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By MICHELLE L. PRICE and ROB GILLIES NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. They were also prime trolling opportunities for Trump. Related Articles National Politics | Trump names Andrew Ferguson as head of Federal Trade Commission to replace Lina Khan National Politics | Biden says he was ‘stupid’ not to put his name on pandemic relief checks like Trump did National Politics | Biden issues veto threat on bill expanding federal judiciary as partisan split emerges National Politics | Trump lawyers and aide hit with 10 additional felony charges in Wisconsin over 2020 fake electors National Politics | After withdrawing as attorney general nominee, Matt Gaetz lands a talk show on OANN television Throughout his first term in the White House and during his campaign to return, Trump has spun out countless provocative, antagonizing and mocking statements. There were his belittling nicknames for political opponents, his impressions of other political figures and the plentiful memes he shared on social media. Now that’s he’s preparing to return to the Oval Office, Trump is back at it, and his trolling is attracting more attention — and eyerolls. On Sunday, Trump turned a photo of himself seated near a smiling first lady Jill Biden at the Notre Dame ceremony into a social media promo for his new perfume and cologne line, with the tag line, “A fragrance your enemies can’t resist!” The first lady’s office declined to comment. When Trudeau hastily flew to Florida to meet with Trump last month over the president-elect’s threat to impose a 25% tax on all Canadian products entering the U.S., the Republican tossed out the idea that Canada become the 51st U.S. state. The Canadians passed off the comment as a joke, but Trump has continued to play up the dig, including in a post Tuesday morning on his social media network referring to the prime minister as “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada.” After decades as an entertainer and tabloid fixture, Trump has a flair for the provocative that is aimed at attracting attention and, in his most recent incarnation as a politician, mobilizing fans. He has long relished poking at his opponents, both to demean and minimize them and to delight supporters who share his irreverent comments and posts widely online and cheer for them in person. Trump, to the joy of his fans, first publicly needled Canada on his social media network a week ago when he posted an AI-generated image that showed him standing on a mountain with a Canadian flag next to him and the caption “Oh Canada!” After his latest post, Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Tuesday: “It sounds like we’re living in a episode of South Park.” Trudeau said earlier this week that when it comes to Trump, “his approach will often be to challenge people, to destabilize a negotiating partner, to offer uncertainty and even sometimes a bit of chaos into the well established hallways of democracies and institutions and one of the most important things for us to do is not to freak out, not to panic.” Even Thanksgiving dinner isn’t a trolling-free zone for Trump’s adversaries. On Thanksgiving Day, Trump posted a movie clip from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” with President Joe Biden and other Democrats’ faces superimposed on the characters in a spoof of the turkey-carving scene. The video shows Trump appearing to explode out of the turkey in a swirl of purple sparks, with the former president stiffly dancing to one of his favorite songs, Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” In his most recent presidential campaign, Trump mocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, refusing to call his GOP primary opponent by his real name and instead dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious.” He added, for good measure, in a post on his Truth Social network: “I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will.” As he campaigned against Biden, Trump taunted him in online posts and with comments and impressions at his rallies, deriding the president over his intellect, his walk, his golf game and even his beach body. After Vice President Kamala Harris took over Biden’s spot as the Democratic nominee, Trump repeatedly suggested she never worked at McDonalds while in college. Trump, true to form, turned his mocking into a spectacle by appearing at a Pennsylvania McDonalds in October, when he manned the fries station and held an impromptu news conference from the restaurant drive-thru. Trump’s team thinks people should get a sense of humor. “President Trump is a master at messaging and he’s always relatable to the average person, whereas many media members take themselves too seriously and have no concept of anything else other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director. “President Trump will Make America Great Again and we are getting back to a sense of optimism after a tumultuous four years.” Though both the Biden and Harris campaigns created and shared memes and launched other stunts to respond to Trump’s taunts, so far America’s neighbors to the north are not taking the bait. “I don’t think we should necessarily look on Truth Social for public policy,” Miller said. Gerald Butts, a former top adviser to Trudeau and a close friend, said Trump brought up the 51st state line to Trudeau repeatedly during Trump’s first term in office. “Oh God,” Butts said Tuesday, “At least a half dozen times.” “This is who he is and what he does. He’s trying to destabilize everybody and make people anxious,” Butts said. “He’s trying to get people on the defensive and anxious and therefore willing to do things they wouldn’t otherwise entertain if they had their wits about them. I don’t know why anybody is surprised by it.” Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey gambling regulators have handed out $40,000 in fines to two sportsbooks and a tech company for violations that included taking bets on unauthorized events, and on games that had already ended. In information made public Monday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement fined DraftKings $20,000. It also levied $10,000 fines on Rush Street Interactive NJ and the sports betting technology company Kambi. According to documents released by the state, Rush Street accepted 16 bets worth $1,523 in Nov. 2021 on a college basketball game between the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Tennessee Tech University after the game had already concluded with a UNC victory. Kambi told the enforcement division that a trader had failed to manually remove that game from its betting markets, saying it had stopped receiving messages from its own sports data provider due to a network connectivity error. Kambi said it has updated its guidelines and retrained its traders to prevent a recurrence. Kambi, which is based in Malta, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday. Rush Street declined comment, and DraftKings had no immediate comment Monday. DraftKings stopped using Kambi in 2021. In March 2022 Rush Street took seven bets totaling just under $2,900 on three Magic City Jai Alai games after the results were already known. Kambi told the division it experienced a connectivity issue that allowed the bets to be accepted after the games were over. An explanation of what Kambi did to address the situation was blacked out in documents released by the division. A month earlier Rush Street took 13 wagers worth $8,150 with pre-match odds on a Professional Golf Association match after the event had already begun. In this case, Kambi told the division a newly hired trader failed to enter the correct closing time time for bets on the event. The trader and a supervisor underwent retraining. DraftKings was fined for taking bets on unapproved events including Russian basketball for nine months in 2020 and 2021. It eventually voided over $61,000 in bets and returned the money to customers after being directed to do so by the state. In this case, Kambi told the division it misidentified this particular Russian basketball league as one that was approved for wagering in New Jersey. DraftKings told the state it did not catch the error, either. In 2020, DraftKings accepted 484 wagers on unapproved table tennis matches. Kambi incorrectly enabled the events for wagering without conditions required by the state, the division said. In Feb. 2022, the division said DraftKings took pre-season NFL bets involving specific players but did not give the state specific information on what information was to be included in the bets, drawing 182 wagers worth nearly $7,000 that were later voided and refunded to customers. Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
Lewis, Pascarelli score 14 as Marist knocks off New Hampshire 54-49Tokio Marine North America Services Named One of Computerworld's 2025 Best Places to Work in ITThe Yomiuri Shimbun 21:00 JST, November 30, 2024 Four main broadcasters in the Nippon TV network will integrate their businesses in April through the establishment of a holding company, the stations announced Friday. The four — Sapporo Television Broadcasting Co. (STV) in Sapporo, Chukyo TV. Broadcasting Co. (CTV) in Nagoya, Yomiuri Telecasting Corp. (YTV) in Osaka and Fukuoka Broadcasting System Corp. (FBS) in Fukuoka — will become wholly owned subsidiaries of Yomiuri Chukyo FS Broadcasting Holdings Corp. (FYCS) on April 1. This holding company will be established through a joint stock transfer among STV, CTV, YTV and FBS, according to the announcement. Under FYCS, the four aim to establish a new cooperative structure to create a robust management base, thus providing more content that is appealing to viewers in conjunction with Nippon TV and other local stations in its network. Kimio Maruyama, chairman of CTV, is set to be appointed as FYCS’ chairman and representative director, while Akira Ishizawa, president and chief executive officer of Nippon Television Holdings, Inc., will assume the post of FYCS’ president and representative director. Nippon Television Holdings will hold at least a 20% stake in FYCS to be its biggest shareholder and make the new holding company its equity method affiliate. The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings is expected to be the second-largest shareholder in FYCS with about a 15% stake. Current shareholders of STV, CTV, YTV and FBS will receive stocks to be issued when the holding company is established. Even after the business integration, STV, CTV, YTV and FBS will continue broadcasting and other activities in their respective service areas. The new holding company will play a central role in promoting collaboration among the four stations. In their statement, the four local stations said they will continue to work for regional revitalization as core companies by transmitting information on Hokkaido, Tokai, Kansai and northern Kyushu, the regions in which they are based. “We will contribute to the further development and revitalization of local communities by promoting cultural and economic exchanges” in the four regions, as well as such exchanges between Japan and abroad, they added. As business conditions surrounding regional broadcasters are changing mostly due to the nation’s population decline, the new holding company will take the lead in discussing on joint use of relay stations. FYCS might also consider streamlining its operations in the future.
