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Bihar Bypoll Results 2024: NDA sweeps all 4 assembly seats; Lalu Yadav and I.N.D.I Alliance bite the dustEDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared in Parliament Today , a Village Media newsletter devoted to covering federal politics on Parliament Hill. Advocates are urging the Liberal government not to play politics with the remaining provisions under a firearms bill passed in December 2023, warning any further delay could put more women’s lives at risk. Brian Sweeney, a self-described “broken-hearted man,” whose daughter Angie was fatally shot by her ex-boyfriend last year in Sault Ste. Marie, was among those who told Ottawa reporters Monday that the government needs to act quickly. Angie was killed by a man who had a history of intimate partner violence, who, after killing her, headed home and shot his own three children and turned the gun on himself. Sweeney helped found Angie’s Angels, an organization he promised will be “active” in the next election to rally Canadians in support of candidates who back Bill C-21, the Liberals’ hallmark gun control bill. That legislation promised to bring in red and yellow flag laws by banning anybody under a protection order, such as a restraining order, from owning or possessing guns. Those convicted of domestic violence offences would also be subject to the prohibition, with officers ordered to revoke a licence within 24 hours if they have “reasonable grounds” to suspect that someone may have stalked or committed domestic violence against a partner. Regulations to bring those rules into force remain in the works, a reality that Sweeney said is unacceptable and dangerous. “Clearly, every month that goes by without these new laws being enforced in our cities, towns and across rural and remote communities puts the lives of women and children at greater risk,” he said. “I can’t bring my daughter back, but what I can do is use my grief and great sadness to help prevent other femicides." Nathalie Provost, a representative with gun control advocacy organization PolySeSouvient, expressed anger and frustration that the feds are not moving on the “potentially life-saving measures” with the urgency needed. She noted that no timeline has been given for the remaining regulations. Suzanne Zaccour, a spokesperson for the National Association of Women and the Law, took it a step further and called on the feds to bring in the provisions before the next election. She argued that if they fail to do so, all four opposition parties must commit to upholding and enforcing the measures on their forthcoming platforms. While the feds want red and yellow flag laws to come into force “as soon as possible,” the government did not elaborate. “We understand the urgency to act and are giving ourselves the means to do so, including through the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence,” a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement, acknowledging that when a firearm is found in a home, the government knows “dangerous situations are more likely to become deadly.” “Working with provinces, territories and groups advocating in favour of the fight against gender-based violence, we will bring everything to bear to put an end to this scourge.” ‘Common sense solutions’ left on the table Alberta woman Tara Graham also shared her personal connection to the issue. Graham’s mother, Brenda Tatlock-Burke, was shot and killed last month by her husband before he killed himself, an incident that sparked calls for greater transparency from the RCMP and how it addresses cases of domestic violence. Graham alleged her stepfather, retired RCMP officer Mike Burke, was toxic and controlling during a three-decade-long relationship with her mother, who was planning to leave him just days before she was killed. She added there are some “critical gaps” in gun control measures that could have prevented her mother’s death, including banning firearm storage within a person's home if their past suspicious behaviour is known and addressing the “myth” that physical harm is the only indicator of intimate partner violence. “Educating both the police and public to recognize coercive control as an equally damaging form of abuse is key,” she added. “It would give victims of psychological and emotional abuse like my mother faith that reaching out to the police for help would be taken as seriously as a broken bone or black eye.” Graham also urged parliamentarians to adopt the NDP's Bill C-332, a push to outlaw coercive control in cases involving intimate partners. That legislation, which the NDP has argued will help address “overlooked and downplayed” forms of abuse while addressing behaviours that instil a fear of violence in victims, remains at second reading in the Senate. “The bottom line is our elected officials have a responsibility to act now” and before it becomes “too late,” Graham said. “I speak today, so no other Canadian will have to travel to Ottawa to plead with you, your politicians, for these common sense solutions.”
