US President Joe Biden on Sunday said deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad should be "held accountable" but called the nation's political upheaval a "historic opportunity" for Syrians to rebuild their country. In the first full US reaction to Assad's overthrow by an Islamist-led coalition of rebel factions, Biden also warned that Washington will "remain vigilant" against the emergence of terrorist groups, announcing that US forces had just conducted fresh strikes against militants from the Islamic State organization. "The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice," Biden said, speaking from the White House. "It's a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria." Asked by reporters what should happen to the deposed president, who reportedly has fled to Moscow, Biden said that "Assad should be held accountable." Biden -- set to step down in January and make way for Republican Donald Trump's return to power -- said Washington will assist Syrians in rebuilding. "We will engage with all Syrian groups, including within the process led by the United Nations, to establish a transition away from the Assad regime toward independent, sovereign" Syria "with a new constitution," he said. However, Biden cautioned that hardline Islamist groups within the victorious rebel alliance will be under scrutiny. "Some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human right abuses," Biden said. The United States had "taken note" of recent statements by rebels suggesting they had since moderated, he said, but cautioned: "We will assess not just their words, but their actions." Biden said Washington is "clear eyed" that the Islamic State extremist group, often known as ISIS, "will try to take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish" itself in Syria. "We will not let that happen," he said, adding that on Sunday alone, US forces had conducted strikes against ISIS inside Syria. The US military said the strikes were conducted by warplanes against Islamic State operatives and camps. More from this section Strikes were carried out against "over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s," the US Central Command said on social media. Earlier, Biden met with his national security team at the White House to discuss the crisis. Assad's reported departure comes less than two weeks after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group challenged more than five decades of Assad family rule with a lightning rebel offensive that broke long-frozen frontlines in Syria's civil war. They announced Sunday they had taken the capital Damascus and that Assad had fled, prompting celebrations nationwide and a ransacking of Assad's luxurious home. A Kremlin source told Russian news agencies that the deposed leader was now in Moscow, along with his family. The US military has around 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq as part of the international coalition established in 2014 to help combat the Islamic State jihadist group. It has regularly struck targets in the country including those linked to Iranian-backed militias. Tehran was a major backer of Assad's government. Biden also confirmed US authorities believe the American journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria in 2012, still lives. "We believe he's alive," Biden said, but the US has yet "to identify where he is." bur-sms/mlm
CNBC Daily Open: U.S. exceptionalism seems difficult to dislodge for nowTHERE is no festive cheer for Britain this Christmas thanks to Keir Starmer and the decisions taken by his cruel and incompetent Labour Government. Record tax rises are about to hit businesses and charities hard, pensioners have been left in the cold to freeze , and our food production is being put at risk with their attack on our family farms . Since Starmer walked through the doors of 10 Downing Street, we’ve seen Labour mired in scandal and sleaze, ministers failing to stand up for British interests on the world stage by cosying up to China and giving away the Chagos Islands, and manifesto promises discarded like unwelcome Christmas gifts. The sheer duplicity of Labour, who said one thing at the election and gave the British people false hope that Brexit would be safe on their watch, is heinous. Sun readers will be alarmed by Starmer’s plans to betray Brexit and drag Britain back into the EU through the back door. Starmer, his Foreign Secretary David Lammy and most of the Labour Party have never accepted the referendum result. read more on keir starmer Remember, they spent years trying to block Brexit, campaigned for a second referendum and refused to trust the judgment of the British people. Now they are in Government they are working hard to reverse our Brexit freedoms. In recent days we’ve learned that a dedicated unit has been set up in the Cabinet Office to “reset” the relationship with Brussel s. This “surrender squad” consists of more than 100 civil servants and no doubt thousands more will be working across Government departments, allowing the bureaucratic tentacles of the EU’s unaccountable institutions to once again infiltrate our laws and undermine our democracy. Most read in The Sun When we should be cutting the size of the state to ease the burden on taxpayers, Starmer is insulting hard-working families and businesses, forcing them to bankroll his ideological dream of putting Britain back under EU control. Labour will deny that they want to put Britain back into the EU , but they cannot be trusted. The facts speak for themselves. As well as mobilising the machinery of government and civil service to orientate towards the EU, Labour is trying to ram through new laws to empower ministers to align our laws and rules with those set by Brussels . With a failed domestic agenda and growing public anger in him, Starmer is seeking comfort in the platitudes, friendships and company of European leaders. They sense his desperation to secure some form of “reset” and are eager to extract a high price from him. Talk of youth mobility schemes (immigration rights and subsidised tuition fees for the EU’s young people) are high on the EU’s agenda, as will be our fishing stocks and our money. Sun readers should be left in no doubt that these sinister plans to take Britain back under the EU’s control will harm our