Armstrong Commercial Flooring has been awarded NSF/ANSI 332 Gold Level certification for its Linoleum product line from NSF International.

A love letter to a less shiny city, and the teenagers, insomniacs,
and eccentrics who populated it. by Ben Coleman

It was December 25, 2013, and everyone in the gay steakhouse was getting amiably drunk.

It was one of those Portland winters that was cold and wet and absolutely miserable to be out in, and I had to work. But before that I was going to pre-spend my holiday pay on a fancy dinner—or at least the fanciest dinner I could afford working the graveyard shift for a bit more than minimum wage. Starky’s was what you’d affectionately call an “establishment.” It wasn’t a dive, but it was dive-adjacent: Formica tables, napkins for coasters, stately framed prints of drag queens and bodybuilders on the peach pink walls. In the summer they ran a raunchy charity car wash you could hear from blocks away. In the fall and spring, the iron-fenced patio always had a handful of elegant old swains sipping cocktails while they watched the world go by. In the winter they were open on Christmas Eve.

People who go to bars on major holidays often exist on the margins of society. Drunks, malcontents, lost souls estranged from religion or tradition, those who have no family or are burdened by what family they have. And folks who just can’t afford not to work. I didn’t take an inventory of my fellow travelers, but I’m sure there was the usual mix of those usual suspects, along with the clientele of a relaxed neighborhood gay bar: pretty Midwesterners with sad eyes, pairs of middle-aged husbands who didn’t want to cook, the aforementioned swains. Some were socializing like it was an office holiday party, others were lost in thought as we studied our mashed potatoes for clues to the human condition as freezing rain whipped against the windows. I’d like to say that “Fairytale of New York” came on the jukebox and we all got misty and sang along, but I suspect if anyone made a move to change the Britney Spears music video on the wall TV there’d have been a riot. But I still left feeling better about the world.

“Old Portland” is a moving target, but it’s not ephemeral. It began when you found somewhere in this city that welcomed you and ended when it was torn down to make way for a condo. Townies my age wax rhapsodic about all-ages music venues like La Luna and Meow Meow, about the Church of Elvis, the terrible service at The Roxy, stiff drinks at Club 21, late night LAN parties at Backspace. We like to talk about how you could smoke in bars, even though most of us have long since quit. But previous generations had their own haunts and hollows: jazz clubs and punk houses that lived and died and exist now only in memory. It’s not like they sold tickets to Old Portland and we’ve got the stubs in a shoebox somewhere.

What I suspect we’re all nostalgic for is the feeling, however subjective, that the margins of society were a bit wider, and more people could afford to exist in them. That Portland was not a precision machine. It had looser tolerances than today. There were poorly-optimized businesses in the service of teenagers, insomniacs, artists, and eccentrics, alongside the usual cadre of office workers and serious restaurateurs that all cities need to function. When those places went away they were rarely replaced. Willamette Week’s Aaron Mesh once wrote, “Every generation gets the ruining of Portland it deserves,” and it’s as true today as it was in 2015 when they tore down Starky’s to make way for the 46 modern apartment units that sit there now.

Cities change and culture shifts. Style moves from hard forms to soft, sarcasm makes way for sincerity, the rebels sell out and so on. But these cycles aren’t arbitrary. They are shaped by market forces and public policy. Coffee shops used to have couches so that people would hang out in them, fill those spaces with the sounds of awkward first dates and someone scribbling the first chapter of a terrible novel. Coffee shops aren’t soft anymore. They’re full of angular, industrial surfaces, because to make rent this month they need several hundred people to buy eight dollar macchiatos and fuck off somewhere else.

The Portland of today is shinier than the Portland of my youth. There are luxury retailers and well-moisturized influencers and futuristic cube houses with two-Cybertruck garages. Presumably this was done because the hippie granola markets and communist bookstores and neighborhood dives that were already here don’t pull the property taxes needed to fund a proper 21st Century metropolis. Our city fathers promised us prosperity if we’d only sacrifice a couple of eyesores on the altar of urban renewal and mixed-use development. It’s a bargain many willingly made, perhaps believing that for once in human history the rising tide would lift all boats. The bodies of the displaced lying in our streets seem to say otherwise.

Someday this city will be a vast and uniform sea of tasteful residential buildings named after the ugly and interesting places they replaced: the needle parks we walked past on the way to school, the cart pods where you could get a pretty good gyro, bars like Starky’s where neighbors gathered on holidays in defiance of the shitty weather. They’ll have large matte photos in the lobby of musicians who couldn’t afford to live there and gig work security guards to shoo away any indigents who get close to the property line. That’s progress, I suppose.

We miss Old Portland not because it was cheaper or somehow more authentic, but because of the people it once accommodated. We miss the sense of community that animated those old, demolished buildings, that warmed them in the way that only old buildings full of people talking can be warm. Every day we’re tested, and no more so than during the holidays, by how we welcome the strangers in our midst. I was a stranger once and found welcome in a neighborhood bar that’s not there anymore. I hope it can be found again somewhere new.

January 23, 2015 Boston won the opportunity to represent the United States in a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, erupting a host of opinions, with very few opinions coming down the middle, but all of them mentioning the cost. What will be the impact good or bad, for Boston's neighborhoods? Later in the show, we review Boston Mayor Marty Walsh¹s first State of the City address. What do his plans mean for the future of race relations, economic development, and public safety?

Panelists:
- Latoyia Edwards, anchor, NECN
- Kim McLarin, Assistant Professor of Writing, Literature and Publishing, Emerson College
- Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News
- Shirley Leung, Business Columnist, The Boston Globe
- Marcela Garcia, Regular Contributor, Editorial & OpEd Pages, The Boston Globe

April 17, 2015 It was more than just a handshake at the Summit of the Americas last week as President Barack Obama greeted Cuba’s President Raul Castro. It has been widely described as the beginnings of a thaw in US-Latin American relations. It’s been welcomed in some quarters as a mark of progress in American foreign policy while condemned by others as a capitulation to a long-standing communist enemy.

