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By Abdulyassar Abdulhamid Chief Bode George has said that there is no humanity in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s media chat. George stated this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today. Tinubu on Monday held first media chat since the start of his administration. But reacting to the president’s comment where he said he had not regret whatsoever removing the fuel subsidy, George urged the president to listen to Nigerians. Terrorism: Court orders AGF, DSS to produce Miyetti Allah leader Christmas: Our country on restoration, progress path, Tinubu tells Nigerians He said that there is anger and hunger in Nigeria and that was why people were killed during food distribution stampedes. He said, “If anybody believes that he was elected and supported by the electorate, can you give something bad to somebody who has done you good? We are talking that there is abject poverty in the land. There is hunger in the land. There is anger in the land. “Look at the stampede. If those guys were okay, would they go out looking for a pittance to eat and die because of it. I am surprised that there is no iota of calmness, soberness of in-depth humanity in the discussion. He was saying that there was no need to revisit? “I expect that those journalists were giving him the situation as they experienced it outside. And you were saying nothing. We should just hold on, we should just bear it. Is everybody surrounding you bearing it? Why should we bear it? It is completely outrageous. It is not a good way to start a year. “I want to advise Bola Tinubu that leadership is not by pumping and bashing people. It is not a military administration. You and Buhari said that the people supported you. Do you pay them back? You say yes you won’t go back, you won’t do this. Which kind of political administration will do that? Listen to the people.” Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You. Bode George Humanity Tinubu media chatSpain's monarch pays tribute to the victims of Valencia floods in his Christmas Eve speech
Singapore workers are afraid to admit using AI at work, even as demand for AI talent surgesEd Sheeran has apologised to Manchester United's new manager for interrupting him during a live Sky Sports interview. Ruben Amorim was speaking after United's 1-1 draw with Ipswich on Sunday when the singer walked up to hug analyst Jamie Redknapp. His intervention brought the interview to a halt before Redknapp told Sheeran to "come and say hello in a minute". Some people on social media said Sheeran had been "rude" and called for him to apologise. "Apologies if I offended Amorim yesterday, didn't actually realise he was being interviewed at the time, was popping to say hi and bye to Jamie," Sheeran wrote on Instagram. "Obvz feel a bit of a bellend but life goes on. Great game though, congrats on all involved." The game at Portman Road was Amorim's first since he left Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon to take over at United. Marcus Rashford scored after two minutes before Omari Hutchinson equalised for the home side. Read more from Sky News: Two Britons believed to be among missing after tourist boat sinks British soldiers injured in major traffic pile-up Cat wriggles through drainpipe with less-than-purrfect results Follow our channel and never miss an update. Sheeran, a lifelong Ipswich fan, holds a minority stake in the club. He was pictured celebrating after Hutchinson's goal. Be the first to get Breaking News Install the Sky News app for free Last week Ipswich CEO Mark Ashton said Sheeran helped the club sign a new player in the off-season by taking a Zoom call with him just before he went on stage with Taylor Swift.Even in this banner season for military academy football — complete with winning streaks, national rankings and a conference championship — the biggest goal remains the same. For Army: Beat Navy. For Navy: Beat Army. With the college football landscape changing at a furious rate, the significance of this matchup adds a dose of tradition to mid-December, amid all that talk about the transfer portal and the new expanded playoff. "We've had a good year. You make it a great year by winning this game coming up on Saturday. Frankly, that's just the way it goes around here," Army coach Jeff Monken said. "It's a game and a season really all of its own. We don't apologize for talking about it all the time. We talk about it all the time, and it's 365 days a year." Saturday in Landover, Maryland, is the 125th matchup between Army and Navy, and although these two programs are long removed from their days winning national titles and Heisman Trophies, this is a historic moment in the rivalry. The Black Knights and Midshipmen have combined for 19 wins this season, their highest total ever entering this game. People are also reading... Army (11-1) is ranked 19th in the AP poll after beating Tulane last week to win the American Athletic Conference — the first league title of any kind in the team's 134-year history. Navy (8-3) was ranked as well earlier this season after starting with six straight victories. "I knew we were going to be an improved football team," Navy coach Brian Newberry said. "Didn't know exactly what that was going to look like. I think certainly we've improved in a lot of different areas. I'm excited about the season we've had." Common opponents This was Army's first season in the AAC, putting the Black Knights and Midshipmen in the same league, although their annual matchup is considered a nonconference game. For a while, there was a chance the teams could meet twice, with a conference championship clash coming before the regularly scheduled Army-Navy game, but that didn't happen. Their most prominent common opponent came from outside the league. Notre Dame handed both Navy and Army its first loss, beating the Midshipmen 51-14 and the Black Knights 49-14. Within the AAC, both teams beat Temple, UAB and East Carolina. Army beat Tulane and Rice and Navy lost to those two teams. Army and Navy also each won its nonconference game against Air Force. Trophy time Those victories over Air Force mean this season's Commander-In-Chief's Trophy comes down to the Army-Navy game. It's the first time since 2017 that both teams enter this game with a shot at the trophy. It's also the first time since 2017 that both teams enter the game with bowl bids secured. Navy faces Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl and Army takes on Marshall in the Independence Bowl. Back in Maryland This year's Army-Navy game is at the Washington Commanders' home stadium in Landover. It was also held there in 2011. This is the first time the game has been in Maryland since Baltimore hosted it in 2016. Baltimore is also up next in 2025. Chasing a record Army quarterback Bryson Daily has 29 rushing touchdowns this season, which is tied for the FBS lead with running back Ashton Jeanty, Boise State's Heisman finalist. Only one QB in FBS history has run for more TDs in a season than Daily. That was Navy's Keenan Reynolds, with 31 in 2013. "You come here to play in this game. The biggest stage possible, millions of people watching and a sold-out NFL stadium. It's awesome," Daily said. "None of the games that happened before this matter. We're going into this game like we're 0-0, they're 0-0 because that's just how you have to come into this game." Decisive Navy's closest game this season — win or lose — was a 56-44 win over Memphis. The Midshipmen are the only FBS team that hasn't had a game this season decided by eight points or fewer. AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!
