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( MENAFN - Gulf Times) Msheireb Downtown Doha (MDD), in partnership with the Doha film Institute (DFI), has announced the screening of the documentary Ode to Our Land, a tribute to His Highness the Father Amir sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani's visionary leadership in building a modern, prosperous nation. The documentary, directed by Amal al-Muftah and Rawda al-Thani, will be screened at Barahat Msheireb on Qatar National Day (QND), December 18, at 3pm. The film highlights His Highness' commitment to transforming Qatar into a modern, thriving nation, ensuring the prosperity of all its people while advancing Qatar's role in the Arab world. The film screening is part of a broader series of events organised by MDD to mark QND and offer diverse programming during the winter months. This includes a range of family-friendly activities, performances, and competitions to engage guests of all ages. Starting at 4pm on December 18, activities will take place in Sahat Al Nakheel, where visitors can enjoy traditional Qatari performances such as the Ardha (sword dance), arts and crafts workshops, and more. Baraha Cinema, an open-air cinema, will screen films from December 18-January 4, 2025, offering family-friendly movie nights in partnership with Novo Cinema. Additionally, the live screening of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup Qatar 2024 final will take place at Barahat Msheireb on December 18. From December 21-January 3, the live screening of Gulf Cup 2024 matches will also be held at Barahat Msheireb. MDD is also hosting a variety of activities as part of its winter season programming, which runs through February 2025. The Mal Awal exhibition, showcasing the history of video games from the perspective of local collectors, will be on display at Sahat Al Nakheel Msheireb until April 10, 2025. The Winter Experience at The Company House Courtyard will run from January 2-31, turning the space into a luxurious winter destination with cozy cabanas and fire pits. MDD will host the Qatar Investment and Innovation Conference on January 15, bringing together industry leaders to discuss how emerging technologies can drive economic growth and regional co-operation. From January 23-February 1, 2025, Sahat Al Nakheel at MDD will come alive with Candy Zone, with towering sweet-themed structures, colourful installations, and the Candy Land experience. On January 30-31, 2025, Barahat Msheireb will host Downtown Tech, showcasing the latest in artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and autonomous vehicles. The event will bring together innovators, tech enthusiasts, and industry leaders to explore how these technologies are shaping the future. MDD will celebrate Qatar National Sport Day on February 11, featuring interactive sports stations and activations. Cultural enthusiasts can look forward to the Orchestra in Barahat Msheireb performances, in partnership with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, on February 14-15 and 18-19. A series of Ramadan Iftar and Suhoor events is also planned offering exquisite dining and live entertainment. MENAFN16122024000067011011ID1109000085 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.Brian Thompson: UnitedHealthcare CEO Was Facing Investigation and Was Allegedly Involved in Insider Trading When He Was Shot and KilledNone
French lawmakers on Wednesday voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, an historic move which hurled the country further into political uncertainty. For the first time in over sixty years, the National Assembly lower house toppled the incumbent government, approving a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far-right headed by Marine Le Pen. Barnier's rapid ejection from office comes after snap parliamentary elections this summer which resulted in a hung parliament with no party having an overall majority and the far-right holding the key to the government's survival. President Emmanuel Macron now has the unenviable choice of picking a viable successor with more than two years of his presidential term left. He is to address the nation at 1900 GMT on Thursday, the Elysee said. The National Assembly debated a motion brought by the hard left in a standoff over next year's austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote. With the support of the far-right, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voted to oust the government. Speaker Yael Braun-Pivet confirmed Barnier would now have to "submit his resignation" to Macron and declared the session closed. Macron flew back into Paris just ahead of the vote after wrapping up his three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, an apparent world away from the domestic crisis. He strolled earlier on Wednesday through the desert sands of the Al-Ula oasis, an iconic tourist project of the kingdom, marvelling at ancient landmarks. After landing, he headed direct to the Elysee Palace. "We are now calling on Macron to go," Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party told reporters, urging "early presidential elections" to solve the deepening political crisis. But taking care not to crow over the fall of the government, Le Pen said in a television interview that her party – once a new premier is appointed – "would let them work" and help create a "budget that is acceptable for everyone." Laurent Wauquiez, the head of right-wing deputies in parliament, said the far-right and hard-left bore the responsibility for a no-confidence vote that will "plunge the country into instability." Macron on Tuesday had rejected calls to resign, saying such a scenario amounted to "political fiction." With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes against the threat of cutbacks, action that will shut schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis. The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures proposed by their respective ministries this autumn. Meanwhile, Macron is due to host a major international event on Saturday, with the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since he was elected to be the next US president. (AFP)
