Qatar tribune Tribune News Network Doha Under the theme #TheirWarmthIsOurDuty, the representation office of Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in Yemen has launched the Warm Winter 2024-2025 project. In cooperation with Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS), the project involves distributing mattresses and blankets to 1,643 displaced and poor families in Amran and Sa’ada governorates, at a total cost of $100,000. The inauguration ceremony was held in Thula, a town in Amran. Ali Saleh Al-Azab, deputy head of YRCS chapter, said, “Today, we are launching the QRCS-funded #TheirWarmthIsOurDuty campaign, with the distribution of 530 winterkits, each containing two blankets and two mattresses. This campaign is very important, in light of the harsh weather conditions in Amran. The selected areas are extremely cold places. The project involves distributing 827 winter kits in ‘Amran, for the benefit of displaced and vulnerable families, widows, orphans, and persons with disability in Thula and Iyal Surayh districts.” He added: “We need concerted efforts to sustain funding for such campaigns, which represent the values of compassion and solidarity and help alleviate the suffering of those in need, especially during the winter. I appreciate the efforts of QRCS and local authorities, who facilitated the delivery of aid to the beneficiaries. We look forward to more support. There are areas that could not be covered, which we hope to reach out to during the upcoming campaigns.” In Sa’ada, preparations are in progress to distribute 828 winter kits, mainly for the benefit of destitute families, families with no source of income, orphans, and older persons. Part of the winter supplies were allocated to the patients at mental health and cancer hospitals in Amanat Al-Asimah. Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Al-Qashar, assistant director-general of Al-Amal Psychiatric Hospital in San’aa, stated, “Al-Amal Hospital is the only reference facility in Yemen that provides charitable services for all social groups. The hospital receives continuous and generous support from QRCS. They deserve thanks for this nice gesture and for their care for patients with mental health problems during the winter”. “We, the hospital’s management, aspire to improve the medical services provided for in-patients and poor visitors,” he explained. “With the growing number of patients and scarce resources at the hospital, we rely on QRCS to support the hospital with medications. We have experienced and highly qualified doctors, consultants, and specialists, but we lack equipment.” Ten years or conflict made Yemen one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, forcing about 4.1 million people, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to flee their homes and face difficult conditions at camps. With the onset of winter, the challenges become greater. Hydroclimatic monitoring stations recorded a significant drop in temperatures across the country — going as low as -3 ̊ during the last two months. QRCS welcomes donations via website (https//qrcs.qa/cc), donor service number (66666364), home donation collection number (33998898), and bank transfers. Copy 30/12/2024 10Famous last words: thoughts from the big names we lost in 2024, from Maggie Smith to Brian Mulroney
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are both predicting strong results for their parties, despite a 'grim' and ‘disappointing’ exit poll last night. You can keep up to date with all the General Election results throughout the weekend through Newstalk’s live blog and video stream. Last night’s poll showed Sinn Féin polling slightly ahead at 21.1%, with Fine Gael at 21% and Fianna Fáil just behind at 19.5%. Tánaiste Micheál Martin told Newstalk he had been disappointed by this prediction, but felt ‘heartened’ by current results. “I'll be honest with you, when I saw that exit poll last night, I was disappointed,” he said. “I just said to myself, ‘What the hell’, you know? “In the current modern-day scenario, one or two percent is massive now, particularly in a multiple party situation [with] a lot of independents and so on. "So, it looks like now we will exceed the exit poll – we could be the largest party in the popular vote.” However, the Tánaiste said it may be Monday before the results were called. “It’s early days, but we do see a route to a very strong finish here in this election – but I will predict that we will go into the early hours of tomorrow morning,” he said. “I think we could go to Monday before a lot of these final seats in many constituencies will be decided.” The Tánaiste looks set to top the poll at his home constituency in Cork South-Central. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Helen McEntee also looks set to top the poll in Meath East, with her party seeming to have held its vote across the country. Despite grim predictions in the run up to the vote and last night's exit poll, Minister McEntee told Newstalk she believed people were happy with the Government. “That's the sentiment or the feeling that I got on the doors – whether it was in my own constituency or indeed many of the constituencies that I travelled to,” she said. “I think there was a sense that people were relatively happy with the Government, they liked the way in which we were working and you can see that clearly in the outcome and the results so far.” Minister McEntee said there’s still ‘a long way to go’ until we see a full picture. Newstalk reporters will be at count centres around Ireland bringing you all the results as they come in. We will also be running election specials throughout today and tomorrow, and you can follow all the action on our live blog and on our social channels.