UnitedHealthcare is increasing security after Brian Thompson’s killing, executive saysFox Sports analyst Colin Cowherd shared some opinions with his audience during an episode of "The Herd" on Thursday, comparing multiple NFL quarterbacks to former Oregon Duck and current Denver Bronco Bo Nix. In a 48-second clip posted to TikTok and various other social media platforms, Cowherd could be heard weighing Nix against other NFL stars including Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love and Brock Purdy. At one point, Cowherd made quite a bold claim, giving Nix, a rookie, the edge over a two-time Pro Bowler. "Here's what concerns me with Jalen Hurts," Cowherd said. "He is very dependent on his legs. Even through nine, 10, 12 games, I think (Nix), in the pocket, is a better pocket passer." "Here's what concerns me with Jalen Hurts. He is very dependent on his legs... I think Bo is better pocket passer." @ColinCowherd decides which QBs he'd take over Bo Nix: pic.twitter.com/gmo7sQ12Xk From there, Cowherd struggled comparing Nix to Love, citing the Packers' starter as a better athlete with a better arm. Still, the Fox analyst noted Love's recklessness as a drawback, failing to decide between the two quarterbacks. Then, Cowherd continued to sing the praises of Nix, picking him over current San Francisco 49er Brock Purdy. "I don't even think it's close. I think it's Bo Nix," Cowherd said. "One's a first-rounder, one's a seventh-rounder. One guy actually won big-time in college at two places. I mean, what's Auburn been since Bo Nix left? Stinkaroony." FS1 Since Nix's departure following the 2021 season, the Tigers have gone a combined 15-20 over three seasons. In their three seasons with Nix at the helm, they went 21-16. Nix will hope to justify Cowherd's claims as the Broncos travel to take on the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. PST and the game will air on CBS.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey gambling regulators have handed out $40,000 in fines to two sportsbooks and a tech company for violations that included taking bets on unauthorized events, and on games that had already ended. In information made public Monday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement fined DraftKings $20,000. It also levied $10,000 fines on Rush Street Interactive NJ and the sports betting technology company Kambi. According to documents released by the state, Rush Street accepted 16 bets worth $1,523 in Nov. 2021 on a college basketball game between the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Tennessee Tech University after the game had already concluded with a UNC victory. Kambi told the enforcement division that a trader had failed to manually remove that game from its betting markets, saying it had stopped receiving messages from its own sports data provider due to a network connectivity error. Kambi said it has updated its guidelines and retrained its traders to prevent a recurrence. Kambi, which is based in Malta, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday. Rush Street declined comment, and DraftKings had no immediate comment Monday. DraftKings stopped using Kambi in 2021. In March 2022 Rush Street took seven bets totaling just under $2,900 on three Magic City Jai Alai games after the results were already known. Kambi told the division it experienced a connectivity issue that allowed the bets to be accepted after the games were over. An explanation of what Kambi did to address the situation was blacked out in documents released by the division. A month earlier Rush Street took 13 wagers worth $8,150 with pre-match odds on a Professional Golf Association match after the event had already begun. In this case, Kambi told the division a newly hired trader failed to enter the correct closing time time for bets on the event. The trader and a supervisor underwent retraining. DraftKings was fined for taking bets on unapproved events including Russian basketball for nine months in 2020 and 2021. It eventually voided over $61,000 in bets and returned the money to customers after being directed to do so by the state. In this case, Kambi told the division it misidentified this particular Russian basketball league as one that was approved for wagering in New Jersey. DraftKings told the state it did not catch the error, either. In 2020, DraftKings accepted 484 wagers on unapproved table tennis matches. Kambi incorrectly enabled the events for wagering without conditions required by the state, the division said. In Feb. 2022, the division said DraftKings took pre-season NFL bets involving specific players but did not give the state specific information on what information was to be included in the bets, drawing 182 wagers worth nearly $7,000 that were later voided and refunded to customers. Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
