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President-elect Donald Trump joined the chorus of people raising concerns about mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey and other states on the East Coast, calling on government officials to shoot down the aircraft if they are truly unidentifiable. In a Friday post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump indicated that he believes authorities know more about the drones than they are letting on. “Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don [sic] think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shot [sic] them down!!! DJT,” the president-elect wrote. Residents of Morris County, New Jersey, first started reporting nighttime sightings of the drones last month. Since then, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have investigated the objects and are looking into whether people are seeing actual drones, manned aircraft or something else. “We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” the FBI and DHS said in a joint statement Thursday. “Upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space.” Nevertheless, reports of drone sightings continued to proliferate on Friday, with even former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan posting video of what he said were “dozens of large drones” flying over his home on Thursday night. Individuals in New York and Connecticut have also reported seeing the aircraft. Trump’s missive came after White House national security spokesperson John Kirby appeared on Fox News’ “The Story” on Friday afternoon, where host Martha MacCallum pressed him about whether officials really do not have an explanation for the drone sightings. “I’m not going to lie to you or to the American people, and I’m not going to say we know something when we don’t,” Kirby said. “And we would never, ever stoop to think that an American citizen was crazy or nuts because of what they’re seeing and what they’re documenting. We’re taking that imagery seriously and we’re doing the best we can to analyze it, and we encourage people to come forward if they have additional sightings.” “Why not just take one down and figure out what’s going on?” MacCallum asked. “We don’t have enough conclusions to take that kind of a policy action,” Kirby replied. “But let’s just assume for a minute, Martha, that we did. You’re not going to want to shoot something down where it could hit somebody’s house, or hurt somebody.” She also asked what President Joe Biden has to say on the issue, and whether Elon Musk or other “outside experts” had been called in to give their opinions. Biden “has tasked the team to look into this and to be energetic in doing it, to try to get answers,” Kirby said. U.S. Senator Calls For Mysterious N.J. Drones To Be 'Shot Down, If Necessary' Drone Sightings Spread To Other States As Politicians Demand Answers N.J. State Senator Calls For State Of Emergency Over Mystery Nighttime Drone Flights
By DAVID BAUDER Time magazine gave Donald Trump something it has never done for a Person of the Year designee: a lengthy fact-check of claims he made in an accompanying interview. Related Articles National Politics | Trump’s lawyers rebuff DA’s idea for upholding his hush money conviction, calling it ‘absurd’ National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg The fact-check accompanies a transcript of what the president-elect told the newsmagazine’s journalists. Described as a “12 minute read,” it calls into question 15 separate statements that Trump made. It was the second time Trump earned the Time accolade; he also won in 2016, the first year he was elected president. Time editors said it wasn’t a particularly hard choice over other finalists Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate Middleton. Time said Friday that no other Person of the Year has been fact-checked in the near-century that the magazine has annually written about the figure that has had the greatest impact on the news. But it has done the same for past interviews with the likes of Joe Biden, Netanyahu and Trump. Such corrections have been a sticking point for Trump and his team in the past, most notably when ABC News did it during his only debate with Democrat Kamala Harris this fall. There was no immediate response to a request for comment on Friday. In the piece, Time called into question statements Trump made about border security, autism and the size of a crowd at one of his rallies. When the president-elect talked about the “massive” mandate he had received from voters, Time pointed out that former President Barack Obama won more electoral votes the two times he had run for president. The magazine also questioned Trump’s claim that he would do interviews with anyone who asked during the campaign, if he had the time. The candidate rejected a request to speak to CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the magazine said. “In the final months of his campaign, Trump prioritized interviews with podcasts over mainstream media,” reporters Simmone Shah and Leslie Dickstein wrote. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
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Robert Carter Nicholas IV, a descendant of the local administrator of the 18th-century Williamsburg Bray School, visited Williamsburg on Monday and took a tour of the restored school building that his ancestor supported. Robert Carter Nicholas Sr., known as “the treasurer” because he served from 1766 to 1775 as the last treasurer of the Colony of Virginia, served as one of the trustees of the Bray School, a charity school for free and enslaved Black children encouraged by Benjamin Franklin. The school was in operation from 1760 to 1774. Accompanying Nicholas IV on the visit were his sons, Robert Carter Nicholas V, 22, a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and James Wilson Nicholas, 18, a student at Elon University in North Carolina. Nicholas IV and his family have lived for the past 11 years in Madrid, Spain, having earlier lived in the Washington, D.C., area. His sons, while on Thanksgiving break, were scheduled to visit their grandmother in Washington; their father arranged to join them. Because they were going to be nearby, he suggested they visit Williamsburg and the Bray School to learn more about their ancestor and his relationship with the school. Several years ago, while “looking up my family tree on Ancestry.com, I learned about their connection with William & Mary. I then looked at William & Mary and found out about the Bray School,” Nicholas IV said. “The family has long known about Robert Carter Nicholas and his important position in colonial Virginia, but not about the Bray School and its history.” The building that housed the school is being restored by Colonial Williamsburg, and earlier this month was dedicated in the 250th anniversary year of the school’s closing. While the school isn’t scheduled to be fully open to the public until next year, the Nicholas family was able to get a tour while in the area. Dani Jaworski, manager of the Colonial Williamsburg Architectural Collection, was on hand Monday to explain the restoration effort and help answer questions as the Nicholas family toured the building, which sits at the corner of South Nassau and West Francis streets. She agreed that it was rare for a descendant of a colonial resident to visit Colonial Williamsburg. Nicholas V was very interested in various holes in the original wood beams in the building’s first floor. He was told that the holes and discoloration were because of the lathes used for the original plaster of the walls. He also asked about the stairway and banister that he was told were original to the building. “I’m amazed that wood that formed the building,” he said looking around the structure, “is still here more than 200 years. It is also impressive that the building has survived its several moves, including the most recent” to the current site in February 2023. Nicholas IV was impressed with the way the Bray School would be presented to the public and how much extensive research had been done in recent years. “It was nice that an ancestor had played an important role in making it a reality,” he added. Jaworski pointed out that Black descendants of the school’s students recently had signed their names to a portion of the restored structure. The family took an opportunity to look at the signatures that had brought the school’s history up to the present day. A letter from Nicholas Sr., on Nov. 17, 1774, to the Rev. John Waring of Associates of the Bray School in London, told of the school’s status. Nicholas Sr. wrote that Ann Wager “of the Negro School at Williamsburg” had died. “Seeing no prospect” of a continuation, the school was closed. From late 1761 until its closure, Nicholas Sr. had been the principle contact between the school and its London-based supporters. In addition to “managing” the school, the family learned that Nicholas Sr. also arranged for two of his enslaved children, living in town, to attend. In a Sept. 13, 1765, letter also to Waring, he wrote, “I have a Negro Girl (most probably) in my Family, who was