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Starmer's box office moment fell flat but he'll be judged on his deliveryThe Thai woman’s body was discovered in a fifth-floor hostel room in the Jomtien area of Chonburi in eastern Thailand. Jomtien Beach area and the Gulf of Siam, Pattaya, Thailand (stock image) An Irish man in his 70s has been questioned by police in Thailand after a woman was found dead in a hostel on Sunday. The Thai woman’s body was discovered in a fifth-floor hostel room in the Jomtien area of Chonburi in eastern Thailand and she has since been identified as 45-year-old Ms Duangta. Forensic experts and medical teams from Banglamung Hospital gathered evidence at the scene today before transferring the deceased to the Institute of Forensic Medicine to determine the course of the investigation. Ms Duangta had been dead for at least three days in the hostel room she shared with a 77-year-old Irish man being referred to as ‘Mr B’. Other residents in the building had noticed a smell coming from their room and notified authorities but police found no evidence of struggle or a break-in in the room, which Mr B had left on Sunday morning. Authorities later questioned him after finding him walking along Jomtien Beach, where Khaosod reports he claimed Ms Duangta had asked to stay with him from December 18 after being assaulted by another person. Building staff claim that the Irish man had been renting the room since October 16 and frequently brought different women to stay with him. Mr B has been taken to Pattaya City Police Station for further questioning as police investigate his relationship to the deceased and why he had not reported her death.
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Key Takeaways Visionary leaders are often celebrated for their big ideas and charisma, but without a clear path forward, even the boldest vision can become a costly distraction. In a landmark 2017 study that remains influential today, McKinsey highlights this divide: Companies that prioritize long-term strategies — focusing on consistent investments and sustainable growth — outperform their peers by 47% in revenue growth over a decade. These companies benefit from stronger employee engagement, customer loyalty and resilience during downturns. In contrast, companies chasing quick wins often lose ground when economic pressures mount. As economic shifts and competitive pressures increase, businesses need leaders who aren't just dreaming of the future but actively building it. Companies that emphasize immediate gains may see short-lived success but often struggle when markets change, technology advances or customer needs evolve. True visionary leadership requires a long-term vision for business and the courage to make decisions that might not pay off until years later. If you're an entrepreneur, startup founder or CEO, the stakes are high: Success today doesn't guarantee relevance tomorrow. The following strategies can help you lead your business toward sustainable success as you explore what it takes to move beyond visionary talk and create lasting impact. Related: Are You a Visionary Leader? Here's How to Tell (and What You Can Do to Become One) 1. Build resilience into your long-term strategy A visionary leader understands that success is never a straight line. When markets shift or revenue declines, do you have a business turnaround strategy built into your long-term plan? Resilience comes from knowing where your business is headed and preparing to weather setbacks rather than scrambling to react when they arise. For example, think of a technology company facing slowing growth. Instead of chasing after quick-fix solutions, a resilient approach might involve assessing where long-term growth can be found, perhaps in pivoting toward a new market or expanding into digital transformation. By planning for change and integrating flexibility into your goals, you can stay competitive without compromising your original mission. Take the recent shift of traditional retailers investing in omnichannel strategies and digital experiences. They're building resilience by ensuring that physical and online channels support one another, creating a seamless experience for customers who expect options. By proactively embracing change, these companies strengthen their market positions while future-proofing their growth. 2. Transform ideas into clear, actionable plans Visionary leaders don't just present big ideas — they transform them into clear, actionable roadmaps. They understand that a bold plan without concrete steps can lead to lost time, resources and employee confidence. So, the question becomes: How can you turn vision into action? Consider a founder aiming to launch a new product line with limited resources. Rather than diving headfirst, a clear roadmap might break down the project into stages: initial R&D, market testing, customer feedback integration and, finally, a staged rollout. This measured approach allows for adjustments along the way, reducing the risk of failure and ensuring resources are effectively used. Leaders who succeed in this way do so by setting a compelling vision and making each step toward it transparent, achievable and adaptable. For example, Starbucks' recent transformation plan included clear, actionable goals to improve both customer experience and employee engagement. Rather than simply aiming to "innovate," the CEO outlined specific operational improvements, workforce training and targeted tech investments. These transparent steps make a big vision feel achievable, turning employees into partners in progress rather than mere followers of a lofty dream. Related: How to Transform Your Idea into an Empire in 5 Steps 3. Empower and develop a future-ready team Leaders who can build a future talent pipeline understand that sustainability means looking beyond their