national interests by chaining our country to Europe’s slow-growth, high-regulation, high-tax model, rather than addressing issues at home and developing opportunities with faster-growing parts of the world. Not only are the actions of Starmer undemocratic, they are unnecessary. Four years ago, on Christmas Eve 2020, Boris Johnson secured a comprehensive trade deal with the EU as part of our post-Brexit vision for Britain. It was a deal many thought could not be secured, but gave us trading opportunities on good terms that meant no tariffs or quotas. It supported our exporters and our world-leading financial services sector. It ensured that we could continue to co-operate and work closely with our European friends and allies when it was in our interest to do so, but no longer be controlled by them. Alongside this new trade deal, worth £660billion at the time, we put in place a security deal to enable us to work jointly to tackle cross-border crime while the end to free movement meant we could put tougher controls on criminals trying to enter the UK. Unleashed from the EU, we have been able to pursue new trade deals including joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. It was Boris Johnson’s Conservative government which respected the referendum result and delivered Brexit. A firm government which ended the years of political deadlock and acrimony that the country hated and which held us back. That Conservative government battled the institutions, the naysayers, the doomsters and the Brexit saboteurs, including Starmer, and gave our country the firm leadership needed to establish our vision of Global Britain. Kemi Badenoch went on to pass the law that ended the supremacy of EU law in this country and led the way to the repeal and reform of 2,000 EU laws. So fast forward to 2025 and it’s clear that Starmer and his Labour Party are desperate to reopen those wounds for ideological reasons. Their mission is to take Britain backwards, on to a path of endless negotiations with Brussels, to take us back into the largest bureaucratic club, where he can hand over decision making and continue to blame someone else for his political failures: Handing our sovereignty over to the EU’s unaccountable penpushers and bureaucrats. READ MORE SUN STORIES Starmer’s combination of his ideological obsession with the EU, his naivety and his incompetence will undermine our national interests, send Britain backwards and betray Brexit. For those of us who care about the democratic freedom of our country and the freedoms the people voted for in 2016, I can tell you now that the Conservative Party will never lay down for this great Labour betrayal of our people and our country — and we will be on the front lines to halt Starmer’s foolish betrayal.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) Barclays 22nd Annual Global Technology Conference (Transcript)December 23, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by Chinese Academy of Sciences Postharvest chilling injury (PCI) is a major challenge in the horticulture industry, resulting in significant losses due to the perishable nature of fruits when stored at low temperatures. Chilling stress disrupts cellular homeostasis, induces oxidative damage, and alters membrane protein structures, which in turn hampers electron transport and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. Despite ongoing efforts to mitigate PCI, the mechanisms behind this injury remain incompletely understood, prompting a need for deeper research into the biochemical and physiological responses of fruits under chilling conditions. On July 26, 2024, researchers from the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management published a comprehensive review in Horticulture Research , focusing on ATP's role as a signaling regulator in postharvest chilling tolerance of fruits. The study critically examines the key pathways involved in ATP supply, underscoring their significance in maintaining membrane integrity under chilling stress. This review delves into the complex functions of ATP in fruit physiology, with a particular focus on its regulation of chilling tolerance postharvest. Key metabolic pathways such as the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway , the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and the pentose phosphate pathway are identified as major contributors to ATP production, which is essential for energy metabolism and stress response in fruits. The study explores how ATP's intracellular and extracellular forms interact to mediate chilling stress, highlighting the γ-aminobutyric acid shunt pathway and the cytochrome pathway as important players in ATP generation. Notably, the research also discusses the potential of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) in mitigating PCI and the signaling role of extracellular ATP through its receptor DORN1, which triggers protective responses against oxidative damage . These findings deepen our understanding of fruit stress tolerance and pave the way for targeted postharvest treatments to preserve fruit quality. Dr. Sunil Pareek, lead author of the study, emphasizes, "Our review underscores the pivotal role of ATP in postharvest fruit management. By understanding ATP's regulatory mechanisms, we could revolutionize the preservation of fruit quality, especially in cold storage , which is crucial for global trade and food security ." The findings of this study hold significant promise for the horticulture industry. By developing novel treatments to enhance chilling tolerance, this research could reduce food waste, extend shelf life, and improve the nutritional value of fruits for consumers worldwide. Moreover, the study opens new avenues for exploring the intricate relationship between ATP metabolism and chilling stress in horticultural produce, potentially leading to more sustainable practices in fruit preservation. More information: Hansika Sati et al, Is ATP a signaling regulator for postharvest chilling tolerance in fruits?, Horticulture Research (2024). DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhae204 Journal information: Horticulture Research Provided by Chinese Academy of SciencesIndia Remembers: 23 Years Since the Parliament Terror Attack
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