Doctored images have been around for decades. The term "Photoshopped" is part of everyday language. But in recent years, it has seemingly been replaced by a new word: deepfake. It's almost everywhere online, but you likely won't find it in your dictionary at home. What exactly is a deepfake, and how does the technology work? RELATED STORY | Scripps News Reports: Sex, Lies, and Deepfakes A deepfake is an image or video that has been generated by artificial intelligence to look real. Most deepfakes use a type of AI called a "diffusion model." In a nutshell, a diffusion model creates content by stripping away noise. "With diffusion models, they found a very clever way of taking an image and then constructing that procedure to go from here to there," said Lucas Hansen said. He and Siddharth Hiregowdara are cofounders of CivAI, a nonprofit educating the public on the potential — and dangers — of AI. How diffusion models work It can get complicated, so imagine the AI – or diffusion model – as a detective trying to catch a suspect. Like a detective, it relies on its experience and training. It recalls a previous case -– a sneaky cat on the run. Every day it added more and more disguises. On Monday, no disguise. Tuesday, it put on a little wig. Wednesday, it added some jewelry. By Sunday, it's unrecognizable and wearing a cheeseburger mask. The detective learned these changes can tell you what it wore and on what day. AI diffusion models do something similar with noise, learning what something looks like at each step. "The job of the diffusion model is to remove noise," Hiregowdara said. "You would give the model this picture, and then it will give you a slightly de-noised version of this picture." RELATED STORY | Scripps News got deepfaked to see how AI could impact elections When it's time to solve the case and generate a suspect, we give it a clue: the prompts we give when we create an AI-generated image. "We have been given the hint that this is supposed to look like a cat. So what catlike things can we see in here? Okay, we see this curve, maybe that's an ear," Hiregowdara said. The "detective" works backward, recalling its training. It sees a noisy image. Thanks to the clue, it is looking for a suspect — a cat. It subtracts disguises (noise) until it finds the new suspect. Case closed. Now imagine the "detective" living and solving crimes for years and years. It learns and studies everything — landscapes, objects, animals, people, anything at all. So when it needs to generate a suspect or an image, it remembers its training and creates an image. Deepfakes and faceswaps Many deepfake images and videos employ some type of face swapping technology. You've probably experienced this kind of technology already — faceswapping filters like on Snapchat, Instagram or Tiktok use technology similar to diffusion models, recognizing faces and replacing things in real time. "It will find the face in the image and then cut that out kind of, then take the face and convert it to its internal representation," Hansen said. The results are refined then repeated frame by frame. The future and becoming our own detectives As deepfakes become more and more realistic and tougher to detect, understanding how the technology works at a basic level can help us prepare for any dangers or misuse. Deepfakes have already been used to spread election disinformation, create fake explicit images of a teenager, even frame a principal with AI-created racist audio. "All the netizens on social media also have a role to play," Siwei Lyu said. Lyu is a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at the University of Buffalo's Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and the director of the Media Forensics Lab. His team has created a tool to help spot deepfakes called "DeepFake-o-meter." "We do not know how to handle, how to deal, with these kinds of problems. It's very new. And also requires technical knowledge to understand some of the subtleties there," Lyu said. "The media, the government, can play a very active role to improve user awareness and education. Especially for vulnerable groups like seniors, the kids, who will start to understand the social media world and start to become exposed to AI technologies. They can easily fall for AI magic or start using AI without knowing the limits." RELATED STORY | AI voice cloning: How programs are learning to pick up on pitch and tone Both Lyu and CivAI believe in exposure and education to help combat any potential misuse of deepfake technology. "Our overall goal is that we think AI is going t impact pretty much everyone in a lot of different ways," Hansen said. "And we think that everyone should be aware of the ways that it's going to change them because it's going to impact everyone." "More than just general education — just knowing the facts and having heard what's going to happen," he added. "We want to give people a really intuitive experience of what's going on." Hansen goes on to explain CivAI's role in educating the public. "We try and make all of our demonstrations personalized