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The National Packaging Centre (NPC) of the Export Development Board (EDB) recently conducted an awareness session focusing on ‘Packaging Solutions for Fruits and Vegetables’ at the EDB premises. One of the objectives of conducting this awareness session was to reduce post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables through innovative packaging solutions and enhance the value of export products, benefitting the broader economy. In Sri Lanka, post-harvest losses are significant, affecting 20%-30% of vegetables and 15%-20% of fruits. Inadequate packaging has been identified as a major cause of these losses. The session was conducted in collaboration with packaging experts from the industry and the National Plant Quarantine Service, with the participation of 70 exporters and potential exporters. The NPC was established for the promotion and development of the packaging industry in Sri Lanka. It supports a wide range of stakeholders, including exporters, manufacturers, designers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), women entrepreneurs, students, and research institutions. By fostering collaboration among Government bodies and other partners, the NPC plays a vital role in advancing Sri Lanka’s packaging industry and supporting sustainable growth in the agricultural export sector. The session featured insightful lectures by Packaging Consultant W. Abhaya Senavirathna, design83 CEO Dulesh Fernando, and National Plant Quarantine Service Deputy Director S.D. Kamani Priyadarshani. Key topics such as packaging concepts, packaging materials, packaging technology, packaging design, and graphic design for fruits and vegetable packing, as well as the importance of the plant quarantine certificate and the process of obtaining the certificate were mainly discussed. Participants also learned about the importance of proper packaging, selection of the most effective methods, and selecting the right materials to prevent product degradation. Further, packaging experts provided tailored solutions for appropriate packaging methods for export potential entrepreneurs participating in the program. In addition, Mount Packs Ltd. conducted a practical demonstration by packaging a sample of corrugated boxes. At the end of the program, an evaluation was conducted due to the significant contributions made by the resource persons to enhance capacity and knowledge. The participants highly appreciated the usefulness of the program.
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PRAYAGRAJ, India: Beside India’s holy rivers, a makeshift city is being built for a Hindu religious festival expected to be so vast it will be seen from space, the largest gathering in history. Line after line of pontoon bridges span the rivers at Prayagraj, as Indian authorities prepare for 400 million pilgrims—more than the combined population of the United States and Canada—during the six-week-long Kumbh Mela. The millennia-old sacred show of religious piety and ritual bathing is held once every 12 years at the site where the holy Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet. But this edition from January 13 to February 26 is expected to be a mega draw, as it is set to coincide with a special alignment of the planets. Beads of sweat glisten on laborer Babu Chand’s forehead as he digs a trench for seemingly endless electrical cables, one of an army of workers toiling day and night at a venue sprawling over 4,000 hectares (15 square miles). “So many devotees are going to come,” 48-year-old Chand told AFP, who says he is working for a noble cause for the mela, or fair. “I feel I am contributing my bit—what I am doing seems like a pious act.” A humongous tent city, two-thirds the area of Manhattan, is being built on the floodplains of Prayagraj, formerly called Allahabad, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. “Some 350 to 400 million devotees are going to visit the mela, so you can imagine the scale of preparations,” said Vivek Chaturvedi, the spokesman for the festival. Preparing for the Kumbh is like setting up a new country, requiring roads, lighting, housing and sewerage. “What makes this event unique is its magnitude and the fact that no invitations are sent to anybody... Everyone comes on their own, driven by pure faith,” Chaturvedi told AFP. “Nowhere in the world will you see a gathering of this size, not even one-tenth of it.” The Kumbh numbers, according to Chaturvedi, are mind-boggling. Some 150,000 toilets have been built, 68,000 LED lighting poles have been erected, and community kitchens can feed up to 50,000 people at the same time. Alongside religious preparations, Prayagraj has undergone a major