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Gareth Bale agrees with Jude Bellingham on Kylian Mbappe after his Anfield nightmare. The Real Madrid superstar endured a difficult evening during his side’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool . He had little impact on the game and passed up a golden chance to find the net after seeing his penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher . It was the latest chapter in what has been a tricky campaign for Mbappe. Despite his nine goals so far this term, it has been claimed he is not totally happy at being played out of position by Carlo Ancelotti . He has also lost his place in the French national team under Didier Deschamps. Despite his bad fortune, former Real Madrid star Bale is sure that Mbappe will rediscover his best form. Speaking on TNT Sports, the Welshman said: “It does happen, I’ve missed penalties, everyone’s missed penalties. It’s just kind of unfortunate at the moment that it’s not quite going Mbappe’s way. I think on his day, he’s the best player in the world, and I think it’s just a matter of time before he becomes good.” Meanwhile, Mbappe’s teammate Bellingham has refused to blame the Frenchman for Los Blancos’ defeat. He said: "Obviously it's a big moment in the game, but it can happen, he's a wonderful player but the pressure he holds is huge. "The penalty is not the reason we lost the game; as a collective, we weren't good enough on the night. Kylian can keep his head high, I know for sure, that he will produce many more moments that are huge for this club." What's gone wrong for Kylian Mbappe? Share your thoughts in the comments below Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti also gave his verdict and issued a simple task to Mbappe in order to rediscover his form. Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Italian said: "It happens a lot with forwards, there are times when it's hard for them to score. "There's a cure, and it's patience. It's a difficult moment for him, above all today, with the missed penalty. Everyone has to support him. It could be a lack of confidence. “Sometimes, when you have a moment when things aren't going well, the idea is to play simply, and you can complicate things a bit. He's scored a lot of penalties. Sometimes you can miss one... He has to work, keep fighting, and the moment will pass." Mbappe will hope to find the net this weekend as Real attempt to cut the gap to La Liga title rivals Barcelona . They take on Getafe at the Bernabeu on Sunday afternoon. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Sky has slashed the price of its Sky Sports, Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £240 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.The Israeli government confirmed on Monday that Omer Neutra, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was killed during Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Neutra, 21, was a tank platoon commander in the IDF. He was thought to be alive in captivity. His parents, Ronen and Orna Neutra, spent the last year campaigning for his release and the release of the remaining hostages thought to be held in Gaza. They spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, wrote op-eds, stayed in steady communication with the Biden Administration and the White House, and made regular media appearances, including with Scripps News . The whole time, they sought to pressure U.S. and Israeli leadership to resolve the hostage crisis. RELATED STORY | Families of Gaza hostages bring their message to both the current and upcoming White Houses "In the 423 days since October 7th, we expected our leaders to demonstrate the same courage displayed so bravely by Omer and rise to the occasion on behalf of those who were killed and kidnapped, just as our beloved Omer showed until the very end," Ronen and Orna Neutra wrote in a statement released Monday. "Leadership will only be revealed in actions and results going forward. We call upon the Israeli government to work with President Biden and President-elect Trump, to use all of their leverage and resources to return all 101 hostages — living and the deceased — to their families as soon as possible." A propaganda video released by Hamas Saturday showed Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American held hostage who was also captured while serving in the IDF. In the video, Alexander calls on Trump to keep negotiating for the freedom of the hostages remaining in Gaza. Trump on Monday demanded release of the remaining hostages, writing on Truth Social: "Please let this truth serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume office as President of the United States, there will be all hell to pay in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity."
