Tourism Research Australia (TRA) is Australia’s official provider of tourism data and analysis to support Australia’s visitor economy. TRA has a rich 35-year history of data collection at the leading edge of tourism research in Australia.

Editor’s note: The name of NIM Agent Blueprints was changed to NVIDIA Blueprints in October 2024. All references to the name have been updated in this blog. Enterprises and public sector organizations around the world are developing AI agents to boost the capabilities of workforces that rely on visual information from a growing number of Read Article

Robotics developers can greatly accelerate their work on AI-enabled robots, including humanoids, using new AI and simulation tools and workflows that NVIDIA revealed this week at the Conference for Robot Learning (CoRL) in Munich, Germany. The lineup includes the general availability of the NVIDIA Isaac Lab robot learning framework; six new humanoid robot learning workflows Read Article

Lifelike digital humans engage with audiences in real time. Autonomous systems streamline complex logistics. And AI-driven language tools break down communication barriers on the fly. This isn’t sci-fi. This is Tokyo’s startup scene. Supercharged by AI — and world-class academic and industrial might — the region has become a global innovation hub. And the NVIDIA Read Article

Robots transporting heavy metal at a Toyota plant. Yaskawa’s robots working alongside human coworkers in factories. To advance efforts like these virtually, Rikei Corporation develops digital twin tooling to assist planning. And if that weren’t enough, diversified retail holdings company Seven & i Holdings is running digital twin simulations to enhance customer experiences. Physical AI Read Article

THIS year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary, with both nations elevating their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. As the Guest Country of Honor at

CHINA’S top-two ranked male tennis players Zhang Zhizhen and Wu Yibing will partner each other for the first time. The duo is paired in the doubles competition at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou. Shanghai

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

China’s Strategic Motivations in the Indo-Pacific and Implications for US-China Competition China’s Strategic Motivations in the Indo-Pacific and Implications for US-China Competition

The management of Kwara State University has disowned Ayeyemi Sulaiman, who was allegedly killed by the police in the Tanke area, Ilorin, the state capital, last week Tuesday, as a student of the institution. The acting Director, University Relations, Dr. Saeedat Aliyu, in a statement on Tuesday, said Sulaiman was no longer its student as

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Tuesday raised an alarm over a plot to sabotage the interest of public universities in the country. ASUU’s National President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, at an event marking the 2024 ASUU’s Heroes Day in Abuja, also accused the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund of working relentlessly to

All over the world, women have been clamouring for gender equality, development and peace in the interest of all humanity. The calls reached a crescendo with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPfA) put in place in September 1995 under the auspices of the United Nations (UN). The Beijing Declaration was particularly targeted at ensuring that the voice of women everywhere was heard, while recognising the diversity of women, their roles and the circumstances inhibiting women’s interests. The BDPfA also aimed at ensuring the full implementation of the human rights of women and the girl child as an inalienable, […]

Judges of the Federal High Court of Nigeria are to proceed on 2024 Christmas Vacation on Monday December 16, this year. According to a circular signed by the Chief Judge of the Court, Hon. Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, the Judges are to return to work on Monday January 6, 2025. However, normal court sitting would […]

Federal High Court of Nigeria Judges begin Christmas Vacation Dec 16

MANILA, Philippines — A new typhoon barreled across an agricultural region in the northeastern Philippines on Monday after thousands were evacuated to safety while still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by three successive storms in the last three weeks. Typhoon Toraji slammed into northeastern Aurora province and was forecast to blow over the mountainous Luzon region, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — just the day before — inspected the damage from the last storm and led the distribution of food packs to residents in Cagayan and Ilocos provinces. Marcos skipped this week's Asia-Pacific Cooperation forum in Peru to oversee recovery efforts from back-to-back storms. After making landfall in Aurora on Monday morning with sustained winds of up to 130 kilometers (81 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 180 kph (112 mph), the typhoon was expected to barrel northwestward across Luzon, weaken as it crosses a mountain range and then blow into the South China Sea. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Sunday ordered the forcible evacuation of people in 2,500 villages expected to be lashed by Toraji, locally named Nika, warning that the rain-soaked Luzon mountains, valleys and plains were more susceptible to flash floods and landslides. With the typhoon approaching fast, there was little time to move large numbers of people to safety, he said. "We understand if some would want to stay, but we have to get them out," Remulla told reporters. The military said its disaster-response forces have been deployed near high-risk areas and were standing by for new contingencies. It added that it suspended combat drills in the north due to the weather. "Our commitment remains steadfast in safeguarding and assisting our countrymen specially in times of disaster," Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said. Schools were shut down, inter-island ferry services and domestic flights were suspended in provinces in or near the path of the typhoon, the 14th weather disturbance to batter the Philippine archipelago this year. Forecasters said they were monitoring another brewing storm in the Pacific that could affect the country if it strengthens. The last two typhoons and a tropical storm caused more than 160 deaths, damaged thousands of houses and farmlands and affected more than 9 million people, including hundreds of thousands who fled to emergency shelters, after dumping from one to two months' worth of rain in just 24 hours in some cities and towns. Overwhelmed, the Philippines received help from Southeast Asian countries led by Singapore, along with longtime treaty ally the United States, to transport food, water and other aid to hard-hit northern provinces. The Philippine archipelago is often battered by typhoons and earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines.