as much as possible. What we're working on is making it so people can see it themselves. So they know it's real, and they feel that it's real," Hansen said. "And they can have a deep gut level feel for tthe impact that it's going to have." "A big part of the solution is essentially just going to be education and sort of cultural changes," he added. "A lot of this synthetic content is sort of like a new virus that is attacking society right now, and people need to become immune to it in some ways. They need to be more suspicious about what's real and what's not, and I think that will help a lot as well."Authors in Iceland aren’t pleased with the manner Storytel is treating them with, the website reported. They claim it to be too low to be to their liking. This has prompted the board of the Writers’ Union of Iceland (Rithöfundasamband Íslands) to advise authors not to submit their works to Storytel. This comes on the back of a survey conducted recently that revealed some startling figures. What has come to the fore is that Storytel contributes to 0 – 5 percent of the total wages of 84 percent of the authors. No wonder, a whopping 88 percent of those who participated in the survey said they aren’t satisfied with what they receive from Storytel. It is just a minuscule 3 percent of the authors who said they received more than 20 percent of their wages from the streaming service. The survey was conducted in the summer of 2024 and was aimed at finding out how much authors were earning from Storytel or how satisfied they were with the company. For this, it was two surveys that were prepared and sent out to the authors. The survey however threw up something that can be considered quite startling. A whopping 96 percent said they favor the publishing of more physical books over production of audiobooks. This is something that defies the global trend where audiobooks are seen gaining a consistently higher popularity compared to content in other formats. With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
Ireland’s premier has spoken to the Dublin woman who won a civil case against mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor to praise her courage. Taoiseach Simon Harris said he also wanted to tell Nikita Hand, a hair colourist from Drimnagh, that her case had prompted an increase in women coming forward to ask for support. Ms Hand, who accused the sportsman of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, won her claim against him for damages in a civil case at the High Court in the Irish capital on Friday. The total amount of damages awarded to Ms Hand by the jury was 248,603.60 euro (£206,714.31). Mr McGregor said in a post on social media on Friday that he intends to appeal against the decision. That post has since been deleted. Speaking to the media on Saturday, Mr Harris said he told Ms Hand of the support she has from people across Ireland. “I spoke with Nikita today and I wanted to thank her for her incredible bravery and her courage,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that she knew how much solidarity and support there was across this country for her bravery. “I also wanted to make sure she knew of what the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre had said yesterday – that so many other women have now come forward in relation to their own experiences of sexual abuse as a result of Nikita’s bravery.” The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said the case has had a “profound effect” on the people the charity supports, and that over the first 10 days of the High Court case, calls to its national helpline increased by almost 20%. It said that first-time callers increased by 50% compared to the same period last year, and were largely from people who had experienced sexual violence who were distressed and anxious from the details of case and the views people had to it. Mr Harris said: “I wanted to speak with her and I wanted to wish her and her daughter, Freya, all the very best night, and I was very grateful to talk with Nikita today. “Her bravery, her courage, her voice has made a real difference in a country in which we must continue to work to get to zero tolerance when it comes to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. “I don’t want to say too much more, because conscious there could be further legal processes, but I absolutely want to commend Nikita for her bravery, for her courage, for using her voice.” Justice Minister Helen McEntee praised Ms Hand’s bravery and said she had shown “there is light at the end of the tunnel”. She said: “I just want to commend Nikita for her bravery, for her determination and the leadership that she has shown in what has been – I’ve no doubt – a very, very difficult time for her and indeed, for her family. She added: “Because of wonderful people like Nikita, I hope that it shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel, that there are supports available to people, and that there