DALLAS (AP) — More than 60 years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated , conspiracy theories still swirl and any new glimpse into the fateful day of Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas continues to fascinate . President-elect Donald Trump promised during his reelection campaign that he would declassify all of the remaining government records surrounding the assassination if he returned to office. He made a similar pledge during his first term, but ultimately bended to appeals from the CIA and FBI to keep some documents withheld. At this point, only a few thousand of the millions of governmental records related to the assassination have yet to be fully released, and those who have studied the records released so far say that even if the remaining files are declassified, the public shouldn't anticipate any earth-shattering revelations. “Anybody waiting for a smoking gun that’s going to turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed,” said Gerald Posner, author of “Case Closed,” which concludes that assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Friday's 61st anniversary is expected to be marked with a moment of silence at 12:30 p.m. in Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy's motorcade was passing through when he was fatally shot. And throughout this week there have been events marking the anniversary. When Air Force One carrying Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy touched down in Dallas , they were greeted by a clear sky and enthusiastic crowds. With a reelection campaign on the horizon the next year, they had gone to Texas on political fence-mending trip. But as the motorcade was finishing its parade route downtown, shots rang out from the Texas School Book Depository building. Police arrested 24-year-old Oswald and, two days later, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer. A year after the assassination, the Warren Commission, which President Lyndon B. Johnson established to investigate the assassination, concluded that Oswald acted alone and there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But that hasn't quelled a web of alternative theories over the decades. In the early 1990s, the federal government mandated that all assassination-related documents be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration. The collection of over 5 million records was required to be opened by 2017, barring any exemptions designated by the president. Trump, who took office for his first term in 2017, had boasted that he'd allow the release of all of the remaining records but ended up holding some back because of what he called the potential harm to national security. And while files have continued to be released during President Joe Biden's administration, some still remain unseen. The documents released over the last few years offer details on the way intelligence services operated at the time, and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas. Mark S. Zaid, a national security attorney in Washington, said what's been released so far has contributed to the understanding of the time period, giving “a great picture” of what was happening during the Cold War and the activities of the CIA. Posner estimates that there are still about 3,000 to 4,000 documents in the collection that haven’t yet been fully released. Of those documents, some are still completely redacted while others just have small redactions, like someone's Social Security number. There are about 500 documents where all the information is redacted, Posner said, and those include Oswald's and Ruby’s tax returns. “If you have been following it, as I have and others have, you sort of are zeroed in on the pages you think might provide some additional information for history,” Posner said. Trump's transition team hasn’t responded to questions this week about his plans when he takes office. From the start, there were those who believed there had to be more to the story than just Oswald acting alone, said Stephen Fagin, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which tells the story of the assassination from the building where Oswald made his sniper's perch. “People want to make sense of this and they want to find the solution that fits the crime," said Fagin, who said that while there are lingering questions, law enforcement made “a pretty compelling case” against Oswald. Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said his interest in the assassination dates back to the event itself, when he was a child. “It just seemed so fantastical that one very disturbed individual could end up pulling off the crime of the century," Sabato said. “But the more I studied it, the more I realized that is a very possible, maybe even probable in my view, hypothesis.”