It’s hard to even comprehend how much PC gaming has changed in the past 20 years. But it was the classic FPS Half-Life 2 that convinced people to install this weird military-green launcher app named Steam and take the plunge on digital distribution. Not only was it a fantastic game, it built on Valve’s established track record of mod support, providing creators with the tools to create their own levels, campaigns and total conversions, even if the studio's own plans could be a bit of an inscrutable black box. Smash-cut to two decades later. We’re still waiting for an official reveal of Half-Life 3 , but at least we’ve had plenty to chew on in the meantime. While never quite as explosively popular to remix as Doom (largely due to much more demanding mod tools), Half-Life 2 has maintained an active community of creators, mappers and modders since day one. Some went on to create fully standalone games like No More Room In Hell , or G String , Black Mesa or Infra , but plenty more kept hammering away at free goodies for us all to gorge on. After installing many, many Half-Life 2 mods, here are my choice picks from recent years to get you up to speed with Gordon and pals. How to install Half-Life 2 mods Despite a steady drip-feed of small updates over the years, it wasn’t until this 20th anniversary weekend that Valve finally made it easier to install Half-Life 2 mods. The game now has integrated Steam Workshop support , but at the time of writing, only a handful of items are available there, so to access some of the best mods you’re going to have to shuffle some files around for yourself. Not a huge hassle, but it could be easier. You will, of course, need to own Half-Life 2, along with its expansions. To install stuff not on the Steam Workshop, you should follow each mod’s individual installation instructions, but the most common first step is to have either the Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer or the Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer packages installed on Steam, from the Tools section of your Steam library. If you own Half-Life 2, both of these should be accessible. You should also right-click on either/both, go into Properties/Betas and select the ‘upcoming’ branch for Singleplayer, and ‘prerelease’ branch for Multiplayer. This’ll ensure that you’re using the very latest build, which most mods require. Once you’ve got that downloaded and updated, all you need to do is drop any unzipped mod folders into your Steam\steamapps\sourcemods directory (usually starting with C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\ ). If all’s in working order, close and re-launch Steam to have the mods pop up in Steam itself as part of your library. If they don’t, double-check to make sure everything has been unzipped to the right place. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Fortunately you won't need to go through these steps for some of my picks. As while Valve haven’t made mod distribution especially easy for Half-Life 2 until just recently, it has approved a large assortment of fan-made adventures and more polished mods to be released directly on the Steam storefront. Here’s some easy-to-install must-plays: The best Half-Life 2 mods on Steam Workshop Half-Life 2: Update by Filip Victor Available: Direct on Steam No longer quite as essential, but still an important community favorite, released around HL2’s 10 year anniversary. Until the impressive Half-Life 2 RTX drops, this subtle community-produced remaster is worth using. For the most part this is Half-Life 2 just as you remember, albeit with slightly better lighting and effects, and a lot of old outstanding bugs (many spawned by Valve themselves while updating the engine) crowbarred into submission. It’s Half-Life 2 as nostalgia tells you it was, not as it actually was. While this mod does only cover the original Half-Life 2 and neither of its expansions, it’s a polished and smart enough production to be worth installing. Especially if you turn on the optional Community Commentary mode, featuring anecdotes, insights and reminiscing from an assortment of avid Half-Life 2 fans, YouTubers and streamers. While that might sound like torture to some (and admittedly not quite as impressive as Valve’s own commentary), they’ve got some fun insights, and if you’d still rather not hear it, it’s entirely optional. In a similar vein, those lucky enough to own a pair of high-tech goggles should check out Half-Life 2 VR (including Episode 1 & Episode 2 ) to experience the classic campaign from a fresh new perspective. Entropy : Zero 2 by Breadmen Available: Direct on Steam Still one of the biggest and best. Sequel to the solid but slightly rough-hewn Entropy : Zero , this campaign puts you in the alien jackboots of ‘Bad Cop’, who is a bit of an arsehole even by Combine police standards. But evil alien governments being what they are, he’s marked as expendable before long, sending him on a shockingly well-written adventure through the bowels of an old Aperture Labs (yes, from Portal) research facility, where he teams up with Wilson, a sapient gun turret, for some buddy-action comedy hijinks. It’s just top notch Half-Life, and explores new and interesting sides to the setting without feeling too much like overwrought fanfic. And there’s still plenty more Entropy : Zero on the horizon, too. There’s two expansions in the works, one continuing Bad Cop’s story following EZ2’s good ending, and one prequel campaign putting you in the shoes of a Combine assassin shortly after the alien takeover. On top of that, the third-party expansion Entropy : Zero - Uprising is still chugging along, with its first chapter available now. And to top it all off? Entropy Zero 2 has its own Steam Workshop page , packed with community-made maps and mods. Swelter by SDE Development Team Available: Direct on Steam Another excellent singleplayer campaign. Experience a day in the life of a regular Resistance grunt, sent on a diplomatic mission to Combine-held Central Asia (most likely former Kazakhstan) in this sunny, chaotic little campaign. It’s a full self-contained three-act adventure. Only a few hours long, but never a dull moment as you bounce between setpiece after setpiece, gunfight after gunfight, and some gorgeously detailed environments. Day turns to night turns to dawn as your mission progresses, keeping the atmosphere fresh as you travel across the country. As well as the usual horrors of Combine occupation, the formerly Soviet state is full of sun-bleached structures emblazoned with fading red stars, as well as local art and architecture. It’s nice to see another culture and part of the world through the lens of Half-Life 2’s sci-fi war for survival. But also you probably won’t have long to appreciate the sights because there’s a whole lot of shooting to be done using an assortment of HL2 staples and a stack of cold war hand-me-downs. Can’t go wrong with an AK at least! Jabroni Brawl: Episode 3 by Team Jabroni Available: Direct on Steam A rare multiplayer pick, but a fantastic time if you bring the right people to the party. Jabroni Brawl: Episode 3 is an anarchic, enormous collection of competitive multiplayer maps and modes, and spiritual successor to the deeply chaotic Jaykin’ Bacon: Source . The tagline ‘For idiots, by idiots’ isn’t messing around. Over 130 maps and 150 player models (many borrowed from other games) and 80 weapons (including a dubstep cannon, an AK with an axe-bayonet and the classic Rocket Crowbar) spice up 14 game modes including ‘Sneaks vs Mallcops’ and ‘The Shidden’. On a server with game modes set to shuffle and all the maps in rotation, you won’t be bored. Sadly, despite Jabroni Brawl being actively supported and still getting regular updates with new maps, modes and features, there’s not many people playing it. And those that do frequent the game’s public servers tend to be a raucous and abrasive lot. Our advice is to BYOB (Bring Your Own Buddies) and convince your favorite gaming Discord community to install it, set up a password-locked server of your own and jump in with a bunch of people you know. Half-Life 2 mods from the border worlds (not Steam) Half-Life 2: MMod by Gunship_Mark_II Available: On ModDB If HL2 Update was giving the game an oil change, a wash and a wax, then MMod blesses Half-Life 2 with a full engine tune-up, a flashy new spoiler and a fresh decal kit. Sequel to a similarly impressive overhaul for Half-Life 1 , MMod aims to tune up Half-Life 2’s core gunplay and visual effects, with more particles, dynamic lighting, much slicker weapon animations and some minor balance tweaks. No massive or sweeping changes to gameplay, but a subtle shift towards modernity, buffing out some of the worst scuff marks that HL2 has picked up over the years. It’s a neat way to replay Half-Life 2 and its expansions. It’s impressive enough in action, with the now-bassy SMG spitting out smoking brass and the shotgun putting the fear of Gord into the Combine, but where MMod shines brightest is in its portability. The Addons page on ModDB for it contains a vast library of compatibility patches, letting you apply MMod’s enhancements to dozens upon dozens of other campaigns, maps and mods. Some of these patches are for older, slightly less polished versions of MMod, but it’s still a fantastic excuse to dive into the Half-Life extended universe, including some of the RTSL campaigns below! Run. Think. Shoot. Live. Available: On the RTSL Site Not a single mod recommendation, but rather a community, and one at the heart of Half-Life 2 modding to this day. While big projects like Entropy : Zero 2 are the tips of the iceberg, this is where you’ll find the deepest, purest and coolest ice. RTSL organizes, hosts and