HONG KONG — Merchants and consumers alike found the Singles' Day shopping festival Monday less shiny than in years past as e-commerce firms look abroad for growth. The annual event named by the numeric form of its Nov. 11 date was started by e-commerce platform Alibaba, which offered attractive discounts to entice shoppers to spend big. The extravaganza has since expanded to other platforms like JD.com and Pinduoduo in China as well as abroad. While Singles’ Day was previously a one-day event, shopping platforms in China now kickstart the festival weeks ahead to drum up sales volume. The festival has also traditionally been regarded as a barometer of consumer sentiment. But amid China’s lagging domestic economy, dragged down by a real estate crisis and deflationary pressures, consumers no longer go all out on purchases during the shopping extravaganza. “I only spent a few hundred yuan on daily necessities,” said Wang Haihua, who owns a fitness center in Beijing. Wang said that the prices offered on e-commerce platforms during Singles’ Day are not necessarily cheaper than usual. “They’re all tricks and we’ve seen through it over the years,” she said. Zhang Jiewei, a 34-year-old who runs a barber shop in Xi’an city, echoed Wang’s sentiments, saying that he no longer trust Singles’ Day promotions as some merchants tend to raise the usual price of a product before offering a discount, giving consumers the illusion they are getting a deal. “I used to buy a lot two or three years ago and I even purchased a mobile phone (during Singles’ Day),” he said. “I stopped doing that following the pandemic because of less income. I am not going to buy anything this year,” Zhang added. Some experts say that Beijing’s recent stimulus measures have had little impact to boost consumer confidence. “People are not interested in spending and are cutting back on big-ticket items,” said Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. “Since October 2022, the weak economy means that everything has been on discount year-round, 11.11 is not going to bring in more discounts that the month before.” Rein said he expects low growth for the Singles’ Day shopping festival as consumers tighten their spending in anticipation of difficult economic times ahead. Categories such as sportswear and fitness, however, have been doing well as customers “trade down a Gucci bag for Lululemon sportswear,” he said. Platforms like JD.com and Alibaba, which operates e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall, previously used to publish the value of transactions made during the festival, but have since stopped revealing the total figure. While yearly growth used to be in the double digits, estimates of recent figures have dwindled to low single-digit growth. Syntun, a data provider, estimated that last year’s gross merchandising volume sales across major e-commerce platforms grew just 2% to $156.40 billion, a far cry from double-digit growth before COVID-19. Merchants who typically take part in the Singles’ Day shopping festivals say the costs of participation no longer pay off, amid high advertising fees and unsatisfactory sales. Zhao Gao, who owns a garment factory in eastern Zhejiang province, said that after paying advertising costs to e-commerce platforms he would only break even after sales. “The platforms have so many rules for promotions and customers have become more skeptical,” he said. “As a merchant, I no longer participate in the Singles’ Day promotions.” Another merchant, Du Baonian who runs a food company processing mutton in Inner Mongolia, said that overall sales in the past year have fallen 15% as consumers downgraded and reduced consumption. Du said that while he still takes part in the Singles’ Day promotions, the higher expenses do not typically generate returns because of sluggish sales. “We are seeing shrinking revenue, but advertisement on the platform can help us to maintain our leading sales position,” he said, adding that he was considering advertising on more e-commerce platforms to target more consumers. Meanwhile, e-commerce platforms grappling with a slowing domestic market have also turned to overseas markets to seek new growth, offering promotions like global free shipping and allowing merchants to sell globally with ease. Alibaba, for example, said in a blog post on its Alizila site that some 70,000 merchants saw sales double with global free shipping. In markets like Singapore and Hong Kong, new customers also doubled, Alibaba said.