own tenure. A visionary team doesn't happen by chance; it's carefully cultivated. To ensure lasting impact, companies need leaders who invest in training, mentorship and a culture where employees feel ownership of the company's vision. Ask yourself: Are you creating space for new ideas and supporting talent with the resources to grow? When leaders prioritize development, they enable future leaders to emerge who already align with the company's long-term strategy. Google, for instance, has made employee-driven innovation a cornerstone of its culture. By allocating time and resources for team projects outside of immediate job duties, Google fosters a continuous cycle of innovation and growth that strengthens the company well beyond individual contributions. This approach works in startups and large organizations alike. In a small team, leaders might hold regular "visionary roundtables" where employees propose solutions to ongoing challenges. In larger companies, mentorship programs and leadership training show emerging talent that they're seen as part of the company's future. Such investments turn today's workforce into tomorrow's leaders, creating resilience and alignment that helps the company weather any storm. Related: Are You a Visionary Leader? Here are 12 Ways to Cultivate and Enhance Your Leadership Vision True visionary leadership combines purpose with actionable strategy, empowering a team that will carry the vision forward. Consider Mark Parker, former CEO of Nike, whose leadership not only drove product innovation but also significantly grew the company's value and profits. By fostering a culture of creativity and collaboration , Parker demonstrated how leaders who act on their visions — while empowering others to do the same — can build businesses with the resilience to thrive well into the future. As an entrepreneur, focusing on these essential steps can ensure your business doesn't just survive but flourishes long after the initial spark has passed.Newly Obtained Photos Show Joe Biden Introducing Hunter to Xi Jinping
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police on Thursday formally accused former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup to keep him in office after his defeat in the 2022 elections. Police said their sealed findings were being delivered Thursday to Brazil’s Supreme Court, which will refer them to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who decides either to formally charge Bolsonaro and put him on trial, or toss the investigation. Bolsonaro told the website Metropoles that he was waiting for his lawyer to review the accusation, reportedly about 700 pages long. But he said he would fight the case and dismissed the investigation as being the result of “creativity.” The former right-wing president has denied all claims he tried to stay in office after his narrow electoral defeat in 2022 to his rival, leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats since then. Police said in a brief statement that the Supreme Court had agreed to reveal the names of all 37 people who were accused “to avoid the dissemination of incorrect news.” Dozens of former and current Bolsonaro aides also were accused, including Gen. Walter Braga Netto, who was his running mate in the 2022 campaign; former Army commander Gen. Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira; Valdemar Costa Neto, the chairman of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party; and his veteran former adviser, Gen. Augusto Heleno. Other investigations produced formal accusations of Bolsonaro’s roles in smuggling diamond jewelry into Brazil without properly declaring them and in directing a subordinate to falsify his and others’ COVID-19 vaccination statuses. Bolsonaro has denied any involvement in either. Another probe found that he had abused his authority to cast doubt on the country’s voting system, and judges barred him from running again until 2030. Still, he has insisted that he will run in 2026, and many in his orbit were heartened by the recent U.S. election win of Donald Trump, despite his own swirling legal threats. But the far-reaching investigations already have weakened Bolsonaro’s status as a leader of Brazil’s right wing, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. “Bolsonaro is already barred from running in the 2026 elections,” Melo told the The Associated Press. “And if he is convicted he could also be jailed by then. To avoid being behind bars, he will have to convince Supreme Court justices that he has nothing to do with a plot that involves dozens of his aides. That’s a very tall order,” Melo said. A formal accusation of an attempted coup means the investigation has gathered indications of “a crime and its author,” said Eloísa Machado de Almeida, a law professor at Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university in Sao Paulo. She said she believed there was enough legal grounds for the prosecutor-general to file charges. Bolsonaro’s allies in Congress have been negotiating a bill to pardon individuals who stormed the Brazilian capital and rioted on Jan. 8, 2023 in a failed attempt to keep the former president in power. Analysts have speculated that lawmakers want to extend the legislation to cover the former president himself. However, efforts to push a broad amnesty bill may be “politically challenging” given recent attacks on the judiciary and details emerging in investigations, Machado said. On Tuesday, Federal Police arrested four military and a Federal Police officer, accused of plotting to assassinate Lula and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as a means to overthrow the government following the 2022 elections. And last week, a man carried out a bomb attack in the capital Brasilia . He attempted to enter the Supreme Court and threw explosives outside, killing himself.
