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Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug useKUWAIT CITY, Dec 15: Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz” concluded its participation as a Strategic Sponsor for the fourth “UniCODE” Competition 2024 by Coded Academy. The academy awarded three winning teams in the graduation ceremony, hosted at Boursa Kuwait on December 14. Markaz’s support for this initiative aims to build human capacity and support the education of Kuwaiti youth while aligning with the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Ms. Maryam Al-Rifae, Senior Vice President – Client Processes & Internal Controls, Wealth Management and Business Development at Markaz, said: “We are proud to have partnered with Coded Academy once again to celebrate the winning teams’ massive efforts through the intensive educational program, encouraging young talents in the field of technology. We believe that investing in education and development is necessary, especially for the youth that represent the future of Kuwait. By empowering young minds with these transformative skills, Markaz aims to play a pivotal role in ensuring that Kuwait’s workforce remains competitive, adaptable, and ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow.” "At CODED Academy, we are proud to announce the success of the fourth edition of the UniCODE program, which provided training to more than 250 university students from various majors on diverse technical topics. We extend our deepest gratitude to Markaz and Boursa Kuwait, our strategic partners in the UniCODE program, for their invaluable contribution to the program’s objectives of empowering university students to achieve their aspirations and preparing them to be active contributors in the digital future. Our partnership reflects a shared belief in the importance of equipping young people with technical skills. We are confident that programs like UniCODE open doors and provide real opportunities for young individuals to acquire modern skills, preparing them to enter the workforce with confidence and competence," said Mr. Hashim Behbehani, Co-Founder and CEO at Coded Academy. Senior Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Boursa Kuwait Mr. Nasser Mishari Al-Sanousi expressed his pride during his speech at the graduation ceremony, saying: "Today, we celebrate the remarkable achievements of 250 students who have completed this program and shown their belief in the importance of continuous learning and the pursuit of innovation. We are confident that the participants of this program are better prepared to contribute to cutting-edge technological fields, equipped with the skills necessary to drive progress and development in Kuwaiti society. Boursa Kuwait was proud to sponsor and host this program, reflecting the company's steadfast commitment to supporting a new generation of Kuwaiti professionals and entrepreneurs in a rapidly evolving global economy as well as reaffirming its role as a driver of societal progress, contributing to building a knowledge-based society capable of overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities. In closing, I would like to congratulate all the graduates for their dedication, perseverance, and hard work, which have culminated in an extraordinary achievement. May this success be the foundation for even greater accomplishments ahead." The seven-week program, made up of three tracks taught students the latest languages in coding and training on cybersecurity, web and app development and artificial intelligence (AI). The cybersecurity track allowed the students to master key topics including Linux, cryptography, and digital forensics to effectively navigate and secure digital environments. The app development track focused on Flutter, with a focus on building high-performance mobile apps, while the third track was purely focused on web development and building webpages. By fostering expertise in cutting-edge fields such as web and app development, cybersecurity, and AI, the program and Markaz’s involvement help bridge the skills gap in Kuwait’s youth, enabling them to not only meet the demands of the global tech industry but also contribute to the development of the economy.
Tinubu urges ECOWAS leaders to emulate Ghana’s democratic maturityWhen Zainab Ferozi saw Afghan women struggling to feed their families after Taliban authorities took power, she took matters into her own hands and poured her savings into starting a business. Two-and-a-half years after putting 20,000 Afghanis ($300) earned from teaching sewing classes into a carpet weaving enterprise, she now employs around a dozen women who lost their jobs or who had to abandon their education due to Taliban government rules. Through her business in the western province of Herat, the 39-year-old also “covers all the household expenses” of her family of six, she told AFP from her office where samples of brightly coloured and exquisitely woven rugs and bags are displayed. Her husband, a labourer, cannot find work in one of the poorest countries in the world. Ferozi is one of many women who have launched small businesses in the past three years to meet their own needs and support other Afghan women, whose employment sharply declined after the Taliban took power in 2021. Before the Taliban takeover, women made up 26% of public sector workers, a figure that “has effectively decreased to zero”, according to UN Women. Girls and women have also been banned from secondary schools and universities under restrictions the UN has described as “gender apartheid”. Touba Zahid, a 28-year-old mother-of-one, started making jams and pickles in the small basement of her home in the capital Kabul after she was forced to stop her university education. “I came into the world of business...to create job opportunities for women so they can have an income that at least covers their immediate needs,” Zahid said. Half a dozen of her employees, wearing long white coats, were busy jarring jams and pickles labelled “Mum’s delicious homecooking”. While women may be making the stock, running the shops in Afghanistan remains mostly a man’s job. Saleswomen like Zahid “cannot go to the bazaar to promote and sell their products” themselves, said Fariba Noori, chairwoman of the Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI). Another issue for Afghan businesswomen