. There are more than 150,000 Canadians working in legal cannabis, and millions of licensed square feet of cannabis greenhouses in this country produce more than a billion grams a year. Across Canada, there are 3,600 licensed shops and more than $15-billion has been collected in taxes from cannabis. Marijuana lost Canadian retail investors billions and attracted bad actors as big, fast money always does. But it showed Canada doesn’t lack gumption, chutzpah or know-how. We need the next big opportunity to ramp up Canadian productivity. Something like legal cannabis, incentivizing Canadian business to light a fuse.Drones, helicopters being considered for U.S. border, public safety minister saysU.S. Bans 29 Chinese Entities for Using Uyghur Slaves
Gold may experience steady, albeit modest growth in 2025: WGCBy Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Barack Obama, who has largely stayed quiet in the weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris' election loss, will offer advice to a new generation of American leaders on Thursday, telling them it is time to talk to people they disagree with. During a speech at a "Democracy Forum" sponsored by his foundation, the former president plans to discuss the "power of pluralism" with thousands of live and online attendees at a deeply divided time in U.S. history and an unsettling one for Democrats as Republican Donald Trump returns to the White House. While Obama, 63, remains in high demand to campaign for his fellow Democrats, some in the party are calling for a crop of younger leaders to take the baton after Harris lost every battleground state and the popular vote and Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. "I think he'd be the first to agree," David Axelrod, former senior adviser to Obama, told Reuters. "I think he would say he's run his race and we need others to step up." "Time marches on, and I think that he would say ... we need a whole array of leaders, and there are young leaders in the Democratic Party who are dynamic and very much in touch with the times who can step up and play a big role." November's disappointing results for Democrats, including support eroding among working-class and Latino voters, sparked an angry blame game inside the party and an effort by some to push for fresh talent. "I've always been an advocate for a new generation of leadership in the party and I think that people are yearning for that," Representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told Reuters. "It doesn't mean that the Obama magic is totally gone, but Obama's not going to be a future president. Obama's not running for Senate. We need to hear from newer voices that can better represent the fears and struggles that Americans face today." Obama and his wife Michelle campaigned around the country and remain enormously popular within the party base, wielding influence behind the scenes through fundraising and a deep network of allies and former staff. But despite fundraising success and resonant speeches, Obama was unable to help propel Harris to victory this year. Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also failed to win the presidency in 2016 despite his backing. Advisers from his one-time inner circle who joined Harris' campaign after President Joe Biden stepped aside are drawing fire for failing to admit any mistakes in how they handled the 2024 cycle. A day after the Nov. 5 election, the Obamas issued a statement congratulating Trump and said "progress requires us to extend good faith and grace - even to people with whom we deeply disagree." Obama made history as the first Black president of the United States and racked up comfortable margins of victory over his Republican opponents when he ran: more than seven percentage points in 2008 and nearly four in 2012. But American politics has changed since then, some strategists say. "His two wins do seem that much more remarkable in retrospect, given how much of the coalition that Republicans have built around Trump has been around racial politics," said Jeff Timmer, chief operating officer of the Lincoln Project, a political consulting group of former Republicans opposed to Trump who worked to elect Harris and Biden before her. Obama campaigned heavily for Biden, who won in 2020, but his words on the campaign trail this year backfired at least once. At a stop in Pennsylvania, he seemed to lecture Black men over their reluctance to vote for a woman, drawing criticism from some Black activists. Down-ballot demand for the former president this year was high, though. Democratic congressional candidates such as Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Senator-elect Ruben Gallego of Arizona sought Obama's help, got it, and won. "Is this the ultimate turning the page on the Obama years? Maybe," said Michael Feldman, a communications consultant and former adviser to Al Gore, reflecting on the 2024 election. "Will he still be and will she (Mrs. Obama) still be the two most popular figures within the party for the foreseeable future? The answer is absolutely." (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Heather Timmons; Editing by Heather Timmons and Deepa Babington) Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .
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