distributes a constant, steady drip feed of interesting Half-Life collaboration projects, usually built around themes, challenges or restrictions for their community of mappers and modders, like a Doom-inspired all-action level pack or a set of high-verticality maps where backtracking is part of the fun . I'm hoping to see some of these uploaded to the Steam Workshop soon! It’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Maybe not the most professional and polished productions, but endlessly varied flavors and textures to experience. With around 1600 hosted projects, you’ll have a nearly endless supply of HL2 to dive into here, but for starters, check out the recent TWHL Tower: Source . The latest in a series of Exquisite Corpse collaborations, a creative community patchwork campaign built around a simple concept: The player is storming a Combine-held tower, starting on the bottom floor. Each staircase introduces a new mapper, and often a completely different brand of gameplay. Expect claustrophobic, densely packed encounters and some very creative levels (of wildly varying quality—be warned) as you ascend, including (among other things) a System Shock 2-themed escape room. SourceWorld (Demo) by Bronco Development Available: On ModDB Last, but by no means least is one of HL2’s most mechanically ambitious mods to date, turning the game into a fully procedurally generated dungeon crawl. Set long after the Combine have been driven from Earth, you’re an unfortunate agent trying to pay off a massive debt by running smash-and-grab raids on parallel dimensions. It’s classic Half-Life 2 combat, but with escalating stakes. There’s even a little bit of Hades in here, with a story that unfolds over the course of multiple runs, with more equipment and even a persistent character skill tree giving you long-term progression options. The combat has been re-tuned somewhat to make even overly familiar threats menacing again. Don’t go underestimating the zombies, as they’re faster and more aggressive than you remember. Even if the current version of the mod is just the demo (featuring a limited range of map tile-sets and story events in the lab), it’s an astounding technological feat, and hints at Half-Life 2 still having some real life in it as a modding platform even as we hurtle into the very futuristic-sounding year of 2025. Here’s hoping for a bit more verticality in the maps come the final release, though. While Half-Life 2’s modding scene may not be buzzing with energy, it’s still producing some interesting and surprising projects. With SourceWorld pushing the engine to its limits (it was REALLY not built for procedural generation and I dare not peek at the nightmare spaghetti-code underpinning it all), perhaps this is the beginning of a grand resurgence, combined with the launch of Workshop support and expanded map size limit. Will we meet back here in another decade? Probably not, unless the editors lock me in the PC Gamer basement. But the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference.The aching Steelers still control their destiny in the AFC North. Their grasp, however, is slipping
Even in this banner season for military academy football — complete with winning streaks, national rankings and a conference championship — the biggest goal remains the same. For Army: Beat Navy. For Navy: Beat Army. With the college football landscape changing at a furious rate, the significance of this matchup adds a dose of tradition to mid-December, amid all that talk about the transfer portal and the new expanded playoff. "We've had a good year. You make it a great year by winning this game coming up on Saturday. Frankly, that's just the way it goes around here," Army coach Jeff Monken said. "It's a game and a season really all of its own. We don't apologize for talking about it all the time. We talk about it all the time, and it's 365 days a year." Saturday in Landover, Maryland, is the 125th matchup between Army and Navy, and although these two programs are long removed from their days winning national titles and Heisman Trophies, this is a historic moment in the rivalry. The Black Knights and Midshipmen have combined for 19 wins this season, their highest total ever entering this game. Army (11-1) is ranked 19th in the AP poll after beating Tulane last week to win the American Athletic Conference — the first league title of any kind in the team's 134-year history. Navy (8-3) was ranked as well earlier this season after starting with six straight victories. "I knew we were going to be an improved football team," Navy coach Brian Newberry said. "Didn't know exactly what that was going to look like. I think certainly we've improved in a lot of different areas. I'm excited about the season we've had." This was Army's first season in the AAC, putting the Black Knights and Midshipmen in the same league, although their annual matchup is considered a nonconference game. For a while, there was a chance the teams could meet twice, with a conference championship clash coming before the regularly scheduled Army-Navy game, but that didn't happen. Their most prominent common opponent came from outside the league. Notre Dame handed both Navy and Army its first loss, beating the Midshipmen 51-14 and the Black Knights 49-14. Within the AAC, both teams beat Temple, UAB and East Carolina. Army beat Tulane and Rice and Navy lost to those two teams. Army and Navy also each won its nonconference game against Air Force. Those victories over Air Force mean this season's Commander-In-Chief's Trophy comes down to the Army-Navy game. It's the first time since 2017 that both teams enter this game with a shot at the trophy. It's also the first time since 2017 that both teams enter the game with bowl bids secured. Navy faces Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl and Army takes on Marshall in the Independence Bowl. This year's Army-Navy game is at the Washington Commanders' home stadium in Landover. It was also held there in 2011. This is the first time the game has been in Maryland since Baltimore hosted it in 2016. Baltimore is also up next in 2025. Army quarterback Bryson Daily has 29 rushing touchdowns this season, which is tied for the FBS lead with running back Ashton Jeanty, Boise State's Heisman finalist. Only one QB in FBS history has run for more TDs in a season than Daily. That was Navy's Keenan Reynolds, with 31 in 2013. "You come here to play in this game. The biggest stage possible, millions of people watching and a sold-out NFL stadium. It's awesome," Daily said. "None of the games that happened before this matter. We're going into this game like we're 0-0, they're 0-0 because that's just how you have to come into this game." Navy's closest game this season — win or lose — was a 56-44 win over Memphis. The Midshipmen are the only FBS team that hasn't had a game this season decided by eight points or fewer. AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!Quantum computing is emerging as a game-changing technology poised to revolutionize industries, much like how artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the digital landscape . As we head toward 2025, experts predict that quantum computing will be the next major frontier in tech, unlocking unprecedented computational power and driving breakthroughs in fields such as cryptography, drug discovery, and optimization. At the heart of quantum computing's potential is the quantum bit, or qubit , which can represent multiple states simultaneously, allowing quantum computers to process data exponentially faster than classical computers. In fact, recent advancements have already shown the immense promise of this technology. For example, Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Quantum AI division, led by Hartmut Neven , recently unveiled its latest quantum chip, Willow . This chip reduces errors exponentially and completed a benchmark computation in under five minutes—an operation that would have taken one of the fastest supercomputers 10^25 years to finish. The rise of quantum computing presents a compelling complement to AI, as it has the potential to enhance AI models and algorithms, helping unlock entirely new frontiers in science and technology. As this technology advances, it could usher in a new wave of innovation, particularly in industries reliant on complex data processing and problem-solving. Also Read: Quantum Computing Stocks Roundup: D-Wave, Rigetti, IonQ Lead the Charge With Explosive Growth Market Growth and Investment Opportunities The quantum computing market is set for explosive growth. According to Fortune Business Insights, the U.S. quantum computing market, valued at $138.2 million in 2022, is projected to skyrocket to $1.2 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 31.7%. This surge is driven by increasing investment and initiatives like those outlined by the White House in May 2022. For investors looking to capitalize on this booming sector, top companies include Top stocks to invest: NVIDIA Corporation NVDA Honeywell International Inc. HON Microsoft Corporation MSFT International Business Machines Corporation IBM IonQ, Inc. IONQ Rigetti Computing, Inc. RGTI Quantum Computing Inc . QUBT D-Wave Quantum Inc. QBTS Quantum-focused ETFs offer a diversified approach to investing in this transformative space. Per Rising Wave, investing in quantum computing ETFs offers a distinctive chance to participate in a technological revolution. Defiance Quantum ETF QTUM WisdomTree Cloud Computing Fund WCLD Global X Cloud Computing ETF CLOU ARK Next Generation Internet ETF ARKW As quantum computing approaches mainstream adoption, it will likely become one of the most exciting areas of growth in the tech industry over the next few years. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