SLT-Mobitel’s pioneering mobile money platform mCash has announced a strategic partnership with Lanka Sathosa, to introduce bill collection services across Lanka Sathosa’s extensive network of outlets nationwide, transforming the retail experience for customers. The partnership leverages SLT-Mobitel’s cutting-edge financial technology infrastructure powered by mCash to enable seamless bill payment facilities at over 448 Lanka Sathosa outlets island wide. This value-addition empowers Sathosa customers to conveniently make utility and telecommunication bill payments, insurance premiums, finance and leasing payments, and so much more while they engage in their regular shopping activities. The strategic partnership offers numerous benefits that align with Sri Lanka’s broader digital economy initiatives, significantly enhancing accessibility to digitised services, particularly in suburban and rural areas. In addition, the synergy provides customers with the convenience of combining shopping and bill payments at a single location while accelerating the adoption of digital transactions across diverse communities. For over a decade, mCash has been driving the adoption of digital transactions and creating solutions that empower individuals and businesses across Sri Lanka. Facilitating breakthrough innovations in collection management, biller aggregator services, agency banking, QR payments, payment gateway services, and many more. mCash is committed to enhancing digital inclusivity in the country.Across the Asia-Pacific region, especially in urban centres, electric cars and buses are increasingly replacing petrol-powered ones as a means of transportation. Aided by the ubiquity of smart devices, smart mobility and other transport innovations are significantly reshaping everyday life through ride-sharing apps, driver assistance technology and real-time traffic management. With new highways and railways operationalised in the last decade, the region is getting yet more connected, while the ongoing digitalisation of road, rail and maritime freight transport further improves efficiency and cost reduction. These are part of the wider trend of sustainable transport development, which benefits everyone through making the transport of people and goods safer, "greener", more efficient and more accessible. Countries across Asia and the Pacific have made great progress towards these goals, but major challenges remain. More cooperation will be needed to advance these trends and overcome obstacles. The transition to sustainable transport leads to interlinked benefits that are felt across multiple aspects of life. The move towards public transport, walking and cycling not only improves general mobility by relieving congestion stress, but also significantly cuts down on emissions from personal vehicles, reduces the risk of road accidents and promotes physical fitness. Ride-sharing or ride-hailing apps offer personalised transport solutions tailored to individual needs, reducing fuel consumption and waste, while connected and autonomous vehicle technology improves traffic flow and prevents crashes -- by UN estimates, up to 80% of non-alcohol ones -- by minimising human error. Coupled with inclusive transport planning, these developments make it much easier for the elderly, disabled, pregnant women and other underserved populations to access transport solutions and fully engage in society. The knock-on effects across economic growth, health, climate action and social inclusion thus make sustainable transport a key enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. The good news is that the Asia-Pacific region has made solid progress towards sustainable transport. Coordinated regional development of transport infrastructure continues to advance economies of scale to meet increased demand in freight transport. Currently, approximatively 145,000 kilometres of Asian Highways, 121,000km of Trans-Asian Railways and 275 dry ports cover all parts of the region and almost 99.7% of the total population, while the region also hosts the world's ten largest container ports and accounts for more than half of the global maritime trade. In addition to the widespread adoption of smart mobility solutions, countries are in general committed to the decarbonisation of their roads, railways and maritime transport, with plans to electrify transport modes and promotion of fuel efficiency and the use of clean sources of fuel. Most countries saw a decline in road traffic deaths in the last decade, and several have made progress in improving gender equality in the transport sector. However, this path is fraught with challenges. Most of the projected future growth in global transport demand will take place in the Asia-Pacific region, owing partly to rapid urbanisation and a growing appetite for personal vehicles. While the most tangible effect of this growth will be the rise in greenhouse gas emissions due to the ongoing heavy reliance on fossil fuels, these trends also add additional strain to existing urban transport systems, many of which are underinvested. Missing links and sub-standard quality of infrastructure, coupled with lack of transport facilitation, continue to increase costs and delays of international transport, especially in landlocked developing countries. Likewise, small island developing states continue to show limited and often stagnant levels of their maritime connectivity, hindering their integration into the regional and global economy. The disparity in technological capabilities between countries, as well as current gaps in meeting low-carbon transport goals, hinder the effective adoption of region-wide smart mobility systems and net-zero strategies, respectively. And despite improvements, a person in Asia and the Pacific loses their life in a road accident every 45 seconds. Women only make up approximately 16% of the regional transport workforce, a slightly lower figure than the global average. Government representatives gathered in early November and assessed these achievements and challenges within the framework of the Regional Action Programme for Sustainable Transport Development in Asia and the Pacific. Many tasks, such as transport decarbonisation, cannot be overcome by any country alone; meanwhile, the benefits of transport innovations such as digitalisation and automation will only be fully realised if widely implemented. With Asia and the Pacific 32 years behind in achieving the SDGs, accelerating sustainable transport development benefits everyone, so everyone needs to get on board to make it happen. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Afghan women turn to entrepreneurship under Taliban Zainab through her business in western province of Herat covers all household expenses KABUL: When 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 percent 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 “Mom’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 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 to 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.” But starting her business in 2022, aged 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.”
Matt Gaetz says he won’t return to Congress next year after withdrawing name for attorney generalJavon Small scored 31 points to rally West Virginia to an 86-78 overtime upset of No. 3 Gonzaga in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Wednesday in Nassau, Bahamas. The Mountaineers (4-1) trailed by 10 points early in the second half and by five in the final minute. But over the final 19 seconds of regulation, Tucker DeVries scored five straight points to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, Small scored five points and West Virginia held Gonzaga to a single field goal, which came after the outcome was decided with 19 seconds left. Amani Hansberry added a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds for West Virginia, which advances to the semifinals Thursday against another surprise first-round winner, Louisville, which stunned No. 15 Indiana. Braden Huff scored 19 points and Khalif Battle added 16 points for Gonzaga (5-1) which settles for a consolation-round game Thursday against Indiana. Nolan Hickman tallied 13 points. Ryan Nembhard delivered seven points and 12 assists for the Bulldogs. Huff put Gonzaga in position to win when he made three hook shots in the final 2:34 of regulation as the Bulldogs turned a one-point deficit into a 69-66 lead. Two free throws by Nembhard expanded the lead to 71-66 with 25 seconds left. But DeVries followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then made a mid-court steal and drew a foul with 5.9 seconds left. His two free throws sent it to overtime. The Mountaineers never trailed in overtime. Sencire Harris wrapped it up with a steal and a breakaway slam that put West Virginia up 84-76 with 26 seconds left. Battle, a transfer from Arkansas, scored eight points in a span of 90 seconds late in the first half as the Bulldogs took control on their way to a 39-31 lead at the break. Gonzaga earned its biggest lead early in the second half when Graham Ike scored inside with an assist from Nembhard to make it 43-33. But West Virginia responded with a 17-2 run, fueled by Small as he hit two 3-pointers and two layups. Hansberry drained a trey and DeVries grinded for a putback layup to give the Mountaineers a 50-45 lead with 12:26 left. DeVries finished the game with 16 points and four blocks. --Field Level Media
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