taught at this School upwards of three Years & made as good a progress as most.” Another girl, Sarah, born in 1769, also attended in the late years of the school. Both students’ names are found in the list of school children provided by Nicholas to the Bray Associates. In correspondence with the associates, Nicholas explained the school’s plans there were “by no Means calculated to instruct the Slaves in dangerous Principles (i.e., freedom), but on the contrary ... to reform their Manners; & by making them good Christians they would necessarily become better Servants.” Over the years, the building has survived centuries of use, renovations and enlargements and a move from its original site in 1930. It was rediscovered in 2020 by retired William & Mary professor Terry L. Meyers. As he stood on the building’s first floor, Nicholas IV expressed “mixed feelings of an ancestor being a slave holder,” but was pleased that the ancestor was actively involved in doing something good for the students at the school. “We all have a duty to history, accept the realities of it, and try to understand especially the aspects that might make us uncomfortable.” The Bray School in Williamsburg was formed in 1760 with William & Mary President Thomas Dawson and William Hunter, the printer of the Virginia Gazette, as the primary trustees. Dawson died later in 1760 and was succeeded by the subsequent W&M President the Rev. William Yates. In 1761, Hunter asked Nicholas Sr. to join the trustees. Hunter died later in the year after the death of Yates in 1764. Nicholas Sr. operated the school largely on his own. Born in 1728, Nicholas Sr. was a prominent lawyer, patriot, legislator and judge. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and its successor, the Virginia House of Delegates. As a burgess he served from James City County from 1766 to 1776 and as a delegate in 1776 to 1777. He was judge of the High Court of Chancery of Virginia when he died in 1780. Virginia politician Edmund Randolph, a member of the Continental Congress in 1779 and Virginia governor in 1786, described Nicholas Sr. as having a “complacent temper; in all his actions he was benevolent and liberal.” Nicholas IV, works in internet technologies, is the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Nicholas Sr. and descends from Wilson Cary Nicholas, one of Nicholas Sr.’s several sons. Wilson Cary Nicholas, a William & Mary alumnus like his father, served as a U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1799. He was governor of Virginia from 1814-1816. He was born in 1761 in Williamsburg; later he owned a plantation in Albemarle County. Wilson Cary Nicholas also served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is buried in the Jefferson burial ground at Monticello, where he lived with his daughter, who was married to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, grandson of President Thomas Jefferson. The legacy of Wilson Cary Nicholas includes Nicholas County in West Virginia and Nicholas Hall, a dormitory at William & Mary. Wilford Kale, kalehouse@aol.com
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The most memorable visual image of Sri Lanka’s new Parliamentary session, the first to be opened by newly-elected leftwing President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, was also the moment that best symbolized the primarily progressive character or aspect of his presidency and the JVP-NPP victory. It is when he opened his car door unaided, stepped out of it in the same outfit he wore as an MP, and beamed. That, and dispensing with religio-cultural rituals that always precede or accompany such occasions here, though not in any legislature of a Republic anywhere else, extended the promise of the first fully modern Sri Lanka presidency and administration. The Political Establishment is gone, the Economic Establishment remains. The political elite is peacefully overthrown, the economic elite is more entrenched and expansive than before. A ‘bourgeois-democratic’ political revolution sweeping away an ancien regime, a decrepit political overhang, is necessary for the economic establishment to unleash growth which can take us out of the debt crisis. There is a problem, though. It is not that AKD isn’t “exiting the IMF deal” as his FSP/PSA critics demand, but that he is supinely compliant, sticking to its letter rather than striving for wiggle-room. Worse, he has chosen Citibank as intermediary with the private international creditors –that’s an almost incestuous relationship-- without tapping as negotiators, experts known to be sympathetic to Sri Lanka’s predicament such as Nobel Prize winner Joe Stiglitz or Argentina’s former Finance Minister Prof Martin Guzman. The JVP-NPP ‘revolution’ is primarily a generational revolution, which has become a political revolution and (hopefully) a cultural revolution. The average age of the NPP Ministers, Deputy Ministers and parliamentary group—as indeed that of the whole parliament—seems to represent a demographic displacement of the old political elite. With some exceptions, this is a postwar generation led by those transitional to that generation. They can look at the nation’s problems with fresh eyes. A revolution of rationality and modernity is long overdue. When Prof Howard Wriggins reviewed Prof Marshall Singer’s book on Ceylon’s ‘Emerging Elite’ of 1956 in the Journal of Asian Studies (1965) he identified the main contradiction haunting that new elite leading the nation. Closer to the cities than their voters, but closer to the villages than Colombo, they wanted a modern, industrialized nation but felt compelled to invoke the traditionalism of the social milieu from which they had come and been voted-in. The “Children of ‘56” (Mervyn de Silva, 1972) the JVP-NPP, have at long last resolved that contradiction. They were able to because of the matrix from which generations of them had emerged: the vast system of Sri Lanka’s state universities. That gives them a mindset, manner and motivation very different from, on the one hand, the SJB’s drunken dancers (with ambassadors, even) of the Royal-Thomian Mustangs tent, educated in the West even at undergraduate level, and on the other hand, the Sinhala traditionalist (‘Jathika Chinthanaya’) cultural ultranationalists. Graduation from a Sri Lankan state university is a virtue which our finest, most sophisticated foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar celebrated with his famously proud assertion when his portrait was unveiled at Balliol College, Oxford that “the cake was baked at home”. By the Kadirgamar criterion, the SJB’s ideological/policy-making elite is ‘half-baked’. Emerging from the state university matrix with its leftist ethos also gives the JVP-NPP a mindset different from the majoritarian Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism of a minority of students who suffered culture-shock from the encounter with modernity and rationality, and sought refuge in Sinhala-Buddhist ideology as a counter to the leftism and relative modernity that preponderated on the campuses. Dilith Jayaweera with his uncultured ‘sociocultural’ critique of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya is a contemporary example, but the great 1960s novel by Siri Gunasinghe, Hevanalla (The Shadow) translated into English by his wife, sets out the modernist-progressive vs. traditionalist-obscurantist clash of civilizations--and crucially, psychologies and behaviors-- on campuses already in 1950, epitomized by two antipodal characters (Wijepala and Jinadasa) who were friends from very similar social backgrounds. ( ) Socialism, Communism, Marxism-Leninism albeit ‘with Sinhala characteristics’ or ‘Lankan exceptionalist’ deviations, with much of the animating spirit and ethics ‘lost in translation’, was the passage to international politics and history, universalist theories, rationality and modernity, for generations of students from rural/provincial backgrounds. This puts them way ahead of Sinhala ultranationalists as potential agency of long-delayed rationalization and modernization of Sri Lanka. Modernity is possible only with rationality. The pre-eminence of leftism on the campuses is entirely understandable: copious US polling data shows a clear correlation between college education and leftist orientation. Indeed, the higher the educational qualification, the greater the leftist-orientation. Patali Champika Ranawaka was in the ballpark, homing-in on the Free Education generations. But he and his ex-acolyte Dilith didn’t/don’t get that even for professionals with a hard science, medicine or management background, there is no appetite for, still less identification with, rightwing ideologies. Their education and international experience, and crucially, the need to communicate with their teenage or young adult children, make them recoil from Gunadasa Amarasekara, Nalin de Silva and now Dilith Jayaweera’s ‘Jathika Chinthanaya’. Playing Modi doesn’t work here unless disguised as Nehru. The island’s value-system and ethos tend to be skewed left. Which is why on his 91st birthday Ronnie de Mel told Sajith Premadasa and Harsha de Silva that in order to revive the Open Economy they “must infuse it with a strong dose of socialistic values”, because that “underlay the social doctrine of all four major religions on the island”. In their ineffable ignorance, the Blueprint Boys thought they knew better. With the convergence of three factors, the ‘New Class’, congealed and crystalized, was ready to assume power: a)Generations of products of Sri Lankan state universities with postgraduate degrees from overseas, returning to the national universities and entering the state sector and professions (e.g. medicine). b)A substratum with university and professional placements and achievements in the West. c)An axis between the two enabled by Anura Dissanayake’s persona, discourse and NPP makeover. Meanwhile the Political Establishment was committing social suicide. The SLPP was the strong successor of a centre-left moderate-nationalist tradition founded by SWRD Bandaranaike and DA Rajapaksa (Mahinda’s father) which was primarily based on the rural areas and the peasantry. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s insane fertilizer policy wrecked the SLPP’s base which had been built up in the South by DM and DA Rajapaksa even before the SLFP was born. Why didn’t the peasantry, leaving the SLPP under the Gotabaya presidency, shift back to the SLFP? Because the SLFP had already lost that base, allying itself with Ranil Wickremesinghe in the Yahapalana years. Why did it not shift to the main Opposition SJB, which saw itself in 2020 as the SLFP of 1951? As the September 2024 Presidential election showed, Sajith Premadasa broke into Medawachchiya and Harispattuwa which demonstrated his potential (unlike Harsha de Silva, who preached about Walmart to peasant audiences) to win the rural vote, but it was far too little, far too late. This was the picture: The UNP, SLFP, SLPP, SJB lost their social bases by criminal policy follies. The JVP-NPP’s support among the peasantry and lower-middle classes mushroomed because of the social identification that “these young people from our universities can understand our pain because they come from among us. They are our last hope, when everyone else who was in Government have bankrupted us.” The urban upper/upper-middle classes deserted the political establishment, because it couldn’t deliver the vote of the masses and keep the socioeconomic elite safe, and because they felt safe enough to vote for the NPP as positioned by Anura. To re-state: 1.Where Anura and the JVP-NPP were coming from socially, brought in mass support at a time of acute economic crisis. Where they were at socially and ideologically, brought in the economic elite. Coming from the ‘grassroots’—AKD’s father was an agrarian worker-- they had become a ‘gentrified’ emergent elite. 2. Anura’s re-positioning of the JVP and launch of the NPP helped de-link the economic elite from the Establishment parties. 3. The UNP, SLFP, SLPP, SJB were “stranded out of the crease”, having neither the masses nor the business/managerial elites. The national university ‘old boy network’ of AKD and the JVP-NPP outweighed and outplayed the ‘old boy networks’ and ‘old school ties’ of the UNP-SJB (Royal-Thomian) and SLFP-SLPP (Anandian) elites. In the Aragalaya-austerity vortex, that social stratum with its ramified networks evolved into a social force. The generational shift proved vital. It took the ascendancy of the Anura-Bimal-Vijitha-Nalinda ‘age-cohort’ (including Harini, who didn’t study but taught at a state university) to be capable of a new discourse and ‘look’. Anura and his generation apprenticed as allies of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe, learning from the inside about the Lankan State which their ‘elder brothers’ had twice tried to overthrow from the outside with catastrophic results. Cumulatively, these factors enabled AKD and comrades to form a bloc of state university-educated civil servants, professionals, teachers, lawyers, scientists, intellectuals and artists, just as SWRD Bandaranaike assembled his ‘Pancha Maha Balavegaya’ (‘Five Great Forces’). Hartal 1953 opened the gap for SWRD/SLFP-MEP 1956. Aragalaya 2022 did so for AKD/JVP-NPP 2024. Ignoring Ronnie de Mel’s advice and Ranasinghe Premadasa’s example, flaunting a technocratic Blueprint (‘3.0’, mind) instead, the SJB failed to capture the all-important ‘Public Imagination’. ( ) I predicted the AKD-NPP win a year back, in November 2023, in this column. ( ) A decade ago, I was criticized for promoting Anura Kumara Dissanayake as Presidential candidate with potential for national leadership. The critique dated May 2014 published in the widest-known international Trotskyist website was entitled ‘Sri Lankan ex-radical calls for a JVP presidential candidate’. Extracts follow: ‘Dayan Jayatilleka, a former middle-class radical turned diplomat and political adviser to the Sri Lankan establishment, has proposed that Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the new leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), should be the main opposition candidate in the next presidential election... In an article published last month, entitled “Elections 2015: The Stakes,” Jayatilleka... examines possible opposition candidates, but his conclusion is striking. “What is needed to prevent catastrophe is a Hassan Rouhani-type candidacy: a moderate patriot/nationalist i.e. liberal or progressive Sinhala Buddhist.” ...Casting around for a Sri Lankan Rouhani to galvanise the opposition, Jayatilleka anoints the JVP leader. “The country would be better served by rallying round an out-of-the box presidential candidacy from the Left Opposition: Anura Kumara Dissanayake...” he declares. “...The resultant return of rationality and realism will resolve the crisis in Sri Lanka’s relations with its neighbours and the world.” The turn to the JVP is highly significant...Like Jayatilleka, the JVP has long since integrated itself into the political establishment and has cordial relations with the US embassy in Colombo. In 2004, the JVP joined the coalition government of Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party predecessor, Chandrika Kumaratunga, held three ministerial powers and supported pro-market restructuring. ...The JVP announced “a new policy framework” in February 2014, entitled “Our Vision.” Behind its phrase-mongering about “democracy” and “justice,” the party is promoting itself as a reliable defender of investors and the vehicle for a “modernised and industrialised economy.” It presented the document for prior approval to the representatives of big business at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce before its adoption at a party conference. Dissanayake, who is known for his connections in ruling circles, was installed as leader at the same conference. Despite this record, sections of the Sri Lankan ruling elite no doubt still consider the JVP untested to hold the reins of power. In an article in March 2014, Jayatilleka pointed to the experience of the Latin American bourgeoisie to convince doubters that his “out-of- the-box” suggestion is a viable means to defend their interests. “Renewal of the JVP through its new young leader [Dissanayake] brings to mind the electoral renaissance of ex-revolutionary groups in Latin America,” Jayatilleka wrote. “Given the urgency of the Sri Lankan crisis, I have no hesitation in saying ... society may—and should—shift a few steps leftward, to a JVP-centric broad Oppositional project at both Presidential and parliamentary elections...along the lines of the successful Latin American populist-democratic left.” ...Amid widespread alienation from the government and opposition parties like the UNP, Jayatilleka’s advice to the ruling class is to “shift a few steps leftward” and rely on the JVP...’ ( ) AKD wasn’t ‘converted’ by Ranil as (parliament-selected) President and Harsha-Eran as oppositional free-market preachers. His pivot dates back to 2014—before Yahapalanaya 2015. The same Trotskyist website critiqued Anura’s paradigm-shift in March 2014: ‘Sri Lanka: JVP Pledges to defend Big Business interests’. ( ) There is no economic space to the right of AKD’s regime. However, there is a neoliberal-rightwing coup attempt in the main Opposition party. Harsha and Eran are the names figuring in efforts to immediately position a rightwing successor --ousting centrist-populist Sajith Premadasa-- to Anura Dissanayake (2029), modelled on Argentina’s ultra-Right populist economist Javier Milei, an anti-BRICS, anti-Palestine, anti-Pope Francis, pro-Netanyahu, pro-Trump, Evangelical-Zionist. President AKD has made a blunder: There are no Northern or Eastern Tamils in the Cabinet. There are No Muslims in the Cabinet. There are no Northern or Eastern Tamils as Deputy Ministers. The Editor, Tamil Guardian, asserts that statistically, more Tamils have voted for Tamil ultranationalist/Tamil Eelamist/pro-Prabhakaran candidates represented by an array of Independent Groups. ( ) If true, the vacuum of ‘Ceylon’ Tamil representation in Cabinet and even as Deputy Ministers is strategic folly. My personal perspective on the delightedly expressive attendance of the JVP-NPP leaders including heavy-hitters Tilvin Silva and Vijitha Herath at the ABBA tribute show (i.e., impersonation) isn’t identical with the coruscating critique by Luxman Aravind, frequent contributor to the respected leftwing global South site Tricontinental. ( ) As one of the ambassadors who launched International Jazz Day at the UNESCO Paris, was mentioned in the LA Times by Herbie Hancock, has conversed with Quincy Jones, George Benson and Marcus Miller, and had my review of Leonard Cohen’s 2008 Montreux concert featured the next day on the website of his World Tour, my objection is musical: ABBA, original or impersonation, is pop kitsch. ( ). In Feb 2001 Fidel Castro attended the concert by the Welsh alternative rock group Manic Street Preachers at the Karl Marx Theatre, Havana. The concert’s DVD was titled ‘Louder Than War’. It was Fidel’s comeback in his conversation with the band. When they cautioned him the music would be very loud, he said “It can’t be louder than war, can it?” ( ) That was Fidel. JVP-NPP leaders of party and government (Gen-Secy, PM) attended the ABBA impersonation. ABBA sold 150 million records. Carlos Santana, 100 million. Jimi Hendrix, 24 million. The JVP-NPP is to the kind of left I can identify with and would join –the electorally successful, ex-revolutionary Latin American Left-- what ABBA is to Santana and Hendrix. That’s why, even when I spotted Anura’s potential a decade back, predicted their victory last year, and support and defend them selectively and critically today, I didn’t and wouldn’t join them. Can you dig it?Creating gender awareness among male children will reduce domestic violence – Effah-Chukwuma{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "dateCreated": "2024-11-27T20:49:31+02:00", "datePublished": "2024-11-27T20:49:31+02:00", "dateModified": "2024-11-28T07:53:16+02:00", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22159/news/rwanda/photos-kagame-receives-credentials-of-11-new-diplomats", "headline": "PHOTOS: Kagame receives credentials of 11 new diplomats", "description": "President Paul Kagame received letters of credence from 11 newly accredited envoys, at Village Urugwiro, on Wednesday, November 27. The new envoys...", "keywords": "", "inLanguage": "en", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22159/news/rwanda/photos-kagame-receives-credentials-of-11-new-diplomats" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/11/27/64961.jpg", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/11/27/64961.jpg" }, "articleBody": "President Paul Kagame received letters of credence from 11 newly accredited envoys, at Village Urugwiro, on Wednesday, November 27. The new envoys include Ambassador Sahak Sargsyan of Armenia, High Commissioner Jenny Isabella Da Rin of Australia, Ambassador Jeanne Crauser of Luxembourg, and Ambassador Mirko Giulietti of Switzerland. Others are Ambassador Lincoln G. Downer of Jamaica, Ambassador Nadeska Imara Cuthbert Carlson of Nicaragua, the High Commissioner Savvas Vladimirou of Cyprus, and Patricio Alberto Aguirre Vacchieri of Chile. Othe envoys include Dag Sjoogren of Sweden, Brigadier General Mamary Camara of Mali, and Ernest Yaw Amporful, the High Commissioner of Ghana to Rwanda; the trio will be resident in Kigali. The new envoys pledged to work towards improving the existing bilateral ties between Rwanda and their respective countries while exploring new areas of cooperation. The incoming Swedish envoy said he comes “to boost the already thriving bilateral ties between Rwanda and Sweden because this country (Rwanda) is our valuable partner.” He maintained that both countries are set to prioritize shared interests, particularly in the areas of digitalization, climate action, and health. According to him, Rwanda, and Sweden boast cordial relations backed by several bilateral agreements signed previously. Just recently, the two countries signed an MoU to develop a bilateral cooperation agreement that would enable Sweden to finance emission reduction projects in Rwanda. Jamaica’s Downer said “Rwanda is a brother country,” adding that, “my job is to reiterate this commitment as witnessed by our leaders and deepen the relations with Rwanda.” Downer said that Rwanda and Jamaica have so far signed two bilateral agreements including on political consultation and tourism. “We now need to operationalize both memoranda and it is for me now to meet with the players in Rwanda to develop a plan of action so that we can accomplish our strategic objectives.” According to Downer, Jamaica has a lot to offer in the area of tourism – to which Rwanda is an aspiring hub in the East African Community. “That is one of our leading foreign exchange earners but also in the area of logistics as Jamaica has positioned as a logistics hub in the Caribbean.” Vladimirou of Cyprus said he looked forward to the development of the bilateral cooperation. He said he already planned for a bilateral meeting with the foreign affairs minister of Cyprus and his Rwandan counterpart. “The main areas of interest are fintech and agri-tech. But as you may know, Rwanda is strategically positioned in Africa and we can see the prospects of our businesses here.” Vladimirou also touched on a potential bilateral agreement in the offing on student exchange, which he said was being planned in partnership with Rwanda’s Ministry of Education. “I see the growing interest of students from all over Africa, including Rwanda, who want to study in Cyprus and this is something we are going to work on with your Minister (of Education).” The Nicaraguan envoy said she was grateful to be in Rwanda, saying that both countries share a history of brotherhood. “We are here to deepen that friendliness in different aspects like agriculture, education, tourism, and generally help each other.” She added; “We are both on the journey of development and our priority is the people. And that's what we are here for.” Like Rwanda, Amb. Carlson said that Nicaragua has a history of struggles, which has largely contributed to the country’s resilience. “Nicaragua is a very big country by land, our main source income is agriculture, and a bit of mining, friendly people as Rwanda, and you can see the similarities. One of the things that has impressed me most is the cleanliness, women empowerment, and equity in Rwanda and this is something as Nicaragua we are fortunate to implicate for the betterness of our people.” Ghana’s Amporful said he was honoured to be the country’s first resident Ambassador to Rwanda, adding that the development signals a major milestone in the diplomatic relations between the two countries. “During my tenure, I look forward to enhancing the economic and trade relations between our two countries.” Amb. Amporful maintained that Rwanda and Ghana have witnessed growth in the two countries' trade volume, thanks in large part to the cooperation framework put in place. “My vision is to establish something like a Ghana trade mission to facilitate small-scale farmers from Ghana on the Rwandan market.” Ambassador Jeanne Crauser of Luxembourg echoed similar sentiments, citing that she was “pleased” to be the first Ambassador of her country to Rwanda. “I am eager to deepen the bilateral cooperation between both countries.” Luxembourg and Rwanda, she said, enjoy cordial relations mainly in the fields of education, climate resilience, and adaptation, as well as innovation. “Those are three areas where we are already having cooperation projects but these will not be the only areas of cooperation. It is the beginning of even greater ties.” “We are eager to help Rwanda and continue its economic transformation journey like it did in the last thirty years.” Capacity building Armenia’s Sahak Sargsyan revealed that his country is mulling ways to implement two projects in the effort of human capital development, particularly in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and robotics. “There are a couple of projects that are envisaged to be implemented in partnership with the Rwandan government, and Armenian organizations.” He explained that Armenia has committed to setting up an advanced STEM lab in Rwanda, where students in the fields of science and technology will be equipped with advanced knowledge in emerging technologies. “This will work in the form of an after-school programme of children below 18 years of age, where they will be trained in skills before they are admitted to the university.” The second project is an AI foundation where Armenian experts in the field of AI will be nurturing aspiring students in the field of AI. On education, he said, Armenia had pledged to facilitate the exchange programmes including Armenian lecturers coming to Rwanda. While Armenia is relatively new to the Sub-Saharan region, Amb. Sargsyan pointed out that the country has a strong historical presence in the East Africa region. “So, we are trying to rewrite our strong ties with African countries starting with Rwanda because we share multiple similarities.”", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edwin Ashimwe" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/", "sameAs": ["https://www.facebook.com/TheNewTimesRwanda/","https://twitter.com/NewTimesRwanda","https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZbZj6DF9zWXpdZVceDZkg"], "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "/theme_newtimes/images/logo.png", "width": 270, "height": 57 } }, "copyrightHolder": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/" } }
