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Stock market today: Wall Street hits more records following a just-right jobs report
Article content It’s 8:30 a.m. and some of the children coming into the Strathcona Community Centre for breakfast are tired, some are chirpy, but they are all hungry. They enter up a flight of stairs at the back of the centre and waiting for them are Bonnie Jarvis, who runs the breakfast program, and longtime breakfast volunteer Vuong My. Not only students come up those stairs. There are teachers and support workers, too, from the adjoining Lord Strathcona Elementary School, carrying large bags filled with today’s meal — three different kinds of cereal, cartons of milk, bananas and boiled eggs. They will take this food back to the school for their students to eat before classes begin. Each day, staff here prepare and provide as many as 270 grab-and-go breakfasts for Strathcona students. There are plenty of needy communities in this province, but then there is Strathcona. The proverbial most needy of all in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. “This breakfast program is very important for the community,” said Amy Weeks, the food security manager for the centre. “It’s grab-and-go breakfast because we don’t know who really needs a breakfast, so this de-stigmatizes it.” A communal breakfast was once served inside the community centre for parents and children, but that model was abandoned when the province ordered schools closed and people to isolate during the COVID pandemic. “This breakfast is essential for supporting the health and well-being of our students,” said Weeks. Half of the families living in the area are considered low-income, many living in two large social housing complexes nearby. Strathcona has the highest rate of child poverty in the city. Those families not in subsidized housing struggle with the financial instability caused by the rising cost of housing and food, said Weeks. Many families rely on income assistance, disability benefits, or low-paying jobs. “For many students, hunger is a significant and daily challenge,” she said. She estimated that 60 per cent of the school’s 500 students could be classified as vulnerable because of poverty. “The vulnerable student population we serve face a variety of interconnected challenges beyond hunger, ” she explained. “Many children come from single-parent households, or are being raised by grandparents or other extended family members, or are new to Canada and still adjusting to the language. ... Breakfast is a stabilizing anchor for these students. It’s where they are cared for and valued.” The community centre is asking The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School campaign for $35,000 to feed these children each morning. From September to November, a total of 13,726 breakfasts have been served. The menu varies each day and students from the school will come in and help prepare the next day’s meal as part of the centre’s Breakfast Buddies program. The average cost of a breakfast is $3 and a variety of items are offered on different days, such as banana muffins, pancakes, french toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, hash browns, egg bites, yogurt cups and fruit, as well as cereal and milk. First grade teacher Lourdes Friess was there filling a large shopping bag with cereal, milk, eggs and bananas. “This will keep my class going all day,” she said. There was enough in her bag to provide breakfast for her class and for snacks later in the day after lunch. “It’s really important for them,” she said. The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund which administers Adopt-A-School is being asked for $2.9 million to support hundreds of schools in the province. Almost $2.2 million is being sought for food and clothing for hungry and impoverished children. All donations made to Adopt-A-School will be sent to schools. No administration fees are deducted from donations. To pay by credit card, call .
