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NoneAres Commercial Real Estate Co. (ACRE) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 31stAtiku Abubakar condemns a military-style parade held for Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Tinubu, calling it a violation of military traditions He demands an investigation into the legitimacy of the "Nigeria Cadet Network," the civilian group behind the parade, and its unauthorized use of firearms Atiku stresses the importance of preserving the integrity of the Nigerian Armed Forces and ensuring accountability if legal violations were committed CHECK OUT: Education is Your Right! Don’t Let Social Norms Hold You Back. Learn Online with LEGIT. Enroll Now! Atiku Abubakar , Nigeria’s former Vice President and prominent opposition figure, has expressed outrage over a recent incident involving Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Tinubu, receiving military honours during a parade. The event has sparked widespread condemnation, with Atiku demanding a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the controversial display. In a statement released on Sunday, Atiku condemned the military-style procession, calling it a violation of long-established military traditions. He described the parade as a "gross aberration" for any branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces to organize such a formal event for a non-designated public figure. Read also "We're sorry": VP Shettima commiserates with victims of military airstrike in Sokoto The statement also expressed deep concern over the involvement of civilians in the event, particularly the "Nigeria Cadet Network," a group that, according to Atiku, is not a recognized entity within the military. "It is with utter dismay and concern that Nigerians were subjected to a nauseating video circulating online, where a group of young men, armed and in full military procession, bestowed upon the President's son unwarranted military honours," Atiku’s statement read. PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app! He questioned the legitimacy of the "Nigeria Cadet Network," highlighting that it is neither a registered organization nor an officially recognized military group. Atiku further noted the troubling nature of the event, which saw civilians displaying firearms in the parade, a practice that he warned could undermine the security of the country at a time when illegal arms proliferation is a significant concern. He also expressed alarm over the apparent involvement of security personnel in facilitating the parade, raising questions about the role of the state Source: Legit.ng

Jimmy Carter, the 100-year-old former US president and Nobel peace laureate who rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to lead the nation from 1977 to 1981, has died, his nonprofit foundation said Sunday. Carter had been in hospice care since mid-February 2023 at his home in Plains, Georgia -- the same small town where he was born and once ran a peanut farm before becoming governor of the Peach State and running for the White House. Carter died "peacefully" at his home in Plains, "surrounded by his family," The Carter Center said in a statement. "My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love," Chip Carter, the former president's son, said in the statement. Carter was the oldest living ex-US leader and the nation's longest-lived president -- an outcome that seemed unlikely back in 2015 when the Southern Democrat revealed he had brain cancer. But the US Navy veteran and fervent Christian repeatedly defied the odds to enjoy a long and fruitful post-presidency, after four years in the Oval Office often seen as disappointing. During his single term, Carter placed a commitment on human rights and social justice, enjoying a strong first two years that included brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt dubbed the Camp David Accords. But his administration hit numerous snags -- the most serious being the taking of US hostages in Iran and the disastrous failed attempt to rescue the 52 captive Americans in 1980. He also came in for criticism for his handling of an oil crisis. In November of that year, Republican challenger Ronald Reagan clobbered Carter at the polls, relegating the Democrat to just one term. Reagan, a former actor and governor of California, swept into office on a wave of staunch conservatism. As the years passed, a more nuanced image of Carter emerged -- one that took into account his significant post-presidential activities and reassessed his achievements. He founded the Carter Center in 1982 to pursue his vision of world diplomacy, and he was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless efforts to promote social and economic justice. He observed numerous elections around the world and emerged as a prominent international mediator, tackling global problems from North Korea to Bosnia. Carter, known for his toothy smile, said basic Christian tenets such as justice and love served as the bedrock of his presidency. He taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist, his church in Plains, well into his 90s. In recent years, he had received various hospital treatments, including when he revealed in August 2015 that he had brain cancer and was undergoing radiation. US Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who is the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King Jr preached, wished the Carter family comfort as the former president entered hospice last year. "Across life's seasons, President Jimmy Carter, a man of great faith, has walked with God," Warnock wrote on X, then Twitter. "In this tender time of transitioning, God is surely walking with him." In April 2021, President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, met with the Carters at their home in Plains. The White House later released a photo showing the couples smiling together, although only Rosalynn was seen by the press outside, bidding the Bidens farewell while using a walker. Rosalynn, Carter's wife of 77 years, died on November 19, 2023 at age 96. The former president, who looked frail, poignantly appeared at her memorial service in a wheelchair, with a blanket on his lap bearing their likenesses. Carter is survived by the couple's four children, three sons and a daughter. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.