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Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company, started as a tech intelligence startup to provide data intelligence and security aid to the US government long before AI became a tech rage. It used to provide US intelligence agencies with high technology to recognised threats before they arise. It is rumored that the company with its cutting-edge technology likely helped the US government track down Osama bin Laden. The story of the company has its roots in the tragic event of 9/11. Palantir’s CEO Alex Karp realised the deep flaws in American intelligence that led to such a tragic event and recognised them. He felt there was a need for better tools and technology to prevent such terrorist acts and threats of such large scale. After this event, Karp co-founded Palantir with Peter Thiel in 2003. Their goal was to use data in such a way that threats like these can be prevented. The CEO said that he has created such a company that turns huge amounts of data into powerful tools used for intelligence and national security. Palantir’s products Gotham and Metropolis are Palantir’s two main products. Counterterrorism analysts at numerous US government agencies use Gotham. Till a few years ago they sold the data to only the government sector. However, the company has a secretive reputation stemming from their operations in fields like spycraft, antiterrorism, and intelligence collection. While Metropolis is mostly utilized by financial services firms, Gotham is utilized for a variety of purposes, including counterterrorism. What does Palantir do? War, surveillance, and AI are Palantir’s main areas of operations which heavily dealt in tech and privacy issues. They create software that enables soldiers and spies to track down the threats by making connections between mountains of data that are impossible for a human to handle on their own. And they do all of this while attempting to tightly control any personal information that shouldn't be involved. Not just military intelligence, they expanded into the fields of finance, medicine, and even aviation. For example, Palantir was there to help manage the crisis when COVID-19 threw the world into disarray by using data analysis to track the virus's spread and distribute supplies. However, this heroic way of functioning has not let the company or its founders out of controversies as they have always swum in the risky waters of tech and privacy. The company transformed the way technology is used in the most sensitive areas of security and privacy. By providing solutions to increase operational efficiency and reduce expenses, Palantir has set its eyes on revolutionizing the business sector. Their products are now also used to detect fraud and help charity organisations. Examples include, investigating illegal financial transactions connected to global human trafficking, they declined a sizable contract with a major tobacco corporation because they were concerned that the data might identify the groups most vulnerable to cigarette sales. Palantir’s rise in market Under Karp's direction, Palantir has become a significant force in AI and machine learning. The company's stock has risen 300 percent since April 2023, greatly exceeding both Nvidia's 180 percent gain and the S&P 500's 28 percent increase. The company has won large contracts, such as the USD 178 million TITAN combat system and the USD 480 million Maven AI project. The value of Palantir's cofounders' stock holdings skyrocketed through 2024 when the company's market capitalization nearly doubled. Who is Alex Karp? Alex Karp, an unsual leader, has been the company’s CEO since 2004, and as of December 2024, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$7.7 billion. He completed his PhD in neoclassical social theory from Goethe University Frankfurt after which he founded Palantir. Karp donated to Joe Biden during 2020 election and even this time he supported Kamala Harris while Thiel supported Donald Trump.Emboldened 'manosphere' accelerates threats and demeaning language toward women after US election
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VOA Correspondent Kane Farabaugh conducted numerous interviews with Jimmy Carter on issues ranging from his time in the White House to his post-presidential career as a promoter of global health and democracy. Highlights of those interviews are contained in this report. Former President Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer and Georgia state governor before becoming president, has died at the age of 100. When Carter took the oath of office as president of the United States on January 20, 1977, he promised a "government as good as its people." He presided over four turbulent years. Rising inflation and growing unemployment marred the domestic priorities of his administration. He scored victories in foreign policy with a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel and the Panama Canal treaty. However, a hostage crisis in Iran dominated his final years in the White House and contributed to his defeat in the 1980 general election. But Carter liked to say the end of his presidency in 1981 was the beginning of a new life, traveling the world "fighting