This week, Basic Black looks at the changes in US-Latin American relations and what impact this could have on Latinos living in the United States, immigration reform and economic development for Latin America. Panelists:
- Latoyia Edwards, anchor, NECN
- Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Tufts University
- Devyn Spence Benson, Assistant Professor of History & African American Studies, Louisiana State University, current Fellow at The Hutchins Center, Harvard University
- Marcela Garcia, Contributor to the Editorial and Opinion Pages, The Boston Globe
- Julio Varela, Digital Media Director, Futuro Media Group Photo: US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shake hands at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama, Saturday, April 11, 2015. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Dozens of perforated pebbles from an archaeological site in Israel may be early examples of spindle whorls, a rotating tool used in textile making that was a step towards inventing the wheel

The mega-coral measures 34 metres by 32 metres – making it larger than a blue whale – and it is thought to be three centuries old

Christian groups in South Korea are calling on the World Evangelical Alliance to put on hold plans for its next General Assembly in Seoul next year.

Twelve soldiers escaped from a military unit in the Novosibirsk region of Russia on November 13. The servicemen pogromed the military unit when escaping. One of the escapees was filming others smashing windows and breaking furniture. "Look, there's a riot going on here. A riot, yehoo! [I'm sick of] it all," the man can be heard saying filming his reflection in a mirror. Another soldier in the background shouts: "Come on, break all the windows!"

University of Central Florida's A Team with A Dream wins the 2024 CyberForce Competition(r). The mission of the competition is to equip the next generation of cybersecurity professionals with hands-on experience defending critical infrastructure.

[Politics] :
The top diplomats from South Korea and the United States will hold talks on Friday in Peru, on the sidelines of the joint meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) ministers for trade and foreign affairs. According to Seoul’s foreign ministry on Thursday, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul will ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
The Supreme Court has upheld a suspended prison term for former Rep. Youn Mee-hyang, who was convicted of embezzling donations to an advocacy group for South Korean victims of sexual slavery during World War II. On Thursday the top court upheld the 18-month sentence, suspended for three years, after ...

[more...]

[Politics] :
The leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold a three-way discussion on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) summit in Lima, Peru. According to Seoul’s presidential office, President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru ...

[more...]

I got the word this week from The Crest of Westwood that they'll be streaming coverage of the Golden Globes at The Crest on Sunday.

It's free and open to the public; doors open at 4:30 and the event starts at 5pm.

The Crest's Virginia Chavez writes, "We're encouraging formal attire, but it's not required for entrance."

But Off-Ramp says, "Phooey! Dress up. It's what classy people do." Like this stunning couple:

(Anne Knudsen/LA Public Library Herald-Examiner collection)

The caption of this 1985 photo reads, "David Hasselhoff in a burgundy-and-black striped tuxedo kept pace with wife Catherine Hickland's high fashion style: Ellene Warren's silk shoulder-beaded jacket, silk jacquard pants and matching evening bra. Hasselhoff and Hickland attended the Emmy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

There's such a thing as an "evening bra?" I don't think so.

The Crest - 1262 Westwood Blvd. LA, CA 90024 - (323) 553 - 3500

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Source: Streetwise Reports 11/12/2024

NexGold Mining Corp. (NEXG.V:TSXV; NXGCF:OTCQX; TRC1.F:FRA) and Signal Gold Inc. have successfully closed their previously announced oversubscribed and upsized concurrent financing, generating a total of US$18.5 million. Initially disclosed in joint announcements from both companies on October 10 and October 23, 2024, this financing is part of a larger plan in which NexGold will acquire all shares of Signal Gold to combine both companies' gold projects to create a near-term gold developer.

The financing involved two components. The first was a flow-through (FT) unit private placement by NexGold, which raised CA$8.085 million through the sale of 10,106,250 FT units at CA$0.80 per unit. Each unit includes one flow-through common share and half of one purchase warrant, allowing the holder to buy an additional non-flow-through share at CA$1.05 for the next two years. In the second component, Signal Gold's private placement of subscription receipts yielded CA$10.45 million by issuing 120,075,840 receipts at CA$0.08705 each. These receipts will convert into Signal units once specific escrow release conditions are met, including completion of the acquisition. Each unit consists of one common share and half a purchase warrant, allowing the holder to acquire additional shares for CA$0.11818 over two years.

The net funds from this financing will be used to retire debt, fund the exploration and development of both companies' gold projects - including NexGold's Goliath gold complex in Ontario and Signal's Goldboro project in Nova Scotia - and for general corporate purposes. The gross proceeds from FT units will go toward qualified exploration expenses for NexGold's projects, with renunciation planned by December 31, 2024, as per Canadian tax requirements.

Investor interest included an acquisition by a Sprott Asset Management sub-advised fund, which purchased 2.5 million FT units for CA$2 million, bringing Sprott's holdings to 11.43% of NexGold's issued shares (14.95% on a partially diluted basis). NexGold also extended an investor awareness agreement with i2i Marketing Group, providing up to six months of marketing services for CA$250,000 to increase investor visibility.

Gold Rush

Gold's surge to the US$2,800 mark due to a "perfect storm" of factors, according to an October 29 report from Kitco. Gary Wagner explained that this historic rise, approximately 35% this year, was driven by geopolitical tensions, anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts, consistent central bank demand, and U.S. political uncertainty in the run-up to the presidential election.

Chen Lin offered a positive outlook on NexGold, noting heightened investor interest following recent updates, including expanded financing and merger plans.

Wagner noted that "geopolitical, political conflicts" and "uncertainties about the outcome of the upcoming presidential election" were critical components, with emerging market central banks increasing their gold reserves to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar.

On October 30, LiveMint highlighted gold's global appeal. The article mentioned how central banks continue to expand their gold reserves, with net buying reaching 337 tonnes in Q3 2023.

This marks a near-record level, according to the World Gold Council. Escalating geopolitical tensions, especially in the Middle East, have also led investors to seek gold as a safe haven, pushing prices upward. In addition, strong economic data in the U.S., such as job growth and consumer spending, has affected expectations around Federal Reserve policies. These, in turn, have indirectly influenced gold.