Amazon and Starbucks workers are on strike. Trump might have something to do with it Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract. Strikes during busy periods like the holidays can help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or garner support from sympathetic consumers. One expert says he thinks workers at both companies are “desperate” to make progress before President-elect Donald Trump can appoint a Republican majority to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at Starbucks, Amazon and some other prominent consumer brands are fighting for their first contracts after several locations voted to unionize. Bluesky finds with growth comes growing pains — and bots Bluesky has seen its user base soar since the U.S. presidential election, boosted by people seeking refuge from Elon Musk’s X, or wanting an alternative to Meta’s Threads and its algorithms. The platform grew out of the company then known as Twitter and was eventually intended to replace it. While this is still very much a pie in the sky, Bluesky’s growth trajectory could make it a serious competitor to other social platforms. With growth, though, comes growing pains. It’s not just human users who’ve been flocking to Bluesky but also bots, including those designed to create partisan division or direct users to junk websites. Farmers are still reeling months after Hurricane Helene ravaged crops across the South LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Farmers in Georgia are still reeling more than two months after Hurricane Helene blew away cotton, destroyed ripened squash and cucumbers and uprooted pecan trees and timber. Agribusinesses in other Southern states saw costly damage as well. The University of Georgia estimates the September storm inflicted $5.5 billion in direct losses and indirect costs in Georgia alone. In rural Toombs County, Chris Hopkins just finished harvesting his ravaged cotton crop and figures he lost half of it, costing him about $430,000. Poultry grower Jeffrey Pridgen in Georgia's Coffee County had four of his 12 chicken houses destroyed and others badly damaged. Farmers say more government disaster assistance is needed. Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI’s strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products. But he grew disillusioned with the company and told The Associated Press this fall he would “try to testify” in copyright infringement cases against it. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge shows price pressures eased last month WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. Prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices also ticked up just 0.1%, after two months of outsize 0.3% gains. The milder inflation figures arrived two days after Federal Reserve officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, rocked financial markets by revealing that they now expect to cut their key interest rate just two times in 2025, down from four in their previous estimate. Albania to close TikTok for a year blaming it for promoting violence among children TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister says the government will shut down video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teenager following a quarrel that started on TikTok. Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said TikTok “would be fully closed for all. ... There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama says the ban will begin sometime next year. Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according to domestic researchers. Stock market today: Wall Street rises to turn a dismal week into just a bad one NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to turn what would have been one of the market’s worst weeks of the year into just a pretty bad one. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% Friday to shave its loss for the week down to 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 500 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. A report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than expected. It’s an encouraging signal after the Fed shocked markets Wednesday by saying worries about inflation could keep it from cutting interest rates in 2025 as much as earlier thought. Starbucks workers begin strikes that could spread to hundreds of US stores by Christmas Eve Workers at U.S. Starbucks stores have begun a five-day strike to protest a lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. The strikes began in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve. Workers at 535 of the 10,000 company-owned Starbucks stores in the U.S. have voted to unionize. The Starbucks Workers United union accuses the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain of failing to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year. Starbucks says the union prematurely left the bargaining table this week. It said Friday there's been no significant impact to store operations. It's beginning to look like another record for holiday travel Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day. The two weekends on either side of Christmas are tempting a lot of people to head out earlier. U.S. airlines expect to have their busiest days to be Friday and Sunday this week and next Thursday, Friday and Sunday. A government shutdown that could start as soon as Saturday was not expected to immediately affect flights and airport operations. Amazon workers are striking at multiple facilities. Here's what you should know Amazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union are on strike for a second day at seven of the company’s delivery hubs just days before Christmas. At midnight on Saturday, the Teamsters say workers at a prominent unionized warehouse in New York will also join. The union has not indicated how many employees were participating in the walkout or when it will end. The Teamsters say the workers were continuing their strike on Friday after Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline the union had set for contract negotiations. The company says it doesn’t expect the strikes taking place in Southern California, San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, and Skokie, Illinois, to impact holiday shipments.