After entering Aleppo, Syrian insurgents advance to a nearby province in a major setback for AssadTrump threatens 100 tariff on the BRIC bloc of nations if they act to undermine US dollarBEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of Syrian insurgents took over most of Aleppo on Saturday, establishing positions in the country's largest city and controlling its airport before expanding their shock offensive to a nearby province. They faced little to no resistance from government troops, according to fighters and activists. A war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seized control of Aleppo International airport, the first international airport to be controlled by insurgents. The fighters claimed they seized the airport and postefd pictures from there. Thousands of fighters also moved on, facing almost no defense from government forces, to seize towns and villages in northern Hama, a province where they had a presence before being expelled by government troops in 2016. They claimed Saturday evening to have entered Hama city. The swift and surprise offensive is a huge embarrassment for Syria's President Bashar Assad and raised questions about his armed forces' preparedness. The insurgent offensive launched from their stronghold in the country's northwest appeared to have been planned for years. It also comes at a time when Assad's allies were preoccupied with their own conflicts. Turkey, a main backer of Syrian opposition groups, said its diplomatic efforts had failed to stop government attacks on opposition-held areas in recent weeks, which were in violation of a de-escalation agreement sponsored by Russia, Iran and Ankara. Turkish security officials said a limited offensive by the rebels was planned to stop government attacks and allow civilians to return, but the offensive expanded as Syrian government forces began to retreat from their positions. The insurgents, led by the Salafi jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and including Turkey-backed fighters, launched their shock offensive on Wednesday. They first staged a two-pronged attack in Aleppo and the Idlib countryside, entering Aleppo two days later and securing a strategic town that lies on the highway that links Syria's largest city to the capital and the coast. By Saturday evening, they seized at least four towns in the central Hama province and claimed to have entered the provincial capital. The insurgents staged an attempt to reclaim areas they controlled in Hama in 2017 but failed. Syria’s armed forces said in a statement Saturday that to absorb the large attack on Aleppo and save lives, it redeployed troops and equipment and was preparing a counterattack. The statement acknowledged that insurgents entered large parts of the city but said they have not established bases or checkpoints. Later on Saturday, the armed forces sought to dispel what it said were lies in reference to reports about its forces retreating or defecting, saying the general command was carrying out its duties in “combatting terrorist organizations.” The return of the insurgents to Aleppo was their first since 2016, following a grueling military campaign in which Assad's forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups. The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters after 2011 protests against Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war. After appearing to be losing control of the country to the rebels, the Aleppo battle secured Assad’s hold on strategic areas of Syria, with opposition factions and their foreign backers controlling areas on the periphery. The lightning offensive threatened to reignite the country's civil war, which had been largely in a stalemate for years. Late on Friday, witnesses said two airstrikes hit the edge of Aleppo city, targeting insurgent reinforcements and falling near residential areas. The Observatory said 20 fighters were killed. Insurgents were filmed outside police headquarters, in the city center, and outside the Aleppo citadel, the medieval palace in the old city center, and one of the largest in the world. They tore down posters of Assad, stepping on some and burning others. The push into Aleppo followed weeks of simmering low-level violence, including government attacks on opposition-held areas. The offensive came as Iran-linked groups, primarily Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own battles at home. A ceasefire in Hezbollah’s two-month war with Israel took effect Wednesday, the same day that Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks against Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria during the last 70 days. Speaking from the heart of the city in Saadallah Aljabri square, opposition fighter Mohammad Al Abdo said it was his first time back in Aleppo in 13 years, when his older brother was killed at the start of the war. “God willing, the rest of Aleppo province will be liberated" from government forces, he said. There was light traffic in the city center on Saturday. Opposition fighters fired in the air in celebration but there was no sign of clashes or government troops present. Journalists in the city filmed soldiers captured by the insurgents and the bodies of others killed in battle. Abdulkafi Alhamdo, a teacher who fled Aleppo in 2016 and returned Friday night after hearing the insurgents were inside, described “mixed feelings of pain, sadness and old memories." “As I entered Aleppo, I kept telling myself this is impossible. How did this happen?” Alhamdo said he strolled through the city at night visiting the Aleppo citadel, where the insurgents raised their flags, a major square and the university of Aleppo, as well as the last spot he was in before he was forced to leave for the countryside. “I walked in (the empty) streets of Aleppo, shouting, ‘People, people of Aleppo. We are your sons,’” he told The Associated Press in a series of messages. Aleppo residents reported hearing clashes and gunfire but most stayed indoors. Some fled the fighting. Schools and government offices were closed Saturday as most people stayed indoors, according to Sham FM radio, a pro-government station. Bakeries were open. Witnesses said the insurgents deployed security forces around the city to prevent any acts of violence or looting. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday Aleppo's two key public hospitals were reportedly full of patients while many private facilities closed. In social media posts, the insurgents were pictured outside of the citadel, the medieval palace in the old city center, and one of the largest in the world. In cellphone videos, they recorded themselves having conversations with residents they visited at home, seeking to reassure them they will cause no harm. The Syrian Kurdish-led administration in the country's east said nearly 3,000 people, most of them students, had arrived in their region after fleeing the fighting in Aleppo, which has a sizeable Kurdish population. State media reported that a number of “terrorists," including sleeper cells, infiltrated parts of the city. Government troops chased them and arrested a number who posed for pictures near city landmarks, they said. On a state TV morning show Saturday, commentators said army reinforcements and Russia’s assistance would repel the “terrorist groups,” blaming Turkey for supporting the insurgents’ push into Aleppo and Idlib provinces. Russia’s state news agency Tass quoted Oleg Ignasyuk, a Russian Defense Ministry official coordinating in Syria, as saying that Russian warplanes targeted and killed 200 militants who had launched the offensive in the northwest on Friday. It provided no further details. Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus contributed to this report.
