I support President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees, especially his selections for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and FBI, Kash Patel. One month ago, we the people sent a loud message to Washington, D.C. when we elected Trump to serve another term as president. No, we don’t care that he was unjustly convicted of a felony. We want accountability in the federal government and Trump will deliver it so we handed him a mandate to do just that. Now, senators must respect the will of the voters and allow Trump to assemble the team he needs. We don’t care about the frivolous charges against Hegseth. We want accountability in our military and an end to the weak leadership promoting conflicts just to pad their defense industry stock portfolios. We know that Hegseth, as a combat veteran, will do the job and we gave Trump a mandate to do it. We don’t care about the bogus claims against Patel. We want accountability at the FBI and we know he will fire the corrupt Democrats and refocus the agency on fighting crime instead of political opponents. We know that Patel, as an experienced lawyer and prosecutor, has the skill to do the job and we gave Trump a mandate to do it. We the people elected Trump and sent him to Washington with a powerful mandate to clean up corruption. We are not interested in the cutesy time games that politicians are famous for. We want results. We want accountability and we want them now. Christopher Muller, OnalaskaExperts participating in a roundtable discussion on the second day of the Doha Forum emphasised the critical need for effective governance of technology, particularly AI, to safeguard global peace and security. They called for a comprehensive international approach that ensures technology is harnessed for the benefit of humanity while mitigating its potential negative impacts. The panel, which brought together policymakers, researchers, and experts in technology, governance, and security, underscored the urgency of establishing national, regional, and global frameworks to manage technological advancements. These mechanisms aim to prevent harmful applications such as cyber threats, privacy violations, and the militarization of technology, especially the development of weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Renata Duan, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General and Envoy on Technology, highlighted how rapid advancements in AI are reshaping the global security landscape. She stressed the importance of adopting a global governance model for technology. Dr. Duan also pointed to the United Nations' efforts in this area, including the launch of the Global Digital Compact, adopted by world leaders during their summit last September. She described the Compact as a robust global framework designed to foster international cooperation and promote a secure, open, and inclusive digital future rooted in universal human rights and the principles of sustainable development. Dr. Duan further emphasized the necessity of global AI governance to address the risks posed by the misuse of this powerful technology. At the same time, she highlighted the potential of AI to bridge the development divide between the Global North and South if used responsibly in various sectors. Brigadier General Ng Pak Choon, Head of Policy and Strategy Group and Head of Plans and Transformation Group at the Ministry of Defence in Singapore, delved into the implications of AI in the military domain. He stressed the need for vigilance and regulation to prevent its use in developing advanced weaponry. Adding to the discourse, Mona Khalil, President and CEO of MAK International Law Firm, called for robust international cooperation to tackle the complex challenges arising from technological advancements. She emphasized that collective action is essential to ensure technology is developed and deployed ethically. Libyan politician and academic Dr. Jumaa Qamati focused his remarks on narrowing the technological divide between developed and developing nations. He urged for greater efforts to address the unique challenges faced by countries in the Global South, particularly in leveraging technology for socio-economic development. The roundtable also explored the potential of AI technology and its applications across various sectors. Participants advocated for the establishment of global principles to prohibit the use of AI in creating lethal weapons. Discussions extended to the importance of fostering international collaboration in technology development, financing, and forming partnerships at national, regional, and international levels. Related Story Doha Metro records 200mn in ridership Technology at heart of Qatar’s industry; key growth to come from technology, AI and innovations: says al-Kuwari
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Adam Pemble, an Associated Press video journalist who covered some of the biggest global news of the past two decades, from earthquakes and conflicts to political summits and elections, has died. He was 52. Pemble died Thursday in Minneapolis surrounded by friends and family, according to his friend Mike Moe, who helped care for him in the final weeks of his fight against cancer. Known for bringing stories alive with his camera, Pemble epitomized the best of television news traditions, casting a curious and compassionate lens onto the lives of the people and communities whose stories he told. He joined the AP in 2007 in New York before moving to Prague in 2011 to help launch AP’s first cross-format operation combining photography, text stories and video. He enhanced Eastern European news coverage, creating distinctive stories highlighting the region’s culture and society. “Adam was an incredibly talented and passionate journalist and an empathetic storyteller. He had this amazing ability to get anyone to talk to him on camera, which I attribute to the Midwestern charm he embodied throughout