is the need for a “mahram” – a male family member chaperone – to accompany them to other cities or provinces to purchase raw materials, said Noori. After 40 years of successive conflicts, many Afghan women have been widowed and lost many male relatives. Despite these challenges, the number of businesses registered with tha AWCCI has increased since the Taliban takeover, according to Noori. The number went “from 600 big companies to 10,000” mainly small, home-based businesses and a few bigger companies, said Noori, herself a businesswoman for 12 years. Khadija Mohammadi, who launched her eponymous brand in 2022 after she lost her private school teaching job, now employs more than 200 women sewing dresses and weaving carpets. “I am proud of every woman who is giving a hand to another woman to help her become independent,” said the 26-year-old. Though businesses like Mohammadi’s are a lifeline, the salaries ranging from 5,000-13,000 Afghanis, cannot cover all costs and many women are still stalked by economic hardship. Qamar Qasimi, who lost her job as a beautician after the Taliban authorities banned beauty salons in 2023, said that even with her salary she and her husband struggle to pay rent and feed their family of eight. “When I worked in the beauty salon, we could earn 3,000-7,000 Afghanis for styling one bride, but here we get 5,000 per month,” said the 24-year-old. “It’s not comparable but I have no other choice,” she added, the room around her full of women chatting as they worked at 30 looms. The closure of beauty salons was not only a financial blow, but also removed key spaces for women to socialise. Zohra Gonish decided to open a restaurant to create a women-only space in northeastern Badakhshan province. “Women can come here and relax,” said the 20-year-old entrepreneur. “We wanted the staff to be women so that the women customers can feel comfortable here.” However, starting her business in 2022 at age 18 was not easy in a country where the labour force participation for women is 10 times lower than the world average, according to the World Bank. It took Gonish a week to convince her father to support her. Aside from helping their families and having space to socialise, some women said work has given them a sense of purpose. Sumaya Ahmadi, 15, joined Ferozi’s carpet company to help her parents after she had to leave school and became “very depressed”. “(Now) I’m very happy and I no longer have any mental health problems. I’m happier and I feel better.” The work has also given her a new goal: to help her two brothers build their futures. “Because schools’ doors are closed to girls, I work instead of my brothers so they can study and do something with their lives.” Related Story Lebanon accuses Israel of rejecting ceasefire Hour and Hour Programme CEO honoured by Women’s Police InstituteBERLIN (AP) — Harry Kane scored a hat trick including two penalties for Bayern Munich to beat Augsburg 3-0 in the Bundesliga on Friday. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * BERLIN (AP) — Harry Kane scored a hat trick including two penalties for Bayern Munich to beat Augsburg 3-0 in the Bundesliga on Friday. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? BERLIN (AP) — Harry Kane scored a hat trick including two penalties for Bayern Munich to beat Augsburg 3-0 in the Bundesliga on Friday. The win stretched Bayern’s lead to eight points ahead of the rest of the 11th round, and Kane took his goals tally to a league-leading 14. The England forward is the fastest player to reach 50 goals in the Bundesliga in what was his 43rd game. However, coach Vincent Kompany should be concerned by his team’s ongoing difficulty of scoring in matches it dominates. Bayern previously defeated St. Pauli and Benfica only 1-0. Kompany’s team had to wait until stoppage time before Kane sealed the result with his second penalty. Two minutes later, Kane scored with a header after controlling Leon Goretzka’s cross with his first touch for a flattering scoreline. “We had to be patient,” Kane said. “And at halftime that’s what we said, to keep doing what we’re doing. We had a few chances in the first half and we just had to be a bit more clinical and obviously, thankfully, we got the penalty to kind of open the game up.” Mads Pedersen was penalized for handball following a VAR review and Kane duly broke the deadlock in the 63rd. Bayern continued as before with 80% possession, but had to wait for Keven Schlotterbeck to be penalized through VAR for a foul on Kane. Kane sealed the result in the third minute of stoppage time and there was still time for him to grab another. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. It’s Bayern’s seventh consecutive win without conceding a goal since it conceded four at Barcelona (4-1) on Oct. 23 in the Champions League. “You can see now that we have a solid defense and that’s the basis, also in games like today’s,” Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich said. “When it’s a game of patience, then it’s important for us to know that sometimes one goal will have to do. Like today we added two more before the finish, but in the end you only need to score one more than the opponent.” Bayern next hosts Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, then Borussia Dortmund away in the Bundesliga next weekend, before defending champion Bayer Leverkusen visits in the third round of the German Cup. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer Advertisement Advertisement
Special counsel moves to abandon election interference and classified documents cases against Trump