By November 4, Egon von Greyerz, in his analysis of the global financial system, emphasized gold as a reliable store of value. He argued that "gold has always stood as a protector" during economic downturns, describing the asset as "the best-performing asset class in this century." Von Greyerz asserted that gold's continued strength could be attributed to its resistance to the "destruction of fiat money," making it an essential wealth-preserving asset in an increasingly unstable financial environment.

The Catalysts Pushing NexGold Forward

NexGold's acquisition of Signal Gold is expected to accelerate its growth as a mid-tier gold producer. According to NexGold's September 2024 investor presentation, this financing supports the ongoing development of the Goliath Gold Complex in Northern Ontario, which holds a combined measured and indicated gold resource of over 2.1 million ounces. Additionally, Signal's Goldboro project in Nova Scotia adds strategic value with historical production potential and significant exploration upside.

The Goliath project benefits from robust infrastructure, an approved environmental assessment, and a promising pre-feasibility study indicating a post-tax NPV of CA$336 million at US$1,750/oz gold. With this acquisition, the combined entity is expected to leverage its enhanced capital position to pursue further exploration and optimization, aiming for near-term production and establishing a solid platform for growth and consolidation in the Canadian gold sector.

What Are Experts Saying?

Ron Stewart, a mining analyst at Red Cloud Securities, maintained a Speculative Buy rating on NexGold with a target currently Under Review in his September analysis. Stewart stated that the merger with Signal Gold offered NexGold an accretive pathway to growth by adding the Goldboro project's resources to its portfolio. He noted that the combined assets of NexGold and Signal would form a "multi-asset company with over 6 million ounces in gold resources," which he described as synergistic and favorable for shareholders. Stewart anticipated the merger would close in Q4 2024, with upcoming catalysts including the Goliath Feasibility Study in Q1 2025 and a potential construction decision for Goliath in H2 2025. [OWNERSHIP_CHART-1961]

Important Disclosures:

1. NexGold Mining Corp. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$4,000 and US$5,000.
2. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of NexGold Mining Inc.
3. James Guttman wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
4. This article does not constitute investment advice and is not a solicitation for any investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her personal financial adviser and perform their own comprehensive investment research. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company.

For additional disclosures, please click here.

( Companies Mentioned: NEXG.V:TSXV; NXGCF:OTCQX; TRC1.F:FRA, )

Source: Streetwise Reports 11/12/2024

As 321gold's Bob Moriarty discussed the outcome of the BRICS conference in Russia and the state of the gold market with Robert Sinn of Goldfinger Capital, he lamented the need for more young gold bugs to enter the market as the yellow metal enters what he predicted will be a five- to 10-year bull market.

Sinn said at a recent conference, despite recent record gold prices, two-thirds of the seats were empty at gold panels with experts talking about likely windfalls in 2025.

"If you went to a gold conference last year, what was the average age?" Moriarty said during the interview posted last month, guessing 67 "or higher." "We have to get young people into the market, and we have not done that yet. The fact is that nobody's (at) the gold show because they all died of old age."

Moriarty said he expects there will be plenty of those windfalls coming in the bull market. He said there "absolutely has to be" more majors doing acquisitions.

Before the Bre-X scandal of the 1990s, in which fraudulent samples led to the collapse of the CA$6 billion company, most major mining companies had their own exploration departments, which many later cut, Moriarty pointed out.

"Since 2000, all of the exploration has been juniors," he said. "So, there has to be a lot more M&A activity. There has to be."

Yukon Projects Won't Go For 'Chump Change'

Gold hit its latest record high on October 30. It slid after the election, but most experts agree it is in a bull market and will continue to be.

"We are still relatively constructive on gold," said Taylor Krystkowiak, investment strategist at Themes ETFs, according to a report by Ian Salisbury for Barron's. "Why does gold go up? It's geopolitical uncertainty, it's deficit spending, and it's inflation. Right now, all those stars are aligned."

Despite pushbacks during its rise, "gold continues to climb," Nick Fulton, managing partner at USA Pawn, told Newsweek. "When we saw US$2,600 an ounce gold, I thought US$2,800 by the end of the year. Now? We could see gold at US$3,000 an ounce happen in a 30-day time span."

Moriarty said the highest recent scores logged by sentiment indices on gold and silver, which are reflected in a scale of 0 to 100, are lower than he would expect at "88 for gold and 88 for silver."

"I would think it would be in the 90s, and it's not," he said. Silver, for instance, when it hit its all-time record high in 1980, had a score of 95, he said.

The juniors should be performing "three or four times higher, and they're not," Moriarty said.

"So, were in an interesting situation," he said. "We're going to have five to 10 years at least of a bull market. And when the dollar changes its value dramatically, it's going to drive gold and silver much higher."

Moriarty said the majors are "trying to go out and pick up copper projects now," which he doesn't think makes sense.

"The majors are always wrong," he said. "They're paying the most for projects at the very top. Projects are being given because they're not interested. But when you have four major projects in one small area in the Yukon (and) those projects are going into production, somebody is going to buy them. But I don't think they're going to buy them for chump change. I think it's going to cost some money."

BRICS Conference: 'Who Cares?'

The two also discussed the recent BRICS meeting Russia. An intergovernmental organization, BRICS is an acronym for founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates are all full members now and it has also expanded to add 13 new "partner nations."

But one thing it didn't do was settle on a common currency for the countries, which disappointed Moriarty.

"I think the BRICS meeting was really important, and I was hoping for kind of agreement on what the BRICS financial solution is, and they really didn't come up with it," he said. "It was a meet and greet, and they talked about opening commodities exchanges. Who cares?"

This potential currency would allow these nations to "assert their economic independence while competing with the existing international financial system," wrote Melissa Pistilli of Investing News Network. "The current system is dominated by the US dollar, which accounts for about 90 percent of all currency trading."

Russian President Vladimir Putin presented a colorful mockup of a BRICS bank note at the conference, but Moriarty wasn't impressed.

"They need to do something, but they haven't done it yet. "You've got dozens of countries that recognize (that) the stranglehold the United States has on the rest of the world geopolitically is a negative for the rest of the world. And they all agree that that needs to change, but nobody's talked about how to do it."

Sitka Gold Corp.