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‘A milestone moment for Roswell Park’: Roswell creates new cell therapy centerAdobe Stock image With a business community still uncertain of chatbots and artificial intelligence, Fresno-based tech company Xobee Networks has leveraged AI tools to help expand its market reach and enhance operations, leading to rapid expansion for the company. Speaking at The Business Journal’s roundtable discussion on AI last month, Xobee Vice President of Support and Services Brandon Griggs shared some of the ways the company uses AI technology to influence everything from client interactions to major business decisions. “We’ve been investing in AI internally,” Griggs said during the discussion. “It’s not a stretch of the imagination to say that Xobee is 100% run by AI tools.” After developing three generations of internal AI-driven software, Xobee has gained the ability to have its systems effectively streamline processes, identify trends and provide personalized service, helping the company remain competitive in the Central Valley and beyond. Utilizing extensions of tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Xobee has trained its AI models on more than a decade of company data. The customization allows the AI to reflect the company’s preferred tone and style in communications. Much like training a new employee, the AI model enters the environment with some knowledge of the company, but needs to be streamlined and trained in order to work effectively. Griggs described the process as being similar to hiring a new employee fresh out of college — they have the basics, but users still need to teach it the specifics of your practice. AI assists technicians by refining their time entries and communication, transforming technical notes into polished, professional responses. Griggs used the example of how rough employee notes like “logged in, spoke with Susie, fixed the printer,” can be rewritten by AI into client-friendly updates including relevant resources and other helpful information. Griggs said that the technology allows technicians to focus on their strengths — critical thinking and problem-solving — while AI handles communication refinement. “We allow them [our employees] to really just fly free with what they are good at, which is critical thinking, deductive reasoning, problem solving and such, so that they can really focus on the matter,” Griggs said. The company does, of course, review all responses before delivering them to clients, ensuring that AI has not made any errors in its assessment, adding that the human-tech connection works as a competitive advantage for Xobee. “You don’t just say go and something pops up that’s just the most prolific answer you’ve ever seen, but it does help you steer in the right direction,” Griggs said. “The human aspect of it can remain kind of creative and not burdened down with research and procedural data analysis.” In addition to its outward facing AI tools that assist clients and employees alike, Xobee also leverages AI to assist decision making internally. One area that Xobee has utilized AI in the past is in acquisitions. By analyzing financial data, industry trends and even source code, the company can identify potential growth opportunities. Griggs used the recent acquisition of South Coast Computers, a software developer based in Orange, California, to strengthen its expertise in customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Griggs went on to explain that AI played a crucial role in evaluating the firm’s potential, analyzing its past projects and skill sets to determine how they could effectively integrate with Xobee. AI doesn’t provide “divine answers,” Griggs said, but it provides valuable data points. Griggs emphasized that while AI plays a key role in the company’s recent success and their framework moving forward, its intent is not to limit the human workforce. Ultimately, Xobee’s decisions are human-driven and guided by human intuition and strategic judgement — something that AI cannot effectively replicate. One of the key players and minds behind Xobee’s intuition and judgement comes from founder Eric Rawn. “Our founder, Eric Rawn, is very good with his gut feeling as to where the business should go,” Griggs said. “We do use it, though, to put a bunch of ideas in there, contextualize it around, maybe industry data...trying to hypothesize what may be coming across, what we need to be doing to remain competitive in our space.” Griggs said that the insights gained from AI-driven analysis are being incorporated into the company’s fourth-generation of software tools, placing Xobee firmly in the driver’s seat to leverage the technology now and well into the future. “If they can use those [tools] as sidekicks, assistance, additional resources, more tools in the toolbox...they can understand those tools and how to use them to really do what they do for business,” Griggs said. A local company is making it easier for kids to Editor’s note: On Nov. 15, The Business Journal’s news team The multi-family investment market in the Central Valley has slowed A coffee shop from a well-known area restaurant group looksGreenville girls’ basketball to look quite different in follow-up to championship year