Johannesburg  — President-elect Donald Trump talked tough on China during his campaign, vowing to impose higher and sweeping tariffs on imports from the Asian giant. Beijing will now also be closely watching the incoming administration’s movements further afield, in Africa, where U.S.-China rivalry is high. Experts disagree on what a second Trump term will mean for Beijing’s ambitions on the continent, with some saying it could be a boon for China – Africa’s biggest trade partner – if the U.S. pursues an isolationist, “America First” agenda that mostly ignores the region. But Tibor Nagy, who served as Trump’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2018 to 2021 has a different perspective. He said Trump grasped how powerful a player China had become on the continent. “It was the Trump administration that was the first to kind of recognize the existential threat that China poses,” Nagy told VOA. “We were on the front lines of that in Africa, and we saw what the Chinese were doing,” said Nagy, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to Guinea and Ethiopia during the administrations of presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Nagy told VOA he does not think the incoming Republican administration will neglect Africa because it sees China as a threat to U.S interests there. He also said the continent is a major source of critical minerals attractive to both superpowers. Nagy credits the first Trump administration with introducing policies on the continent intended to counter China's influence. “We had … the right focus because we made it about the youth. You know, our premise was that Africa is going to be undergoing a youth tsunami with the population doubling by 2050. And that more than anything, what the youth really wanted was jobs,” he said. To this end, Nagy says, the first Trump administration set up Prosper Africa in 2018, an initiative designed to assist American companies doing business in Africa, and he expects the incoming administration will remain engaged there. “Africa remains very much the front lines,” he said. “The United States is extremely concerned about our strategic minerals, and when a hostile power has a lock on strategic minerals, that's really not very good when you need the strategic minerals for your top-end technology and for weapon systems.” But Christian-Geraud Neema, Africa editor for the China-Global South Project, is skeptical and said a second term for Trump could be an opportunity for Beijing. “Looking at his first term, Trump didn't show much interest in Africa, which is likely to be the case still now,” he told VOA. “Only a few countries will matter — countries whose resources or position matter to the U.S. national security interests.” “China will have room to maneuver and increase its influence in so many ways,” he added. Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, echoed this. “I doubt that Africa will be a featured priority for Trump,” she told VOA in an emailed response, adding that the United States’ absence on the continent “will boost the prominence of the Chinese position by its presence.” Lobito corridor future Views on how successfully President Joe Biden’s administration has engaged with Africa are also mixed. Many analysts said regardless of whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in office, the continent is usually an afterthought in U.S. foreign policy, which does not differ much from one administration to the next. The current administration said it was “all in on Africa,” when Biden hosted dozens of heads of state at his first African Leaders Summit in 2022, an event seen as an attempt at reasserting U.S. influence in the face of a rising China. Yet, “African leaders or the African Union were not consulted about the agenda of the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit. This was also the case with the US’s Africa strategy,” wrote Christopher Isike, the director of African Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Pretoria, in an article co-signed by Samuel Oyewole, political science postdoctoral research fellow at the university While Trump never traveled to Africa as president, top Biden administration officials did visit the continent, including the vice president. Biden is also expected to travel to Angola before the end of his term in December. Under Biden, the U.S. agreed to develop the Lobito Corridor and Zambia-Lobito rail line, a project described by the State Department as “the most significant transport infrastructure that the United States has helped develop on the African continent in a generation.” The rail line is seen as part of a transcontinental vision connecting the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The undertaking is to be financed through a joint agreement calling for the U.S., African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the European Union to support Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia. Observers see it as an attempt to compete with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s global infrastructure project the Belt and Road Initiative, which has built railways, ports and roads across Africa. There is concern among some analysts that Trump could pull back from this. “Existing bilateral and multilateral business partnerships … such as the Lobito Corridor … might wane significantly during the next Trump administration,” said Oluwole Ojewale, a Nigerian analyst with the Institute for Security Studies, in an email to VOA. “When that happens China will gain significant mileage in areas where the US Government’s exit creates a vacuum on the continent,” he added. But Nagy disagreed, saying the Lobito Corridor is the “kind of project which would have come right out of the Trump administration.” Therefore, there’s likely to be continuity, he added, noting: “The deal is done. Again, I can't speak for President Trump, or the people who are going to be coming in … but it's logical.” ‘Other Friends’ When asked how African leaders will navigate the next Trump administration, Sun said they could play the U.S. and China against each other. “Africa could highlight its role in the US-China great power competition in order to strengthen its position in the US grand strategy,” she said in an email to VOA. But she is doubtful African leaders will take that route because it “will carry the effect of being forced to choose, which I doubt that Africa will want to do.” However, at least one African politician has already alluded to this option. Kenya’s Raila Odinga, who is in the running to take over as chair of the African Union Commission next year, was blunt in his assessment of how African governments would handle a more isolationist U.S. under Trump. “If he does not want to work with Africa,” Odinga told Agence France-Presse last week, “Africa has got other friends.”