According to wealth tracking group, Informa Connect Academy (ICA), several current industry titans will achieve trillionaire status before the end of this decade. Elon Musk leads the race but it depends on whose share price performs best over the intervening period. As the head of the electric carmaker Tesla, private rocket company SpaceX and social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Musk is currently the world’s richest man with a current net worth on paper of roughly $450 billion (€431.5 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index. His wealth is estimated to have jumped by more than $170 billion since the US election and his alliance with president-elect Donald Trump, largely on the back of Tesla’s share price. Since the November 5th election, Tesla’s stock has surged 70 per cent. On the basis of his current trajectory, the ICA predicts he will hit the trillion mark in 2027. But Telsa’s share price has been volatile and Musk appears to be driving X into the ground so things may change. India’s business mogul Gautam Adani is predicted to hit the trillion mark in 2028 followed by Jensen Huang, the chief executive of the AI giant Nvidia, and Prajogo Pangestu, the Indonesian energy and mining mogul, provided their current financial trajectories hold. $1 trillion is a hard quantum to hold in your head. Put it this way, it would comfortably buy every home Ireland. It was only six years ago that companies reached the trillion dollar milestone in terms of valuations (Apple became the first to cross the $1 trillion mark in August 2018) and we marvelled, or thought absurd, that a single company could be financially bigger than a developed economy. There are currently nine companies with trillion dollar valuations: Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Saudi Aramco, Meta, Berkshire Hathway and Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC. Now we’re about to confront the notion that an individual could be as valuable as a developed nation and the millions of workers and their labour that comprise it. The Netherlands, one of Europe’s richest countries, has an annual GDP (gross domestic product) of roughly $1 trillion (€960 billion). So if the ICA is right, Musk will be richer than the Netherlands is now by 2027. What this acceleration in individual wealth says about the state of the world or modern capitalism is disturbing. On one level, it suggests that the current period of rapid technological transformation has outgunned the antitrust legislation designed to police it, creating behemoth monopolies and uber elites wielding too much economic power. According to UK economist Duncan Weldon, the wealth of these aspiring trillionaires is also tied into three more conventional but no less consequential economic trends: decades of low interest rates (which have boosted asset values); accelerated corporate profits; and a shift towards less progressive tax systems. Combined, these trends have accelerated global inequality. And this appears to be feeding into a breakdown in consensus politics, a throwback to the Rockefeller days when democracy in many countries fractured. According to Oxfam, this inequality trend has been supercharged by the pandemic. In a report earlier this year, the charity noted that almost five billion people had been made poorer by the pandemic while the wealth of the five richest people had more than doubled, from $405 billion in 2020 to $869 billion in late 2023. That’s an increase of $14 million an hour. The world’s richest 1 per cent now own 43 per cent of all global financial assets and emit as much carbon pollution as the poorest two-thirds of humanity, Oxfam says. Let’s not be naive, market capitalism depends on inequality and is, in part, driven by it (some people will work harder or take financial risks to get ahead), but when the gap between top and bottom gets too large, when a critical mass of citizens feel the system is rigged against them, we tend to get radical politics. That was surely the lesson of the 20th century. In the 1960s, the gap was modest by today’s standards. Expressed as the ratio of the boss’s salary to those on the factory floor, it was just 15-to-1 in the US. According to the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, it is now 221-to-1. Other estimates suggest it is higher. Of course, salary is just one metric. In Ireland and other countries, an intergenerational divide on housing has become a major and ongoing source of grievance. Musk said once that he believed the effects of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) on employment would soon make it necessary for countries to provide citizens with a basic income as a guardrail against inequality. This was before he bought his way into the second Trump presidency (spending a reported $250 million on the campaign) and supercharging his wealth in the process.Toolleen crash: one person killed, two taken to hospitalVenture Capital investments in India surge to $16.8 bn in January-November: ReportWalmart's DEI rollback signals a profound shift in the wake of Trump's election victory