his life.” said Sara Gillesby, AP’s Director of Global Video and Pemble’s former manager in New York when he joined the AP. “He was the best of us.” Pemble was born in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, in 1972 and grew up in Minneapolis. After graduating with a degree in mass communications from Minnesota State University Moorhead, he started his journalism career in 1997 at KVLY, a television station in Fargo, North Dakota, and later worked at WCCO in Minneapolis. “He had the skills of the old-school camera people to meet a deadline and turn a beautiful story,” said Arthur Phillips, a cameraman who worked with Pemble at WCCO. “But he had a calling for greater things.” Moving to New York, Pemble covered some of the biggest stories in the city, including the trial of Bernie Madoff, interviews with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and with then-real estate developer, now U.S. president-elect, Donald Trump. He went to Haiti to cover the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, where he captured shocking images of devastation. A few weeks later he was in Vancouver, covering the Winter Olympics. With his transfer to Prague, Pemble quickly became the go-to video journalist deployed to the biggest news events in Europe, interviewing government leaders, covering violent protests, the aftermath of terror attacks and numerous national elections across the continent. “An inquiring mind, a keen eye and a healthy skepticism for those in power who tried to spin away from the truth all combined to make Adam’s stories as rich in colour as he was in character,” said Sandy MacIntyre, former AP head of global video. “Time and again he was asked to do the impossible and without fail he delivered the exceptional.” ”But more than all of that, he was the colleague and friend you wanted by your side because if Adam was there we knew we were going to be the winning team.” As civil unrest rocked Ukraine in 2014, Pemble reported from Kyiv and later Donetsk, where he covered the first Russian-backed demonstrations before spending weeks in Crimea during Russia’s annexation of the strategic peninsula. His video reports included the last remaining Ukrainian sailors loyal to Kyiv, who had finally abandoned their ship and came ashore. With the Russian national anthem playing from a car in the background, his final shot showed two distraught sailors heckled as they walked away. Pemble returned to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022. Among his many assignments was March 2023 AP interview by Executive Editor Julie Pace with across Ukraine to cities near some of the fiercest fighting. “Adam showed up to every assignment with enthusiasm, creativity and commitment to his work and his colleagues. He loved what he did, and so many of us at AP are better for having worked alongside him,” Pace said. When not deployed overseas, set his camera’s gaze on his new home in the Czech Republic, offering insight into the traditions and unique stories of Eastern Europe. From Christmas carp fishing at sunrise to graffiti artists in Prague to the intimate story of a Slovak priest challenging the celibacy rules of the Catholic Church, he brought his unmistakable style. He worked with a traditional large broadcast camera in an era where many video shooters shifted to smaller, lighter cameras. He always put himself in the right place to let reality unfold like “an old school analog painter in an often fast and furious digital age,” former AP cameraman Ben Jary recalled. Pemble’s interest in visual storytelling led to experimenting with new technologies, including aerial videography. In 2015, he was the first major news agency camera operator to film live drone footage when reporting on the migration crisis in the Balkans. An avid gardener who planted trees and chilis on his rooftop in Prague, he was adventurous in the kitchen and especially proud of his vegan “meatloaf,” friends said. He loved a seedy dive bar as much as a Michelin restaurant and foods as varied as charcoal choux pastry with truffle creme and his favourite road trip junk food, Slim Jim’s jerky and Salted Nut Rolls. Pemble’s wit, wisdom, energy and positivity enriched the lives and experiences of those around him, friends and colleagues recalled. “If someone asked me to see a picture of quiet strength and courage, dignity and grace, and most of all kindness, I would show them a picture of a man for all seasons,” said Dan Huff, a Washington-based AP video journalist, “I would show them a picture of Adam Pemble.”None
By TOM KRISHER, Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — For a second time, a Delaware judge has nullified a pay package that Tesla had awarded its CEO, Elon Musk, that once was valued at $56 billion. On Monday, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick turned aside a request from Musk’s lawyers to reverse a ruling she announced in January that had thrown out the compensation plan. The judge ruled then that Musk effectively controlled Tesla’s board and had engineered the outsize pay package during sham negotiations . Lawyers for a Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay package contended that shareholders who had voted for the 10-year plan in 2018 had been given misleading and incomplete information. In their defense, Tesla’s board members asserted that the shareholders who ratified the pay plan a second time in June had done so after receiving full disclosures, thereby curing all the problems the judge had cited in her January ruling. As a result, they argued, Musk deserved the pay package for having raised Tesla’s market value by billions of dollars. McCormick rejected that argument. In her 103-page opinion, she ruled that under Delaware law, Tesla’s lawyers had no grounds to reverse her January ruling “based on evidence they created after trial.” What will Musk and Tesla do now? On Monday night, Tesla posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, that the company will appeal. The appeal would be filed with the Delaware Supreme Court, the only state appellate court Tesla can pursue. Experts say a ruling would likely come in less than a year. “The ruling, if not overturned, means that judges and plaintiffs’ lawyers run Delaware companies rather than their rightful owners — the shareholders,” Tesla argued. Later, on X, Musk unleashed a blistering attack on the judge, asserting that McCormick is “a radical far left activist cosplaying as a judge.” What do experts say about the case? Legal authorities generally suggest that McCormick’s ruling was sound and followed the law. Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that in his view, McCormick was right to rule that after Tesla lost its case in the original trial, it created improper new evidence by asking shareholders to ratify the pay package a second time. Had she allowed such a claim, he said, it would cause a major shift in Delaware’s laws against conflicts of interest given the unusually close relationship between Musk and Tesla’s board. “Delaware protects investors — that’s what she did,” said Elson, who has followed the court for more than three decades. “Just because you’re a ‘superstar CEO’ doesn’t put you in a separate category.” Elson said he thinks investors would be reluctant to put money into Delaware companies if there were exceptions to the law for “special people.” What will the Delaware Supreme Court do? Elson said that in his opinion, the court is likely to uphold McCormick’s ruling. Can Tesla appeal to federal courts? Experts say no. Rulings on state laws are normally left to state courts. Brian Dunn, program director for the Institute of Compensation Studies at Cornell University, said it’s been his experience that Tesla has no choice but to stay in the Delaware courts for this compensation package. Tesla has moved its legal headquarters to Texas. Does that matter? The company could try to reconstitute the pay package and seek approval in Texas, where it may expect more friendlier judges. But Dunn, who has spent 40 years as an executive compensation consultant, said it’s likely that some other shareholder would challenge the award in Texas because it’s excessive compared with other CEOs’ pay plans. “If they just want to turn around and deliver him $56 billion, I can’t believe somebody wouldn’t want to litigate it,” Dunn said. “It’s an unconscionable amount of money.” Would a new pay package be even larger? Almost certainly. Tesla stock is trading at 15 times the exercise price of stock options in the current package in Delaware, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors. Tesla’s share price has doubled in the past six months, Jonas wrote. At Monday’s closing stock price, the Musk package is now worth $101.4 billion, according to Equilar, an executive data firm. And Musk has asked for a subsequent pay package that would give him 25% of Tesla’s voting shares. Musk has said he is uncomfortable moving further into artificial intelligence with the company if he doesn’t have 25% control. He currently holds about 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dec. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This January, Carolrhoda Booksâ, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group TM , presents And, Too, the Fox by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and illustrated by Gaby D'Alessandro. First published in Limón's most recent poetry collection, The Hurting Kind , this poem blooms in picture book format and cultivates a sense of wonder and imagination in young readers observing the natural world. The fox meanders through a landscape set in Kentucky, Limón's home state. Flora and fauna from other poems in The Hurting Kind adorn every spread, incorporating more of Limón's work within the woodlands, prairie, and suburbs pictured. Readers watch the fox enjoy tender moments of rest in soft grasses, swift hunting on bouncy feet, and furious digging. Limón maintains a sense of respectful distance between the reader and the fox, pondering his unconcerned, private existence. Gentle, precise poetry meditates on the quiet spaces the fox inhabits, while D'Alessandro's fluid brushstrokes flush each page with life and movement. The artwork's use of light and color offer blushing sunsets, hazy blue skies, and mystic evenings which evoke a sense of magic in the world's most peaceful moments. This heartfelt story will appeal to poetry and nature lovers of all ages. Praise for And, Too, The Fox : "The wonder and reverence conveyed through the text and the fluidity of the illustrations result in a smooth and calming experience that will leave readers awed at the beauty of nature. A grounded yet ethereal blend of verse and vulpine sentiments."—starred, Kirkus Reviews "Children will be captivated by Fox as they join him on a joyful romp through his world."—starred, School Library Journal "In soaring lines of poetry that feel as graceful as the creature they describe, Limón ( In Praise of Mystery ) considers a fox seen in a fenced backyard . . . The sense of having entered the world of a wild animal for a few unexpected moments lingers in this refreshing picture book encounter."