By Political Reporter- Local government Minister and Zanu PF Mashonaland East Chairman Daniel Garwe has attacked Vice President Constation Chiwenga and crashed his Presidential ambitions. Garwe Sunday addressed a meeting in Chivhu and told the gathering that the “ED2030” campaign is irreversible. The “2030 ED Vachitonga was adopted at the party conference after all our nine party provincial structures had endosed it. At the conference it was then present by the party’s secretary for legal affairs Cde Patrick Chinamasa. I want to tell you here that that resolution its possible and its irreversible,” Garewe told a district feedback meeting in Chihu’s Chikomba district. Two weeks ago, President Mnangagwa’s allies in his home province, the Midlands, also reignited the push to extend his term of office despite Mnangagwa having stated that he would step down in 2028. This renewed ambition for a term extension has rekindled tensions between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, following a temporary truce at the Zanu PF conference in Bulawayo in October.HELSINKI — Managing the growing threat of space debris requires greater urgency, with improved sensor capability, filling data gaps, economic incentives and new technologies all needed, according to a panel discussion on the issue. With approximately one million objects measuring between 1 cm and 10 cm orbiting Earth, according to ESA’s models, space debris is a looming issue for the growing space economy, participants said during a panel discussion entitled “Space Debris Mitigation – the Growing Threat of Space Junk” at Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, Nov. 20. The growing presence of debris, coupled with the rapid expansion of satellites and megaconstellation plans, is increasing the complexity of orbital operations. This presents risks not only to satellites but also to the global economy and security systems that depend on them. Growing congestion in key orbital bands, particularly in low Earth orbit (LEO), has led to an exponential increase in collision avoidance maneuvers. Companies like SpaceX, operating large constellations, perform thousands of such maneuvers annually. And these constellations are also changing the environment in which they operate. “Orbit raising used to be a piece of cake in the past, but now a lot of our customers are transitioning through what we call the Starlink wall. So this is really navigating through the jungle,” said Thomas Eggenweiler, commercial director at Neuraspace, a Portuguese space traffic management startup. Operational Starlink satellites orbit at an altitude 550 kilometers. Meanwhile, debris-producing events, such as satellite and rocket stage fragmentations, continue to exacerbate the situation. There have been five fragmentation events—two separate Long March 6A upper stage events , an Atlas V Centaur upper stage break up, the Resurs-P 1 satellite explosion and the breakup of Intelsat-33e —have occurred since June. Growing debris and proliferation of constellations means the capability to accurately track debris and issue warnings is crucial. Accurate and timely data is foundational for space situational awareness (SSA), yet there are significant gaps in current capabilities. Existing sensors struggle to detect smaller objects consistently, and there is limited transparency and data-sharing among operators. “We need sensors which are sensitive enough to detect small objects,” said Juan Carlos Dolado Perez, founder and CTO at Paris-based Look Up Space. This, he says, means objects a few centimeters in size for LEO, and around 20 cm for geostationary orbit. “We need to observe consistently, just not detect them,” Perez said. He added that reactivity and timeliness is also key. “We need a small time between detection and the moment we need the data, to process that data and to provide the information,” Perez said. Date Object Name COSPAR ID Estimated Number of Fragments June 26, 2024 Resurs-P No.1 2013-030A 100+ July 4, 2024 Long March 6A upper stage 2024-126C Unknown August 6, 2024 Long March 6A upper stage 2024-140U 700–900 September 6, 2024 Atlas V Centaur upper stage 2018-022B 40+ October 19, 2024 Intelsat 33e 2016-053B ~500 Major orbital fragmentation events since June 2024. At the same time, the legal framework governing space, meanwhile, is struggling to keep pace with the rapid growth in orbital activity. “On the regulatory part, it should be five years for the deorbiting requirement. I think 25 years is ridiculously high,” opined Stela Tkatchova, European Innovation Council program manager for Space, referring to general guidelines that spacecraft in LEO should deorbit within a maximum of 25 years after the completion of their mission. There also needs to be encouragement for positive actions with regards space debris, according to Andrew Faiola, commercial director at Astroscale. “We need incentives for responsible behavior, not just penalties for bad behavior,” Faiola said. “The key action is to change the rules. There’s no real obligation for compliance, that does necessitate some regulation, but it has to strike the right balance where we see incentives to behave in the right way rather than penalties,” he added. Emerging solutions include active debris removal (ADR), AI and automation for space traffic management, and regulation and standards. But the business case is also one of the major challenges for innovators bringing technology to the space economy, noted discussion moderator Isabelle Mierau, founder of Space Debris DAO. The business case for debris removal isn’t just about revenue, it’s also about reducing costs, such as extending the operational life of satellites, according to Faiola. He added that governments must lead by example and catalyze the market by investing in these services. Extending the lifetimes of satellites is, however, becoming more challenging as the number of collision warnings and need for propellant-sapping maneuvers continues to grow. Asked about what is needed for the future to tackle debris issues, Tkatchova said she would love to see using solar power for removing space debris, as well as solar sails, dynamic tethers, or propellantless propulsion technologies, including solutions that minimize atmospheric pollution from reentry. “The rules of the road need to be improved to have to incentivize basically responsible behavior in space,” said Eggenweiler. “The second thing is we need more and better data about the situation in space. And the third thing is, if you look at your cars at home, they have more intelligence for collision avoidance than our satellites in spacecraft, and those are multi-million euro spacecraft.” Perez concurred that the data gap needs to be filled in the next five years, as well as solving technical, technological and regulatory aspects. Space is an invisible infrastructure we use every day, but don’t see, Faiola said. Losing it could have devastating effects on our economies and security. The discussion, overall suggested space debris management is not just about technology but requires alignment across regulation, innovation, and economic frameworks.
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