TRAVERSE CITY — Questions over Traverse City’s contract with an information technology firm led the city attorney to ask the Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney’s office for an independent review. After receiving a number of emails raising concerns over city Manager Liz Vogel having a conflict of interest, city Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht sought some clarity from county Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg, Vogel said. “I have not heard from (Moeggenberg), but I fully intend to cooperate with any questions she may have,” Vogel said. Moeggenberg was out of the office Friday, according to the prosecutor’s office Manager Jodi Thayer. Concerns stem from Vogel’s personal ties to Millennium Digital Technology President Kenneth Andrews. Vogel asked his firm for help following a June cyberattack on the city and county’s shared IT system. In November, Vogel asked commissioners to contract with the company, both in creating a separate IT system for the city for up to $518,634, and to maintain that system for three years for $127,077 per year. She cited the city’s bidding process allowing it to be waived in emergencies. Prior to approving the separation contract, but setting aside the three-year deal to see what other companies could offer, commissioners briefly discussed an email pointing out Vogel and Andrews’ personal ties — he attended her engagement party over the summer, and Vogel earlier said Andrews’ family lives next door to her cousin, who hosted the party. The 5-2 vote reflected commissioners Heather Shaw and Tim Werner’s “no” vote over concerns about the potential conflict. After the meeting, another emailer pointed out Andrews co-owns an aircraft with Vogel’s fiancé Joachim Finkelmeyer. Andrews on Friday said Finkelmeyer has a 10-percent stake in the glider so he could fly it occasionally. He added that Finkelmeyer, a friend he knows from the business world, as part owner more than 10 years ago, and the glider hasn’t flown in nearly as long. “It’s junk at this point, it needs to be disposed of,” Andrews said. Vogel said she wasn’t aware of her fiancé part-owning the glider until the emailer raised the issue. She insisted she has no conflict of interest, either from the glider or her own personal ties with Andrews. The city manager also reiterated that she brought on Andrews’ company for his expertise in the midst of a difficult situation, having worked with the firm before. Vogel told city staff she was friends with Andrews before seeking his help in the cyberattack’s wake, and told staff they had the final say in whether to bring on the firm. But she didn’t disclose the connection to city commissioners — in hindsight, something she wishes she had done, she said. Vogel said she’ll be more proactive about such disclosures moving ahead, calling the situation a “huge growing and learning experience for me and the whole team.” She also supports city commissioners adopting an ethics ordinance that would apply to all city staff. It’s a task Vogel said she would like commissioners to consider at the start of 2025. That, hopefully, would show the public that city leaders are taking their concerns seriously, she said. “Now that I look back on it, it’s fair for someone to say there’s an appearance of conflict, or there could be an appearance of conflict,” she said. “And if we had some sort of mechanism to put those things out there so that there isn’t an appearance of a conflict, then again, I’m for that, absolutely, 100 percent.” City voters might have the final say on ethics rules. Susan Maxbauer said she and a few other city residents are considering a petition drive to add such rules to the city charter. They’re also considering putting together a slate of candidates to run for the commission out of concerns that current city leaders aren’t holding the city manager accountable. The nature of how Vogel’s ties with Andrews became public left Maxbauer feeling that Vogel wasn’t being fully transparent, and trust in the city manager had been eroded. She also questioned whether the situation really warranted awarding a no-bid contract, adding it appeared as though the usual process was subverted to give a contract to a friend. “It just seems like there’s a tremendous lack of judgment that’s been displayed here by the city manager,” Maxbauer said. “That person in that role really needs to be trusted by the community.” Vogel and Andrews separately rejected any accusations of wrongdoing. In response to criticisms similar to Maxbauer’s, Vogel said she considers her integrity and reputation to be one of her greatest assets. “When individuals make malicious and unfounded claims that are not rooted in fact, it’s disheartening, as it goes against the principles of good faith and constructive dialogue,” she said, adding it’s essential for her to rise above these claims in her role of serving the city.Prospects? Playing time? Staff size? If not wins, what measures success for '25 CardinalsChart Industries, Inc. (NYSE:GTLS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from AnalystsWhat Project 2025 Says About H-1B Visas

Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost. For Griffin, the hardest part of using the new drugs wasn’t access. It was finding out that the much-hyped medications didn’t really work for her. “I have been on Wegovy for a year and a half and have only lost 13 pounds,” said Griffin, who watches her diet, drinks plenty of water and exercises regularly. “I’ve done everything right with no success. It’s discouraging.” In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were “nonresponders” who lost less than 5% of their body weight. Now that millions of people have used the drugs, several obesity experts told The Associated Press that perhaps 20% of patients — as many as 1 in 5 — may not respond well to the medications. It's a little-known consequence of the obesity drug boom, according to doctors who caution eager patients not to expect one-size-fits-all results. “It's all about explaining that different people have different responses,” said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital The drugs are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists because they mimic a hormone in the body known as glucagon-like peptide 1. Genetics, hormones and variability in how the brain regulates energy can all influence weight — and a person's response to the drugs, Stanford said. Medical conditions such as sleep apnea can prevent weight loss, as can certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids and contraceptives. “This is a disease that stems from the brain,” said Stanford. “The dysfunction may not be the same” from patient to patient. Despite such cautions, patients are often upset when they start getting the weekly injections but the numbers on the scale barely budge. “It can be devastating,” said Dr. Katherine Saunders, an obesity expert at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of the obesity treatment company FlyteHealth. “With such high expectations, there’s so much room for disappointment.” That was the case for Griffin, who has battled obesity since childhood and hoped to shed 70 pounds using Wegovy. The drug helped reduce her appetite and lowered her risk of diabetes, but she saw little change in weight. “It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she said. “You want it to work like it does for everybody else.” The medications are typically prescribed along with eating behavior and lifestyle changes. It’s usually clear within weeks whether someone will respond to the drugs, said Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Weight loss typically begins right away and continues as the dosage increases. For some patients, that just doesn't happen. For others, side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea force them to halt the medications, Dushay said. In such situations, patients who were counting on the new drugs to pare pounds may think they’re out of options. “I tell them: It's not game over,” Dushay said. Trying a different version of the new class of drugs may help. Griffin, who didn't respond well to Wegovy, has started using Zepbound, which targets an additional hormone pathway in the body. After three months of using the drug, she has lost 7 pounds. “I'm hoping it's slow and steady,” she said. Other people respond well to older drugs, the experts said. Changing diet, exercise, sleep and stress habits can also have profound effects. Figuring out what works typically requires a doctor trained to treat obesity, Saunders noted. “Obesity is such a complex disease that really needs to be treated very comprehensively,” she said. “If what we’re prescribing doesn’t work, we always have a backup plan.” The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.AP Trending SummaryBrief at 4:39 p.m. EST

Self-regulation is the only way to avoid government interference in regulating news media, two industry bodies representing news channels, magazines and newspapers told the parliamentary standing committee on communication and information technology on Thursday. The Editors Guild of India (EGI) and the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA), along with senior officials from the ministry of information and broadcasting, deposed before the committee led by BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey. The discussion centered on weaponisation of laws to curb press freedom, functioning of the government’s fact-check unit, and issues with communal and fake news on news channels. EGI, NBDA and the ministry have been given 10 days to submit written responses to the Lok Sabha secretariat addressing questions raised by committee members. EGI said various laws, including the Information Technology Act, were being weaponised to curb press freedom. The guild highlighted section 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that carries up to three years in jail and/or a fine for publishing false information with intent to create enmity. The EGI said the definitions under the