Mumbai: With the focus of the central government and the support of technology business incubators such as the Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE) at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), India — which 10 years ago didn’t have a deep tech ecosystem — is now ranked amongst the top 10 such ecosystems worldwide. “We are today ranked as number six in deep tech ecosystems globally with even non deep tech venture capital (VC) funds, now allocating around 10%-20% of their corpus towards such ventures,” said Jatin Desai, General Partner, Inflexor Ventures, speaking at the SINE organised summit, titled "Innovation Nation: Leveraging India's Talent and Entrepreneurial Spirit in the Era of Disruptive Technologies”. Multiple VCs who invest in this space said there are now a fair amount of space tech, nano-materials, agriculture and composites, food tech, biotech, aerospace and defence ventures at various stages of incubation. “Most of this deep tech deal sourcing is today coming from incubators such as SINE and each funds proprietary networks,” added Desai. A little over a decade ago, many deep tech enterprises in areas such as space couldn’t get funded even if the VCs liked the idea because they couldn’t see visibility on follow-on funders. “But today it’s become easy for a deep tech venture to raise money as there are multiple funds who will look at Series A, B, C and D funding rounds,” said Samir Kapur, General Partner, Athera Venture Partners speaking at the event organised to commemorate SINE’s 20th anniversary. Part of the reason for the bullishness in the outlook of VC’s is both the growth opportunities presented by the sector — with the government for the first time coming out with a 10-year policy on space backed by budgets — and also by the evolving maturity of the investee firms business models. “We believe that demand for aerospace and defence can cross the predicted 8% per annum growth mark to 20%-25% a year by looking at domestic and export markets,” said Maneck Behramdin, Business Head aerospace at Godrej & Boyce manufacturing company. Seconding the companies, Amey Belorkar, Senior Vice President, IDBI Capital Markets & Services said that thanks to the Israel and Ukraine wars, India’s status as a neutral country is making it very attractive for global firms to Make in India and sell to the world. Firms are applying deep tech in areas even as fundamental as water where India has the physical capacity to treat only 30% of the 72 billion litres of wastewater generated. “We have managed the entire sewage and water infrastructure of Istanbul for several years and now are managing the sewage for four Indian cities including Agra and Ghaziabad,” said Skandaprasad Seetharaman, Group CFO, VA Tech Wabag. Addressing the innovation nation event Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder, Ola group said, “Momentum has built in starting up in India. Viksit Bharat will have to be founded on technological innovation by building jobs of the future for our citizens.” Keeping this spirit in mind and to give further impetus to deep tech start-ups, SINE has selected the first two recipients of a grant of Rs 50 lakh each, under its Project Titanium initiative. The grant, funded by alumni of IIT-B, follows a competitive selection process for choosing companies that show the most promise in taking technology discovered at the premier engineering school’s labs and commercialise it, as a for profit venture. The first ever Project Titanium awardees include Rheoheme, which is developing a low cost and low maintenance diagnostic platform for sickle cell disease, malaria and complete blood count for lower- and middle-income countries. The other awardee is Ferry Lifesciences which is developing a novel microfluidics device coupled with internet of things capabilities that can diagnose and treat anaemia - the commonest nutritional deficiency globally and a condition that affects every one of two Indian women.
Three inmates remain on death row due to the severity of their crimes, as President Joe Biden declined to reduce their sentences. Today, Biden announced that he would commute the sentences of 37 out of 40 individuals currently on federal death row, transforming their punishment to life imprisonment. This decision came just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, a vocal advocate for expanding capital punishment , assumed office. Among those spared were individuals convicted of murdering police and military officers, those killed during bank robberies and drug deals, or those murdered on federal land. Following this significant action, only three federal inmates still face execution . These include Dylann Roof, a racist church killer who massacred nine Black congregants in South Carolina in 2015; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. Pope Francis issues urgent message on U.S. death row executions saying he is 'praying' for inmates' Man who killed four people set to be Indiana's first executed inmate in 15 years after court denies stay All three will still face lethal injection. White supremacist Dylann Roof was convicted in 2015 for a racially motivated attack that killed nine black worshippers in a South Carolina church. Roof was found guilty of federal hate crimes and now faces the death sentence. The 22-year-old was also convicted of obstructing the exercise of religion for those he shot after joining them in a Bible study, reports the Mirror . The courtroom was aghast