At a recent seminar, three contractors invited me to have lunch. Two of them had used my consulting services more than 10 years ago and they were trying to convince the third to call me.  

City People by Sally Caldwell Fisher is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to pcs

Justin had the news from the People's Bank of China here on Monday:

• PBOC governor will maintain yuan exchange rate at a reasonable, balanced level

And on Wednesday we saw the Bank trying to support CNY at the reference rate setting:

• PBoC promised stronger damping to support CNY, and that's what are seeing

And again today:

• PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 7.1966 (vs. estimate at 7.2326)

Offshore yuan may have seen the memo but its not paying it much heed:

The PBoC supported the CNY through the last bout of USD/CNY super-strength. They'll be doing the same again this time around, wary of capital outflow if they let the yuan drift too much lower. They'll be hoping US inflation doesn't take off higher and the Fed pauses ... or reverses.

The OSCE Presence in Albania held a ceremony on 22 June 2016 to award winners of a national essay competition for high school and university students called Young People Say NO to Corruption.

The three main winners, equally awarded, were Albion Bylykbashi from the Tirana Polytechnic University, as well as Arjeta Zenelaj and Keti Gjipali from Tirana University. Their essays have been chosen as the best among more than 100 entries and their prize is an opportunity to participate in Transparency International’s Summer School on Corruption in July 2016. Seven runners-up were also awarded and will take part in a study tour to visit institutions involved in the fight against corruption in Albania and experience first-hand their work and the way they co-operate with each other to fight corruption.

Attending the event were Acting Head of OSCE Presence in Albania, Robert Wilton, and National Anticorruption Co-ordinator, Minister for Local Government Issues Bledi Çuçi.

Wilton said that the Albanian authorities cannot win the fight against corruption on their own: “They need the energy and passion of young, dedicated people to make big changes in mentality and practice that are necessary to stamp out corruption.”

Çuçi said that in order to win the battle against corruption, the healthy parts of the society should find each other and heal the parts affected by corruption. He said, he was impressed by the level of discussions in a series of OSCE-organized awareness-raising lectures on anti-corruption in high schools and public universities across the country that preceded the essay competition.

The essay competition and anti-corruption lectures were part of a wider OSCE project supporting anti-corruption measures in Albania. This effort is funded by the Italian Development Cooperation, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Italian National School of Public Administration.

Related Stories

• OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Steinmeier visits Albania, reiterates support for Albanian institutions and its citizens
• Students launch exhibition against domestic violence as part of OSCE Presence in Albania campaign
• Albania justice reform adoption welcome, says OSCE Presence in Albania

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.

Related Stories

• OSCE Mission to Moldova trains lawyers from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River on addressing discrimination
• Psychologists and professionals working with domestic violence victims trained at OSCE-supported events in Moldova on both banks
• Three-day debate training to be held for national minority youth in Moldova

The post-election uptick in users isn’t the first time that Bluesky has benefitted from people leaving X.

The Ohio State Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would bar transgender people from using women's bathrooms.

The post Ohio Senate Passes Bill Banning Transgender People from Women’s Bathrooms appeared first on Breitbart.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab has announced a second round of layoffs for 2024, this time laying off 325 people – about 5% of its workforce. The announcement was made on Nov. 12 in a memo sent to employees, which notes the layoffs could have been even larger. The last cut was made this past February, …

Continue reading "NASA’s JPL Lays Off Another 325 People"

The post NASA’s JPL Lays Off Another 325 People appeared first on Universe Today.

Removed From Troubles (Open for application): Menhera (People)

Joey Logano responded to critics of his NASCAR Cup Series Championship win with, "It's a bunch of bull----" and discussed the NASCAR playoff structure.

By Ryan Menezes Published: November 13th, 2024

The delusion the American people are under is quite amazing. Some are led by their fears and others by their idolatry. In this episode, we’ll take a look at how the new Trump cabinet is shaping up and it looks really good for special interests like Big Pharma and not so good for you and …

The standard 2022 iPad remains the top tablet for most users, while the 2024 iPad Air offers a boost in power for those with more demanding workloads.