law are vague and prone to abuse. The guild also noted that in September 2024, the Bombay high court had struck down the central government’s attempt to establish a state-run fact-check unit through a 2023 amendment to the IT Rules as unconstitutional. Ministry officials, including joint secretary C Senthil Rajan, said since the amendment was struck down, the Press Information Bureau’s fact-check unit could only label misleading content related to the central government but couldn’t issue takedown notices. To be sure, the amendment did not clarify whether the government’s FCU would have had takedown powers, a point of confusion that was argued at length during the court proceedings in Bombay HC. In the meeting, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale cited two instances where false information was spread by government officials themselves but was not fact checked by the PIB FCU. First, when Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs, in a public statement said that the blocking of the social media handles of Australia Today in Canada after it carried an interview with foreign minister S Jaishankar “highlights the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech” even though the handles had been blocked by Meta because of the platform’s May 2023 decision to end the availability of news content on its platforms in Canada. Second, when Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had got the Ukraine-Russia war paused. Gokhale asked whether the government of India and its ministers and officials were exempted from being fact checked by the PIB FCU even as the unit fact checks individuals on social media and news organisations. He also asked for details about the FCU’s methodology and for information about how many misleading or false claims by the central government itself had been fact checked by the PIB FCU. MIB officials said that the PIB FCU did not take suo motu cognisance of content to fact check through its social media handles; it relied on complaints being made to it and no complaints had been made about false claims by government officials. The parliamentarians asked for a written submission to that effect. Dubey, in the meeting, said that PIB was set up to spread information about the central government and was responsible for and answerable to the government, not to the people. Gokhale asked MIB officials about the watermarked version of the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill that was circulated among select stakeholders in July which was ultimately withdrawn. Regulating news channels NBDA chairperson Rajat Sharma told the committee that the news broadcasters who are members of the NBDA do not interfere with the functioning of its adjudicatory arm, the News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA), which is chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Justice AK Sikri. Sharma told the committee that a number of media houses become members of the NBDA but when the NBDSA issues orders against them, they leave the self-regulatory body so that they do not have to comply. He said that the NBDA cannot force people to join as it is a voluntary exercise. Anuradha Prasad, honorary treasurer of the NBDA (chairperson and MD of News24), suggested to the committee that the government should make registering with a self-regulatory body an obligatory licence condition for news channels, a suggestion that Dubey echoed to MIB officials. Gokhale said that penalty amounts imposed by NBDSA are restricted to a maximum of ₹ 5 lacs, a paltry amount for shows such as Sharma’s whose advertising revenue for an hour-long show runs in high double digit lacs. The TMC MP asked how such small amounts could act as effective deterrent. Sharma informed the committee that the NBDA was considering revising the penalty to ₹ 25 lacs. Gokhale also said that there was no separate mechanism for channels that repeatedly flouted standards and instead, each offence was treated as the first offence. Sharma said that that would be placed before the board. Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also alleged that NBDA/NBDSA was not acting against repeat offenders such as News18 that routinely broadcast “communally-charged, misleading and false news”. She cited independent fact checker AltNews’s data as per which despite there being more than 300 instances of News18 broadcasting communal programming, NBDA/NBDSA took action in only five instances. Lok Sabha MPs Devesh Shakya (Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh) and Rajesh Verma (Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas), Bihar) raised the issue of local cable news channel operators and YouTubers who ran “extortion rackets” where they blackmail politicians into paying them money for not running false and damaging stories about them. MIB officials said local cable operators were regulated by the district collector or magistrate. Dubey said that it was unfair of the MIB to hold the district collector or the magistrate responsible for this when they were already