NoneWith President Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter on Sunday night, it joins a list of controversial presidential pardons issued throughout the nation’s history The president said the gun and tax charges that were brought against his son were politicized, while his son offered a statement of his own saying that he was addicted to drugs at the time and has since sobered up. The pardon not only covers the two cases but any potential criminal activity between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024. The pardon covered Nixon’s activity during the Watergate scandal. Ford said in a televised statement at the time that pardoning his predecessor was in the best interest of the country. On the same day, Clinton also pardoned commodities trader Marc Rich, who had fled the United States to Switzerland after he was indicted in 1983 on charges of evading millions of dollars in taxes. Rich was also accused of allegedly trading with Iran while the regime was holding American hostages in the late 1970s. At the time, the Brookings Institute noted, members of Clinton’s own Democratic Party were incensed by the Rich pardon. The move drew significant criticism at the time. Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), a supporter of the Vietnam War and a one-time presidential candidate, said Carter’s move was the “most disgraceful thing that a president has ever done.” Among those who received pardons included then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and then-White House national security adviser Robert McFarlane. The moves drew significant backlash in the media and among Democratic lawmakers. Trump said that the pardons were necessary because Stone and the others faced biased prosecutions, according to a White House statement issued at the time. Stone had faced “prosecutorial misconduct by Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller’s team” and was “treated very unfairly,” Trump wrote at the time. “He was subjected to a pre-dawn raid of his home, which the media conveniently captured on camera. Mr. Stone also faced potential political bias at his jury trial.”
ST. LOUIS , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, has named Bryant L. Summers as District Vice President for the company's St. Louis District, effective January 1, 2025 . Summers joined Graybar in 1998 and has extensive experience across several functional areas, including sales, operations, finance, IT and management. He currently serves as President of Cape Electrical Supply, LLC – a subsidiary of Graybar. As St. Louis District Vice President, he will lead Graybar's business operations in a territory that includes Missouri , Arkansas , Oklahoma , Nebraska and Kansas as well as parts of Tennessee , Indiana and Illinois . "We congratulate Bryant on his promotion," said Graybar Regional Vice President David Bender . "Bryant is a seasoned leader with a proven track record of driving growth, service innovation and operational excellence. I look forward to working with him to expand our business and serve our customers in this region." Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America , is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and data networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of more than 345 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, helping its customers power, network, automate and secure their facilities with speed, intelligence and efficiency. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR. Media Contact: Tim Sommer (314) 578-7672 timothy.sommer@graybar.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/graybar-names-bryant-l-summers-district-vice-president-in-st-louis-302320131.html SOURCE Graybar
It's official: High Wheelers baseball coming to Yuba-Sutter
CHICAGO — In the days after the presidential election, Sadie Perez began carrying pepper spray with her around campus. Her mom also ordered her and her sister a self-defense kit that included keychain spikes, a hidden knife key and a personal alarm. It’s a response to an emboldened fringe of right-wing “manosphere” influencers who have seized on Republican Donald Trump ’s presidential win to justify and amplify misogynistic derision and threats online. Many have appropriated a 1960s abortion rights rallying cry, declaring “Your body, my choice” at women online and on college campuses. For many women, the words represent a worrying harbinger of what might lie ahead as some men perceive the election results as a rebuke of reproductive rights and women’s rights. “The fact that I feel like I have to carry around pepper spray like this is sad,” said Perez, a 19-year-old political science student in Wisconsin. “Women want and deserve to feel safe.” Isabelle Frances-Wright, director of technology and society at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank focusing on polarization and extremism, said she had seen a “very large uptick in a number of types of misogynistic rhetoric immediately after the election,” including some “extremely violent misogyny.” “I think many progressive women have been shocked by how quickly and aggressively this rhetoric has gained traction,” she said. The phrase “Your body, my choice” has been largely attributed to a post on the social platform X from Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and far-right internet personality who dined at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida two years ago. In statements responding to criticism of that event, Trump said he had “never met and knew nothing about” Fuentes before he arrived. Mary Ruth Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, said the phrase transforms the iconic abortion rights slogan into an attack on women’s right to autonomy and a personal threat. “The implication is that men should have control over or access to sex with women,” said Ziegler, a reproductive rights expert. Fuentes' post had 35 million views on X within 24 hours, according to a report by Frances-Wright's think tank, and the phrase spread rapidly to other social media platforms. Women on TikTok have reported seeing it inundate their comment