— Publishers Weekly About the Author and Illustrator: Ada Limón is the author of six books of poetry, including The Carrying , which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry. Her most recent book of poetry, The Hurting Kind , was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. She is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States and the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. As the Poet Laureate, her signature project is called You Are Here and focuses on how poetry can help connect us to the natural world. Gaby D'Alessandro is a Dominican illustrator based in NYC. She attended Altos de Chavón in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York to complete her studies at Parsons School of Design. Gaby's work has been recognized by Communication Arts , The Society of Illustrators , 3x3 , American Illustration, and Latin American Ilustración. Her illustrated books include The Cot in the Living Room and Stolen Science . About the Publisher: Carolrhoda Booksâ, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group TM , has been publishing high-quality, award-winning books since 1959. Our picture books spark children's imaginations and offer new ways of looking at the world. Our middle-grade books stand out not only for their quality, but also for the breadth of genres encompassed, from coming-of-age stories to exceptional nonfiction to mysteries. Carolrhoda authors and illustrators have been honored with awards such as a Caldecott Honor, the Coretta Scott King Book Award, the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, and the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. We believe that all children should be able to find themselves in the pages of a book. Find us on all social media platforms at @LernerBooks and look inside at lernerbooks.com. And, Too, the Fox January 2025 $18.99 Hardcover, Jacketed eBook Also Available Ages 5 - 9 HC: 979-8-7656-3925- 2 32 Pages ● 9 3/4 x 9 3/4 Attachments And, Too, the Fox And, Too, the Fox © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.By TOM KRISHER, Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — For a second time, a Delaware judge has nullified a pay package that Tesla had awarded its CEO, Elon Musk, that once was valued at $56 billion. On Monday, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick turned aside a request from Musk’s lawyers to reverse a ruling she announced in January that had thrown out the compensation plan. The judge ruled then that Musk effectively controlled Tesla’s board and had engineered the outsize pay package during sham negotiations . Lawyers for a Tesla shareholder who sued to block the pay package contended that shareholders who had voted for the 10-year plan in 2018 had been given misleading and incomplete information. In their defense, Tesla’s board members asserted that the shareholders who ratified the pay plan a second time in June had done so after receiving full disclosures, thereby curing all the problems the judge had cited in her January ruling. As a result, they argued, Musk deserved the pay package for having raised Tesla’s market value by billions of dollars. McCormick rejected that argument. In her 103-page opinion, she ruled that under Delaware law, Tesla’s lawyers had no grounds to reverse her January ruling “based on evidence they created after trial.” What will Musk and Tesla do now? On Monday night, Tesla posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, that the company will appeal. The appeal would be filed with the Delaware Supreme Court, the only state appellate court Tesla can pursue. Experts say a ruling would likely come in less than a year. “The ruling, if not overturned, means that judges and plaintiffs’ lawyers run Delaware companies rather than their rightful owners — the shareholders,” Tesla argued. Later, on X, Musk unleashed a blistering attack on the judge, asserting that McCormick is “a radical far left activist cosplaying as a judge.” What do experts say about the case? Legal authorities generally suggest that McCormick’s ruling was sound and followed the law. Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that in his view, McCormick was right to rule that after Tesla lost its case in the original trial, it created improper new evidence by asking shareholders to ratify the pay package a second time. Had she allowed such a claim, he said, it would cause a major shift in Delaware’s laws against conflicts of interest given the unusually close relationship between Musk and Tesla’s board. “Delaware protects investors — that’s what she did,” said Elson, who has followed the court for more than three decades. “Just because you’re a ‘superstar CEO’ doesn’t put you in a separate category.” Elson said he thinks investors would be reluctant to put money into Delaware companies if there were exceptions to the law for “special people.” What will the Delaware Supreme Court do? Elson said that in his opinion, the court is likely to uphold McCormick’s ruling. Can Tesla appeal to federal courts? Experts say no. Rulings on state laws are normally left to state courts. Brian Dunn, program director for the Institute of Compensation Studies at Cornell University, said it’s been his experience that Tesla has no choice but to stay in the Delaware courts for this compensation package. Tesla has moved its legal headquarters to Texas. Does that matter? The company could try to reconstitute the pay package and seek approval in Texas, where it may expect more friendlier judges. But Dunn, who has spent 40 years as an executive compensation consultant, said it’s likely that some other shareholder would challenge the award in Texas because it’s excessive compared with other CEOs’ pay plans. “If they just want to turn around and deliver him $56 billion, I can’t believe somebody wouldn’t want to litigate it,” Dunn said. “It’s an unconscionable amount of money.” Would a new pay package be even larger? Almost certainly. Tesla stock is trading at 15 times the exercise price of stock options in the current package in Delaware, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors. Tesla’s share price has doubled in the past six months, Jonas wrote. At Monday’s closing stock price, the Musk package is now worth $101.4 billion, according to Equilar, an executive data firm. And Musk has asked for a subsequent pay package that would give him 25% of Tesla’s voting shares. Musk has said he is uncomfortable moving further into artificial intelligence with the company if he doesn’t have 25% control. He currently holds about 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares.
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