is justice at the end of the day.” Ms Hand said in a statement outside court on Friday that she hoped her case would remind victims of assault to keep “pushing forward for justice”. Describing the past six years as “a nightmare”, she said: “I want to show (my daughter) Freya and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and justice will be served.” During the case, Ms Hand said she was “disappointed and upset” when the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided not to prosecute the case after she made a complaint to the Irish police. In a letter to her in August 2020, the DPP said there was “insufficient evidence” and there was not a reasonable prospect of conviction. Ms Hand asked the DPP to review the decision, saying she felt she was being treated differently because one of the suspects was famous. Asked about the DPP’s decision not to prosecute, Mr Harris and Ms McEntee stressed the importance of the DPP’s independence on whether to prosecute. “There are obviously structures in place where the DPP can meet a victim and can outline to them their reasons for not taking the case,” Mr Harris said. “But there’s also always an opportunity for the DPP in any situation – and I speak broadly in relation to this – to review a decision, to consider any new information that may come to light, and I don’t want to say anything that may ever cut across the ongoing work of the DPP.” Ms McEntee stressed that there should “never be any political interference” in the independence of the DPP’s decisions. “I have, since becoming minister, given priority to and enabled a new office within the DPP to open specifically focused on sexual offences, so that this issue can be given the focus and the priority that it needs,” she said.
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jarvis Walker's 20 points helped IU Indianapolis defeat Trinity Christian 106-49 on Saturday. Walker shot 7 for 12, including 6 for 10 from beyond the arc for the Jaguars (4-5). Paul Zilinskas shot 5 for 9, including 4 for 7 from beyond the arc to add 15 points. DeSean Goode had 14 points and shot 4 of 5 from the field and 5 for 5 from the line. The Trolls were led in scoring by Tylan Harris, who finished with 11 points. Kaden Eirhart added nine points for Trinity Christian. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
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Taoiseach Simon Harris said he also wanted to tell Nikita Hand, a hair colourist from Drimnagh, that her case had prompted an increase in women coming forward to ask for support. Ms Hand, who accused the sportsman of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, won her claim against him for damages in a civil case at the High Court in the Irish capital on Friday. The total amount of damages awarded to Ms Hand by the jury was 248,603.60 euro (£206,714.31). Mr McGregor said in a post on social media on Friday that he intends to appeal against the decision. That post has since been deleted. Speaking to the media on Saturday, Mr Harris said he told Ms Hand of the support she has from people across Ireland. “I spoke with Nikita today and I wanted to thank her for her incredible bravery and her courage,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that she knew how much solidarity and support there was across this country for her bravery. “I also wanted to make sure she knew of what the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre had said yesterday – that so many other women have now come forward in relation to their own experiences of sexual abuse as a result of Nikita’s bravery.” The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said the case has had a “profound effect” on the people the charity supports, and that over the first 10 days of the High Court case, calls to its national helpline increased by almost 20%. It said that first-time callers increased by 50% compared to the same period last year, and were largely from people who had experienced sexual violence who were distressed and anxious from the details of case and the views people had to it. Mr Harris said: “I wanted to speak with her and I wanted to wish her and her daughter, Freya, all the very best night, and I was very grateful to talk with Nikita today. “Her bravery, her courage, her voice has made a real difference in a country in which we must continue to work to get to zero tolerance when it comes to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. “I don’t want to say too much more, because conscious there could be further legal processes, but I absolutely want to commend Nikita for her bravery, for her courage, for using her voice.” Justice Minister Helen McEntee praised Ms Hand’s bravery and said she had shown “there is light at the end of the tunnel”. She said: “I just want to commend Nikita for her bravery, for her determination and the leadership that she has shown in what has been – I’ve no doubt – a very, very difficult time for her