burdened by other duties. He told the MIB that the ministry couldn’t absolve itself of responsibility. Gokhale also raised the question of how social media posts from personal accounts and public appearances from channel editors and owners were regulated by the NBDA. AI generated false news Sharma said that he himself had been a target of deepfakes where deepfakes of him selling some medicines for diabetes were being shared on social media. Chaturvedi raised the issue of news channels broadcasting the AI generated voice notes posted by the BJP on the eve of the Maharashtra assembly elections on Tuesday. She said that all channels continued to run the synthetic voice notes as fact without comparing them to their existing archives with the voices of the public personalities. It is only on Wednesday, after independent fact checker Boom said that three of the four voice notes were definitely fake, that some news channels started fact checking the BJP’s tweets, she said in the meeting. She asked the NBDA if it circulated any advisories to its members, telling them to fact check if one of the members had done so, and how the agenda for prime time debate shows was set. In response, Prasad, in the meeting, said that political parties also had to take responsibility for the amount of fake news being put out as they had entire ecosystems (referring to ‘troll armies’ and ‘IT cells’) spreading misinformation. Issues with the Press Council of India The EGI also raised concerns about the Press Council of India, especially about the selection of its chairperson. The EGI said that the PCI had become partisan and instead of being accountable to the Parliament, as required under the Press Council of Act, 1978, it had been cornered by the executive. Dubey said that the rules around the selection of the PCI chairperson had remained unchanged since 1978 to which EGI said that it was not just the current government but each successive government that had made the PCI toothless. The guild offered to submit a written submission about the problems with the selection of the PCI chair, an offer that was accepted by Dubey. Under the PCI Act, the PCI chair is nominated by a committee made up of the Rajya Sabha chairperson, the Lok Sabha Speaker and a person elected by a Council that is nominated by the central government.Notable quotes by Jimmy Carter

Five people are on a growing list of candidates running to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee, but one of them is getting a lot of attention: former Baltimore Mayor and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. At a time when the party is still reeling from losing the White House and both chambers of Congress, the next DNC chair will be tasked with leading Democrats out of some deep introspection and into action. As O’Malley said Sunday, it’s not just a messaging problem that caused Democrats to lose. “It’s deeper than that,” he said Sunday morning on CNN’s “Inside Politics.” A “twice impeached, convicted felon is the person who we lost the hardest-working Americans to, and many of them that voted for him also agreed that he’s a pretty bad person. So this is not some moment for a caretaker DNC chair. Instead, we need a change-maker.” But how will O’Malley, who recently resigned as the head of the Social Security Administration to run for DNC chair, be the change-maker he says the party needs? He outlined a few steps on CNN and MSNBC: —A messaging shift to focus on winning back the working class and younger voters —Tactical changes in how Democrats deliver their messages —Boosting Democratic voter registration —Defending voting rights —Have a 57-state-and-territory strategy —Recruit candidates to run from the courthouse to city hall to the U.S. House —Reconnect with people’s concerns In an interview on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” he compared the next DNC chair to a “wartime leader” and an “operational turnaround leader.” O’Malley also complained about the Democratic Party’s missteps. “One of the biggest wastes in our party is not the hundreds of millions we spent on ads that didn’t work, but it’s failing to tap into the great new leaders we have out there — many of them already serving as mayors, as governors, state treasurers, lieutenant governors,” O’Malley said. “We almost treat them like they’re not allowed to be at the big person table at Thanksgiving.” He also emphasized the need for a better communications strategy, claiming the party needs to create a center for digital communications excellence within the DNC. “Our candidates should not have to rely on their brother-in-law’s best guess as to where to place Facebook ads,” O’Malley said. “We should be able to provide the best marketing analytics, the best technology, the best techniques, so that our candidates can actually communicate that economic message.” On both CNN and MSNBC, O’Malley repeatedly highlighted the importance of Democrats reclaiming the economic message. “We have to return to the strength that is our party’s strength since the 1930s, which is that