sections. The slogan also has made its way offline with boys chanting it in middle schools or men directing it at women on college campuses, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue report and social media reports. One mother said her daughter heard the phrase on her college campus three times, the report said . School districts in Wisconsin and Minnesota have sent notices about the language to parents. T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase were pulled off Amazon. Perez said she has seen men respond to shared Snapchat stories for their college class with “Your body, my choice.” “It makes me feel disgusted and infringed upon,” she said. “... It feels like going backwards.” Misogynistic attacks have been part of the social media landscape for years. But Frances-Wright and others who track online extremism and disinformation said language glorifying violence against women or celebrating the possibility of their rights being stripped away has spiked since the election. Online declarations for women to “Get back in the kitchen” or to “Repeal the 19th,” a reference to the constitutional amendment that gave women the right to vote, have spread rapidly. In the days surrounding the election, the extremism think tank found that the top 10 posts on X calling for repeal of the 19th Amendment received more than 4 million views collectively. A man holding a sign with the words “Women Are Property” sparked an outcry at Texas State University . The man was not a student, faculty or staff, and was escorted off campus, according to the university’s president . The university is “exploring potential legal responses,” he said. Anonymous rape threats have been left on the TikTok videos of women denouncing the election results. And on the far-flung reaches of the web, 4chan forums have called for “rape squads” and the adoption of policies in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopian book and TV series depicting the dehumanization and brutalization of women. “What was scary here was how quickly this also manifested in offline threats,” Frances-Wright said, emphasizing that online discourse can have real-world impacts. Previous violent rhetoric on 4chan has been connected to racially motivated and antisemitic attacks, including a 2022 shooting by a white supremacist in Buffalo that killed 10 people . Anti-Asian hate incidents also rose as politicians, including Trump , used words such as “Chinese virus” to describe the COVID-19 pandemic. And Trump’s language targeting Muslims and immigrants in his first campaign correlated with spikes in hate speech and attacks on these groups, Frances-Wright said. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism reported similar rhetoric, with “numerous violent misogynistic trends” gaining traction on right-wing platforms such 4chan and spreading to more mainstream ones such as X since the election. Throughout the presidential race, Trump’s campaign leaned on conservative podcasts and tailored messaging toward disaffected young men . As Trump took the stage at the Republican National Convention over the summer, the song “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown blared from the speakers. One of several factors to his success this election was modestly boosting his support among men , a shift concentrated among younger voters, according to AP VoteCast, survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. But Trump also won support from 44% of women age 18 to 44, according to AP VoteCast. To some men, Trump's return to the White House is seen as a vindication, gender and politics experts said. For many young women, the election felt like a referendum on women’s rights and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris ’ loss felt like a rejection of their own rights and autonomy. “For some of these men, Trump’s victory represents a chance to reclaim a place in society that they think they are losing around these traditional gender roles,” Frances-Wright said. None of the current online rhetoric is being amplified by Trump or anyone in his immediate orbit. But Trump has a long history of insulting women , and the spike in such language comes after he ran a campaign that was centered on masculinity and repeatedly attacked Harris over her race and gender . His allies and surrogates also used misogynistic language about Harris throughout the campaign. “With Trump’s victory, many of these men felt like they were heard, they were victorious. They feel that they have potentially a supporter in the White House,” said Dana Brown, executive director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. Brown said some young men feel they’re victims of discrimination and have expressed mounting resentment for successes of the women’s rights movement, including #MeToo . The tension also has been influenced by socioeconomic struggles. As women become the majority on college campuses and many professional industries see increasing gender diversity, it has “led to young men scapegoating women and girls, falsely claiming it’s their fault they’re not getting into college anymore as opposed to looking inward,” Brown said. Perez, the political science student, said she and her sister have been leaning on each other, their mother and other women in their lives to feel safer amid the online vitriol. They text each other to make sure they got home safely. They have girls' nights to celebrate wins, including a female majority in student government at their campus in the University of Wisconsin system. “I want to encourage my friends and the women in my life to use their voices to call out this rhetoric and to not let fear take over,” she said.Lam Research Corporation Comments on Newly Announced Export Regulations