One company Moriarty and Sinn discussed was Sitka Gold Corp. (SIG:TSXV; SITKF:OTCQB; 1RF:FSE), which recently released high-grade intercepts from its RC Gold Project in the Tombstone Gold Belt of Yukon.

The standout results included one hole that returned 678.1 meters of 1.04 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) from surface, including 409.5 meters of 1.36 g/t Au, and 93 meters grading 2.57 g/t Au. The intercept also contained a high-grade core of 5.5 meters grading 17.59 g/t Au.

The results extended gold mineralization approximately 200 meters deeper than any previously drilled hole at the Blackjack deposit, signaling the potential for continued high-grade mineralization at depth and showing persistent mineralization throughout the entire 708.7-meter length of the hole.

Moriarty said the company is drilling Clear Creek on the RC property now, "and I think we're going to see a lot. More 400-, 500-, 600-meter intercepts. So, what's going to happen is the majors are going to wake up."

He predicted the company could be another Snowline Gold Corp. (SGD:CSE; SNWGF:OTCQB), which "has somewhere between seven and eight times the market cap" of Sitka. At the time of writing, Snowline had a market cap of CA$883 million to Sitka's CA$129 million.

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Important Disclosures:

1. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Snowline Gold Corp.
2. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
3. This article does not constitute investment advice and is not a solicitation for any investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her personal financial adviser and perform their own comprehensive investment research. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company.

For additional disclosures, please click here.

( Companies Mentioned: SIG:TSXV; SITKF:OTCQB; 1RF:FSE, )

Patt Morrison's outfit for March 26, 2013. ; Credit: Michelle Lanz/KPCC

For good or ill, I have six-months’ worth of winterish wardrobe in a part of the world with six weeks’ worth of winter. Indoors and AC are great equalizers, yet I am rushing to get in the wools and tweeds before we start sweating – probably in April. [President Richard Nixon loved to have a fire in the fireplace of the Lincoln Sitting Room in the White House, so much so that he cranked up the AC so he could enjoy a cozy fire even in August.]

So I had to give a season’s last hurrah to this Jacquard brocade coat with coppery embroidery and brown velvet piping, worn over your plain ol’ brand X brown jersey dress.

Rose-gold is such a flattering shade, hence the bracelets. [The lampshades at the Belle Epoque Paris restaurant Maxim’s were made of soft pink silk because it made ladies’ complexions look so much better.] 

Brown and orange doesn’t sound like a very tasty combination, but they do work, I think, in the subdued brown tartan shoes with rhinestone buckles the color of sunset. They put me in mind of the more prim Pilgrim buckles on Roger Vivier shoes like the ones Catherine Deneuve made famous in "Belle de Jour," a movie all about a young woman who was rather the opposite of prim behind closed doors.

The crosshairs tartan pattern in the center of the buckles make me think of a submarine periscope, which makes me think of the Lusitania — sunk 98 years ago this May 1 — which served to help nudge the United States into World War I. Now that I think of it, the brown felt and velvet hat is rather World War I-ish, too.

Hi, sailor!

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Bima Sugam India Federation is working to create a digital insurance marketplace in India.

SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI – November 6, 2013 – International Dehydrated Foods, Inc. (IDF™),

a global leader in IDF® poultry ingredients, is continuing to bring chicken to the forefront of the

industry through innovative health and wellness applications that the company will feature at

SupplySide West.

Great Plains Holdings Inc. will acquire 51 percent of Bonjoe Gourmet Chips LLC, as well as have to option to acquire another 20 percent interest in the gourmet chip maker.

Eastern Mennonite University’s focus on sustainability engages students and faculty to care for their environment.

With all the over-the-counter and prescription products available for treating a wide array of skin care conditions, most people are not aware of which dry skin treatment lotions are the best for one's skin.

ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025, set for October in Singapore, has nearly sold out its 60,000 sqm exhibition space with strong interest from 731 global tech providers. The event, supported by CEMATEX and CTMA, will showcase innovations tailored for Asia’s growing textile hubs. Key sectors include finishing, spinning, and knitting, highlighting sustainable tech and automation trends.

Wacoal Holdings has reported revenue of ¥90,167 million (~$586.1 million) in H1 2024, down by 5.2 per cent YoY. Gross profit fell 4.9 per cent to ¥51,056 million (~$331.86 million). Domestic revenue dipped 4.8 per cent to ¥45,006 million, while overseas revenue declined 1.4 per cent to ¥34,549 million. The company’s business profit was ¥2,304 million, down 39.6 per cent YoY in its overseas segment.

I'm entranced by old technologies being rediscovered, repurposed, and reinvented. Just think, the term artificial intelligence (AI) entered the language in 1956 and you can trace natural language processing (NLP) back to Alan Turing's work starting in 1950. Text analytics has its antecedents in data mining. Data mining itself has a long history, all the way back to Thomas Bayes, who died in 1761, and his eponymous theorem that still informs algorithms regarding inference, probability, and predictions.

West Virginia’s Supreme Court upheld a finding of compensability for a worker with a knee injury. Case: P&G Tabler Station v. Hiett, No. 23-703, 10/30/2024, published. Facts: David Hiett worked for P&G Tabler…

A new wearable pressure sensor has been developed which could be used to monitor people’s health at anytime and anywhere. Researchers from Monash University’s Departments of Chemical Engineering and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, produced the new sensor by sandwiching ultrathin gold nanowire-impregnated tissue paper between two polymer sheets.

Gold Rush Days LIMITED EDITION PRINT by Bob Coronato is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to Limited Edition of 75 pcs

UBS is sticking to its bullish gold forecast.

• says the move higher for equities and lower for gold is a 'highly optimistic' view for lower policy and political risk, this is premature
• expect US yields and US dollar to move into downtrend, which will support gold
• gold fundamentals, as a hedge and diversity play, are intact

The pullback in gold continues to play out since the post-election period. The precious metal is now down for a fifth straight day in what is already easily its worst weekly showing so far this year. It has more or less been a case of waiting for said pullback to reach some key technical levels on the charts. And we're just about there already in trading today.