SINGAPORE: Outside the Bo’xing Experimental Primary School in Binzhou, a prefecture-level city in China’s northern Shandong Province, Huang, a 50-year-old, is ferrying his eight-year-old grandson to school in his “laotoule”. Huang's electric four-wheel ride, which translates to happy grandpa or old man's joy in Chinese, closely resembles a golf cart. His main reasons for using it are convenience and affordability. “Parking large vehicles here is a nightmare,” he told CNA in a call. “We need this type of vehicle. Think about it - a regular car is so much harder to park and in the space where you can fit three or five cars, you could park 10 laotoule vehicles.” Weather is also a factor, he adds, especially in a city currently as cold as Binzhou where daily temperatures have dropped to 2 degrees Celsius. “You can use an electric bike or bicycle during summer but that’s just not feasible in winter,” Huang said. Like him, many parents and grandparents in Binzhou also rely on laotoule vehicles to see their children off to school. It’s a scene that’s become ubiquitous in rural towns and smaller cities across China - except the situation in Binzhou stands in stark contrast to urban centers elsewhere, where various makeshift electric vehicles are strictly banned. Cities like Beijing and Shanghai as well as others in provinces like Jiangxi, Hebei, Jiangsu and Anhui have implemented varying measures to ban or restrict the use of senior-friendly vehicles. However it is challenging to establish a uniform policy nationwide, analysts say, due to differing levels of public transport development and population density. JOY FOR THE ELDERLY Laotoule vehicles started appearing on roads in China in the early 2000s and are one of the most popular forms of transport for seniors today - with more than 10 million stockpiles as of 2020, according to industry figures. Priced between 2,000 yuan (US$276) and 22,000 yuan, they are much cheaper than conventional cars and vans and are easy to park and drive. They also do not require vehicle licenses or registration and are not subject to traffic rules and regulations which apply to most conventional motorised vehicles - adding to their popularity. But their presence is controversial. Accidents are alarmingly frequent and their unregulated use has led to recent widespread bans in several major Chinese cities. Nearly 20,000 deaths due to low-speed electric vehicle incidents were reported by authorities nationwide between 2012 and 2016, Following more than 100 fatalities recorded in 2022, laotoule vehicles were banned in Beijing at the start of the year, no longer being allowed on roads or parked in public spaces. Laotoule accidents in other Chinese cities and provinces have continued. An accident in late November was reported in Ganzhou city in the southeast Jiangxi Province, which saw an elderly laotoule driver racing recklessly against traffic and injuring another electric vehicle rider. It sparked a city-wide crackdown, leading to over 2,000 laotoule vehicles being seized and hundreds phased out. In Sichuan, where authorities have allowed only registered and licensed laotoule on the road, a tragic accident occurred on a major expressway on Oct 12. A 74-year-old man drove his laotoule against traffic in the overtaking lane, resulting in a fatal collision that claimed two lives. Many laotoule drivers generally operate without proper licenses and were “less likely to comply” with traffic rules, which creates greater safety risks, said urban public transportation consultant Wang Yuanyuan, also general manager of the Shanghai-based Easy Traffic Consulting firm. “These vehicles often fail to meet automotive safety standards, such as structural integrity and occupant protection (and) in the event of an accident, these shortcomings can result in more severe casualties,” Wang said, pointing out that poor battery quality and inadequate charging facilities could also lead to fire hazards. “Furthermore, insurance systems are not well established, making it difficult to handle the aftermath of accidents.” Zhang Xiang, director of the Digital Automotive International Cooperation Research Center at the World Digital Economy Forum, echoed these concerns. “Without licenses, many drivers simply ignore traffic rules,” he said. “If drivers commit violations and flee, it’s hard to penalise them. They disrupt traffic order and affect road safety.” Zhang noted that laotoule sales had been “on the decline” after vehicles were banned in Beijing earlier this year. “Nowadays many places are regulating these kinds of vehicles unlike in the past, when they operated in a grey area,” he said. While drivers like Huang have acknowledged safety concerns about their vehicles, giving them up was not an option because they were still a cheap and convenient way of getting around. “From a safety perspective, it’s understandable to want these vehicles registered and insured but in some cases, it’s just not possible,” Huang said. NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SITUATION But tackling the issue will not be as straightforward as introducing a complete ban, experts say, especially not in a country as large as China, with more than 1,700 county-level cities and counties making regulations between cities much more complicated. “China's policymaking in urban transportation reflects a complex balance of interests,” Wang said. “While public opinion can influence directions, decisions are often top-down, prioritising public welfare, safety, and social stability. The persistence of banned vehicles underscores the challenges of addressing demand and enforcing policies effectively in a rapidly changing landscape.” Transport expert Raymond Ong Ghim Ping, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, told CNA that China’s sheer geographic size, population diversity, economic differences and varied urbanisation levels would make uniform policies challenging. First-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai also require different approaches than second and third-tier cities, he said. “China’s roads are divided into high-speed and low-speed sections”, Dr Ong said. “All of these factors can increase the chances of accidents and that’s why it becomes very apparent in denser cities.” Beijing, Shanghai and various cities across Jiangsu province have taken tougher approaches on the senior-friendly vehicles. Cities in other provinces like Anhui and Shandong have chosen to adopt more flexible approaches like prohibiting new sales or requiring proper licensing and insurance. Following public awareness campaigns, demand for driving tests surged there, with slots fully booked until late December, as reported by local media Qiluwanbao. Anhui authorities have tightened rules for laotoule drivers, requiring them to wear helmets and strictly adhere to traffic rules. “Cities without major incidents might not clamp down as hard, meaning drivers can continue as before until a serious event prompts stricter measures,” Wang said, adding that “reactive policy making was fairly common” in China and often prompted by localised incidents. Guo Baoyu, owner of a three-wheeled Shenghao-brand laotoule in Jinan, welcomed new measures and said they offered drivers like her a newfound sense of security and convenience. “Safety is always my priority,” she said, adding that she often chooses roads with fewer heavy vehicles and limits her travel distance to around 40km from home so she can commute and drop her child off at daycare easily. IMPROVED PUBLIC TRANSPORT AS AN ALTERNATIVE? Despite vehicle bans and crackdowns, transport experts do not believe laotoules will disappear from China’s roads in the near future. Zhang of the World Digital Economy Forum predicts that electric vehicles (EVs) will eventually replace laotoule, especially in cities where production numbers have ceased. “After laotoules are phased out, what will replace them will be small, micro-sized electric cars,” Zhang said. Such vehicles would be a cheaper and better option for seniors, priced affordably between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan, and would come with air-conditioning and proper braking systems, offering better safety standards and comfort. "They are legal and better. They will replace laotoule vehicles,” he said. But solving the issue will take time, experts say, especially because they are still popular among seniors. Alternatives like improving public transport systems like buses, trolleybuses and trains, or providing options like shared bikes will be critical, they add. Public transport is much more convenient in urban areas, Zhang said. “There are more metro lines and buses available (in these areas) so people give up their laotoules which used to be a more useful mode of transportation (for them) when commuting was less convenient.” Wang the consultant noted that seniors living in bigger Chinese cities would often enjoy free or discounted fares when travelling on public transport. “However, the flexibility and spatial coverage of public transit still lags behind what laotoule vehicles can offer,” he said. “With advancements in information technology, on-demand bus services might become a solution, though older adults may face challenges using digital platforms.” For laotoule drivers like Huang, their vehicles are still a necessity needed to ferry around their grandchildren and run errands for the day. With hundreds of laotoule still crowding the streets and pavements of Binzhou, it seems unlikely that a full ban will be implemented anytime soon. And for now, he will take a pragmatic approach. “Let’s think about it when it starts,” he said.