FREMONT, Calif. , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lam Research Corp. (Nasdaq: LRCX ). Today, the U.S. government announced additional measures to further restrict semiconductor technology exports to China . Our initial assessment is that the effect of the announced measures on Lam's business will be broadly consistent with our prior expectations. As a result, at this time we have no plans to update Lam's financial guidance for the December 2024 quarter as stated in our earnings press release on October 23, 2024 . About Lam Research Lam Research Corporation is a global supplier of innovative wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Lam's equipment and services allow customers to build smaller and better performing devices. In fact, today, nearly every advanced chip is built with Lam technology. We combine superior systems engineering, technology leadership, and a strong values-based culture, with an unwavering commitment to our customers. Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX ) is a FORTUNE 500® company headquartered in Fremont, Calif. , with operations around the globe. Learn more at www.lamresearch.com . (LRCX) Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Statements made in this press release that are not of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to but are not limited to the effect of U.S. government restrictions on semiconductor technology exports to China , the effect of such measures on Lam's business, and our outlook and guidance for future financial results. Some factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include: trade regulations, export controls, trade disputes, and other geopolitical tensions may inhibit our ability to sell our products; our understanding of newly announced trade restrictions and their impact on our business may change over time; business, political and/or regulatory conditions in the consumer electronics industry, the semiconductor industry and the overall economy may deteriorate or change; the actions of our customers and competitors may be inconsistent with our expectations; supply chain cost increases and other inflationary pressures have impacted and may continue to impact our profitability; supply chain disruptions or manufacturing capacity constraints may limit our ability to manufacture and sell our products; and natural and human-caused disasters, disease outbreaks, war, terrorism, political or governmental unrest or instability, or other events beyond our control may impact our operations and revenue in affected areas; as well as the other risks and uncertainties that are described in the documents filed or furnished by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including specifically the Risk Factors described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 29, 2024 . These uncertainties and changes could materially affect the forward-looking statements and cause actual results to vary from expectations in a material way. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information or statements made in this press release. Company Contacts: Ram Ganesh Investor Relations (510) 572-1615 Email: [email protected] Source: Lam Research Corporation### SOURCE Lam Research Corporation
Mr Elon Musk will lead the Department of Government Efficiency along with Mr Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, under the Trump administration. WASHINGTON – These are frenzied times for the nascent Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). In Silicon Valley, tech leaders are eagerly seeking positions or introductions to the department, even though for now it is not an actual part of government, but a loose grouping that Mr Elon Musk named after an internet meme. On his social media platform, X, Mr Musk posted a “Godfather”-style photo of himself as the “Dogefather”, asking government employees, “What did you get done this week?” And in Washington, a House sub-committee has been announced to help push through President-elect Donald Trump’s vision, announced Nov 12, for a department that would slash the US$6.7 trillion (S$8.98 trillion) federal budget. Members of Congress – even Democratic ones – have been offering ideas for where to cut what Mr Musk said could be US$2 trillion from the budget. “It’s going to be very easy,” Mr Elon Musk’s mother, Mrs Maye Musk, told Fox News on Nov 26, after she sat in on some of her son’s meetings. Mr Musk will lead the department along with Mr Vivek Ramaswamy , a former Republican presidential candidate. The coming months will show whether her prediction proves correct. When Trump takes office, Mr Musk’s group will face a daunting reality. An entire apparatus has developed over the centuries that allows the government to keep marching on in the face of economic shocks, wartime hardships, or – as in this case – political vows to diminish its size and spending. Any effort to slash the federal government and its 2.3 million civilian workers will likely face resistance in Congress, lawsuits from activist groups and delays mandated by federal rules. Unlike in his businesses, Mr Musk will not be the sole decider, but will have to build consensus among legislators, executive-branch staffers, his co-leader and Trump himself. And federal rules ostensibly prevent Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy from making decisions in private, unlike how many matters are handled in the business world. Meetings would have to be open and minutes made public, said Dr Brian D. Feinstein, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies administrative law. “All of this would have to happen in the sunlight,” Prof Feinstein said. A 1972 law says federal open-records laws apply to advisory committees. If a committee does not follow those rules, it could be sued – and a judge could order the committee to stop meeting, or order the government to disregard its advice. A spokesperson for Trump’s presidential transition team, Mr Brian Hughes, declined to answer detailed questions about the effort. He sent a written statement, saying that Mr Ramaswamy and Mr Musk “will work together slashing excess regulations, cutting wasteful expenditures, and restructuring federal agencies”. Compensation is zero Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy laid out plans for their department in an guest editorial in The Wall Street Journal last week. The two men said their effort would include “a lean team of small-government crusaders” working inside Trump’s administration. Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy would remain outside government, offering advice as volunteers. “Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs,” the pair wrote in the editorial. A spokesperson for Mr Musk’s effort – which he calls Doge for short – declined to say whether Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy would make their meetings open. She also declined to say if the department would be set up as a separate legal entity, or how many people were already working for it. The Doge effort remains fairly informal for now. Mr Musk has been openly tapping his network of Silicon Valley friends and business associates to begin assembling a team of advisers, and the group has been recruiting and interviewing candidates for full-time positions. Mr Musk has solicited employees on X, saying the job would involve more than 80 hours of work per week. “This will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero,” he wrote. The spokesperson for the effort did not answer questions about how many staff members the group has now, and who – if anyone – is paying them. In their op-ed, Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy also said that in slashing regulations, they would rely on a pair of recent Supreme Court decisions that limited federal agencies’ power to issue rules. The men plan to compile a list of regulations that they believed stemmed from agencies having exceeded their legal authority. “Doge will present this list of regulations to President Trump, who can, by executive action, immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission,” the men wrote. Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy said that cutting rules would allow them to cut staff, allowing “mass head-count reductions” across the government. Yet many of those employees have civil-service protections, meaning they generally cannot be fired without cause, or for their political beliefs. In his first term, Trump tried to shift thousands of employees into a different category, where they could be fired at will. President Joe Biden rescinded that order, called Schedule F, when he took office. Ripe for legal challenges Mr Jonathan H. Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said that many of the ideas mentioned by Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy would be ripe for legal challenges and noted that many of Trump’s previous efforts to use executive powers expansively had been struck down by courts. Trump’s advisers have suggested that the Supreme Court’s ruling in a landmark case involving Chevron earlier this year will make it easier for the executive branch to nullify rules and regulations that appear to go beyond the legislative intent of laws. However, Prof Adler noted that the ruling actually means that agencies should not be able to make such determinations, suggesting that it would require litigation and court rulings to quash the regulations. Ignoring or eliminating rules without following the proper procedures is also likely to trigger lawsuits from those who benefit from the status quo. “There’s litigation risk that they’re not adequately accounting for,” Prof Adler said, adding that the Trump administration would have to be extremely strategic if it tries to take legally creative steps to rescind regulations or shrink agencies. Law firms have already been bracing clients for legal fights. In a briefing this week, lawyers from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman said companies need to start warning members of Congress and the Trump administration about the potential fallout if government contracts are cut and if certain payments or benefits stop flowing as part of an efficiency effort. “While the Republican-controlled Congress will very likely work in lockstep with the Trump White House, it is equally likely that Republican members of Congress will be uncomfortable with delayed payments and spending cuts to programs favored by constituents,” they wrote. “In particular, government contractors are likely to push back against proposals from Doge leaders to temporarily suspend payments to contractors while large-scale audits are conducted.” Mr Robert J. Kovacev, a lawyer at Miller & Chevalier who specialises in tax disputes with the federal government, said the Trump administration’s ambitions were reminiscent of efforts by the Reagan administration to roll back regulations in the 1980s. At that time, President Ronald Reagan issued an executive order to freeze regulations that were in process and established a task force to review regulatory burdens more broadly, but it fell short of its ambitious goals. But Mr Musk’s team has advantages that Mr Reagan’s allies did not - a Republican-controlled Congress, and a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court. “I think what Doge will bring to the table is a focus on identifying regulations that pushed the envelope and expanded regulatory power too far,” said Mr Kovacev. Still, Mr Kovacev said, the process of rescission – formally removing a rule from the books – can take years, because it requires the government to solicit and respond to public comment. If it does hit legal obstacles, Mr Musk’s group could borrow from another approach Trump used during his first term - disruption. For example, after the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service unit published research that showed some tax cuts proposed by Trump would flow mainly to rich farmers, the Trump administration relocated that team from Washington to Kansas City. Because many of the staff members did not want to move halfway across the country, the move caused the unit to shrink in size – and become less productive, according to a 2022 Government Accountability Office report. Protected status The success of gutting the budget might also be determined by whether Congress, and even the president, has enough resolve, especially when it comes to certain programs and departments. Some of the largest parts of the budget have gone to causes Trump has vowed to protect, such as medicare, social security and the military. Those sectors also likely have strong support in Congress. Capitol Hill has always been the place