Supreme Court will take up a challenge related to California's tough vehicle emissions standards WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will take up a business-backed appeal that could make it easier to challenge federal regulations, acting in a dispute related to California’s nation-leading standards for vehicle emissions. The justices agreed Friday to hear an appeal filed by fuel producers who object to a waiver granted to California in 2022 by the Environmental Protection Agency during Joe Biden’s presidency. The waiver allows California to set more stringent emissions limits than the national standard. The case won’t be argued until the spring, when the Trump administration is certain to take a more industry-friendly approach to the issue. Musk says US is demanding he pay penalty over disclosures of his Twitter stock purchases DETROIT (AP) — Elon Musk says the Securities and Exchange Commission wants him to pay a penalty or face charges involving what he disclosed — or failed to disclose — about his purchases of Twitter stock before he bought the social media platform in 2022. In a letter, Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro tells the outgoing SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, that the commission’s demand for a monetary payment is a “misguided scheme” that won’t intimidate Musk. The letter also alleges that the commission reopened an investigation this week into Neuralink, Musk’s computer-to-human brain interface company. The SEC has not released the letter. Nor would it comment on it or confirm whether it has issued such a demand to Musk. Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is pushing toward a vote on legislation that would provide full Social Security benefits to millions of people. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer began the process on Thursday for a final vote on the bill, known as the Social Security Fairness Act. It would eliminate policies that currently limit Social Security payouts for roughly 2.8 million people. The legislation has passed the House. The bill would add more strain on the Social Security Trust funds, which are already estimated to be unable to pay out full benefits beginning in 2035. The measure would add an estimated $195 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Saudi Arabia banned film for 35 years. The Red Sea festival is just one sign of the industry's rise JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — “My Driver and I” was supposed to be made in 2016, but was scuttled amid Saudi Arabia’s decades-long cinema ban. Eight years later, the landscape for film in the kingdom looks much different. And the star of “My Driver and I” now has an award. Roula Dakheelallah was named the winner of the Chopard Emerging Saudi Talent award at the Red Sea International Film Festival on Thursday. Both the award and the glitzy festival itself are signs of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to shaping a new film industry. The reopening of cinemas in 2018 after 35 years marked a cultural turning point for Saudi Arabia. Trump offers support for dockworkers union by saying ports shouldn't install more automated systems WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is offering his support for the dockworkers union before their contract expires next month at Eastern and Gulf Coast ports. He posted on social media Thursday that he met with union leaders and that any further “automation” of the ports would harm workers. He wrote that the “amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers.” The International Longshoremen’s Association has until Jan. 15 to negotiate a new contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies. The Maritime Alliance says the technology will improve worker safety and strengthen our supply chains, among other things. IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS leadership on Thursday announced that the agency has recovered $4.7 billion in back taxes and proceeds from a variety of crimes. The announcement comes under the backdrop of a promised reckoning from Republicans who will hold a majority over both chambers of the next Congress and have long called for rescinding the tens of billions of dollars in funding provided to the agency by Democrats. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said improvements made to the agency will help the incoming administration and new Republican majority congress achieve its goals of administering an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Unique among 'Person of the Year' designees, Donald Trump gets a fact-check from Time magazine Donald Trump got something this year that no other person designed Time magazine's Person of the Year had ever received. He got a fact-check of claims that the president-elect made in the interview accompanying the magazine's piece. Trump earned the recognition of the year's biggest newsmaker for the second time, also winning it in 2016 the first time he was elected president. But in a piece described as a “12-minute” read, Time called into question more than a dozen statements Trump made when speaking to the magazine's reporters, on issues like border size, autism and crowd size at a rally. Time said it has fact-checked other interviews in the past, but not for this annual feature. OpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship' A 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and best avoid an artificial intelligence ‘dictatorship’ is now heading to a federal judge. The development comes as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker’s ongoing conversion into a for-profit company. Musk was an early OpenAI investor and board member. But he sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year. He has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. OpenAI filed its response in court Friday. OpenAI's Altman will donate $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund LOS ANGELES (AP) — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is planning to make a $1 million personal donation to President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, joining a number of tech companies and executives who are working to improve their relationships the incoming administration. A spokesperson for OpenAI confirmed the move on Friday. The announcement comes one day after Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it donated $1 million to the same fund. Amazon also said it plans to donate $1 million. China signals it's prepared to double down on support for the economy as Trump tariffs loom BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese leaders met this week to plot economic policy for the coming year and sketched out plans to raise government spending and relax Beijing's monetary policy. Analysts said the broad-brush plans from the annual Central Economic Work Conference were more of a recap of current policy than ambitious new initiatives at a time when the outlook is clouded by the President-elect Donald Trump's threats to sharply raise tariffs once he takes office. The ruling Communist Party did commit to raising China's deficit and to doing more to encourage consumer spending by bringing wage increases in line with the pace of economic growth. Here's a look at China's main priorities and their potential implications.Watsco WSO has outperformed the market over the past 5 years by 9.49% on an annualized basis producing an average annual return of 23.07%. Currently, Watsco has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion. Buying $1000 In WSO: If an investor had bought $1000 of WSO stock 5 years ago, it would be worth $2,843.78 today based on a price of $509.72 for WSO at the time of writing. Watsco's Performance Over Last 5 Years Finally -- what's the point of all this? The key insight to take from this article is to note how much of a difference compounded returns can make in your cash growth over a period of time. This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.As America prepares to transition to a new presidential administration, I want to take stock of the progress we have made together in laying the foundations for an economy that creates opportunity for all Americans. Over the last four years, we’ve faced some of the most challenging economic conditions in our history. Not only have we recovered, we’ve come out stronger, and have laid foundations for a promising new chapter in our American comeback story. It will take years to see the full effects in terms of new jobs and new investments all around the country, but we have planted the seeds that are making this happen. If these investments and actions are built upon, U.S. economic leadership will be stronger and the middle class more secure in the years and decades ahead. When I took