and indeed, for her family. She added: “Because of wonderful people like Nikita, I hope that it shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel, that there are supports available to people, and that there is justice at the end of the day.” Ms Hand said in a statement outside court on Friday that she hoped her case would remind victims of assault to keep “pushing forward for justice”. Describing the past six years as “a nightmare”, she said: “I want to show (my daughter) Freya and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and justice will be served.” During the case, Ms Hand said she was “disappointed and upset” when the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided not to prosecute the case after she made a complaint to the Irish police. In a letter to her in August 2020, the DPP said there was “insufficient evidence” and there was not a reasonable prospect of conviction. Ms Hand asked the DPP to review the decision, saying she felt she was being treated differently because one of the suspects was famous. Asked about the DPP’s decision not to prosecute, Mr Harris and Ms McEntee stressed the importance of the DPP’s independence on whether to prosecute. “There are obviously structures in place where the DPP can meet a victim and can outline to them their reasons for not taking the case,” Mr Harris said. “But there’s also always an opportunity for the DPP in any situation – and I speak broadly in relation to this – to review a decision, to consider any new information that may come to light, and I don’t want to say anything that may ever cut across the ongoing work of the DPP.” Ms McEntee stressed that there should “never be any political interference” in the independence of the DPP’s decisions. “I have, since becoming minister, given priority to and enabled a new office within the DPP to open specifically focused on sexual offences, so that this issue can be given the focus and the priority that it needs,” she said.Idaho Democrats announce the death of former Pocatello legislator Elaine Smith
GDIN CEO Jongkap Kim: "By matching technology needs with local markets, we create long-lasting joint ventures with multiple exit opportunities." SEOUL, South Korea , Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Digital Innovation Network (GDIN), led by CEO Jongkap Kim, proudly announced the major achievements of its 2024 Joint Venture Program. This program, which supports the establishment of joint ventures between South Korean companies and international partners, is designed to lower market entry barriers and create sustainable growth opportunities through local collaborations. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
The reconciliation committee constituted by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje led National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to reconcile aggrieved party members and stakeholders has stormed Adamawa state to begin effort to uniting the party ahead of 2027. Addressing party chieftains and other stakeholders at the party secretariat in Yola Monday, the chairman of the reconciliation committee who was also the former military governor of Plateau state, Senator Mohammed Mana, said the party national leadership and other stakeholders were seriously disturbed with internal wranglings and divisions rocking the party in the state. He said the situation prompted the decision to set up the committee to meet with all stakeholders and reconcile the party. He reiterated the commitment of the party to reunite the party in the state, stressing that their mission was to reconcile the party to enable it regain its lost glory. He assured that they would be fair, honest, just and urged all aggrieved members to feel free to express their grievances for necessary actions and total reconciliation. Mana further noted that APC was a grassroots party to beat in Adamawa which enabled them to produce the gubernatorial, National Assembly and other elective positions but due to internal divisions, the party lost the state in 2019 and 2023 elections. He, therefore, emphasised the need for all to sheathe their swords by putting the collective interest of the party in their hands and work together to retake over the state in 2027. According to him, the party and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu held the state in high esteem which was why the President appointed so many Adamawa sons and daughters into strategic positions in his government. Earlier, the Adamawa state APC Chairman, Barrister Idris Shuaibu, welcomed the reconciliation committee and lauded the effort of the party’s national leadership to reconcile the party in the state. He expressed optimism in the capacity of the committee to reconcile the party in the state going by the calibre of people in the committee and their track records. He, therefore, urged all aggrieved members to give maximum cooperation to the committee to enable them succeed in their assignments.