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The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Turbat, Prof. Dr. Gul Hasan expressed deep grief and heartfelt condolences on the passing of Shahdad Chahsari QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Nov, 2024) The Vice-Chancellor of the University of , Prof. Dr. Gul Hasan expressed deep grief and heartfelt condolences on the passing of Shahdad Chahsari. He was a renowned and writer of Balochi language and literature, and a prominent social & political figure. In his condolence message, he stated that Balochi literature has lost a distinguished figure with the demise of Shahdad Chahsari, whose literary contributions have left an enduring mark on the Balochi language and literature. He further said that his and other scholarly works would keep his soul alive for generations to come. In this hour of profound grief and loss, Dr. Gul Hasan extended his deepest sympathy and solidarity with Shaihaq Shahdad, Special Secretary, of & former DC , and the bereaved . He prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved to bear this loss with fortitude.
After Trump’s win, Black women are rethinking their role as America’s reliable political organizersTOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A U.S. senator has called for mysterious drones spotted flying at night over sensitive areas in New Jersey and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region to be “shot down, if necessary,” even as it remains unclear who owns the unmanned aircraft. “We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday, as concerns about the drones spread across Capitol Hill. People in the New York region are also concerned that the drones may be sharing airspace with commercial airlines, he said, demanding more transparency from the Biden administration. The White House said Thursday that a review of the reported sightings shows that many of them are actually manned aircraft being flown lawfully. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said there were no reported sightings in any restricted airspace. He said the U.S. Coast Guard has not uncovered any foreign involvement from coastal vessels. “We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby said, echoing statements from the Pentagon and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh has said they are not U.S. military drones. In a joint statement issued Thursday afternoon, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said they and their federal partners, in close coordination with the New Jersey State Police, “continue to deploy personnel and technology to investigate this situation and confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings.” The agencies said they have not corroborated any of the reported sightings with electronic detection, and that reviews of available images appear to show many of the reported drones are actually manned aircraft. “There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space,” according to the statement. The drones appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security. The number of sightings has increased in recent days, though officials say many of the objects seen may have been planes rather than drones. It’s also possible that a single drone has been reported more than once. The worry stems partly from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia described the drones as up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights switched off. Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use but are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified. Most, but not all, of the drones spotted in New Jersey appeared to be larger than those typically used by hobbyists. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said he was frustrated by the lack of transparency, saying it could help spread fear and misinformation. “We should know what’s going on over our skies,” he said Thursday. John Duesler, president of the Pennsylvania Drone Association, said witnesses may be confused about what they are seeing, especially in the dark, and noted it’s hard to know the size of the drones or how close they might be. “There are certainly big drones, such as agricultural drones, but typically they are not the type you see flying around in urban or suburban spaces,” Duesler said Thursday. Duesler said the drones — and those flying them — likely cannot evade detection. “They will leave a radio frequency footprint, they all leave a signature," he said. "We will find out what kind of drones they were, who was flying them and where they were flying them.” Fantasia, a Morris County Republican, was among several lawmakers who met with state police and Homeland Security officials to discuss the sightings from the New York City area across New Jersey and westward into parts of Pennsylvania, including over Philadelphia. It is unknown at this time whether the sightings are related. Duesler said the public wants to know what's going on. “I hope (the government agencies) will come out with more information about this to ease our fears. But this could just be the acts of rogue drone operators, it’s not an ‘invasion’ as some reports have called it,” Duesler said. “I am concerned about this it but not alarmed by it.” Associated Press reporters Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and reporter Darlene Superville and videojournalists Serkan Gurbuz and Nathan Ellgren in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Louisiana judge halts state police plans to clear New Orleans homeless camps before ThanksgivingLankaPay, Sri Lanka’s national payment network, was honoured with the Best Public-Private Partnership Award at the prestigious ASOCIO 2024 Awards, held on 7 November 2024. This was an important agenda item of the ASOCIO Digital Summit 2024 held in Tokyo, Japan. This recognition highlights the success of LankaPay’s unique business model and the importance of collaborating with both government and private sector entities to advance Sri Lanka’s digital financial ecosystem to drive the nation towards a digitally enabled economy. The ASOCIO Digital Summit 2024, organised by the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (ASOCIO), is one of the most influential events in the Asia-Pacific region, bringing together thought leaders, industry experts and government officials to discuss the impact and the future of digital technology innovations. ASOCIO, established in 1984, is a prominent network representing ICT associations across 24 countries in the Asia-Oceania region. The organisation aims to promote collaboration, knowledge-sharing and the adoption of digital technologies across the region. LankaPay’s receipt of the Best Public-Private Partnership Award at ASOCIO 2024 is a testament to the company’s leadership in creating an efficient, resilient and secure digital payment infrastructure in Sri Lanka. Through strategic partnerships with the government, financial institutions, large private sector organisations and SMEs, LankaPay has significantly contributed to enhancing financial inclusion in the country by providing secure, affordable and accessible financial services to every Sri Lankan. LankaPay has become the cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s digital economy, offering a wide range of services, facilitating real-time interbank payments and enhancing mobile wallets, online banking and contactless payment solutions. LankaPay’s commitment to security has been instrumental in its long-term success. By ensuring the protection of user data and financial transactions via international best-in-class security certifications, the company has built a trusted platform that facilitates secure payments across Sri Lanka. These secure services have empowered businesses, government agencies and individuals across the country to securely carry out both online and on-premise digital financial transactions. LankaPay network has helped bridge critical gaps in financial access, particularly in underserved regions and enabled millions of Sri Lankans to be a part of a digitally enabled economy. This award recognises the strength of LankaPay’s collaboration with key stakeholders, including Sri Lanka’s Central Bank, all licensed commercial banks and other government entities. By working together, these organisations have created an inclusive digital payments network that benefits individuals, businesses and the national economy. LankaPay’s success story is one of achieving collective objectives, demonstrating the power of collaboration between the public and private sector to advance financial inclusion and drive economic growth. ASOCIO’s recognition of LankaPay at the ASOCIO Digital Summit 2024 is a significant milestone in the company’s journey of over two decades and a proud moment for Sri Lanka. The importance of LankaPay’s role in advancing the digital financial services sector in Sri Lanka and setting a benchmark for the region is further highlighted via this award. As a leading regional organisation, ASOCIO plays a pivotal role in promoting the growth of ICT and digital technologies across the Asia-Pacific region. Its annual summit serves as an important platform for discussing trends, sharing insights and forging new partnerships in the ever-evolving digital landscape. As LankaPay looks to its future, the company remains focused on its mission to provide secure, inclusive, accessible and affordable digital financial solutions while expanding to facilitate cross-border financial transactions by partnering with regional payment networks. This would help the country to attract much needed foreign exchange and overcome the current financial crisis. The Best Public-Private Partnership Award is a powerful motivator for LankaPay to continue innovating and expanding its services while advancing its commitment to further strengthening the existing partnerships and continuing to contribute towards driving Sri Lanka towards a digitally enabled economy.Capricorn Daily Horoscope Today, Nov 26, 2024 predicts new tasks