office, the economy wasn’t working for most Americans. It was clear that a fundamentally new playbook was essential. My focus was to transform the economy to improve the lives of regular Americans, the kinds of people I grew up with. That’s why I fought to invest in the jobs of the future, lower costs, raise wages, and strengthen workers and small businesses—because I know this will help American families and build the economy from the middle out and bottom up. At that time, economic policy was in the grip of a failed approach called trickle-down economics. Trickle-down tried to grow the economy from the top down. It slashed taxes for the wealthy and large corporations and tried to get government “out of the way,” instead of delivering for working people, investing in infrastructure, and ensuring America stays at the leading edge of innovation. But this approach failed. Too many Americans saw an economy that was stacked against them with failing infrastructure, communities that had been hollowed out, manufacturing jobs that were offshored to China, prescription drugs that cost than in any other developed country, and workers who had been left behind. I believe that, from America’s earliest days, we have been at our best when we have taken on important challenges and fought to deliver big things on behalf of the American people—from the Erie Canal to the transcontinental railroad, from the Hoover Dam to rural electrification, from the Social Security system to the National Highway System. As president, I fought to write a new economic playbook that builds the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down. I fought to make smart investments in America’s future that put us in the lead globally. I fought to create good jobs that give working families and the middle class a fair shot and the chance to get ahead. I fought to lower costs for consumers and give smaller businesses a fair chance to compete. In what follows, I describe why this new approach is so important. I have always seen the economy from the perspective of the small city where I grew up—a city with a proud history of making things in America, a city that fell on hard times when politicians turned their backs on communities like mine. Too many corporations moved their supply chains overseas and focused on quarterly profits and share buybacks instead of investing in their workers and communities here at home. Our fell further and further behind, and a flood of cheap, subsidized imports from China and other countries our factory towns. Economic opportunity and innovation became more and more in a few major cities, while heartland communities were left behind. Scientific discoveries and inventions developed in America were in countries abroad, bolstering their manufacturing instead of ours. I came to office with a different vision. When I said I was president of all America, I meant it. I was determined we would invest in the places that have suffered from neglect and disinvestment: rural areas, manufacturing towns, coal and power plant communities, in red states and blue states. I was determined to create good jobs with family-sustaining wages that don’t require a four-year college degree. I vowed to restore U.S. leadership in the industries of the future—like semiconductors and clean energy—while fortifying our infrastructure and supply chains. I committed to putting the United States back in a position of clean-energy leadership and building a 100 percent clean power grid. We succeeded in securing historic investment laws to turn those goals into reality. My Investing in America Agenda—the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—together mark the most in the United States since the New Deal. For many years, this country’s infrastructure was underresourced and neglected. Since the passage of the BIL, we have been hard at work expanding high-speed internet, replacing pipes to provide clean drinking water in every community, and rebuilding roads and bridges and ports and airports . These projects are creating millions of good jobs—many of them unionized—so American families across America will share in the benefits of the infrastructure investments. In the years since I took office, we’ve funded over infrastructure and clean-energy projects in every state and territory in the country. The has hit record highs. Already, tens of thousands of skilled construction workers are hard at work building the factories of the future. Soon, these factories will be hiring advanced manufacturing workers, and products from semiconductors to batteries to electric vehicles will be rolling off of these new, American production lines. The Inflation Reduction Act is the single investment in clean energy in the history of the world. It is creating good-paying jobs and investing in American manufacturing, while also taking action to reduce emissions. It is spurring investments to build solar panels in ; to build wind towers in ; and to manufacture and recycle batteries in . Our place-based investment approach is creating economic opportunity in communities across the country that had been . Our investments in high-speed internet and transportation networks are reconnecting these communities to jobs and revitalizing small businesses. We are investing in technology and innovation engines in every region of the country that will sustain economic development for years to come. We are supporting farmers that use climate-smart agriculture practices and ensuring rural small businesses can access historic development resources that will cut energy costs and increase energy efficiency. Communities across the country are poised for economic comebacks. With the benefit of our special investment incentives, the places hit hardest by and by are receiving a disproportionate share of new investment, bringing hope to communities that have been . For instance, the first in 40 years will be built in Kentucky, powered entirely by clean energy. We have taken on behalf of American workers, businesses, and factory towns to counter violations of our trade laws. China is using unfair practices to flood global markets with underpriced goods in sectors like vehicles and solar cells and wafers. That’s why we imposed tariffs on imports from China in key sectors. A on Chinese electric vehicles, for instance, is enabling American auto communities to continue powering the global car industry. But tariffs by themselves are no panacea. To regain and sustain America’s lead in areas from clean energy to semiconductors, it is vital to couple targeted tariffs with strong investments in manufacturing, R&D, and workforce. While semiconductors were invented in America, for too many years politicians in Washington gave up on the semiconductor industry, and leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing moved to Asia. But thanks to the CHIPS and Science Act, some of the most advanced semiconductors in the world will be built in ; ; ; and . Before the CHIPS and Science Act, of the world’s leading-edge chips were manufactured in Taiwan. Some skeptics said America could never compete. They were wrong. With the benefit of a CHIPS award, not only has global leader TSMC committed to build three - manufacturing plants in Arizona, but in October it was early production yields at one of those plants met those at manufacturing plants in Taiwan. And America will be the only economy in the world to have all five of the most advanced semiconductor manufacturers in the world operating on its shores—no other economy has more than two. My investment agenda is already attracting in commitments of private capital so far, not crowding it out. These investments are helping to strengthen our supply chains, so that we won’t be dependent on a single foreign country for the semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, or critical minerals that we need. And they are starting to create opportunities for workers, businesses, and communities to contribute to the economy in the world. This is my vision—a future that is made by American workers across America. It will take years to see the full effects in terms of new jobs and new investments all around the country, but we have laid strong foundations, and now it is important to build on and not reverse the progress we have made. I’ve long seen the economy through the eyes of my dad, who used to say, “A job is a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about your place in the community.” But trickle-down economics ignored this basic truth. Tax cuts for the wealthy create opportunities for workers and their families. Instead, factory towns were hollowed out, and fewer Americans ended up than their parents. My middle-out/bottom-up economic playbook instead puts working families and the middle class at the center of all of my economic policies. When I took office, the economy was in chaos. of businesses were shut down, and of Americans were out of a job. As soon as I came to office, I signed the American Rescue Plan that vaccinated the nation and got our economy going again. As a result, America returned to full employment than other advanced economies, and has seen the