where ambitious efforts to slash the budget – from one started by Mr Theodore Roosevelt to the commission under Mr Reagan run by industrialist J. Peter Grace – have run aground. Members of Congress have been reluctant to cut even small programs they think help their constituents, and the law says presidents must spend all the money that Congress allocates. Still, in recent weeks, some members of Congress have shown enthusiasm for Mr Musk’s and Mr Ramaswamy’s ideas. Republican senator Joni Ernst from Iowa, took to social media this week to outline what she called “easy” steps to cut US$2 trillion in spending. But even those steps showed the complexity of the task awaiting Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy. Some of Ms Ernst’s recommendations would be relatively manageable but for negligible savings – at least in proportion to the immense size of the federal budget. She said, for example, that the government could save US$16.6 million by no longer providing campaign help to long-shot presidential candidates. And one of her ideas directly clashes with one of Mr Musk’s and Mr Ramaswamy’s. The billionaires’ idea is to force federal workers to work five days a week in the office, with the idea that they will become more efficient or quit. But Ms Ernst wants to take the opposite tack - allow federal employees to work from home and sell off the office space they no longer visit. In the House, Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia will head a House Oversight subcommittee to “support the Doge mission”. So far, she has been vague about her plans but has said in a statement that she intends to hold hearings that will help Doge “gut useless government agencies” and “expose people who need to be FIRED”. Ms Greene also plans to push forward legislation like the REINS Act, which would require congressional approval for all regulations issued by federal agencies for them to go into effect. For now, activist groups like Public Citizen, a left-leaning advocacy group, said that there was nothing about Trump’s victory, or Mr Musk’s role at his side, that allowed them to ignore the slow legal process set up to make – or unmake – rules. “We will use those structures to complain – and sue, if we need to,” said Ms Lisa Gilbert, Public Citizen’s co-president. “We’ll see where they start, and we’ll use every tool in our tool set to push back.” NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel nowWhen COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev stepped to the podium at the closing meeting of the Baku climate summit on Sunday morning, hoping to clinch a hard-fought agreement on global climate finance, he carried with him two speeches. One was crafted around a hoped-for deal being struck, while the other for the possibility of a summit-collapsing impasse, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. One of the sources — a person in the COP29 presidency — told Reuters that they worked through challenging negotiations until the last minute to ensure what it called the Baku Breakthrough, but still prepared different versions of the final speech for different possible outcomes. In the end, Babayev managed to gavel through the $300 billion finance plan to help developing nations cope with the soaring costs of global warming over the next decade before critics had time to object, allowing him to read the more positive speech. He praised the agreement as a breakthrough and shamed the deal’s doubters as “wrong,” even as many of the climate deal’s intended recipients slammed it as woefully inadequate . Babayev’s preparation for different outcomes at the divisive summit in the Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan reflected what many in the audience had already known before it began: the Baku climate talks were never going to go smoothly. Expectations for a deal were depressed by worries of a looming U.S. withdrawal from global climate cooperation, geopolitical turmoil, and a rise of isolationist politics that had shunted climate change off much of the world’s top priorities list. Those obstacles loomed large in Baku and will continue to overshadow global climate efforts in the months ahead as Brazil prepares for next year’s much broader conference in the Amazon rainforest city of Belem — where the world will plot a years-long course for steeper emission cuts and building resilience in the fight against climate change. “Multilateralism as a whole is under threat,” said Eliot Whittington, chief systems change officer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. “Indeed, the UNFCCC is probably the bright spot — proving that even in the face of incredibly hostile geopolitics and on fundamentally difficult questions, a deal can be made,” he said, referring to the U.N. body sponsoring the annual climate summit. But the slow pace of progress, with global emissions still rising, has raised tensions and calls for reform. “This is something that needs to be looked at, when just a handful of countries, based on their own economic interests, can almost wreck the entire process,” Sierra Leone Environment Minister Jiwoh Abdulai told Reuters. Trump effect Among the biggest factors clouding the negotiations in Baku was the looming return of climate skeptic Donald Trump as president of the United States, the world’s biggest economy, largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, and top producer of oil and gas. Trump, who takes office in January, has pledged to withdraw the United States from the global Paris Agreement on climate change, as he did during his first 2017-2021 term in the White House, and has called climate change a hoax. Negotiators at the Baku conference said that while the U.S. delegation had helped in coming up with the climate finance deal, the country was unable to take a high-profile leadership role like it has in past climate summits, and it could not provide assurances the next administration would honor its pledges. “With the United States, well, the voters have voted and that’s the way it is. What they’re going to do, we do not know,” South African Environment Minister Dion George said. U.S. officials at the