John Krasinski is officially the sexiest man alive. The star, well known for his roles in "The Office" and "A Quiet Place," won People's coveted 2024 honor, which Stephen Colbert announced on his "Late Show."

Advocates are working to improve youth voter turnout in this provincial election. The last time Nova Scotians went to the polls in 2021, young people aged 18-34 had the lowest voter turnout.

The mothers of two young people killed in a 2023 crash along a rural road near Windsor, N.S., are welcoming the charges laid against the alleged driver of the vehicle after an agonizing 15-month wait as the RCMP investigation stretched on.

Written eviction notices handed out to residents of the encampment in Guelph's St. George Square in late October took effect on Wednesday. Unoccupied tents were removed and bylaw officers were waiting for the remaining few residents to leave voluntarily. Doug Godfrey, the general manager of Guelph's operations department, said in an emailed statement that bylaw officers may issue trespass notices to those who choose not to comply with the eviction order. Reporting by Cameron Mahler/CBC.

Nearly 10,000 people in Abbotsford, B.C., have been told to boil their water after the E. coli bacteria was detected in a private provider's water system on Thursday.

The figure of 82.8 crore is over four times the number in 1990, with the largest increase in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), researchers forming the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration

Microsoft has announced that it will end support for Mail, Calendar, and People apps for Windows by the end of the year. It is migrating users to the new Outlook for Windows app, where they will be able to access their local emails, calendar events, and stored contacts on a single platform — services previously available on three separate apps.

A young man who stabbed a doctor multiple times at a Chennai hospital threw away the knife and calmly walked to the exit when people shouted "he cut him up" and security personnel grabbed him.

As the dust settles after one of the most contentious election seasons in modern history, TV host and online personality James Deakin reflects on the shifting power dynamics in the world of journalism, censorship, and the impact of political endorsements in his new commentary uploaded on the Peanut Gallery Media Network’s online platforms. According to Deakin, the media landscape has been forever altered, and it’s clear: “The (American) mainstream media are officially dead.” Watch the full episode on the PGMN YouTube channel here: Deakin’s sharp critique points out that US-based mainstream outlets have lost the trust of the public. “People […]...

Keep on reading: As Trump reclaims the Presidency, James Deakin says 'people have had enough' of celebrity endorsements

1. India has the highest number of diabetic people in the world, even more than China: Report  The Economic Times
2. Why Lancet study on diabetes is a red flag: A quarter of diabetics globally are Indians  The Indian Express
3. 800 million diabetics worldwide and most aren't getting treatment, finds study  The Times of India
4. Indians account for quarter of world’s adult diabetes patients: Lancet study  Hindustan Times
5. Why have diabetes rates doubled over the past 30 years – and what can be done about it?  The Guardian

CAIRO: Israeli military strikes killed at least 22 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, as Israeli forces deepened their incursion into Beit Hanoun town in the north, forcing most remaining residents to leave.

Residents said Israeli forces besieged shelters housing displaced families and the remaining population, which some estimated at a few thousand, ordering them to head south through a checkpoint separating two towns and a refugee camp in the north from Gaza City.

Men were held for questioning, while women and children were allowed to continue towards Gaza City, residents and Palestinian medics said.

Israel’s campaign in the north of Gaza, and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the area, has fuelled claims from Palestinians that it is clearing the area for use as a buffer zone and potentially for a return of Jewish settlers.

Students occupy defence firm Leonardo’s headquarters in Italy to protest against assistance to Tel Aviv

“The scenes of the 1948 catastrophe are being repeated. Israel is repeating its massacres, displacement and destruction,” said Saed, 48, a resident of Beit Lahiya, who arrived in Gaza City on Wednesday.

“North Gaza is being turned into a large buffer zone, Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing under the sight and hearing of the impotent world,” he said via a chat app.