lowest average of any administration in 50 years. The share of working-age Americans who are employed is at a multi-decade high, at over . We’ve also seen record lows in unemployment for workers who have often been previous recoveries. In our full-employment expansion, the real pay of low-wage workers that of higher-paid workers, the reverse of what we saw under trickle-down. The pandemic and the inflation it created caused enormous pain and hardship for families across America. That’s true not just for us but for every major economy in the world. But now, inflation has come down in the United States— than almost any of the world’s other advanced economies. I know how important it is to provide pathways to middle-class careers for the who choose not to pursue a four-year college degree. The many investments I described above have provided an unprecedented opportunity to create good jobs in construction and manufacturing. We created in areas with new investments to align high schools, community colleges, unions, businesses, and local governments around stackable credentials that enable students to move seamlessly from the classroom to careers, and allow workers to upskill and secure better jobs. To build the pipeline of skilled and trained workers for the industries of the future, we’ve also invested in registered apprenticeships and career technical education programs than any previous administration, with hired during my time in office. Many of these apprenticeship programs are sponsored by unions, which means that graduates will earn a good union wage with benefits and retirement. The middle-out/bottom-up playbook supports unions because unions have been vital to building the middle class by providing pathways to family-sustaining careers. When I came to office, union workers and retirees faced cuts of or more to their earned benefits through no fault of their own. But we fought for and secured the Butch Lewis Act to restore and protect the pension benefits they earned. Because of this law, we have protected the pensions of union workers and retirees so far. Expanding unionization is essential to creating a fairer economy. The evidence is clear: Unions are the best way for American workers to get their fair share. I was proud to be the president to walk a picket line with workers. I appointed members to the National Labor Relations Board to enforce our labor laws rather than undermine them, as happened under the previous administration. It is no accident that union election petitions have since I took office. Support for unions is the it’s been in more than half a century, and the labor movement is expanding to new companies and industries. The middle-out/bottom-up playbook is not just about giving working families a fair shot, it is also about asking the very wealthy and most profitable corporations to pay their fair share. We need to balance our tax system to work in favor of the middle class and working families, not the rich and well-connected. Tax fairness is central to building an economy that works for all Americans—where growth is broadly shared and we keep our commitments to seniors and have the resources to meet key national needs over the long run. I promised not to raise taxes on middle-class families, and I kept my promise. Instead, I delivered tax cuts to help families raise children and afford health care. I fought hard to expand the Child Tax Credit because it is one of the investments we can make, cutting child poverty nearly in in 2021. I also secured an expansion of the premium tax credits to make health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans, which helped lift health insurance coverage to levels and doubled Black and Hispanic enrollment, with over people enrolled. I also secured investments to make sure wealthy taxpayers pay what they owe and play by the same rules. After a decade of severe underfunding, I fought hard to secure an investment in modernizing the IRS that is already paying off. The IRS is already collecting over a from wealthy tax cheats. It has successfully rolled out Direct File, offering millions of Americans a free and easy way to file their taxes for the first time. I’ve also long seen the economy from the perspective of my family’s kitchen table growing up, so I know that the high prices from the pandemic have been hard on American consumers. That’s why I have been laser-focused on lowering costs for hardworking Americans. Our work to help unsnarl supply chains helped bring inflation back down to the levels right before the pandemic. But even with pandemic inflation back down, many consumer prices are too high. In some sectors of the economy, high prices reflect inadequate competition. And too often, politicians in Washington haven’t had the courage to take on big corporate interests when they use their market power to mark up their prices. Promoting competition is central to my vision for an American economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out. I came to office determined to make promoting competition a priority for every agency. Fair competition means better choices, a fair shot for small businesses, a more resilient economy, and lower prices. This is particularly important in health care. It’s not right that Americans more to buy a prescription drug in Chicago than it costs elsewhere in the world. I am proud that I took on the pricing power of Big Pharma and secured major cost savings in the Inflation Reduction Act. Due to the IRA, people with Medicare pay no more than $35 a month for insulin, down from as much as $400. Out-of-pocket drug costs for people with Medicare will be capped at $2,000 starting next year. But seniors are already saving on lower prescription drug costs thanks to the IRA. In just the first six months of 2024, seniors got $1 billion back in their pockets with additional savings in the years ahead thanks to this historic legislation. Starting in 2026, prices will be reduced by on key drugs for people with Medicare, and taxpayers will save roughly $160 billion over a decade. We also worked to lower gas prices. After Russia’s war against Ukraine caused gas prices to spike globally, I undertook the biggest of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in history. I also encouraged oil and gas companies to take their record profits and invest in more production. Today, American energy production is at —including record oil and gas production—and the price of a gallon of gas is below the level before the time of the invasion. In addition, we have successfully replenished all of our reserves while making taxpayers a profit . By , we lowered costs for families while securing a good deal for U.S. taxpayers. Fair competition is especially important for small businesses, which need a level playing field to have a fair shot to compete and win. Our competition and investment policies are unleashing a wave of new business startups on Main Streets in towns and cities across the country. In fact, we have seen new business applications during this administration—the three strongest years on record. Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs have been leaders of this small-business boom, with Black business ownership and Hispanic business ownership since before the pandemic. The share of women business owners is also on the . The bottom line is, the past four years have been marked by some of the toughest economic challenges in American history. We took decisive action and it paid off, with the strongest economic comeback in the world. Even while managing that recovery, we made generational investments in our economy and balanced the scales more toward workers and the middle class. Outside have noted that due to our policies, “President-elect Trump is receiving the strongest economy in modern history which is the envy of the world.” It is worth reviewing the facts on the U.S. economy that I am handing off to my successor: Unemployment has been at the lowest average rate of any administration in 50 years. We have created over 16 million new jobs, and more than 1.5 million of those are in manufacturing and construction. Inflation has been brought down close to 2 percent, the same level as right before the pandemic. Incomes are up adjusted for inflation, and unions have won wage increases in industries like autos, ports, aerospace, and trucking. We’ve seen 20 million applications to start small businesses. Our economy has grown 3 percent per year on average the last four years— than any other advanced economy. Domestic energy production is at a record high, and gas prices are around $3 per gallon. When I came to office, I believed the only way for a president to lead America was to lead of America. In fact, the historic investments I made went more to red states than blue states. I believe that the economy as I leave is stronger for Americans. And I believe there is no country on Earth better positioned to lead the world in the years to come than America today. Now we are at an inflection point. The next four years will determine whether the incoming administration builds on this strength. If it does, then 10 or even 50 years from