About a year ago, 12-year-old Asaad was enjoying being able to go to school and play with friends again in Sudan, following months of uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. But he did not have long before the next crisis hit. Heavy rains and extreme flooding washed away his home and inundated his neighbourhood, forcing his family and many others to flee. Asaad, now 13, is among at least 10 million children in the world who have been displaced as a result of climate change. He and his family ended up in Egypt, and I had the honour of…
Author: National Tone
Prices rise 3.7 percent in November amid growing expectations central bank will roll back huge stimulus.Japan’s inflation has hit a four-decade high, raising pressure on the central bank to roll back its massive stimulus. Prices rose at their fastest pace since 1981 in November, data showed on Friday, fuelled in part by higher energy costs. Core inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, climbed 3.7 percent last month compared with a year earlier, according to data released by Japan’s internal affairs ministry. Prices jumped the most for processed food items and were also higher for electricity and durable goods like…
Jan 6 committee’s final report asserts Donald Trump engaged in a ‘multi-part conspiracy’ to overturn 2020 election.The House of Representatives January 6 committee’s final report asserts that former United States President Donald Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. The 845-page report (PDF) released on Thursday concludes an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago. It comes after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained millions…
BOSTON (AP) — Nick Foligno broke a tie midway through the third period, Jeremy Swayman stopped 25 shots and the NHL-leading Boston Bruins rallied to beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Thursday night. The Bruins improved to 26-4-2 and 18-0-2 at home. Foligno scored from the left circle off a feed from Charlie Coyle. David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk also scored for the Bruins. Mark Scheifele and Jansen Harkins scored for Winnipeg and Connor Hellebuyck made 37 saves. The Jets led 2-0 at 7:20 of the first period, with Scheifele opening the scoring at 1:58 with his team-leading 20th goal.…
ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of popular video app TikTok, said some employees improperly accessed the TikTok user data of two journalists and were no longer employed by the company, an email seen by the Reuters news agency shows. ByteDance employees accessed the data as part of an unsuccessful effort to investigate leaks of company information earlier this year and were aiming to identify potential connections between two journalists – a former BuzzFeed reporter and Financial Times reporter – and company employees, according to the email sent on Thursday by ByteDance lawyer Erich Andersen. The employees looked at journalists’ IP…
Chilean President Gabriel Boric says move aims to give Palestinians representation and respect under international law.The Palestinian foreign ministry has welcomed Chile’s plans to open an embassy in the occupied territories, a move that Chilean President Gabriel Boric said will signal a demand that “international law be respected”. Chile’s foreign minister, Antonia Urrejola, confirmed the plan on Thursday but said there was no timeline in place yet and that Chile continues to recognise both Palestine and Israel as legitimate states. Boric, a left-wing politician and former student activist who took office in March, had announced the decision on Wednesday evening during…
Moscow has said that Ukraine acquiring Patriot missiles from the United States, announced during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington, will not help settle the conflict or prevent Russia from achieving its goals. Though the Patriot air defence system is widely regarded as advanced, President Vladimir Putin dismissed it as “quite old”, telling reporters on Thursday Russia would find a way to counter it. At the same time, he said Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution. “Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but,…
ZURICH (AP) — FIFA is taking “appropriate internal action” to address breaches of World Cup protocol by a celebrity chef who held the gold trophy on the field, soccer’s governing body said Thursday. Nusret Gökçe, who is known as Salt Bae and is regularly seen with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, mingled with Argentina players and posed for photos after their victory over France in an epic game on Sunday in Qatar. FIFA describes the trophy as “a priceless icon” which “can only be touched and held by a very select group of people, which includes former winners of the FIFA…
John Jay Ray III took control of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX in the small hours of November 11. Ray was asked in a US House Hearing on Financial Services to compare FTX to Enron, another financial debacle he cleaned up after. “This is just plain old embezzlement,” said Ray. “Not sophisticated at all.” FTX simply took customer money and used it for their own purposes. FTX and its sister firm, cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research, both operated out of the Bahamas, with zero oversight. At least $8bn in customer funds is now missing, causing cryptocurrency enthusiasts to rethink the…
Al Agaila looked in a different league to her rivals in the talkSPORT Winter Oaks Trial Irish EBF Fillies’ Handicap at Lingfield.Simon and Ed Crisford’s filly took four races to open her account but did so in impressive fashion by four lengths at Kempton earlier this month. Making her handicap debut here off a mark of 79, she was up against some in-form rivals such as Makinmedoit and Queen Of Ipanema, winner of her last five. But Luke Morris never moved a muscle as Al Agaila (7/2) cruised into contention before cantering to a two-and-a-half-length verdict over Makinmedoit.Ed Crisford said:…