we are about the economic security of every man, woman and child in the nation,” he said on MSNBC. “And when we do those things, we can accomplish many other progressive goals, but first we have to reconnect with people’s concerns.” After painful November losses, O’Malley sees a party on the verge of some big wins if Democrats are willing to be aggressive. “The Democratic National Committee needs to figure out whether we want to mess around or whether we want to be ruthless about winning the next elections. I vote for winning elections,” he said. He listed multiple opportunities for wins: 36 governor’s races in two years, special elections, a chance to win back the House in 2026 and have House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies as the next speaker. Though O’Malley is among five candidates running for DNC chair, he seems to be the one getting the most airtime, appearing for multiple television interviews in the last couple weeks. The election will be held Feb. 1 to replace outgoing DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. In addition to O’Malley, the other candidates include nonprofit executive-turned-Senate hopeful Robert Houton; author and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson; Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin; and Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler. Houton, a Bethesda resident, won less than 1% of the Maryland Senate primary vote while making the fentanyl crisis central to his campaign. In a letter to DNC members, Houton said he would be “a fighter with passion and integrity to speak boldly and lead.” He told Democrats he grew up in Massachusetts and was inspired by the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy from his home state. “In my formative years, my parents instilled in me the meaningful impact public service holds for my life of service to others,” Houton said. “I have never deviated from this calling.” He cited his deep faith and Catholicism in helping him to bring optimism and energy to the DNC. Williamson, the only woman running for DNC chair and the most recent candidate to jump into the race, said the Democratic Party has lost its connection with millions of Americans. She described the party as “a tarnished brand” in an interview with ABC News. In an exclusive interview with Newsweek, she said, “Many people are afraid of change. I think what Democrats should be most afraid of right now is not changing.” ©2024 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Banking Don't miss out on the headlines from Banking. Followed categories will be added to My News. Customers from one of Australia’s biggest banks are being locked out of internet banking. ING Australia confirmed in a post to X that customers had reported issues with the banking app and website on Wednesday morning. “We are aware that some customers are currently experiencing issues accessing the ING app and website,” the post read. “Our teams are investigating this issue and we will provide further updates shortly. “We are extremely sorry to any customers who have been impacted.” Customers first began reporting issues with DownDetector at 7.30am. Customers reported issues with the app and website on Wednesday morning. However, an updated statement just before 10.30am Wednesday said “services are returning to normal”. “Most customers should now be able to access the ING app and online banking and make payments and transfers,” the statement said. “As we complete the restoration, some overseas customers may be experiencing some issues accessing the app and online banking and we will provide updates on our socials. “We sincerely apologise to any customers who have been impacted.” Disgruntled customers took to social media to air their grievances with the major bank. “Looks like I’m not buying anything this morning. Come on guys not good enough,” one person wrote to X. “AGAIN!!! this happened 2-3 weeks ago as well.” another wrote. “No worries guys, just waiting to transfer money so we can get our car back from being serviced this morning, we’ll just walk everywhere instead. Useless,” added another. The inconvenience comes just four weeks after customers were hit with another outage. ING Australia customers reported being unable to access the website or banking app about 9am on Wednesday, October 30. At its peak, more than 2300 people reported issues accessing ING Australia banking services. More Coverage Scammers warning after major bank outage Nathan Schmidt Parents speak after update in Laos deaths Clareese Packer Originally published as Major outage hits ING Australia customers just weeks after last disaster More related stories Business Industry funds ill prepared for ‘peak super’ As the superannuation sector’s value passes the $4 trillion barrier, it is nearing the moment where more cash will come out of the system than go in. Read more Business ‘Do no more harm’: CEOs make their election pitch The notion of an Elon Musk-style regulation buster with authority to drive changes would be welcome relief here. Read more