disease, building hope, and waging peace." "It has turned out to open up for me and my wife, Rosalynn, a new arena of excitement and unpredictability and adventure and challenge and gratification," he told VOA. As the head of the Carter Center, the Carters traveled to more than 80 countries monitoring troubled elections, mediating disputes, and fighting diseases. This active post-White House life eventually led to the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. "I look upon the Carter Center work as an extension of what I tried to do as president. You know, we brought peace between Israel and Egypt. We opened up a humongous relationship with Latin America with the Panama Canal treaty," he said. "So what I have done since then has been kind of an extension. But I do not think there is any doubt that when I won the Nobel Peace Prize, for instance, it was because of the work of the Carter Center. So, I would be perfectly satisfied to have a legacy based on peace and human rights. I mean, who would not?" Carter's journey to the White House began in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he was born October 1, 1924. After serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy, where he helped develop the post-World War II nuclear submarine fleet, Carter returned to his hometown in 1953 to run the family peanut-farming business. He entered politics in the 1960s, serving two terms as a Georgia legislator before becoming the state's 76th governor from 1971 to 1975. In the 1976 presidential election, Carter, a Democrat, ran against Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who assumed the presidency after Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Carter narrowly defeated Ford to become president. The high point of Carter's presidency came in 1978. Carter brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to the Camp David presidential retreat in rural Maryland to negotiate a peace treaty. "When I became president, there had been four wars between Arabs and Israelis in the previous 25 years, with the Egyptians in the leadership supported by the Soviet Union," he said. "They were the only country that could really challenge Israel militarily. And we had success in getting a treaty between Israel and Egypt ... not a word of which has ever been violated." Carter also negotiated a treaty turning control of the Panama Canal over to the Panamanian government and normalized diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. But in 1979 the primary focus for Carter's administration turned to Iran, where a revolution led by religious clerics toppled the government of the U.S. backed shah, who eventually fled to the United States, where he received treatment for cancer. On November 4, 1979, militants angry with the U.S. for harboring the deposed shah, stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 66 Americans hostage, 13 were released weeks later. Five months into the crisis, in April 1980, Carter authorized a complex military operation to free the remaining hostages. Dubbed Operation Eagle Claw, the plan called for several helicopters and military aircraft to stage at a site in the Iranian desert. Carter, who approved the plan, explained to VOA that the helicopters carrying members of the U.S. military's elite Delta Force, were to fly from there to the U.S. embassy in Tehran, free the hostages and return to the waiting aircraft that would fly them out of Iran. "The minimum number of helicopters required would be six very large helicopters. So I decided to send eight. One of the helicopters, in an inexplicable way, turned around and went back to the aircraft carrier. Another one went down in a sandstorm in the Iranian desert. The third one developed a hydraulic leak and ran into one of the C-130 airplanes," he said. The aborted mission ended in failure. Eight U.S. military members and one Iranian civilian died as a result of the crash. Walter Mondale, Carter’s vice president, told VOA that day was the lowest point of their administration. "When that rescue mission failed and lives were lost. I mean, that was just ... we were just morose that day and for some time after that," Mondale said. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance resigned in protest of the operation. The failure of the mission damaged Carter's credibility with the American public. The incident occurred seven months before the 1980 presidential election and contributed to Carter's defeat to challenger Ronald Reagan. "The exact anniversary of the hostages being taken was Election Day," Carter said. "Of course, the news media were completely obsessed with the anniversary of the hostages being taken and the fact that I had not been able to get them out. That was the number one issue that caused me to fail." The hostages were freed the day Reagan became president. In 1981, Carter returned to Plains, unsure about the direction of his post-presidential life. His plans for a library and museum were initially modest. "I envisioned it to be a tiny thing, where I would have an office and some nice buildings in Atlanta. And that anyone in the world that had an ongoing conflict or potential conflict could come to me and I would help them mediate the dispute and stop a war," he