AP News Summary at 6:46 p.m. EST
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 12, 2024-- Kosmos Energy Ltd. (“Kosmos” or the “Company”) (NYSE: KOS) notes today’s announcement by Tullow Oil plc (“Tullow”) (LSE: TLW) regarding a potential transaction involving Tullow and Kosmos and confirms that it is in very preliminary discussions with Tullow regarding a possible all-share offer by Kosmos for Tullow. There can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made. Pursuant to Rule 2.5 of the Code, Kosmos reserves the right to vary the form and/or mix of the offer consideration and vary the transaction structure. A further announcement will be made as and when appropriate. As stated in today’s announcement by Tullow, in accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, Kosmos is required, by not later than 5.00 p.m. on 9 January 2025 , to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Tullow in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. This deadline can be extended with the consent of the Takeover Panel in accordance with Rule 2.6(c) of the Code. ABOUT KOSMOS Kosmos is a full-cycle deepwater, independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused along the offshore Atlantic Margins. Our key assets include production offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, as well as a world-class gas development offshore Mauritania and Senegal. We also pursue a proven basin exploration program in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Kosmos is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and is traded under the ticker symbol KOS. As an ethical and transparent company, Kosmos is committed to doing things the right way. The Company’s Business Principles articulate our commitment to transparency, ethics, human rights, safety and the environment. Read more about this commitment in our Corporate Responsibility Report. For additional information, visit www.kosmosenergy.com . NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION. THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A FIRM INTENTION TO MAKE AN OFFER UNDER RULE 2.7 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS (THE "CODE") AND THERE CAN BE NO CERTAINTY THAT AN OFFER WILL BE MADE, NOR AS TO THE TERMS ON WHICH ANY OFFER MIGHT BE MADE. PUBLICATION ON A WEBSITE In accordance with Rule 26.1 of the Code, a copy of this announcement will be made available on www.kosmosenergy.com no later than 12 noon (London time) on the business day following the date of this announcement. The content of the website referred to above is not incorporated into and does not form part of this announcement. The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of Kosmos is Josh Marion. RULE 2.4 INFORMATION In accordance with Rule 2.4(c)(iii) of the Code, Kosmos confirms that it is not aware of any dealings in Tullow shares that would require a minimum level, or particular form, of consideration that it would be obliged to offer under Rule 6 or Rule 11 of the Code (as appropriate). However, it has not been practicable for Kosmos to make enquiries of all persons presumed to be acting in concert with it prior to this announcement in order to confirm whether any details are required to be disclosed under Rule 2.4(c)(iii). To the extent that any such details are identified following such enquiries, Kosmos will make an announcement disclosing such details as soon as practicable, and in any event by no later than the time it is required to make its Opening Position Disclosure under Rule 8.1 of the Code. RULE 2.9 INFORMATION In accordance with Rule 2.9 of the Code, Kosmos confirms that, as at close of business on 12 December 2024 (being the business day prior to the date of this announcement), its issued share capital consisted of 471,816,671 ordinary shares with a par value of $0.01 each in the capital of Kosmos which carry voting rights of one vote per share and admitted to trading on the New York Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange with International Securities Identification Number (“ISIN”) US5006881065. IMPORTANT NOTICES Evercore Partners International LLP ("Evercore"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Kosmos and no one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Kosmos for providing the protections afforded to clients of Evercore nor for providing advice in connection with the matters referred to herein. Neither Evercore nor any of its subsidiaries, branches or affiliates owes or accepts any duty, liability, or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Evercore in connection with this announcement, any statement contained herein, any offer or otherwise. Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on Evercore by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and successor legislation, or the regulatory regime established thereunder, or under the regulatory regime of any jurisdiction where exclusion of liability under the relevant regulatory regime would be illegal, void or unenforceable, neither Evercore nor any of its affiliates accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for the contents of this announcement, and no representation, express or implied, is made by it, or purported to be made on its behalf, in relation to the contents of this announcement, including its accuracy, completeness or verification of any other statement made or purported to be made by it, or on its behalf, in connection with Kosmos or the matters described in this announcement. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Evercore and its affiliates accordingly disclaim all and any responsibility or liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above) which they might otherwise have in respect of this announcement, or any statement contained herein. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS OF THE CODE Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made by not later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10 th business day following the commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate, by not later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10 th business day following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree company or of a securities exchange offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure. Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by not later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the business day following the date of the relevant dealing. If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3. Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4 of the Code). Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Takeover Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk , including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212449846/en/ CONTACT: ENQUIRIESKosmos Jamie Buckland, Investor Relations, +44 (0) 203 954 2831 Thomas Golembeski, Media Relations, +1-214-445-9674Evercore (Financial Adviser to Kosmos) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7653 6000 David Waring Ed Banks Hugo Baker Julien Baril KEYWORD: TEXAS NEW YORK NORTH AMERICA UNITED STATES IRELAND UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OIL/GAS ENERGY MARITIME TRANSPORT OTHER ENERGY SOURCE: Kosmos Energy Ltd. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/12/2024 03:04 PM/DISC: 12/12/2024 03:03 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241212449846/en