as it was recounted how, in June 2015, an attack unfolded at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, with the intent to spark a racial war. In another dreadful episode, Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was handed the death sentence for orchestrating a terrorist assault that tragically took three lives and wounded 264 bystanders on April 15, 2013. Tsarnaev, who also killed a university police officer amidst the chaos, planted homemade pressure-cooker explosives near the marathon's crowded finish line. Despite his young age of 21, a jury determined he deserved the lethal injection over life imprisonment. Meanwhile, Robert Bowers’s conviction followed his hate-driven rampage at the Tree of Life Synagogue, where in October 2018, he yelled "all Jews must die! " before unloading his weapon on worshippers gathered for a baby naming ceremony on the Sabbath in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill. His anti-Semitic rants had polluted online spaces before he took the lives of 11 people. President Biden, targeting violence and advocating a just legal system, announced: "I've dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system." He continued with a statement that underscored his administration's stance against capital punishment: "Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder." In a move by the Biden administration in 2021, a freeze on federal capital punishment was put into effect to examine current protocols, pausing executions while Biden holds office. However, critiques have pointed out that Biden's original promises went beyond just a temporary halt; he previously vowed to abolish federal executions entirely — a promise that lacked mention of exceptions for acts of terrorism or hate-driven mass violence. Throughout his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden's official site stated his intentions to "work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government's example." But this statement vanished from Biden’s reelection site before his exit from the presidential race in July. Biden's stance is personal, rooted in his background: "Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss," said Biden. His resolve is clear, influenced by his history as a public defender, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, vice president, and now as president he declares, "I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level." In his statement, Biden didn’t shy away from taking a political swipe at Trump, emphasizing, "In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted." Trump, set to be inaugurated on January 20, has been vocal about intensifying the use of capital punishment. In his 2024 campaign announcement speech, he declared that those "caught selling drugs to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts." The former president didn't stop there; he went on to vow execution for not just drug dealers but human smugglers too, even commending China for its severe punishments for narcotic traffickers. Trump's first presidency saw a surge in federal executions, with 13 carried out during his term—surpassing any other modern US president. This spike in capital punishment might have hastened the spread of COVID-19 at Indiana's federal death row. Not since 2003 had federal executions taken place; yet, in an unparalleled move, the final three were conducted after the November 2020 election results but before Trump vacated office in January, marking the first time a lame-duck president has authorized such actions since Grover Cleveland in 1889.
Asahi Kasei receives governmental support to expand manufacturing capacity for green hydrogen production equipment in JapanNEW YORK, Nov. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, venture capital firm CoreNest Capital has announced a strategic investment in Texture Capital Holdings to fuel the development of a new platform for trading tokenized real-world assets. Pending regulatory approval, the platform, SoloTex, will be designed to provide institutions and individual investors with seamless access to tokenized securities — a process that will aim to enhance market efficiency, transparency, and global accessibility. SoloTex will layer technology and expertise in asset tokenization from CoreNest Capital's partner companies Sologenic and Coreum underneath Texture Capital's position as a FINRA Member and SEC-registered broker-dealer for digital asset securities. With Texture's Alternative Trading System (ATS) infrastructure and Transfer Agent capabilities, it aims to provide a complete, end-to-end solution for tokenizing and trading securities, backed by the company's expertise in navigating the evolving U.S. regulatory landscape. " Sologenic 's track record in product development and tokenization as well as CoreNest's commitment to this space will help drive our mission to bridge the gap between traditional and nontraditional digital assets and transform capital markets through tokenization," said Richard Johnson, CEO of Texture Capital. "Together we are excited to tokenize real-world assets leveraging blockchain and deliver the benefits of DeFi to traditional markets." Through CoreNest Capital's investment and technological contributions, Texture Capital is well-positioned to continue transforming capital markets through tokenization. Sologenic's comprehensive ecosystem of blockchain-based applications are designed for the highest standards of user experience and