President of Qaumi Awami Tehreek Ayaz Latif Palijo has issued a warning of blocking 700-kilometre road from Karachi to Ghotki in protest if Indus River's flow towards Sindh is disrupted under any pretext. "You will have to wage a fight after every five kilometres," he cautioned while speaking at an event in Kambar Shahdadkot on Sunday. He said Sindh was not given the river as a gift or did the province win it through some lottery rather it has been flowing through the province for thousands of years. "The river is ours and our next generations'." He maintained that the future of 70 million people of Sindh depends on this very river. Palijo claimed that people are running out of patience because the federal government is not resolving the issue of construction of six new canals on the Indus. "We want President Asif Ali Zardari, PPP's Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to let us know if they consider Sindh an African desert." He reiterated criticism over the PPP's government saying that the party has secured power by bargaining resources of Sindh to the centre. Palijo pointed out that Badin, Thatta and Sujawal are already suffering from acute water shortage and the consequent sea intrusion which is fast eating the land. He demanded that all members of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), Indus River System Authority (IRSA), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and Central Development Working Party (CDWP) who are prejudicial to Sindh should be fired from their positions. "If Cholistan canal is built, water flowing towards Sindh will be stopped." SUP sets up hunger strike camp The Sindh United Party set up a hunger strike camp in front of the Mirpurkhas Press Club to protest against the construction of six canals to be drawn from the Indus River. The protest witnessed participation from various political and social leaders. Addressing the protest camp, SUP leaders Aftab Qureshi, Raja Abdul Haq, and Lala Izhar Pathan expressed their concerns, accusing the federal government of pushing Sindh towards economic and agricultural destruction. They claimed that the ruling parties, including the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had collectively decided to deprive the people of Sindh of their rights. The party leaders vowed to resist the canal project with the same determination that prevented the construction of the Kalabagh Dam. "Our struggle to protect the resources of Sindh will continue until the plan is withdrawn," they stated. Party members, nationalists, lawyers, and civil society representatives stood in solidarity with the Sindh United Party during the protest. COMMENTS Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our
Stock indexes closed mixed on Wall Street at the end of a rare bumpy week. The S&P 500 ended little changed Friday. The benchmark index reached its latest in a string of records a week ago. It lost ground for the week following three weeks of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1%. Broadcom surged after the semiconductor company beat Wall Street’s profit targets and gave a glowing forecast, highlighting its artificial intelligence products. RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, surged after raising its revenue forecast. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Stocks slipped in afternoon trading Friday as Wall Street closes out a rare bumpy week. The S&P 500 was up by less than 0.1% and is on track for a loss for the week after three straight weekly gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58 points, or 0.1% to 43,856 as of 3 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq rose 0.1% and is hovering around its record. Broadcom surged 24.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the semiconductor company beat Wall Street’s profit targets and gave a glowing forecast, highlighting its artificial intelligence products. The company also raised its dividend. The company's big gain helped cushion the market's broader fall. Pricey stock values for technology companies like Broadcom give the sector more weight in pushing the market higher or lower. Artificial intelligence technology has been a focal point for the technology sector and the overall stock market over the last year. Tech companies, and Wall Street, expect demand for AI to continue driving growth for semiconductor and other technology companies. Even so, some big tech stocks were in the red Friday. Nvidia slid 2.6%, Meta Platforms dropped 1.7% and Netflix was down 0.7%. Furniture and housewares company RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, surged 14.2% after raising its forecast for revenue growth for the year. Wall Street's rally stalled this week amid mixed economic reports and ahead of the Federal Reserve's last meeting of the year. The central bank will meet next week and is widely expected to cut interest rates for a third time since September. Expectations of a series of rate cuts has driven the S&P 500 to 57 all-time highs so far this year . The Fed has been lowering its benchmark interest rate following an aggressive rate hiking policy that was meant to tame inflation. It raised rates from near-zero in early 2022 to a two-decade high by the middle of 2023. Inflation eased under pressure from higher interest rates, nearly to the central bank's 2% target. The economy, including consumer spending and employment, held strong despite the squeeze from inflation and high borrowing costs. A slowing job market, though, has helped push a long-awaited reversal of the Fed's policy. Inflation rates have been warming up slightly over the last few months. A report on consumer prices this week showed an increase to 2.7% in November from 2.6% in October. The Fed's preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures index, will be released next week. Wall Street expects it to show a 2.5% rise in November, up from 2.3% in October. The economy, though, remains solid heading into 2025 as consumers continue spending and employment remains healthy, said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY. “Still, the outlook is clouded by unusually high uncertainty surrounding regulatory, immigration, trade and tax policy,” he said. Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.40% from 4.34% late Thursday. European markets slipped. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1%. Britain’s economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% month-on-month in October, following a 0.1% decline in September, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Asian markets closed mostly lower.