The 100-day moving average (red line) is the key technical focus right now and that is seen at roughly $2,543. The last time gold actually had a brush against the key level was all the way back in February. And the last time that gold traded back below either that or its 200-day moving average (blue line) was all the way back in October last year.

That underscores the breathtaking momentum that has been in play for gold all through this year so far.

As such, this makes the 100-day moving average an even more important technical juncture now. A break there will not only signify a break in the bullish bias in gold. However, it could set off another wave of selling that leads to an even bigger pullback.

Traders love key levels like these and USD/JPY is a good example of that when it broke its own 100-day moving average back in late July as well. The drop there of course owed to a myriad of other factors but the technical consideration certainly exacerbated things. And it could also be the case for gold when we get there in the sessions ahead.

I'm still an advocate for gold in the bigger picture of things. However, I would say dip buyers will need to be patient to let this correction run its course before coming back in. From earlier this week: Gold pullback might prove to be timely for dip buyers

The OSCE Mission to Moldova held the final in a series of three training sessions for 12 psychologists and professionals working with domestic violence victims. The session took place on 27 June 2016 in Rybnitsa, a town on the left bank of the Dniester/Nistru River.

The event aimed to equip participants with essential skills in family counselling and post-traumatic stress rehabilitation. Participants studied means to identify family violence, various coaching techniques to use when working with families, as well as methods for handling trauma and post-traumatic stress among domestic violence victims.

In the past week, similar training events have been held in Chisinau and Tiraspol with the total participation of 50 professionals from Bender, Causeni, Chisinau, Comrat, Drochia, Rybnitsa and Tiraspol.

Participants in the training sessions included psychologists, teachers, medical professionals, lawyers and social workers, all of whom encounter cases of domestic violence in their work through Moldova’s referral system.

The training events were held as part of the Mission’s project to strengthen the capacity of those who provide crisis services to women and families on both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River. The project was developed following a country-wide assessment conducted in 2014 and 2015. The assessment identified a number of challenges in this field in Moldova, most notably the difficulties in accessing domestic violence services – including shelters and crisis centres – for those living in rural areas, and a lack of state resources. 

Related Stories

• OSCE Mission to Moldova trains lawyers from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River on addressing discrimination
• Civil society representatives tackle key NGO management issues at OSCE Mission to Moldova-supported event
• Summer School to be held for lawyers from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River

KHUJAND, Tajikistan, 13 July 2016 – A two-day workshop for civil society and police officers on improving the local referral mechanisms for the protection of domestic violence victims concluded today in Khujand.

The workshop brought together some 23 representatives of crisis centres, the police, state services for social protection and the Committee of Women and Family Affairs from the Sughd region of Tajikistan.

Participants exchanged good practices on inter-agency co-operation to assist victims of violence in the region, discuss current challenges and ways to improve the current mechanism of the multi-disciplinary approach.

“This is an opportunity for the OSCE-supported Women’s Resource Centres from the regions to share the experiences and plans for further activities on strengthening women’s rights in the region,” said Viorelia Rusu, the OSCE Office’s Gender and Anti-Trafficking Officer.

Within separate sessions, participants from the crisis centres shared experiences related to the rehabilitation and protection of domestic violence victims, and police inspectors discussed the provisions of the updated Instructions on dealing with domestic violence cases. Police officers also received copies of the new Manual on Countering Domestic Violence, published by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

“We learned from similar meetings organized earlier in Khatlon region that such discussions, including on concrete cases, contribute to a better co-ordinated and victim-centered, multi-agency approach in protecting domestic victims at the local level, and it harmoniously compliments the Ministry’s plans on gender mainstreaming into police reform,” said Ali Bobonazarzoda, National Co-ordinator on Police Reform under the country’s Interior Ministry.

The event is part of the annual activities of the Office’s Gender and Anti-Trafficking Unit aimed at strengthening the current local protection mechanisms for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.  

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• OSCE Office in Tajikistan support Garm’s local authorities in strengthening referral mechanisms for protecting domestic violence victims
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MOSCOW, 5 August 2016 – On the occasion of the formal opening of the election observation mission (EOM) deployed by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to observe the 18 September State Duma elections in the Russian Federation, the mission will hold a press conference in Moscow on Monday, 8 August 2016.

Jan Petersen, the head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, will introduce the role of the EOM and its upcoming activities.

Journalists are invited to attend the press conference at 15:00, Monday, 8 August, at Interfax, 1-ya Tverskaya-Yamskaya ul., 2 Moscow, 127006.

For further information, please contact Inta Lase OSCE/ODIHR EOM Media Analyst, at +79166214710 (mobile) or Inta.Lase@odihr.ru

or

Thomas Rymer, OSCE/ODIHR Spokesperson, at +48 609 522 266 (Warsaw mobile) or at thomas.rymer@odihr.pl.

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VIENNA, 13 July 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today said that media laws under consideration by the Parliament in Moldova run counter to international standards on media freedom.

On 7 July the Parliament adopted, in the first reading, three amendments to the Audio-visual Code of the Republic of Moldova. All three amendments aim to limit broadcasts in foreign languages or those originating from abroad.

“It is counterproductive to try to limit speech through excessively restrictive legislation,” Mijatović wrote in a letter yesterday to the Chairperson of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Andrian Candu. “In my view it seems excessive and may be ineffective.”

The reasoning given for introducing the restrictive provisions banning broadcasts or rebroadcasts of certain content is that it originates from states that are neither members of the European Union, nor are parties to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. 

“I trust that the draft laws will be carefully reviewed by the members of Parliament before being adopted in the second reading, ensuring that the regulation does not pose undue limits on free expression and free flow of information,” Mijatović said.

The Representative also pointed to the recommendations of her Office’s non-paper “Propaganda and Freedom of the Media” published in 2015 (available at www.osce.org/fom/203926).

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom. 

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OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors visited Moldova from 23 to 25 May 2016 to discuss issues including the draft integration strategy developed with HCNM’s assistance to the Bureau for Interethnic Relations, relations between Chisinau and the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia, and the education of national minorities. The High Commissioner also visited Tiraspol.