COP29 conference sought to reassure global partners that market forces, existing federal subsidies, and state mandates would ensure continued renewable energy deployment even if Trump disengages from the global process. The war in Ukraine and rising conflict in the Middle East, meanwhile, have diverted global attention to security and energy availability, and led many governments to tighten their purse strings, experts said. That made getting a bigger climate finance number hard, observers to the talks said. “Even maintaining climate finance at current levels in the current political environment is a huge fight,” said Joe Thwaites, senior advocate on international climate finance at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. The agreement to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 would theoretically triple rich countries’ previous commitments to provide $100 billion by 2020. That earlier goal was reached in full only in 2022, and expires in 2025. The unwillingness of wealthy countries to offer more money and the pressure to conclude even a weak deal ahead of more political turbulence became a major source of frustration for the least developed countries and small island states, who told the Baku conference they felt sidelined in the negotiations. At one point in the summit’s final stretch, negotiating blocs representing both groups walked out of talks in protest, delaying a deal by hours. “We came in good faith, with the safety of our communities and the well-being of the world at heart,” Tina Stege, the climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, said at the closing plenary. “Yet, we have seen the very worst of political opportunism here at this COP, playing games with the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.” India’s envoy, Chandni Raina, used her time to roundly reject the climate finance deal gaveled through by Babayev. “We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwillingness of the developed country parties to fulfil their responsibilities,” she told the summit. Climate advocates said that, while the deal is better than an outright impasse, the rifts exposed by the conference as well as the loss of trust in the process among poorer countries will pose a problem for Brazil as it prepares for COP30. “I think this is a toxic chalice for Belem, and it’s going to be up to Brazil how they’re going to restore the trust,” said Oscar Sorria, director of the Common Initiative, a think tank focused on global financial reform.
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White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-olds so it has enough troops to battle RussiaLaunch of 30KW Generator Set at Jiaonan Pharmaceutical 12-02-2024 10:34 PM CET | Industry, Real Estate & Construction Press release from: ABNewswire Image: https://www.abnewswire.com/uploads/5f4fa59f5d6b040c197408fca9b595b8.png Jiaonan, Shandong Province - The Jiaonan Pharmaceutical Company is proud to announce the successful installation and commissioning of a new 30KW generator set, marking a significant enhancement in our operational capacity and energy sustainability. This state-of-the-art generator will play a crucial role in ensuring continuous power supply to our manufacturing and research facilities. In a sector where reliability and consistency are paramount, the new generator will serve as a backup power source, bolstering our commitment to maintaining uninterrupted production processes and safeguarding sensitive pharmaceutical research. "The installation of the 30KW generator is a pivotal step in our ongoing efforts to improve operational efficiency and resilience," said zhuang, the manager of Jiaonan Pharmaceutical. "As we continue to innovate and expand, having a reliable power source is essential to support our pioneering work in the pharmaceutical industry." The generator was sourced from Shandong Super Power technology Co., LTD, a leader in power generation technology, and features advanced fuel efficiency and emission controls, aligning with Jiaonan Pharmaceutical's commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. The integration of this generator not only ensures compliance with increasing energy demands but also reflects our dedication to reducing our carbon footprint. In addition to enhancing power reliability, the new generator will also support upcoming production lines and research initiatives, enabling Jiaonan Pharmaceutical to expand its capacity to meet the growing demands of both domestic and international markets. The commissioning ceremony was attended by company executives, engineering staff, and local government officials, all enthusiastic about this investment in Jiaonan's future. The event highlighted the company's commitment to technological advancement and operational excellence in the pharmaceutical sector. As Jiaonan Pharmaceutical continues to grow, the company remains dedicated to investing in state-of-the-art technologies that support health and well-being. The new 30KW generator set is a testament to our commitment to innovation, quality, and sustainability. COMPANY PROFILE Shandong Super Power Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2018 and is located in Weifang City, Shandong Province. It is a professional company engaged in the research and development of gas power products A high-tech enterprise that integrates production, sales, and services, with independent import and export rights. Why choose us The company's management, product research and development, and production teams adhere to the development philosophy of "humanization, personalization, intelligence, and specialization", focusing on products. This unwavering attitude has driven a relentless focus on product improvement and the continuous improvement of the quality and performance of the "Sportage" brand series gas generator sets. Media Contact Company Name: Shandong Super Power Technology Co., Ltd. Email:Send Email [ https://www.abnewswire.com/email_contact_us.php?pr=launch-of-30kw-generator-set-at-jiaonan-pharmaceutical ] Country: China Website: https://www.cn-superpower.com/ This release was published on openPR.