No. 7 Tennessee dispatches UT Martin to remain undefeatedIsrael and Lebanon's Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has approved a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire is set to take hold at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Israeli warplanes have carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict amid a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across Lebanon, according to local authorities. President Joe Biden said his administration now would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. What both sides are saying about the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group won backing from Israeli leaders. The truce that is set to take effect early Wednesday raised hopes and renewed difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict. Hezbollah leaders also signaled tentative backing for the U.S.-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities But the deal does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since Hamas militants attacked southern Israel last October. Trump vows tariffs over immigration. What the numbers say about border crossings, drugs and crime. WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is threatening tariffs on Mexico and Canada as he seeks to portray them as responsible for illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Over its tenure, the Biden administration has struggled with growing numbers of migrants arriving at the southern border. But this year, the number of people crossing the border without documents has actually been falling. That's due in part to stricter enforcement by Mexican authorities as well as asylum restrictions announced earlier this year by the Biden administration. When it comes to fentanyl smuggling, much of the deadly supply comes from Mexico though statistics show more than 86% of those sentenced for fentanyl trafficking crimes in the 12 months ending September 2023 were U.S. citizens. AP finds that a Pentagon-funded study on extremism in the military relied on old data Early this year, Pete Hegseth told a Fox News audience a new, Pentagon-funded study proved that the number of military service members and veterans involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection did not indicate a wider problem in the armed forces. Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick to head the Department of Defense, wasn’t alone. The Wall Street Journal’s opinion page highlighted the same report as evidence that extremists in military communities were “phantoms” created by a “false media narrative.” The X account for Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee posted that the study showed the focus on extremism in the military was a “witch hunt.” But The Associated Press has found that the study relied on old data, misleading analyses and ignored evidence that pointed to the opposite conclusion. How Trump's bet on voters electing him managed to silence some of his legal woes WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith move to abandon two federal cases accusing Trump of endangering American democracy and national security does away with the most serious legal threats Trump was facing as he returns to the White House. It was the culmination of a monthslong defense effort to delay the proceedings at every step and use the criminal allegations to Trump's political advantage, putting the final word in the hands of voters instead of jurors. The move just weeks after Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris underscores the immense personal stake Trump had in the campaign in which he turned his legal woes into a political rallying cry. Walmart's DEI rollback signals a profound shift in the wake of Trump's election victory NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart’s sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at U.S. companies that are re-evaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programs to bolster historically underrepresented groups in business. The changes announced by the world’s biggest retailer on Monday followed a string of legal victories by conservative groups that have filed an onslaught of lawsuits challenging corporate and federal programs aimed at elevating minority and women-owned businesses and employees. The retreat from such programs crystalized with the election of former President Donald Trump, whose administration is certain to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs a priority. Brazil’s Bolsonaro planned and participated in a 2022 coup plot, unsealed police report alleges SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of and actively participated in a coup plot to remain in office after his defeat in the 2022 election, according to a Federal Police report that has been unsealed. Brazil’s Federal Police last Thursday formally accused Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup. They sent their 884-page report to the Supreme Court, which lifted the seal. Bolsonaro called a meeting in December 2022, during which he presented a draft decree to the commanders of the three divisions of the armed forces, that would have declared the vote fraudulent, to justify a possible military intervention. Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of obese Americans would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning. The proposal, which would not be finalized until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, could cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade. It would give millions of people access to weekly injectables that have helped people shed pounds so quickly that some people have labeled them miracle drugs. New rule allows HIV-positive organ transplants People with HIV who need a kidney or liver transplant will be able to receive an organ from a donor with HIV. That's according to a new rule announced Tuesday by U.S. health officials. Previously, such transplants could be done only as part of research studies. The new rule takes effect Wednesday. It's expected to shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status, by increasing the pool of available organs. The practice is supported by a decade of research, during which 500 transplants of kidneys and livers from HIV-positive donors have been done in the U.S. Surveillance tech advances by Biden could aid in Trump's promised crackdown on immigration President-elect Donald Trump will return to power next year with a raft of technological tools at his disposal that would help deliver his campaign promise of cracking down on immigration — among them, surveillance and artificial intelligence technology that the Biden administration already uses to help make crucial decisions in tracking, detaining and ultimately deporting immigrants lacking permanent legal status. One algorithm, for example, ranks immigrants with a “Hurricane Score,” ranging from 1-5, to assess whether someone will “abscond” from the agency’s supervision.