said. The Carter Center, under his direction, monitored more then 80 troubled elections and mediated disputes ranging from a nuclear standoff with North Korea in 1994, to a peace agreement between Uganda and Sudan in 1999. The center is also a leader in promoting health and fighting disease in the poorest parts of the planet. In one of many interviews with Voice of America, Carter reflected on his life in and out of the White House. He said the greatest part of his legacy wasn't his accomplishments as president or the Nobel Peace Prize, but the eradication of Guinea worm disease. "There's only been one disease in the history of humankind, ever eradicated, and that was smallpox,” he said, “So Guinea worm is going to soon be the second disease in history, to be wiped off the face of the earth." Thanks to Carter’s efforts, there were only 13 cases of Guinea worm recorded in 2022. Carter led an active life until the age of 99, surviving brain cancer in 2015. Declining health and the 2020 global coronavirus pandemic kept him confined to his hometown of Plains in his final years. Jimmy Carter last appeared in public during funeral services for his wife, Rosalynn, in November 2023. In one of his last public media appearances, Carter shared with VOA his hopes for the Carter Center’s future. “I would like to see the United States in the future strive to be the number one champion in the world of peace and human rights and environmental quality, and I would say treating everyone equal,” he said. “If we could do that, we would have a real superpower in the country I love very much.” Jimmy Carter lived the longest of any occupant of the White House, and his 76-year marriage to wife Rosalynn is the longest of any president and first lady. Though his final resting place will be on the grounds of his home in Plains, Georgia, the work and the words of Carter live on in the pages of the dozens of books he authored throughout his life. It includes his memoirs, a fiction novel, controversial examinations of the Middle East, and a collection of his favorite poems.The Government will establish a new child protection investigation unit to probe cases where care provided by the state has caused harm . It’s being described as a step to improving Oranga Tamariki , which has faced a list of complaints about failures in protecting children . It also follows the Government’s apology last week to the survivors of abuse in previous state care programmes. Children’s Minister Karen Chhour said the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the abuse experienced by individuals – including children – in state care showed the risk of “not acting immediately when there are serious concerns and complaints”. She said concerns needed to be escalated and responded to with “urgency and accuracy” to ensure children in care were “not harmed or subjected to the same treatment of the many survivors who shared their stories with the nation”. “Last week, Oranga Tamariki acting chief executive Andrew Bridgman apologised to survivors of abuse in state care where he promised to do better and demand better from the care system. This is another step in Oranga Tamariki becoming a better ministry and putting action to their words.
Ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz Friday ruled out a possible return to Congress after dropping his bid to become President-elect Trump’s attorney general. The former Florida lawmaker told a right-wing podcast that he wouldn’t try to walk back his resignation from the deep-red seat that he recently won in a reelection landslide despite the implosion of his nomination amid sex-and-drug accusations. “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch but I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” Gaetz told podcast host Charlie Kirk on Real America’s Voice. Gaetz, 42, praised the Republicans jostling for a chance to take his spot on Capitol Hill and called it “a pretty poetic time to allow that great new blood to come in.” The four-term Republican said he has “other goals in life,” without elaborating. “I’m going to be fighting for President Trump,” Gaetz said. “I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.” Gaetz, one of Trump’s most vocal supporters, resigned from Congress last week at the same day as Trump nominated him to be attorney general. Many interpreted the unusual move as a ploy to avoid the planned release of a damning House Ethics Committee report into drug and sex abuse allegations. At least two young women told the panel they were paid by Gaetz for sex at drug-fueled parties in Florida and during vacation jaunts. One was only 17 and a high school student at the time. He pulled the plug on his bid as more lurid allegations surfaced and GOP senators told him he couldn’t win confirmation. It’s unclear whether the report will ever be released now that he is no longer a member of Congress and no longer vying to be attorney general. Trump quickly moved to nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in his place, a pick that drew favorable responses from GOP lawmakers and analysts. Gaetz could make a run for governor of the Sunshine State in 2026 when Gov. Ron DeSantis will be barred by term limits from running again. Some of Gaetz’s supporters have mentioned him as a possible candidate to be appointed to fill the soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat now held by Marco Rubio, who has been nominated for Secretary of State. DeSantis, who will make that pick, has kept quiet about who might be on his short list.Meo, Battle net 13 to help Coastal Carolina down South Carolina Upstate 73-51
ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — AJ Clayton scored 16 points as Ohio beat Robert Morris 84-68 on Saturday. Clayton had seven rebounds for the Bobcats (3-5). Victor Searls scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. Jackson Paveletzke and Aidan Hadaway both scored 11 points. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Wayne Rooney has encouraged I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! viewers to vote for his wife to do a Bushtucker Trial as he feels she would want to “put herself to the test”. The former England footballer, 39, said he was “proud” of how Coleen was doing in the Australian jungle in a post on social media on Saturday. The couple, who first met at school and began dating aged 16, share four sons – Kai Wayne, Klay Anthony, Kit Joseph and Cass Mac. “Proud of @ColeenRoo on @imacelebrity she’s doing great”, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, alongside a collage of photos of her on the show. “Me and the boys would love to see her doing a trial and we know she’d want to put herself to the test. “If you can download the #ImACeleb and let’s get voting!” During the first task of the series, BBC Radio 1 presenter Dean McCullough chose to partner up with TV personality Coleen as he hailed her as “Wagatha Christie”. Rooney, 38, was given the nickname when she accused Rebekah Vardy , who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy , of leaking her private information to The Sun in a viral post on social media. In July 2022, a judge at the High Court found the post was “substantially true”. During Vardy’s stint on I’m A Celebrity, she became the third celebrity to leave, saying the series helped her become more tolerant. Earlier this week, Liverpool-born Coleen told her fellow campmate that going to court over her feud with Vardy was her “worst nightmare” as she felt she was “putting on a show for the whole world”. However, she said she was not scared about making the viral post which kicked off the dispute, saying: “I just didn’t think it would have the impact it did, because I was just that sick and tired of it, it was draining.” Later in the episode, Rooney became emotional over the loss of her sister Rosie, after boxing star Barry McGuigan spoke about the death of his daughter. I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV1 and ITVX.Transportation Secretary told a gathering of young Democrats on Thursday not to be “mesmerized” by what takes place during Republican Donald Trump’s upcoming presidential term. “We cannot be mesmerized by the worst things that we see happening,” he told the group of elected officials in Washington, as . “We will be inclined to react with shock by some things which are done precisely with the intent of shocking us. We need to move very quickly through the shock.” Buttigieg, a 2020 presidential candidate and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also called on his party to “figure out how to take online conversations offline at scale.” “While it is not obvious how to do that, that is something that through human history until about 15 years ago, we all did,” he said. “So we’re going to have ways to do that that might on some level be a return to form, but on other levels entail information environment work that is unfamiliar to people who have taken a free press in a democratic society for granted.” His suggestions are akin to those of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who that it will be important for Democrats to and engage in more direct, offline communication in the years ahead. At another point during Thursday’s event, Buttigieg Democrats might deal with performative Republican antics. As an example, he cited incoming Rep. Sarah McBride’s (D-Del.) of a transgender bathroom ban in the Capitol that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) this week. Earlier this month, McBride became the first out transgender person elected to Congress. McBride responded to the ban by saying: “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families.” Buttigieg said McBride’s response to Republicans “reminded everybody that they’re the ones who are worried about where other people go to the bathroom; she’s worried about how to make life more affordable for people who live in Delaware.” He argued that this put Republicans “on the defensive.” “Let the speaker of the House ... explain how, in a country that has crises ranging from the character of its democracy to the affordability of its housing, why he is spending one second of his time policing where one of his congressional colleagues gets to go to the bathroom,” Buttigieg added. It’s not clear what role Buttigieg, a rising star in the Democratic Party, will take on next, as his position in Joe Biden’s presidential administration is set to come to an end in January.
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