security in handling these assets. "Innovation is the constant in an ever-fluctuating market," said Bob Ras , GP & Co-Founder of CoreNest Capital. "This partnership with Texture Capital is not constrained to launching a platform; it's about laying the groundwork for a new era of asset management applications and investment strategies driven by innovation, transparency and security." SoloTex has created a waitlist for early access ahead of regulatory submission and official platform launch. Visit http://solotex.com to join the waitlist. About CoreNest Capital CoreNest Capital is a venture capital firm that focuses on tech investments in areas like AI, robotics, fintech, and medtech. CoreNest Capital is a catalyst for nurturing and funding startups in cutting-edge sectors. About Texture Capital Holdings Texture Capital Holdings is the parent of Texture Capital Inc, a FINRA member and broker-dealer specializing in digital securities, and Texture Transfer Services LLC, an SEC-registered Transfer Agent. We empower clients to compliantly issue tokens representing equity, debt, revenue share, royalties, or other investment contracts. Leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts, we aim to transform the traditional capital markets' structure, offering tools for issuance, tokenization, and secondary market trading via our Alternative Trading System. About Sologenic Founded in 2020, Sologenic is a leader in tokenization, offering on-demand solutions for institutional and retail markets. Its advanced trading infrastructure supports blockchain-native assets, stablecoins, and soon, tokenized securities, bridging traditional finance with blockchain innovation. Contact: Pedro Crespo CoreNest Capital op@corenest.com A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e190056d-36d0-43bb-b0b1-fd866a715251 © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
The Dolphins' improbable path to the playoffs isn't in their hands, but they must do their part
Joe Biden commutes death sentences of 37 inmates but three still face lethal injection
PORT HARCOURT – Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has said that nothing can surpass the eternal gains of living quality and exemplary life because it leaves enduring but positive impact on society. The Governor, therefore, advised people to spend more time in endeavours that contribute to advancing society, help individuals and promote peace at all times. Governor Fubara made the remark at the Funeral Service of late Mrs Erefori Basi Maeba, mother of Senator Lee Maeba, former representative of Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly at Luuwa Community in Khana Local Government Area of the State on Saturday. This was contained in a statement signed by Nelson Chukwudi, Governor Fubara’s Chief Press Secretary. The Governor said: “We are here to celebrate Mama, to say farewell. But I have a question for the family; the Lee family: When Mama was alive, I hope you had a relationship with her? I hope you had a friendship, you had respect for Mama? “Because it is not just enough for us to come to celebrate her in death. We should, when our parents are alive, also honour them. That is the most important thing.” Governor Fubara, however, said that going by what was said by the chief mourner, Senator Maeba, the children had maintained good relationship with their matriarch. He said, “Let me thank everyone of you who have come to support our brother. There is nothing so important and too special than to live a life that is fulfilled. “It is not the number of years, but the value that is added to that life that affects people positively when you are alive.” Speaking on the resolve of his administration to continue to steady the affairs of State, Governor Fubara assured of providing quality leadership that will continue to change the trajectory of development. Mindful of the distractions, Governor Fubara acknowledged the support of Rivers people, and assured that he will not disappoint them but deliver good governance and quality infrastructure to the people. “The Government of Rivers State under our watch will continue to take the interest of our people very seriously. We will not play. We will not jeopardize this support, and for this mandate that you have given to us, we will defend it, and make you proud.” Preaching at the Funeral Service, Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Archbishop Oliver Ali Abah, said the biblical Jonah, who spent three days in the belly of the fish, was found worthy by God to be sent on an eternal rescue mission, and admonished that people should have such attributes by diligently working to overcome life’s challenges daily. In his speech, the chief mourner, Senator Lee Maeba, acknowledged the support of Governor Fubara, and thanked friends for their solidarity and prayers while also expressing gratitude to God for keeping the family united. Dignitaries at the event were Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti; Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo; former Governors of the State: Chibuike Amaechi, and Sir Celestine Omehia; as well as former Deputy Governor, Engr Tele Ikuru; Secretary to Rivers State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo; former National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus; former transport minister, Dr Abiye Sekibo; some former and serving National Assembly members; and Rivers State Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Emeka Bekee.