No. 7 Tennessee dispatches UT Martin to remain undefeatedNo. 7 Tennessee dispatches UT Martin to remain undefeated
Blindfire - Official PlayStation Launch TrailerNoneFrench government falls in historic no-confidence voteTRENTON, N.J. - New technology is being deployed to find out more information after the spike in drone sightings in New Jersey and beyond . Gov. Phil Murphy says he got a firsthand look at the latest drone detection hardware from the federal government that's been deployed to monitor the skies of New Jersey. He said they haven't found anything yet, and he's being asked a lot of questions about it . "This is 24/7. I can't walk out that door and somebody not stop me and say 'Tell me what's going on with the drones,'" Murphy said Monday. "There may be suspicious activity out there as we stand here today. But there is little to no evidence of that right now." Despite drone sightings near military bases and airports , officials say there's no known threat to the public. Watchung, N.J. Mayor Ronald Jubin took blurry videos of what he described as large drones outside his home. He's been disappointed with the lack of information from the state and federal government since the drone phenomenon started. "They seem to be out most every night," he said. "If we don't have answers, it leads to conspiracy questions, whether we know, we're all in collusion. So I always say, is it conspiracy or is it incompetence? I don't want to be tagged with either." President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he believes the feds know more about the drones than they're letting on. "Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense. I can't imagine it's the enemy, because if it was the enemy, they'd blast it out," Trump said. Officials said many of the drone sightings reported turn out to actually be manned aircraft. They say there are also copycats taking to the skies for some fun. Murphy said the recent drone activity is a wakeup call that the U.S. needs to do better when it comes to protecting the homeland from drone incursions. The FBI's Newark office and New Jersey state police warned people that more pilots of manned aircraft are being struck by lasers from people on the ground who think they're pointing at drones. They also warned people not to open fire at what they think might be drones. "There are many different websites and mobile applications the public can access through various governmental agencies and private companies that show flight paths for manned aircraft, satellites in Earth's orbit, and stars and planets visible on a given evening that can help determine if people are seeing UAS or something else," the FBI said in a statement. In New York City, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner spoke out. Tons of public concern and issue about this issue. Point is to reassure the public. "You have a really strong uptick in reporting, but not a strong uptick in actual drone detection which makes sense. All people are seeing on the news is drone sightings everywhere so we're getting a lot of misattributed activity," Weiner said. "We have a lot of commercially available hobby drones that are being flown in the city regularly. For some context, over the weekend we had 120 or so 911/311 calls which is a lot more than we had the whole month of November. So people are really reporting drone activity." On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he's requesting the Department of Homeland Security deploy a detection system that specializes in tracking drones . Gov. Kathy Hochul has said Congress needs to pass a bill to allow New York the authority to detect, track, and potentially destroy drones. That bill, however, has been stuck in committees. The FBI says it has received approximately 5,000 tips on the aircraft sightings , and of those, less than 100 leads were deemed worthy of further investigation. Nick Caloway is a multi-skilled journalist who was thrilled to join the CBS News New York news team in August 2019. Since then, Nick has covered crime, politics, the pandemic and more across the Tri-State Area.
A Labour MP’s call for a law to tackle Islamophobia has provoked concerns about Keir Starmer ’s commitment to freedom of speech. Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley MP Tahir Ali raised the issue of hate crimes against Muslims as part of Islamophobia awareness month on November. He went on: “Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the desecration of religious texts, including the Koran, despite opposition from the previous government. “Acts of such mindless desecration only serve to fuel division and hatred within our society. Will the prime minister commit to introducing measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and the prophets of the Abrahamic religions?” The MP later tweeted: “As November marks Islamophobia Awareness Month, it is vital the Government takes clear and measurable steps to prevent acts that fuel hatred in society.” The problem of Islamophobia has been a growing issue in the UK and appears to have been exacerbated by the Israel/ Gaza war. In the year following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, the charity Tell Mama UK said it has recorded 4,971 incidents of anti-Muslim hate, the highest annual total in 14 years. Mr Ali’s question raised concerns he was in effect calling for a blasphemy law, but Sir Keir did not reject the proposal in his answer while not committing himself to any specific action. He replied: “I agree that desecration is awful and should be condemned across the House. We are, as I said before, committed to tackling all forms of hatred and division, including Islamophobia in all its forms.” Tory veteran MP Sir David Davis, a longstanding campaigner foor civil rights who once resigned his seat in protest over government authoritarianism during Tony Blair’s government, expressed his disappointment at the prime minister’s response. He posted on X (formerly Twitter): “For centuries, one of the most important features of Britain’s freedom of speech is the absolute right to criticise religion. Freedom of speech is fundamental to everything we have and everything we stand for. I regret Keir Starmer did not make that clear to Mr Ali at PMQs.” Journalist and former peer Matt Ridley described it as a “black day”. He said: “A truly black moment for Britain to hear a prime minister effectively endorse the idea that we should reintroduce blasphemy laws.”
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Trump has promised again to release the last JFK files. But experts say don’t expect big revelationsA new look, same goodness: Malta Guinness reintroduces itself with style
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