now, U.S. economic leadership will be even stronger than it is today—proving that when the middle class does well, we all do well.NEW YORK, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Outbrain Inc. (NASDAQ: OB) (“Outbrain”), a leading technology platform that drives business results by engaging people across the Open Internet, announced today that, at its special meeting of shareholders (the “Special Meeting”) held earlier today, Outbrain shareholders voted to approve the issuance of 35 million shares of common stock and 10.5 million Series A Convertible Preferred Shares, which are convertible into common stock, in connection with the acquisition of Teads S.A. (the “Share Issuance Proposal”). The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2025. “We are pleased with the outcome of today’s special meeting and extend our appreciation to our shareholders for supporting the combination with Teads,” said David Kostman, Chief Executive Officer of Outbrain. “Today’s shareholder approval marks a major milestone in the process to combine our two complementary businesses. We look forward to the closing of the transaction and becoming a global leader on the Open Internet delivering our full funnel value proposition to drive great outcomes for brands and media owners,” added Kostman. At the Special Meeting, more than 64% of the outstanding shares of common stock were present or represented by proxy, and more than 99% of these shares voted in favor of the Share Issuance Proposal. The final voting results of the Special Meeting will be reported in a Form 8-K to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements generally relating to possible or assumed future results of our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, plans and objectives and statements relating to the transaction to acquire Teads (“Transaction”). You can generally identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “foresee,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions, or are not statements of historical fact. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors including, but not limited to: the risk that the conditions to the consummation of the transaction will not be satisfied (or waived); uncertainty as to the timing of the consummation of the transaction and Outbrain and Teads’ ability to complete the transaction; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance or condition that could give rise to the termination of the share purchase agreement; the failure to obtain, or delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals or clearances; the risk that any such approval may result in the imposition of conditions that could adversely affect Outbrain or Teads, or the expected benefits of the transaction; the failure to obtain the necessary debt financing to complete the transaction; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on Outbrain’s or Teads’ operating results and business generally; risks that the transaction disrupts current plans and operations or diverts management’s attention from its ongoing business; the initiation or outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Outbrain or Teads, or their respective directors or officers, related to the transaction; unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the transaction; the risk that Outbrain’s stock price may decline significantly if the transaction is not consummated; the effect of the announcement of the transaction on the ability of Outbrain and Teads to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their customers, suppliers and others with whom they do business; the ability of Outbrain to successfully integrate Teads’ operations, technologies and employees; the ability to realize anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction, including the expectation of enhancements to Outbrain’s services, greater revenue or growth opportunities, operating efficiencies and cost savings; overall advertising demand and traffic generated by Outbrain and the combined company’s media partners; factors that affect advertising demand and spending, such as the continuation or worsening of unfavorable economic or business conditions or downturns, instability or volatility in financial markets, and other events or factors outside of Outbrain and the combined company’s control, such as U.S. and global recession concerns; geopolitical concerns, including the ongoing war between Ukraine-Russia and conditions in Israel and the Middle East; supply chain issues; inflationary pressures; labor market volatility; bank closures or disruptions; the impact of challenging economic conditions; political and policy uncertainties resulting from the U.S. presidential election; and other factors that have and may further impact advertisers’ ability to pay; Outbrain and the combined company’s ability to continue to innovate, and adoption by Outbrain and the combined company’s advertisers and media partners of expanding solutions; the success of Outbrain and the combined company’s sales and marketing investments, which may require significant investments and may involve long sales cycles; Outbrain and the combined company’s ability to grow their business and manage growth effectively; the ability to compete effectively against current and future competitors; the loss or decline of one or more large media partners, and Outbrain and the combined company’s ability to expand advertiser and media partner relationships; conditions in Israel, including the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and other terrorist organizations, may limit Outbrain and the combined company’s ability to market, support and innovate their products due to the impact on employees as well as advertisers and advertising markets; Outbrain and the combined company’s ability to maintain revenues or profitability despite quarterly fluctuations in results, whether due to seasonality, large cyclical events or other causes; the risk that research and development efforts may not meet the demands of a rapidly evolving technology market; any failure of Outbrain or the combined company’s recommendation engine to accurately predict attention or engagement, any deterioration in the quality of Outbrain or the combined company’s recommendations or failure to present interesting content to users or other factors which may cause us to experience a decline in user engagement or loss of media partners; limits on Outbrain and the combined company’s ability to collect, use and disclose data to deliver advertisements; Outbrain and the combined company’s ability to extend their reach into evolving digital media platforms; Outbrain and the combined company’s ability to maintain and scale their technology platform; the ability to meet demands on our infrastructure and resources due to future growth or otherwise; the failure or the failure of third parties to protect Outbrain and the combined company’s sites, networks and systems against security breaches, or otherwise to protect the confidential information of Outbrain and the combined company; outages or disruptions that impact Outbrain or the combined company or their service providers, resulting from cyber incidents, or failures or loss of our infrastructure; significant fluctuations in currency exchange rates; political and regulatory risks in the various markets in which Outbrain and the combined company operate; the challenges of compliance with differing and changing regulatory requirements; the timing and execution of any cost-saving measures and the impact on Outbrain and the combined company’s business or strategy; and the other risk factors and additional information described in the definitive proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on October 31, 2024, in the section entitled “Risk Factors”, and under the heading “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Outbrain’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 8, 2024 for the year ended December 31, 2023 and Outbrain’s Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 8, 2024 for the period ended June 30, 2024, and in subsequent reports filed with the SEC. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as an indication of future performance. We cannot assure you that the results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur, and actual results, events, or circumstances could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation and do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or otherwise, except as required by law. About Outbrain Outbrain is a leading technology platform that drives business results by engaging people across the Open Internet. Outbrain predicts moments of engagement to drive measurable outcomes for advertisers and publishers using AI and machine learning across more than 8,000 online properties globally. Founded in 2006, Outbrain is headquartered in New York with offices in Israel and across the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America. For more information, visit https://www.outbrain.com . Media Contact press@outbrain.com Investor Relations Contact IR@outbrain.com (332) 205-8999