Qatar tribune Tribune News Network Doha The GCC Sustainability Innovation Hub, an initiative of leading GCC telecommunications operators including Ooredoo, e&, Beyon, Du, STC, Zain, and Omantel, has announced the release of its first white paper in collaboration with GSMA. This foundational document titled ‘Green Shoots: A New Model for Renewables from the GCC’ outlines the collective strategy and challenges telecom operators face on their journey toward net-zero carbon emissions. It provides a comprehensive overview of the operational, technological, and regulatory challenges that telecom operators encounter in achieving decarbonisation. The white paper also delivers actionable strategies to drive sustainable energy adoption within the telecom industry, positioning the GCC as a leader in telecom sustainability and innovation. Fatima Sultan Al-Kuwari, Group Chief HR and Sustainability Officer, Ooredoo, said: “The release of this white paper marks a significant step forward for the GCC telecom sector and highlights the power of collaboration in tackling environmental challenges. “Through the GCC Sustainability Innovation Hub, we are uniting as an industry to pioneer sustainable solutions, share best practices, and create a greener future for our region. This is just the beginning, and we are committed to pushing forward with innovative projects that support our journey toward net zero and demonstrate the leadership role the GCC can play in global sustainability efforts.” The white paper highlights the urgent need to address high energy consumption in telecom operations, identifying that renewables currently account for just 20% of the sector’s energy. It also outlines the significant role telecom operators can play in enabling emissions reductions across industries such as oil & gas, agriculture, and transportation through IoT and 5G connectivity. By tackling energy costs - which represent up to 20% of operating expenses - and deploying energy-efficient technologies, the telecom industry stands to improve profitability while supporting broader regional decarbonisation goals. The GCC Sustainability Innovation Hub - established as a collaborative platform as part of the region’s post-COP28 commitment to sustainability - is the first initiative of its kind in the region’s telecom sector. The hub serves as a centralised platform for developing and testing sustainable solutions tailored for telecom operators, encouraging innovation and partnership across industries. By pooling resources and knowledge, the initiative aims to create an ecosystem that fosters collaboration and accelerates the adoption of renewable energy sources. The operators involved in the GCC Sustainability Innovation Hub plan to build on this momentum with further projects and partnerships. By advancing renewable energy adoption and exploring innovative technologies, the initiative seeks to set a benchmark for sustainability practices in the telecom industry and inspire solution providers worldwide to join this critical mission. The full white paper is now available for download on the GSMA website. Copy 23/12/2024 10Seattle, WA (Grist) Editor's note: Grist is hosting a free virtual event on January 9, 2025, at 2 pm EST / 11 am PST to analyze the progress and challenges seen at the U.N. climate conference known as COP29. Join Grist's Jake Bittle in conversation with attendees and experts about where global climate negotiations go from here. Register here. After a painstaking deadlock lasting nearly a week, the annual United Nations climate conference appeared to veer off course on Thursday. New negotiating texts were released in the morning, just as a rancid smell from what seemed to be a sewage leak spread throughout a central area of the conference venue in Baku, Azerbaijan. These half-dozen templates incensed countries as disparate as Zambia and New Zealand. Negotiators from both the developed and developing world argued that the Azerbaijani officials leading the conference, which is known as COP29, hadn't done enough to push forward an ambitious deal that would build upon the so-called UAE consensus -- a deal brokered at last year's COP28 in Dubai, in which the nearly 200 countries of the world finally agreed to "transition away" from fossil fuels and accelerate decarbonization within the next 10 years. As of now, this year's tentative agreement contains almost none of the COP29 proposals, like those ventured by European nations and small island states in the Pacific, that would advance this ambition. In fact, the new text released on Thursday did not even mention the landmark COP28 agreement -- or even affirm the world's commitment to a clean energy transition at all. It also omitted last year's promises to triple renewable energy deployment and double energy efficiency. Proposals to phase out coal and fossil fuel subsidies, which many climate-ambitious nations like Germany had pushed, were nowhere to be found, either. "This is actually going in the opposite direction," said Wopke Hoekstra, the European Union climate commissioner, in a gaggle with reporters. "That is not acceptable. We cannot accept the view that apparently for some, the previous COP did not happen." With just a day to go until the summit closes, climate-ambitious ministers from around the world have begun to blast the Azerbaijani conference presidency for what they say is a slide backwards on the all-important issue of ditching fossil fuels. In U.N. parlance, the "presidency" is a neutral party made up of political operatives and ministers from the country hosting a given year's climate talks. Although they hail from the host country, they co-administer COP along with the bureaucracy of the United Nations, and they aren't supposed to put their thumb on the scale for their own government's interests -- or anyone else's. Even so, presidencies have immense control over the negotiating process, which inevitably gives them the power to steer the process to their desired ends -- especially when talks break down early. This became clear last year when the United Arab Emirates, which hosted COP28 in Dubai, intervened to push through a deal to transition away from fossil fuels over the objections of many other oil-producing nations. There has been a sense of deja vu in Azerbaijan, a country where oil makes up an even larger share of economic output, and where attendees can see oil refineries from the windows of shuttle buses that ferry them to the conference. Even before the conference began, a watchdog group caught a senior Azerbaijani official on video suggesting he would use COP29 to facilitate deals for the nation's state-owned oil company. On the second day of the summit, Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, called fossil fuels a "gift from God." Negotiators' fears that the COP presidency would tip the scales grew stronger when Saudi Arabia, which produces around 12 percent of the world's crude oil, began to throw diplomatic wrenches in almost every negotiation arena last week. Officials from the oil-rich kingdom delayed and disputed agenda items even in talks that had nothing to do with fossil fuels, forcing discussion of untenable language and refusing to attend meetings where their presence was necessary for talks to progress. At the end of the first week, the Saudis seemed to have gotten their way. Not only was the draft text on global decarbonization in miserable shape, but negotiators couldn't even agree about where to place it on the agenda -- a dispute akin to arguing over where to park at the grocery store before you even go in and start shopping. The dummy text even included a menacing caveat: "Parties have strongly diverging views on whether or not the following textual elements should be discussed." The 60,000-odd people at COP waited days as ministers and heads of state consulted with each other and the Azerbaijani presidency in closed-door meetings. With more than a week of negotiations in the rearview, it fell to Babayev and his deputies to sort out a mess of diverging positions. Most country leaders who spoke at the conference on Thursday said he has so far failed to do that. "I think there's a divide," said Eamon Ryan, the environment minister for Ireland, in a gaggle with reporters early Thursday. He accused the most recent U.N. proposal on mitigation -- the term of art for the U.N.'s decarbonization agenda -- of "sticking just to the status quo for vested interests in the current fossil fuel system." It's not just major oil producers who may oppose a more ambitious mitigation proposal: Several countries in the large G77 group of developing nations have been wary of endorsing a document with a firmer commitment to the energy transition without a complementary commitment from the world's high-emitting, wealthy nations to help pay for it. Harjeet Singh, the global director of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, an organization advocating for the global phaseout of oil and gas, said the developing countries' opposition