white house — President Joe Biden and President Prabowo Subianto met Tuesday at the White House, marking the 75th anniversary of U.S.-Indonesia relations, part of a multination visit by the newly inaugurated leader of Southeast Asia's largest economy. "I will work very hard to strengthen Indonesia and United States relationship," said Prabowo, who goes by his first name. Biden said he looks forward to deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level among nontreaty allies, which the two countries signed in 2023. "That includes deepening our security cooperation," he said before their meeting. In brief remarks to the press, Biden twice raised an issue of concern for Washington: freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. He said he wanted to strengthen the U.S. partnership with Indonesia, "by advancing [a] free and open Indo-Pacific." "We'll discuss, also, global challenges, including in Gaza and the South China Sea," he said. China's nine-dash line The White House meeting came days after Prabowo's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where Indonesia and China signed a series of agreements valued at about $10 billion and focusing on infrastructure, green energy, digital technology and agriculture. "In the present situation, geopolitical and geoeconomic, Indonesia and China have become very close partners in many, many fields," Prabowo said. One of the deals is to jointly develop fisheries, and oil and gas exploration in waters around Indonesia's Natuna Islands where China's "nine-dash line" marking its expansive claims in the South China Sea overlaps with Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone. Critics say the agreement risks implicitly validating China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, which, according to the United Nations, has no basis in international law. VOA asked the White House whether Biden was specifically referring to this deal in his meeting with Prabowo. "We continue to encourage Indonesia to work with their legal experts to make sure any agreement they make with the PRC [People's Republic of China] is in accordance with international law, especially the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Beijing claims the major shipping route almost entirely, infringing into the EEZs of Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. All but Indonesia formally dispute the Chinese claim while Taiwan makes a claim to the sea similar to Beijing's. "It's a big deal for Indonesia," as a non-claimant country in the South China Sea dispute that supports the concept of a "free and open Indo-Pacific," said Klaus Heinrich Raditio, author on South China Sea issues and lecturer at Indonesia's Driyarkara School of Philosophy. "People will question our position," he told VOA. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry clarified Sunday that it remains firm in rejecting China's nine-dash line. Beijing's claim, Jakarta said, "does not comply" with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and "therefore has no bearing" on Indonesia's sovereignty and jurisdiction over the North Natuna Sea. Jakarta's agreement with Beijing highlights a "new phase of building the China-Indonesia community with a shared future," according to the joint statement. This reference supports "China's vision of a new global order that is anti-Western hegemony," Raditio said. It's unclear whether this language was an intentional signaling of a geopolitical shift or merely an overlook from a new administration eager to bolster ties with great powers. The Indonesian Embassy in Washington has not responded to VOA's queries. "Most likely, it is a bureaucratic mistake," Raditio said. "We put too much attention on economic cooperation. How many investments that we can attract from China? We kind of sideline other important issues." Prabowo's outreach to Trump Just as important to Jakarta as the White House meeting is Prabowo's outreach to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Jakarta is gearing up for Trump's new administration that begins in January. "Wherever you are, I'm willing to fly to congratulate you personally, sir," Prabowo said in a call to Trump that was posted Monday on his social media. The Trump team has not responded to VOA's queries on the conversation. U.S. foreign policy under Trump "may become more transactional and more focused on elements related to U.S.-China, competition," said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The downside risk of this as it relates to Southeast Asian countries, is that it may limit some of the decision-making space they have in their diplomatic affairs," Natalegawa said. Prabowo has voiced ambitions to raise Indonesia's international profile and has made early foreign policy moves, including a surprise decision to join Southeast Asia's largest economy to the BRICS bloc. BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is a growing group of emerging economies seen as a counterweight to the West. In October, BRICS added Indonesia as one of the group's 13 new "partner countries." The move could be a shift away from the position taken by Prabowo's predecessor, Joko Widodo, who took in massive amounts of infrastructure investments from Beijing but remained mostly nonaligned geopolitically. The White House visit marks a milestone for Prabowo, who was barred from entering the U.S. under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations over his role in abducting activists of the 1998 "Reformasi" movement that ousted President Suharto, Prabowo's then father-in-law. The Trump administration lifted the visa ban for then-Defense Minister Prabowo, for his visit in 2020.