Protest

Around a hundred students occupied Leonardo’s Turin headquarters to denounce what they say is the Italian defence group’s complicity in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The students, who unfurled a flag of the Palestinian territories from the roof of Leonardo’s offices, said the company was supporting Israel by providing remote technical assistance and spare parts to Israel’s air force. Leonardo declined to comment.

Images released by the students show them in Leonardo’s offices waving Palestinian flags and carrying spray cans. Outside they hung banners on the buildings saying ‘no arms to Israel’ and accusing the group of complicity in genocide. They also clambered on top of a plane in the grounds of the company’s headquarters.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto condemned the protest, saying on X that the students were “destroying and defacing” the offices where an “important meeting with the staff of the defence ministry” was taking place.

“These people must be treated for what they are, dangerous subversives. Criminals have no political colour, they are just criminals,” he said.

No plans for settlers’ return

The Israeli military has denied any such intention, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he does not want to reverse the 2005 withdrawal of settlers from Gaza. Hardliners in his government have talked openly about going back.Speaking on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel “has accomplished the goals that it set for itself” by taking out Hamas’ leadership and ensuring the group is unable to launch another massive attack. “This should be a time to end the war,” he said.

“We also need to make sure we have a plan for what follows,” he said, “so that if Israel decides to end the war and we find a way to get the hostages out, we also have a clear plan so that Israel can get out of Gaza and we make sure that Hamas is not going back in.”

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Blinken’s comments showed: “We are facing one enemy and that the US enmity against the Palestinian people is no less than that of the occupation.”

Medics said five people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a group of people outside Kamal Adwan Hospital near Beit Lahiya, while five others were killed in two separate strikes in Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip where the army began a limited raid two days ago.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, one man was killed and several others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike, while three Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Shejaia suburb of Gaza City, medics added. Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike on a house in western Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip killed eight people, medics said.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

This brief shows how civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) are rooted in strong village traditions of community support, maps their growth, and explains how they help drive resilient development.

A neighborhood watch group in a Christian Beirut neighborhood is on the lookout for militant operatives, which could make the area a target for Israeli airstrikes.

An international team of scientists has now found that a genetic mutation may enable people to cut down their sugar intake.

Bluesky has been seeing noticeable growth since the election, though its user numbers are nowhere close to Meta's X competitor, Threads.

Krasinski's win adds him to an esteemed group of past honourees like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Idris Elba, and Michael B. Jordan.

Of the 82.8 crore, India's share formed over a quarter (21.2 crore). Another 14.8 crore were in China, while 4.2 crore, 3.6 crore and 2.2 crore lived in the US, Pakistan and Brazil, respectively, the researchers found

It has given impetus to the developmental goals outlined in the NDA’s election manifesto, say MLAs on the first day of discussion

Ambani is the richest man in India and Asia with a net worth of USD 98 billion, as per Forbes.

It's as if Evans is battling it out with the 'Red Skull' himself. A word to the wise, a Twitter Pro Tip if you will: maybe don't go after Captain America himself, unless you're ready for a solid ass-whooping. 

Pistiwan Jameel described migrants as "pigeons" or "sticks" as he facilitated illegal crossings.

The current system for delivering NHS cardiovascular disease (CVD) health checks is not working effectively and must be reviewed to ensure that it reaches people with the highest risk, the National Audit Office has said.1In a review of the commissioning, delivery, and performance of CVD health checks the watchdog found that just over one in 12 people (8.8%) who were eligible attended a health check in 2023-24—which, if maintained, would equate to a five year coverage of 44%.Health checks were first introduced in 2009, with the aim of reducing ill health from CVD by offering everyone aged 40-74 without a pre-existing heart condition a check-up every five years. However, problems have arisen since the responsibility for commissioning these checks was transferred to local authorities in 2013, said the National Audit Office.The move led to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) losing its ability to influence local authority performance,...

Participants of a poverty simulation activity hosted by AIDSLink International discover that it’s very different to minister to the poor than to be the poor.

OM offers Russians intensive Bible and ministry training, along with opportunities to live among unreached people to share the gospel and plant churches.