Article content OTTAWA — Three-hundred and twenty-four unique firearm makes and models of so-called “assault-style” firearms are now prohibited weapons in Canada, effective immediately. Recommended Videos But with an amnesty period that ends 10 days after the latest possible date for the next federal election, there’s little expectation the new measures will ever come into effect. An order-in-council tabled Thursday encompassing 104 families of firearms, a move made one day before the 35th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc made the announcement Thursday afternoon, the latest in the Trudeau Liberals’ contentious and often troubled attempts to restrict access to firearms in Canada. “Our goal is to ensure that no community, no family is devastated by mass shootings in Canada again,” LeBlanc said during the news conference. “These 324 models of prohibited firearms will be added to the 1,500 models added in 2020, and have technical characteristics that are similar. They were made for battlefields, not for hunting.” These new models, he said, were determined through what he described as a “robust” consultation with RCMP firearms experts. An amnesty order is in place until Oct. 30, 2025 for licenced, legal firearms owners to deal with the new measures — 10 days after the mandated day for the next federal election. Only firearms disposed of through the government’s Assault-style Firearms Compensation Program will be eligible for compensation — firearms deactivated or turned over to police during the amnesty period will not be eligible. Talks are currently underway with the Ukrainian government to hand over seized firearms to their military for use against Russia, said Defence Minister Bill Blair. The announcement caused a mixed reaction in Canada’s legal firearms community. Tracey Wilson of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR) said the Liberals have learned nothing over their eight-year-long attempt to confiscate guns from their legal owners. “This is typical Liberal Party divide-and-conquer politics, they know they are out of time and Canadians are out of money,” she said. “They know the Tories will repeal it all in less than 10 months. They haven’t used an Order in Council to deal with the daily violence plaguing Canada, no action on repeat violent offenders, no response to the pleas of law enforcement. Nothing.” Wilson also criticized the government for summarily rolling out their gun bans via orders-in-council instead of legislation. “The Liberals have normalized the subversion of Canada’s democratic process for their own political maneuvering,” she said. Policy analyst and thegunblog.ca editor Nicolas Johnson said he doesn’t know of a single gun owner who has any intention — or incentive — to hand over their legally-purchased firearms. “The Liberals have no idea how to execute their confiscation fantasy, no money to pay for it, and no way to enforce it,” he told the Toronto Sun . “The Liberals are appearing increasingly weak, desperate, and extreme with this latest measure.” Previous attempts by the Trudeau Liberals to apply blanket bans on firearms proved so unpopular that even Liberal MPs spoke out against them. In 2022, the Liberals quietly tabled two amendments to their gun control bill C-21 — sweeping changes that would have outlawed legal rifles used daily by hunters and sport shooters. The Liberals withdrew those amendments after massive blowback from hunters, sports shooters and First Nations, a move described by the opposition Tories as a “humiliating climb-down” for the prime minister. A list of these newly-banned firearms has not yet been provided as of publication. RECOMMENDED VIDEO
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