By CLAIRE RUSH President-elect Donald Trump has once again suggested he wants to revert the name of North America’s tallest mountain — Alaska’s Denali — to Mount McKinley, wading into a sensitive and decades-old conflict about what the peak should be called. Related Articles National Politics | Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use National Politics | An analyst looks ahead to how the US economy might fare under Trump National Politics | Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal National Politics | House Ethics Committee accuses Gaetz of ‘regularly’ paying for sex, including with 17-year-old girl National Politics | Trump wants mass deportations. For the agents removing immigrants, it’s a painstaking process Former President Barack Obama changed the official name to Denali in 2015 to reflect the traditions of Alaska Natives as well as the preference of many Alaska residents. The federal government in recent years has endeavored to change place-names considered disrespectful to Native people. “Denali” is an Athabascan word meaning “the high one” or “the great one.” A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak “Mount McKinley” after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska. That name was formally recognized by the U.S. government until Obama changed it over opposition from lawmakers in McKinley’s home state of Ohio. Trump suggested in 2016 that he might undo Obama’s action, but he dropped that notion after Alaska’s senators objected. He raised it again during a rally in Phoenix on Sunday. “McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,” Trump said Sunday. “They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people.” Once again, Trump’s suggestion drew quick opposition within Alaska. “Uh. Nope. It’s Denali,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Kawasaki posted on the social platform X Sunday night. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski , who for years pushed for legislation to change the name to Denali, conveyed a similar sentiment in a post of her own. “There is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali — the Great One,” Murkowski wrote on X. Various tribes of Athabascan people have lived in the shadow of the 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain for thousands of years. McKinley, a Republican native of Ohio who served as the 25th president, was assassinated early in his second term in 1901 in Buffalo, New York. Alaska and Ohio have been at odds over the name since at least the 1970s. Alaska had a standing request to change the name since 1975, when the legislature passed a resolution and then-Gov. Jay Hammond appealed to the federal government. Known for its majestic views, the mountain is dotted with glaciers and covered at the top with snow year-round, with powerful winds that make it difficult for the adventurous few who seek to climb it. Rush reported from Portland, Oregon.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers, meet your latest lobbyists: online influencers from TikTok. The platform is once again bringing influencers to Washington, this time to lobby members of Congress to reject a fast-moving bill that would force TikTok's Beijing-based parent company to sell or be banned in the United States. On Tuesday, some influencers began a two-day advocacy event in support of TikTok, which arranged their trip ahead of a House floor vote on the legislation on Wednesday. But unlike a similar lobbying event the company put together last March when talks of a TikTok ban reached a fever pitch, this year’s effort appeared more rushed as the company scrambles to counter the legislation, which advanced rapidly on Capitol Hill. Summer Lucille, a TikTok content creator with 1.4 million followers who is visiting Washington this week, said if TikTok is banned, she “don’t know what it will do” to her business, a plus-sized boutique in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It will be devastating,” Lucille said in an interview arranged by the platform. In an unusual showing of bipartisanship, a House panel unanimously approved the measure last week. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation if lawmakers pass it. But it’s unclear what will happen in the Senate, where several bills aimed at banning TikTok have stalled. The legislation faces other roadblocks. Former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump, who holds sway over both House and Senate Republicans, has voiced opposition to the bill, saying it would empower Meta-owned Facebook, which he continues to lambast over his 2020 election loss. The bill also faces pushback from some progressive lawmakers in the House as well as civil liberties groups who argue it infringes on the First Amendment. TikTok could be banned if ByteDance, the parent company, doesn’t sell its stakes in the platform and other applications it owns within six months of the bill’s enactment. The fight over the platform takes place as U.S.