In Chisinau, the High Commissioner discussed the draft integration strategy with Prime Minister Pavel Filip and other interlocutors and encouraged the Government to fulfil without delay its commitment to adopt the strategy. “Adoption of the integration strategy will underscore the Government’s commitment to promoting an inclusive, diverse society,” said Thors. “Even more important will be the strategy’s implementation. I am ready to assist the Bureau for Interethnic Relations in this process.”

The High Commissioner praised the parliamentary decision in November 2015 to establish a permanent joint working group between the Moldovan Parliament and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. She discussed the functioning of the working group with its co-chairs, Member of Parliament Elena Bacalu and People’s Assembly Member Gheorghii Leichu, Speaker of Parliament Adrian Candu, and the Bashkan of Gagauzia Irina Vlah. Thors encouraged the working group to be fully utilized as the primary platform for discussing issues related to the functioning of the autonomy so that questions that may contribute to tensions can be successfully addressed.

With Minister of Education Corina Fusu, the High Commissioner discussed implementation of the Education Code and the effect of education reforms on schools teaching in minority languages, including optimization of the school network and new procedures for the selection of school directors. “Having heard from national minority representatives that education is a primary concern, I encouraged the Minister to ensure that national minorities are consulted when implementing reforms,” she said. The High Commissioner noted with interest the adoption of a new programme to improve teaching of the State language in minority-language schools, remarking that it provides an opportunity to expand multilingual education as a tool for integration.

The High Commissioner met members of the Council of Ethno-Cultural Organizations in Chisinau and with the Transdniestrian de-facto authorities and civil society representatives in Tiraspol. She visited the Theoretical Lyceum Alexandru cel Bun in Bender and learned about the practical difficulties the school faces in maintaining its operations as a Moldovan-administered school teaching in the Latin script. Thors welcomed the active efforts of the OSCE Mission to Moldova and the German Chairmanship of the OSCE to find sustainable solutions for the Latin-script schools among other issues as part of the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, and noted the anticipated resumption of talks in the 5+2 format, which she discussed with Deputy Prime Minister on Reintegration Gheorghe Balan and Transdniestrian Chief Negotiator Vitaly Ignatiev.

The High Commissioner also met with Deputy Prime Minister on Social Issues Gheorghe Brega, Director General of the Bureau for Interethnic Relations Oleg Babenco, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lilian Darii, and representatives of civil society and the international community.

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A week-long regional summer school on multilingual and multicultural education was held from 10 July to 16 July 2016 in Cholponata in Kyrgyzstan - the fifth regional summer school organized as part of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities’ (HCNM) Central Asia Education Programme.

Organized by the HCNM in co-operation with Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Education and Science, UNICEF and the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights in Kyrgyzstan, the summer school brought together 86 participants representing education institutions of the Central Asian States and of the wider region, including teacher trainers, methodological experts, university and pilot school managers and teachers, as well as international experts.

The summer school was aimed at providing practical expert support to further develop the capacity of education authorities and practitioners within multilingual and multicultural education.

Opening the summer school, Deputy Minister of Education of Kyrgyzstan Toktobubu Ashymbaeva highlighted the important role of the teacher in multilingual education programmes.

During the week, participants discussed pre-service and in-service teacher training, as well as facilitating the implementation of multilingual education programmes. Participants also developed training materials aimed at monitoring and evaluating multilingual and multicultural education programmes. As a result, eleven thematic materials were developed with the aim to further adapt them for practical use within the education institutions of the region.

Flera Saifulina, Head of the National Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan in the Russian Federation, found that the diverse forms of activities enabled participants to express their opinions, raise concerns and receive comprehensive answers from fellow experts. She also expressed satisfaction to see how education is used for the integration of societies in the Central Asian countries.

Tatiana Aderikhina, Co-ordinator of Education and Child Protection Issues at UNICEF Kazakhstan, said: “I am glad that the cooperation between HCNM and UNICEF Kyrgyzstan continues as it brings synergies and benefits the target country.”

Zaiyrbek Ergeshev, representative of the Department of the Ethnic and Religious Issues of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan, concluded that multilingual and multicultural education is an important factor for forming a civic identity.

Since 2012, the High Commissioner has been implementing the Central Asia Education Programme, aimed at promoting multilingual and multicultural education and developing bilateral and multilateral co‑operation in the region to improve the education of national minorities and promote the integration of society.

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KHUJAND, Tajikistan, 13 July 2016 – A two-day workshop for civil society and police officers on improving the local referral mechanisms for the protection of domestic violence victims concluded today in Khujand.

The workshop brought together some 23 representatives of crisis centres, the police, state services for social protection and the Committee of Women and Family Affairs from the Sughd region of Tajikistan.

Participants exchanged good practices on inter-agency co-operation to assist victims of violence in the region, discuss current challenges and ways to improve the current mechanism of the multi-disciplinary approach.

“This is an opportunity for the OSCE-supported Women’s Resource Centres from the regions to share the experiences and plans for further activities on strengthening women’s rights in the region,” said Viorelia Rusu, the OSCE Office’s Gender and Anti-Trafficking Officer.

Within separate sessions, participants from the crisis centres shared experiences related to the rehabilitation and protection of domestic violence victims, and police inspectors discussed the provisions of the updated Instructions on dealing with domestic violence cases. Police officers also received copies of the new Manual on Countering Domestic Violence, published by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

“We learned from similar meetings organized earlier in Khatlon region that such discussions, including on concrete cases, contribute to a better co-ordinated and victim-centered, multi-agency approach in protecting domestic victims at the local level, and it harmoniously compliments the Ministry’s plans on gender mainstreaming into police reform,” said Ali Bobonazarzoda, National Co-ordinator on Police Reform under the country’s Interior Ministry.

The event is part of the annual activities of the Office’s Gender and Anti-Trafficking Unit aimed at strengthening the current local protection mechanisms for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.  

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BISHKEK, 3 June 2016 – Wrapping up a two-day visit to Kyrgyzstan, which has included meetings with the Speaker of the Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and officials at the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, Special Representative for Central and Eastern Asia and Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Christine Muttonen spoke to students today at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek on conflict prevention and peace-building, noting the strengths of the OSCE’s approach, as well as areas for improvement.