to a decision that restates last year's UAE consensus is an attempt to push for more funding from the developed world. These countries don't want to re-endorse the energy transition decision from last year without a clear signal they'll get money to help move away from oil and gas and build out renewable energy. "It's a sequencing problem," he said. "We wanted [in Dubai] to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency. Who will provide finance for that?" There is also some evidence that the presidency has given space to the interests of major fossil fuel producers on the sidelines of the conference. Negotiators from several countries, who spoke to Grist on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations, have decried the presidency's last-minute appointment of a new leader to an official forum on the negative impacts of decarbonization efforts. The three negotiators who spoke to Grist have accused the presidency of making this decision on behalf of Saudi Arabia, despite widespread objections. This alleged intervention came during negotiations over a little-noticed agenda item titled "Impact of implementation of response measures." This unassuming item, which has been on COP agendas for decades, is a key forum for oil-producing countries. That's because "response measures" refers to policies that mitigate carbon emissions and climate change, and the forum is an opportunity to highlight the adverse effects of climate-friendly policies. Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries have traditionally used the Response Measures group as an opportunity to decry the harms that more climate-ambitious nations are causing them, according to negotiators who have held senior roles in response measures discussions. The forum's main task this year was to agree on the topics it should discuss over the next five years. The proposals under consideration include "economic diversification" and "impacts of the implementation of response measures on human rights" -- topics of special interest to the Saudis, who have an oil-centric economy and have been accused of violating human rights. The talks progressed well for the first few days at COP29, according to the three negotiators who were involved. But at the end of the week, Saudi Arabia moved to discredit negotiators from Botswana and Iceland who were leading the discussion, telling the presidency they weren't qualified and hadn't produced any results. On the first day of the conference's all-important final week, the Azerbaijani presidency then intervened to replace the two negotiators criticized by the Saudis and install a replacement named Andrei Marcu, a veteran COP negotiator from Brussels, Belgium, who is currently affiliated with the Honduran delegation and has represented Belize and Papua New Guinea in past climate talks. The decision to appoint Marcu incensed developing countries and the United States, who saw it as a favor to Saudi Arabia, according to the three delegation members who were involved in the response measures talks. In past COPs, Marcu has sought to chair the "response measures" agenda item, but developing countries have protested and forced him out, alleging him of steering the committee's work to favor the interests of oil-producing countries. "We've had problems with him before," said one negotiator from a developing country who has been deeply involved in the talks. Marcu resigned from the role on Tuesday amid criticism from Africa and the United States, but the presidency re-appointed him the following day. (The COP29 presidency, the Saudi Arabian delegation, and Marcu all did not respond to requests for comment from Grist.) Stagnation on the issue of fossil fuels appears likely to push the conference past its final scheduled day and into the weekend. As accusations flew at press conferences and huddles, the Azerbaijani presidency on midday Thursday convened a plenary session which it styled a qurultay, an Azerbaijani word for convention that also refers to a type of ancient military council. During the plenary, several countries voiced their dissatisfaction with the status quo on decarbonization and fossil fuels or chastised the presidency for failing to make progress on the goal to mobilize as much as $1.3 trillion in international climate finance. "We have heard clearly in this room that this text is completely disconnected from real lives," said Tina Stege, the climate envoy from the Marshall Islands, during the plenary. "We cannot play geopolitics with the lives of our citizens." A representative from Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, asserted at the plenary -- in apparent disregard for his country's own endorsement of the UAE consensus last year -- that it and other Arab countries "will not accept any text that targets specific sectors, including fossil fuels." After the plenary, Stege told Grist that the text on mitigation was "not a starting point that works." At the time, the conference was just over 24 hours away from its scheduled end. This story is provided as a service of the Institute for Nonprofit News’ On the Ground news wire. The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is a network of more than 475 independent, nonprofit newsrooms serving communities throughout the US, Canada, and globally. On the Ground is a service of INN, which aggregates the best of its members’ elections and political content, and provides it free for republication. Read more about INN here: https://inn.org/ . Please coordinate with rglickhouse@grist.org should you want to publish photos for this piece. This content cannot be modified, apart from rewriting the headline. To view the original version, visit: https://grist.org/international/cop29-deal-azerbaijan-saudi-arabia-mitigation/AN iconic pub which dates back 300 years has closed its doors just days before Christmas, leaving punters devastated. Crammond Inn, a Samuel Smith Brewery that hails from the 1700, has shut up shop after years serving the Edinburgh community. 2 The Crammond Inn made headlines when it introduced a no phones policy Credit: Newsflash 2 The pub dates back to the 1700 Credit: Collect In a post on the pub's Facebook page, the Cramond Inn team wrote: “Unfortunately the pub will be closing its doors on Saturday night. "We have been told by the brewery that the pub must shut and stocked out on Monday. We had hoped to stay open until after Christmas. “So get down today and tomorrow to enjoy some drinks as who knows when this historic pub will ever open again.” The quaint gastro pub is fit with a coal fire, car park, and a beer garden with striking views of the waters of the Firth of Forth. Read more on Money SPY ROW Prince Andrew’s murky dealings must be investigated after ‘spy’ scandal, say expert SCENTS-IBLE My Aldi candle heating hack is a gamechanger - it'll make your place smell nice The boozer closed for three months in 2023 but was saved by the local community who rallied to have it reopened. Just a few weeks later it became the talk of the town when it introduced a no phones policy. Dozens of sad pub goers have expressed their disappointment over its closure on social media. One user wrote: “So sad! Cramond Inn is the heart of the village...gorgeous log fire and you did wonderful food! Well done and sad you have had to let it go.” Most read in Money FOOD FEELS McDonald's customers can't wait to try new item that's like an old favourite SHUTTERS DOWN Fashion chain owned by H&M launches closing down sale as seven shops to shut CHOC HORROR Cadbury's among 100 iconic brands STRIPPED of prestigious title after 170 years CHOCS AHOY Cheapest supermarket to buy Christmas favourites including Quality Street Another said: "This is an absolute nonsense. As a community we have tried to support this most precious and historic of community facilities." One commenter added: "So disappointed to hear your sad news, I was hoping to be able to visit again before you closed the doors." Earlier this year, the pub underwent a change in management . The owners Samuel Smith Old Brewery put up a notice on Gumtree saying they were looking for a live-in joint management couple. This comes as an iconic London pub, which had been around for more than 100 years announced last month it was shutting for good. The boozer which often saw queues stretching up the street on popular nights, closed after its owners went into administration. The Dogstar bar and club, located on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, closed its doors for good on Wednesday, Brixton Buzz reports. The venue, previously known as the Atlantic, had been taken over by the pub chain Antic before enduring hard times during the coronavirus pandemic. The pub sat on the corner of Coldharbour Lane and Atlantic Road for roughly 150 years, and was known as The Atlantic Hotel in Victorian times.