-China relations have shifted to that of strategic rivalry, especially in areas such as advanced technologies and data security, seen as essential to each country’s economic prowess and national security. The shift, which started during the Trump years and has continued under Biden, has placed restrictions on export of advanced technologies and outflow of U.S. monies to China, as well as access to the U.S. market by certain Chinese businesses. The Biden administration also has cited human rights concerns in blacklisting a number of Chinese companies accused of assisting the state surveillance campaign against ethnic minorities. TikTok isn’t short on lobbyists. Its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance has a strong lobbying apparatus in Washington that includes dozens of lobbyists from well-known consulting and legal firms as well as influential insiders, such as former members of Congress and ex-aides to powerful lawmakers, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will also be in Washington this week and plans to meet with lawmakers, according to a company spokesperson who said Chew’s visit was previously scheduled. But influencers, who have big followings on social media and can share personal stories of how the platform boosted their businesses — or simply gave them a voice — are still perhaps one of the most powerful tools the company has in its arsenal. A TikTok spokesperson said dozens of influencers will attend the two-day event, including some who came last year. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about how many new people would be attending this year’s lobbying blitz. The company is briefing them ahead of meetings with their representatives and media interviews. Lucille, who runs the boutique in North Carolina, says has seen a substantial surge in revenue because of her TikTok page. The 34-year-old began making TikTok content focusing on plus-sized fashion in March 2022, more than a decade after she started her business. She quickly amassed thousands of followers after posting a nine-second video about her boutique. Because of her popularity on the platform, her business has more online exposure and customers, some of whom have visited from as far as Europe. She says she also routinely hears from followers who are finding support through her content about fashion and confidence. JT Laybourne, an influencer who also came to Washington, said he joined TikTok in early 2019 after getting some negative comments on videos he posted on Instagram while singing in the car with his children. Laybourne, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, said he was attracted to the short-form video platform because it was easy to create videos that contained music. Like Lucille, he quickly gained traction on the app. He says he also received more support from TikTok users, who reacted positively to content he produced on love and positivity. Laybourne says the community he built on the platform rallied around his family when he had to undergo heart surgery in 2020. Following the surgery, he said he used the platform to help raise $1 million for the American Heart Association in less than two years. His family now run an apparel company that gets most of its traffic from TikTok. “I will fight tooth-and-nail for this app,” he said. But whether the opposition the company is mounting through lobbyists or influencers will be enough to derail the bill is yet to be seen. On Tuesday, House lawmakers received a briefing on national security concerns regarding TikTok from the FBI, Justice Department and intelligence officials. AP Journalist Didi Tang contributed to this report. This story was originally published on March 12, 2024. It was updated on December 23, 2024 to clarify a quote by TikTok content creator Summer Lucille.Senegal's prime minister Ousmane Sonko reasserted that all foreign military bases will be closed "in the very near future" as the West struggles to maintain its presence in Africa. Senegal 's Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko spoke for hours in parliament on Friday, laying out the new government's plans barely a month after the decisive parliamentary election victory cementing the authority of President Diomaye Faye, elected earlier in the year . He touched on multiple domestic issues, not least a contentious plan to waive amnesty rules passed by the previous government, potentially with a view to prosecuting rivals like former President Macky Sall. Sonko also declared all foreign military bases in the country should be closed, saying this idea had first been put forward by President Faye. "The President of the Republic has decided to close all foreign military bases in the very near future," Sonko said, to applause from the chamber. Western footprint in francophone Sahel fading fast Faye, who dissolved parliament and called snap elections during his first months in office , last month expressed the desire to close French military bases in Senegal. "Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country, and sovereignty does not accommodate the presence of foreign military bases," he said during a rare media interview. Western powers have been struggling to maintain their presence in the Sahel region amid a series of coups in countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, with the military governments all subsequently turning to Russia for assistance instead. They've ramped up diplomatic efforts with countries like Senegal and the Ivory Coast in response, but the change of government in Dakar looks set to pose further challenges. France has now left Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso entirely, and on Thursday said it had also pulled its last troops out of a base in Chad. It is believed to have around 350 troops in Senegal. Germany looks to expand cooperation with West Africa To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Sonko's other plans — revoking amnesty for former President Sall The Senegalese prime minister told the lawmakers that the government was working to repeal a mass amnesty law that was one of the last major acts of former President Macky Sall. A project aimed at revoking the initiative would be put forward "in the coming weeks," Sonko said. Sall passed the law amid mass protests in the run-up to the presidential election , seemingly in a bid to calm tensions, releasing hundreds of people imprisoned on charges connected with stoking public violence. This amnesty ultimately allowed both Faye and Sonko to run for public office , and win power, though Sall's critics claim it was also designed to shield him in the future. "This is not a witch hunt, much less revenge," Sonko told parliament. "It is about justice, the pillar without which no social peace can be built." Will Senegal's Diomaye deliver? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What else did Sonko pledge? Sonko said his government would change its visa policy with a number of European countries, including France, as well as the US, saying it would demand "free visas for Senegalese nationals on the basis of the principle of reciprocity." Senegal had scrapped its visa fees in 2015 in a bid to boost tourism. Sonko said his government would seek to bolster public finances by "broadening the tax base" while gradually lowering the average tax rates. He defined the goal as to "make all Senegalese pay less, but make all Senegalese pay" to "achieve effective and equitable taxation." He said the country would improve its economy by starting to exploit natural gas, as Senegal plans to in 2025 , but also by boosting the industrial sector. Sonko also said his government would promote "multilingualism," introducing more English and national languages into an education system dominated by French. msh/dj (AFP, AP)Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis Pipeline Insights 2024: Therapies, Clinical Trials, and Key Companies Involved by DelveInsight | Insmed Inc, AstraZeneca, Zambon, CSL Behring, Chiesi Farmaceutici
Dimopoulos shines in double OT and Northern Illinois beats Fresno State 28-20 in Idaho Potato Bowl
TORONTO — Canada's main stock index pushed higher to end Monday up almost 150 points on light trading action, while U.S. stock markets also gained ahead of the Christmas break. "Today is a quiet pre-Christmas Day of trading," said Kevin Burkett, a portfolio manager at Victoria, B.C.-based Burkett Asset Management. While markets in both Canada and the U.S. were mild, Burkett suggests watching the markets closely during the holiday season, a contrast to what's typically a sleepy period for markets. "We're continuing to watch markets very closely here because you've got some tectonic plate shifting in terms of the macroeconomic backdrop," he said. "It's all the political conversations both in Canada and in the U.S." Burkett added fiscal policy seems to be disconnected from monetary policy in the post-pandemic period. "The fiscal policy may shift and that shift absolutely has market implications both in the short and long term," he said. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 149.50 points at 24,748.98. Statistics Canada released its latest numbers on Canada's economic growth, up 0.3 per cent in October — driven by the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector. The loonie continued its slide, trading for 69.47 cents US compared with 69.61 cents US on Friday. The telecom sector was the biggest loser at the closing on TSX, which Burkett attributed to "tax loss selling happening at the end of the year." Competition Bureau Canada announced on Monday it was suing Rogers Communications Inc. for allegedly making misleading claims about its infinite wireless plans. The stock price for Rogers, which is hovering near 52-week lows, fell 0.7 per cent on Monday. Meanwhile, BCE was down almost 1.4 per cent and Telus dropped 0.9 per cent. Burkett suggested the day's poor performance among telecom companies was likely tax loss selling since it's almost the end of the year. "It's been a tough year for the communication services sector," he said. South of the border, communications services was the top-performing sector, led by large-cap tech companies. Several big technology companies helped support the gains, including chip companies Nvidia and Broadcom. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 66.69 points at 42,906.95. The S&P 500 index was up 43.22 points at 5,974.07, while the Nasdaq composite was up 192.29 points at 19,764.89. The February crude oil contract was down 22 cents at US$69.24 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was down six cents at US$3.35 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was down US$16.90 at US$2,628.20 an ounce and the March copper contract was down one cent at US$4.09 a pound. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX: GSPTSE, TSX: CADUSD, TSE: BCE, TSE: RCI. B) Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press