Zoran Milanovic, the opposition Social Democrats’ candidate, on track to win a second term in office, according to preliminary results. President Zoran Milanovic is on track to win a second term in office in the first round of Croatia’s presidential election, the State Electoral Commission says. Preliminary results from Sunday’s voting showed that based on results from nearly 52 percent of polling stations, Milanovic, the opposition Social Democratic Party’s candidate, was winning 50.1 percent of the votes, far ahead of his main challenger, Dragan Primorac, the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), with 22.3 percent. An exit poll conducted by Ipsos on Sunday also showed Milanovic, 58, was set to win. About 3.8 million Croats were eligible to vote from among eight candidates. The post of president is mostly ceremonial. Under Croatia’s electoral system, a candidate must secure at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off. The election will go to a second round on January 12 if none of the candidates wins a majority. During his five-year term, which expires on February 18, Milanovic, a former prime minister , has clashed with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic over foreign and public policy and has fiercely criticised the European Union and NATO over their support for Ukraine. The president cannot veto laws but has a say in foreign policy, defence and security matters. Despite his populist rhetoric, Milanovic is seen by many as the only counterbalance to the HDZ-dominated government, 30 of whose ministers have been forced to leave in recent years due to corruption allegations . This election came as Croatia grapples with high inflation and a labour shortage. Milanovic previously won the presidency for the Social Democrats in 2020 with promises to promote tolerance and liberal values. While he has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Milanovic has been critical of Western military support for Kyiv, a stance that led Plenkovic to accuse him of being “pro-Russian” and “damaging” Croatia’s credibility. In response, Milanovic argued that his aim is to protect Croatia from being “dragged into war”. “As long as I am president, no Croatian soldier will fight in somebody else’s wars,” he said this month.Mishal Husain ‘to step down from Radio 4 Today programme’
Mysterious drones spotted over New Jersey and other states in the Northeast have prompted so much concern and confusion that a chorus of lawmakers have suggested the U.S. military shoot them down. However, experts warn, that doesn’t mean residents should take matters into their own hands: Shooting drones is illegal and could end in serious injury. “I can totally understand the primal instinct to protect ourselves,” said Pramod Abichandani, an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the director of the school’s Advanced Air Mobility Lab. “But I want to caution against going as extremist as trying to shoot them down.” Not only is trying to target a drone in the sky difficult for the average marksman, he said, it’s also a crime. The Federal Aviation Administration classifies drones as aircraft and, under the Aircraft Sabotage Act , damaging or destroying aircraft is a federal offense — even if it’s flying over private property. Officials say the drones flying over New Jersey in the past few weeks appear to be commercial-grade, not recreational. They have caught the attention of the White House, which has sought to quell the anxiety over them. “We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” national security spokesperson John Kirby said during a news conference Thursday. Still, the lack of information about the flying devices has many worried. On Thursday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., became the latest lawmaker to call for the drones to be shot down, echoing similar demands by others, including New Jersey Republican Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew. “We have no idea where these drones come from, who owns them. We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies,” Blumenthal said on Thursday, adding: “They should be shot down, if necessary.” In a statement to NBC News on Friday, the FAA said that shooting at an unmanned aircraft “could result in a civil penalty from the FAA and/or criminal charges from federal, state or local law enforcement.” The agency also said it could injure people. “A private citizen shooting at any aircraft — including unmanned aircraft — poses a significant safety hazard. An unmanned aircraft hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” the FAA said. Abichandani said shooting drones could also set off fires. “A drone has a lithium battery for the most part,” Abichandani said. “If you shoot at it, assuming you target it correctly and you actually hit the drone, the drone is going to fall somewhere. The lithium battery can explode, cause a fire, and of course, it can cause damage to property.” Frustrated residents and local officials are seeking more information about the unexplained drones, but little is known. The Pentagon has said they are not owned by the military. In a joint statement earlier this week, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said that there were no confirmed drone sightings in restricted air space and said they were investigating whether the sightings are “actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings.” Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, subject to FAA regulations and any flight restrictions by local governments. Those who operate them are required to be FAA-certified. Abichandani said that while he could understand the urge to want to shoot down a foreign object hovering overhead, residents should resist. “God forbid that stray bullet lands somewhere and hits somebody,” he said.