Muttonen’s visit this week – her first to Kyrgyzstan since her appointment as Special Representative in January – has served as an opportunity to discuss confidence-building in the region and developing co-operative approaches to common challenges such as energy security, water management and border co-operation. In her meetings with Speaker of Parliament Chynybay Tursunbekov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan Abdyldaev, Muttonen noted the importance of continuing to build trust and dialogue through the OSCE.

“There is a need to develop ways of countering the lack of trust and promoting co-operation between countries in the region,” she said. “The OSCE is our common organization, an inclusive organization in which all of its members have an equal voice, and we need to work effectively together within this forum.”

Discussions in Bishkek also focused on promoting follow-up on OSCE/ODIHR election-related recommendations and on the importance that Kyrgyzstan attaches to the OSCE and its Parliamentary Assembly. Muttonen expressed appreciation for the fact that Kyrgyzstan intends to send a full delegation to the OSCE PA’s 25th Annual Session in Tbilisi, Georgia, next month.

In meetings with staff of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, Muttonen was briefed on the situation in the country and heard about the Centre’s ongoing projects, notably in the spheres of early warning and conflict prevention, as well as youth-oriented and parliamentary development projects. There was also discussion on the possibility of holding future OSCE PA events in the country.

In her lecture at the OSCE Academy, she highlighted the early warning capabilities of the OSCE – including through its field operations such as the Centre in Bishkek – but regretted that sometimes political considerations hamper effective implementation of early warning mechanisms. Discussing the OSCE’s consensus-based decision-making procedure and the non-binding character of its decisions, Muttonen pointed out the OSCE is only as strong as its participating States allow it to be.

Nevertheless, she said, the OSCE’s response to the crisis in and around Ukraine has served as an example of its ability to engage in conflict prevention and peace-building. “The Ukraine conflict has shown that the OSCE is well-placed and equipped to engage in conflict prevention and support mediation and peace-building,” said the PA Vice-President. “Through its unanimous vote principle, the OSCE and its participating States can formulate strong political agreements, even if the process may be slow.”

She noted that OSCE parliamentarians have been active in supporting the Central Asian countries’ peace-building efforts, notably through fact-finding missions.

Muttonen’s speech at the OSCE Academy concluded a week-long visit to Central Asia, which included meetings with government officials, parliamentary leaders and representatives of civil society in Astana, Almaty, and Bishkek.

In her mandate as Special Representative, she is tasked, inter alia, with encouraging active participation in the PA by parliamentarians from Central Asia, as well as liaising with and supporting the work of the OSCE field operations in the region.

To watch a recent interview with the Special Representative, in which she discusses her priorities, please click here. Photos of her visit this week to Central Asia are on Flickr. Her full remarks to the OSCE Academy are available here.

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MOSCOW, 5 August 2016 – On the occasion of the formal opening of the election observation mission (EOM) deployed by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to observe the 18 September State Duma elections in the Russian Federation, the mission will hold a press conference in Moscow on Monday, 8 August 2016.

Jan Petersen, the head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, will introduce the role of the EOM and its upcoming activities.

Journalists are invited to attend the press conference at 15:00, Monday, 8 August, at Interfax, 1-ya Tverskaya-Yamskaya ul., 2 Moscow, 127006.

For further information, please contact Inta Lase OSCE/ODIHR EOM Media Analyst, at +79166214710 (mobile) or Inta.Lase@odihr.ru

or

Thomas Rymer, OSCE/ODIHR Spokesperson, at +48 609 522 266 (Warsaw mobile) or at thomas.rymer@odihr.pl.

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OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors visited Moldova from 23 to 25 May 2016 to discuss issues including the draft integration strategy developed with HCNM’s assistance to the Bureau for Interethnic Relations, relations between Chisinau and the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia, and the education of national minorities. The High Commissioner also visited Tiraspol.

In Chisinau, the High Commissioner discussed the draft integration strategy with Prime Minister Pavel Filip and other interlocutors and encouraged the Government to fulfil without delay its commitment to adopt the strategy. “Adoption of the integration strategy will underscore the Government’s commitment to promoting an inclusive, diverse society,” said Thors. “Even more important will be the strategy’s implementation. I am ready to assist the Bureau for Interethnic Relations in this process.”

The High Commissioner praised the parliamentary decision in November 2015 to establish a permanent joint working group between the Moldovan Parliament and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. She discussed the functioning of the working group with its co-chairs, Member of Parliament Elena Bacalu and People’s Assembly Member Gheorghii Leichu, Speaker of Parliament Adrian Candu, and the Bashkan of Gagauzia Irina Vlah. Thors encouraged the working group to be fully utilized as the primary platform for discussing issues related to the functioning of the autonomy so that questions that may contribute to tensions can be successfully addressed.

With Minister of Education Corina Fusu, the High Commissioner discussed implementation of the Education Code and the effect of education reforms on schools teaching in minority languages, including optimization of the school network and new procedures for the selection of school directors. “Having heard from national minority representatives that education is a primary concern, I encouraged the Minister to ensure that national minorities are consulted when implementing reforms,” she said. The High Commissioner noted with interest the adoption of a new programme to improve teaching of the State language in minority-language schools, remarking that it provides an opportunity to expand multilingual education as a tool for integration.

The High Commissioner met members of the Council of Ethno-Cultural Organizations in Chisinau and with the Transdniestrian de-facto authorities and civil society representatives in Tiraspol. She visited the Theoretical Lyceum Alexandru cel Bun in Bender and learned about the practical difficulties the school faces in maintaining its operations as a Moldovan-administered school teaching in the Latin script. Thors welcomed the active efforts of the OSCE Mission to Moldova and the German Chairmanship of the OSCE to find sustainable solutions for the Latin-script schools among other issues as part of the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, and noted the anticipated resumption of talks in the 5+2 format, which she discussed with Deputy Prime Minister on Reintegration Gheorghe Balan and Transdniestrian Chief Negotiator Vitaly Ignatiev.

The High Commissioner also met with Deputy Prime Minister on Social Issues Gheorghe Brega, Director General of the Bureau for Interethnic Relations Oleg Babenco, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lilian Darii, and representatives of civil society and the international community.