… Seek targeted relief measures to save media, nation’s economy The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), arising from the three-day All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital, has called on the federal government to urgently mitigate the negative impact of fuel subsidy removal and the exchange rate volatility on the economy. […]

The post Ease impact of fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate volatility, editors urge FG first appeared on Business Hallmark.

On June 25, 2018 I woke up to yet another social media trend – a news story with the bold and quite salacious headline “How Safe Are Customer Deposits At FCMB?” had taken over the digital airwaves. Between the shares and likes and comments, a storm in a cup had brewed to great proportions in […]

The Worrisome Trend of Sensational Social Media “Journalism” and the Impact On Legitimate Business Concerns: Recent Travails of FCMB, GTBank and First Bank

CATARROJA, Spain — Thousands of students in Spain's eastern Valencia region returned to classes on Monday, two weeks after floods killed over 200 people and devastated towns in the area. Controversy over the regional government's handling of the floods still rages, and a teachers' union accused it of exaggerating the number returning and leaving the clean-up to teachers and pupils. Twenty-three people remain missing in the Valencia region after heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, sending tides of muddy water through densely populated city suburbs, drowning people in cars and underground car parks, and collapsing homes. A total of 47 schools in 14 affected municipalities reopened to more than 22,000 children on Monday, the region's education department said. Last week, it said it expected around 70% of students in the worst-affected areas to return this week. "The schools that have opened their doors today have followed cleaning and disinfection protocols to ensure maximum safety for students, teachers and staff," it added. But the regional teachers' union STEPV said it believed that the numbers returning on Monday were lower, without providing an alternative figure. Spokesperson Marc Candela said many schools were not ready to resume lessons, adding: "Teachers and parents are cleaning the schools with their own materials such as brooms." Educators wanted professional cleaning crews to sanitize facilities, as was done during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Parents are also worried about their children's emotional states, said Ruben Pacheco, head of the regional federation of parents' associations, FAMPA: "Families are exhausted, suffering psychologically, and nothing should be decided without consulting them so as not to generate more discomfort than they've already suffered." Candela said the department had held an online course for teachers last week with recommendations for psychological care, but had not dispatched additional counselors. Carolina Marti, head teacher at a school in Castellar-Oliveral, said it had received 60 children from neighboring towns, while five teachers were on medical leave. She said children and teachers were struggling to reach the school as many roads remained impassable.

A caravan of approximately 3,000 migrants set off on Tuesday from southern Mexico, headed toward the United States on the day when U.S. voters were deciding between U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Immigration has been a key issue in the U.S. election campaign. Before heading northward, the migrants gathered in Tapachula, the capital of the southern Chiapas state, carrying banners with messages such as "NO MORE MIGRANT BLOOD" and images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, an important religious and cultural symbol in Mexico, according to Reuters witnesses. "We want U.S. authorities to see us, to see that we are people who want to work, not to harm anyone," said Honduran migrant Roy Murillo, who joined the caravan with his two children and his pregnant wife. In recent years, several caravans with people hoping to enter the United States have attempted to reach the U.S.-Mexican border, traveling in mass groups for safety. Most have dispersed along the way. "I'm afraid to travel alone with my family. Here, the cartels either kidnap you or kill you. ... That's why we're coming in the caravan," Murillo said. Murillo recounted his unsuccessful attempts to secure an asylum appointment through a mobile app developed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. Tapachula, a mandatory crossing point for tens of thousands of migrants, has become one of Mexico's most violent cities in recent months, with migrants frequently targeted by organized crime, according to official data. "I feel suffocated here. That's why we decided to leave," said 28-year-old Venezuelan migrant Thais, who spoke on condition that her surname not be used due to safety concerns. She joined the caravan with her husband and 3-year-old daughter. "I wish Mr. Trump and Ms. Kamala would see that we are human beings, that we want to live and support our families," she added. Voters cast ballots on Tuesday in the race between Vice President Harris, a Democrat seeking to become the first female U.S. president, and Trump, a Republican immigration hard-liner aiming to regain the presidency.

Advanced Leadership Program

Research Innovation & Collaboration Exchange (RICE)

The Philippines ordered evacuations ahead of Typhoon Ofel (international name: Usagi) on Wednesday, as the UN disaster office sought $32.9 million in aid for the country after storms that killed more than 150 people.