In the Philippines, the creative industries encompass various subsectors, such as advertising, animation, architecture, broadcast arts, crafts, culinary arts, cultural and heritage activities, design, film, literature, music, new media, performing arts, publishing, and visual arts. These industries significantly impact the Philippine economy. In 2022, the creative industries contributed 7.3 percent to the GDP, amounting to approximately P1.6 trillion — a remarkable 12 percent increase from the previous year. Employment in the creative sector also surged by 10.5 percent, with 6.98 million Filipinos engaged in these industries, highlighting their role in job creation. Register to read this story and more for free . Signing up for an account helps us improve your browsing experience. OR See our subscription options.
Damian Williams to step down as Manhattan US Attorney ahead of Trump inaugurationIsraeli strikes hit commercial and residential buildings in Beirut as well as in the port city of Tyre. Military officials said they targeted areas known as Hezbollah strongholds. They issued evacuation orders for Beirut’s southern suburbs, and strikes landed across the city, including meters from a Lebanese police base and the city’s largest public park. The barrage came as officials indicated they were nearing agreement on a ceasefire, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s Security Cabinet prepared to discuss an offer on the table. Airstrikes kill at least 12 Massive explosions lit up Lebanon’s skies with flashes of orange, sending towering plumes of smoke into the air as Israeli airstrikes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs Monday. The blasts damaged buildings and left shattered glass and debris scattered across nearby streets. No casualties were reported after many residents fled the targeted sites. Some of the strikes landed close to central Beirut and near Christian neighborhoods and other targets where Israel had issued evacuation warnings, including in Tyre and Nabatiyeh province. Israeli airstrikes also hit the northeast Baalbek-Hermel region without warning. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Monday that at least 12 people were killed in the strikes in Tyre province, adding to the more than 3,700 people in Lebanon who have been killed since Israel launched its invasion two months ago. Many of those killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah have been civilians , and health officials said some of the recovered bodies were so severely damaged that DNA testing would be required to confirm their identities. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Lebanon’s Health Ministry says the war has displaced 1.2 million people. The latest round of airstrikes came weeks after Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon in early October, meeting heavy resistance in a narrow strip of land along the border. The military had previously exchanged attacks across the border with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group that began firing rockets into Israel the day after the war in Gaza began last year. Lebanese politicians have decried the ongoing airstrikes and said they are impeding U.S.-led ceasefire negotiations. The country’s deputy parliament speaker accused Israel of ramping up its bombardment in order to pressure Lebanon to make concessions in indirect ceasefire negotiations with Hezbollah. Elias Bousaab, an ally of the militant group, said Monday that the pressure has increased because “we are close to the hour that is decisive regarding reaching a ceasefire.” Hopes grow for a ceasefire Israeli officials voiced similar optimism Monday about prospects for a ceasefire. Mike Herzog, the country’s ambassador to Washington, earlier in the day told Israeli Army Radio that several points had yet to be finalized. Though any deal would require agreement from the government, Herzog said Israel and Hezbollah were “close to a deal.” “It can happen within days,” he said. Israeli officials have said the sides are close to an agreement that would include withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and a pullback of Hezbollah fighters from the Israeli border. But several sticking points remain. Two Israeli officials told The Associated Press that Netanyahu’s security Cabinet had scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, but they said it remained unclear whether the Cabinet would vote to approve the deal. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations. Danny Danon, Israel’s U.N. ambassador, told reporters Monday that he expected a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah to have stages and to be discussed by leaders Monday or Tuesday. Still, he warned, “it’s not going to happen overnight.” After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted that there could be last-minute hitches that either delay or destroy an agreement. “Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday. The proposal under discussion to end the fighting calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River. The withdrawals would be accompanied by an influx of thousands more Lebanese army troops, who have been largely sidelined in the war, to patrol the border area along with an existing U.N. peacekeeping force . Western diplomats and Israeli officials said Israel is demanding the right to strike in Lebanon if it believes Hezbollah is violating the terms. The Lebanese government has said that such an arrangement would authorize violations of the country’s sovereignty. A ceasefire could mark a step toward ending the regionwide war that ballooned after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250 . The lack of a ceasefire has emerged as a political liability for Israeli leaders including Netanyahu, particularly while 60,000 Israelis remain away from their homes in the country’s north after more than a year of cross-border violence. Hezbollah rockets have reached as far south into Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers died fighting in the ground offensive in Lebanon. The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest of Iran’s armed proxies , is expected to significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It’s not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition. While the proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.” If the ceasefire talks fail, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said, “it will mean more destruction and more and more animosity and more dehumanization and more hatred and more bitterness.” Speaking at a G7 meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, the last summit of its kind before U.S. President Joe Biden leaves office, Safadi said such a failure “will doom the future of the region to more conflict and more killing and more destruction.” Federman reported from Jerusalem and Metz from Rabat, Morocco. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Nicole Winfield in Fiuggi, Italy, and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report. Find more of AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-warDallas Mavericks vs. Atlanta Hawks FREE LIVE STREAM (11/25/24): Watch NBA regular season game | Time, TV, Channel
The NCAA has sanctioned two international and three local airlines for breaching passenger rights during their operations. According to the aviation authority, the infractions by the airlines include but are not limited to flight delays and cancellations It added that it would implement more stringent enforcement actions against cases of non-compliance CHECK OUT: Education is Your Right! Don’t Let Social Norms Hold You Back. Learn Online with LEGIT. Enroll Now! Legit.ng journalist Victor Enengedi has over a decade's experience covering Energy, MSMEs, Technology and the Stock Market. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has penalised Air Peace, Ethiopian Airlines, and other carriers for breaching aviation regulations. According to Michael Achimugu, the NCAA’s director of public affairs and consumer protection, additional airlines facing sanctions include Arik Air, Aero Contractors, and Royal Air Maroc. Airlines penalised for several violations In a statement issued on December 24, the NCAA revealed that five airlines comprising two international and three domestic operators were penalised for contraventions under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations, 2023. Read also NCAA threatens tough sanctions for airline passengers causing trouble at airports PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app! The cited violations include delays in passenger refunds, non-compliance with directives from the authority, incidents of missing or mishandled luggage, short-landed baggage, and challenges related to flight delays and cancellations. Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the NCAA threatened to penalise airlines for flight cancellations and delays, urging them to adhere strictly to reimbursement schedules to safeguard passenger rights. The NCAA revealed that Ethiopian Airlines requested additional discussions with the authority concerning the enforcement measures taken against it. The aviation authority stated that the international carrier was willing to adhere to NCAA regulations and committed to providing a compliance report by the next day. The statement read: “This is the first time in over a decade that the NCAA Consumer Protection Department is initiating sanctions against airlines.” Chris Najomo, the NCAA's acting director-general, presided over the stakeholders’ meeting and urged operators to adjust their flight schedules to realistic levels to reduce disruptions. Read also Air Peace addresses alleged plane crash in Western Sahara region He cautioned that the NCAA would implement more stringent enforcement actions against cases of non-compliance and emphasised that disruptive behaviour from passengers would equally not be condoned. NCAA demands operators be accountable In an interview with TheCable on Saturday regarding the penalties, Achimugu stated that the airlines are well-informed about the regulatory process and their responsibilities. He noted that Aero Contractors had confirmed resolving seven of the 11 violations highlighted in the NCAA’s official communication. “So there are penalties for all of these things. And I have made it very clear that it will no longer be business as usual." While recognising that several challenges arise from external factors beyond the airlines’ control, Achimugu emphasised that operators must still be held accountable for infractions directly caused by them. Air Peace clarifies video of passengers' rush Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Air Peace stated that customers never rushed to board its aircraft without following the operational guidelines set by aviation authorities. Read also “Aircraft Smuggling”: Nigerian arline responds to alleged violation of US sanction on Iran The airline claimed that the videos that went viral online were made by unidentified individuals to mislead and distract interested parties. It clarified that flight delays were due to adverse weather, specifically harmattan-induced fog and haze, which are common at this time of year. PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy! Source: Legit.ng