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As part of a one-year project to support the engagement of national minority youth and civil society in public discussions and public service, a roundtable discussion was held at the OSCE Mission to Moldova on 24 June 2016.

The event brought together 23 representatives of the Moldovan Parliament, the authorities of Gagauz-Yeri, civil society and the international community to discuss institutional dialogue between central and Gagauz authorities.

Independent researchers from the Comrat-based NGO Piligrim-Demo presented a recent report detailing the joint commissions formed over the years to initiate dialogue on the implementation of Gagauzia’s status as an Autonomous Territorial Unit. They outlined their recommendations for improving the functioning of the current working group established between the Parliament of Moldova and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. 

“Such discussions on the process of dialogue between civil society, the expert community and members of the Parliament and People's Assembly are important as they provide critical input to the process and build common understanding of issues,” said Jale Sultanli, Country Manager Moldova of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI). Participants from Comrat and Chisinau welcomed the opportunity to study past and present practices to strengthen co-operation between the central and regional authorities in Moldova.

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A week-long regional summer school on multilingual and multicultural education was held from 10 July to 16 July 2016 in Cholponata in Kyrgyzstan - the fifth regional summer school organized as part of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities’ (HCNM) Central Asia Education Programme.

Organized by the HCNM in co-operation with Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Education and Science, UNICEF and the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights in Kyrgyzstan, the summer school brought together 86 participants representing education institutions of the Central Asian States and of the wider region, including teacher trainers, methodological experts, university and pilot school managers and teachers, as well as international experts.

The summer school was aimed at providing practical expert support to further develop the capacity of education authorities and practitioners within multilingual and multicultural education.

Opening the summer school, Deputy Minister of Education of Kyrgyzstan Toktobubu Ashymbaeva highlighted the important role of the teacher in multilingual education programmes.

During the week, participants discussed pre-service and in-service teacher training, as well as facilitating the implementation of multilingual education programmes. Participants also developed training materials aimed at monitoring and evaluating multilingual and multicultural education programmes. As a result, eleven thematic materials were developed with the aim to further adapt them for practical use within the education institutions of the region.

Flera Saifulina, Head of the National Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan in the Russian Federation, found that the diverse forms of activities enabled participants to express their opinions, raise concerns and receive comprehensive answers from fellow experts. She also expressed satisfaction to see how education is used for the integration of societies in the Central Asian countries.

Tatiana Aderikhina, Co-ordinator of Education and Child Protection Issues at UNICEF Kazakhstan, said: “I am glad that the cooperation between HCNM and UNICEF Kyrgyzstan continues as it brings synergies and benefits the target country.”

Zaiyrbek Ergeshev, representative of the Department of the Ethnic and Religious Issues of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan, concluded that multilingual and multicultural education is an important factor for forming a civic identity.

Since 2012, the High Commissioner has been implementing the Central Asia Education Programme, aimed at promoting multilingual and multicultural education and developing bilateral and multilateral co‑operation in the region to improve the education of national minorities and promote the integration of society.

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The OSCE Mission to Moldova held a training event on essential debate techniques for 37 high-school students and 7 teachers from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River on 1 to 3 July 2016 in Vadul-lui-Vodă, a town by the river. The event, which gathered students from Balti, Bender, Cahul, Ceadir-Lunga, Comrat, Parcani, Tiraspol and Vulcanesti, aimed to enhance youth engagement in civic processes at the local and national levels.

“This event has equipped me with skills that will be vital for both my professional and private life,” said Daria Bogdanova, a student from Tiraspol. “Engaging in debates is an excellent way to help us convey our thoughts more convincingly, search for compromise and exercise objectivity.”

The training event introduced students to the Karl Popper debate format that teaches students how to conduct and participate in academic debates, demonstrate leadership, make public speeches, co-operate in teams and apply critical thinking. The aim of the event was to develop students’ analytical and debate skills in order to strengthen their professional opportunities and civic engagement.

The students attending the training will apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills in a series of two debate tournaments to be held in the autumn. The training sessions and tournaments are organized as part of a one-year project implemented jointly by the OSCE Mission to Moldova and the Comrat-based NGO Piligrim-Demo that aims to actively engage young people, including those representing national minorities, in civic process at the local and national levels by developing their debate skills.

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MOSCOW, 5 August 2016 – On the occasion of the formal opening of the election observation mission (EOM) deployed by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to observe the 18 September State Duma elections in the Russian Federation, the mission will hold a press conference in Moscow on Monday, 8 August 2016.

Jan Petersen, the head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, will introduce the role of the EOM and its upcoming activities.

Journalists are invited to attend the press conference at 15:00, Monday, 8 August, at Interfax, 1-ya Tverskaya-Yamskaya ul., 2 Moscow, 127006.

For further information, please contact Inta Lase OSCE/ODIHR EOM Media Analyst, at +79166214710 (mobile) or Inta.Lase@odihr.ru

or

Thomas Rymer, OSCE/ODIHR Spokesperson, at +48 609 522 266 (Warsaw mobile) or at thomas.rymer@odihr.pl.

Related Stories

• Parliamentary Elections

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Ryan Reynolds feels the Academy did Eddie Murphy a disservice by not awarding him Oscars for his roles in these comedies (and he's right to say it).

In Andrea Arnold’s Bird, Irish actor Barry Keoghan plays a father of two teenagers. In the film, he had both children when he, too, was a teenager. He’s brash with tattoos everywhere, completely focused on an upcoming wedding with his three-month girlfriend. It’s a stellar performance from him, imbued with his own recent experiences of […]

The post Barry Keoghan on Young Fatherhood, Loving La La Land, and the Movement of Andrea Arnold’s Bird first appeared on The Film Stage.

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Trello Card Aging Power-Up – Older cards that you’ve neglected start to visibly look aged.  In “Pirate Mode” they crackle and tear.

/via Lauren Miller

El oscarizado actor regresa a nuestras pantallas en la segunda temporada de este 'thriller', esta vez ambientado en Afganistán y rodado sin un tumor del tamaño de un niño en el estómago. "En mis 60 años de carrera, nunca había interpretado a un personaje durante tanto tiempo como a Dan Chase", reconoce Leer