infrastructure overhaul, and huge posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath dot the city. Both are from the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with politics and religion deeply intertwined. The Kumbh Mela is an ancient celebration, with its origins rooted in Hindu mythology. Hindus believe that taking a dip in Sangam, the confluence of the rivers, will cleanse them of their sins and help them attain “moksha”, setting them free from the cycle of birth and death. According to legends, deities and demons fought over a pitcher—or “kumbh”—containing the nectar of immortality. During the battle, four drops fell to Earth. One drop landed in Prayagraj. The others fell at Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain—the three other cities where the rotating Kumbh Mela is held on other years. But the one in Prayagraj—held every 12 years—is the largest. Organizing authorities are calling it the great, or “Maha” Kumbh Mela. The last Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj in 2019 saw 240 million devotees, according to authorities—but that was the smaller “Ardh” or half festival, spaced in between the main event. — AFPTheir ages vary. But a conspicuous handful of filmmaking lions in winter, or let’s say late autumn, have given us new reasons to be grateful for their work over the decades — even for the work that didn’t quite work. Which, yes, sounds like ingratitude. But do we even want more conventional or better-behaved work from talents such as Francis Ford Coppola? Even if we’re talking about “Megalopolis” ? If Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2” gave audiences a less morally complicated courtroom drama, would that have mattered, given Warner Bros.’ butt-headed decision to plop it in less than three dozen movie theaters in the U.S.? Coppola is 85. Eastwood is 94. Paul Schrader, whose latest film “Oh, Canada” arrives this week and is well worth seeking out, is a mere 78. Based on the 2021 Russell Banks novel “Foregone,” “Oh, Canada” is the story of a documentary filmmaker, played by Richard Gere, being interviewed near the end of his cancer-shrouded final days. In the Montreal home he shares with his wife and creative partner, played by Uma Thurman, he consents to the interview by two former students of his. Gere’s character, Leonard Fife, has no little contempt for these two, whom he calls “Mr. and Mrs. Ken Burns of Canada” with subtle disdain. As we learn over the artful dodges and layers of past and present, events imagined and/or real, Fife treats the interview as a final confession from a guarded and deceptive soul. He’s also a hero to everyone in the room, famous for his anti-Vietnam war political activism, and for the Frederick Wiseman-like inflection of his own films’ interview techniques. The real-life filmmaker name-checked in “Oh, Canada” is documentarian Errol Morris, whose straight-to-the-lens framing of interview subjects was made possible by his Interrotron device. In Schrader’s adaptation, Fife doesn’t want the nominal director (Michael Imperioli, a nicely finessed embodiment of a second-rate talent with first-rate airs) in his eyeline. Rather, as he struggles with hazy, self-incriminating memories of affairs, marriages, one-offs with a friend’s wife and a tense, brief reunion with the son he never knew, Fife wants only his wife, Emma — his former Goddard College student — in this metaphoric confessional. Schrader and his editor Benjamin Rodriguez Jr. treat the memories as on-screen flashbacks spanning from 1968 to 2023. At times, Gere and Thurman appear as their decades-young selves, without any attempt to de-age them, digitally or otherwise. (Thank god, I kind of hate that stuff in any circumstance.) In other sequences from Fife’s past, Jacob Elordi portrays Fife, with sly and convincing behavioral details linking his performance to Gere’s persona. We hear frequent voiceovers spoken by Gere about having ruined his life by age 24, at least spiritually or morally. Banks’ novel is no less devoted to a dying man’s addled but ardent attempt to come clean and own up to what has terrified him the most in the mess and joy of living: Honesty. Love. Commitment. There are elements of “Oh, Canada” that soften Banks’ conception of Fife, from the parentage of Fife’s abandoned son to the specific qualities of Gere’s performance. It has been 44 years since Gere teamed with Schrader on “American Gigolo,” a movie made by a very different filmmaker with very different preoccupations of hetero male hollowness. It’s also clearly the same director at work, I think. And Gere remains a unique camera object, with a stunning mastery of filling a close-up with an unblinking stillness conveying feelings easier left behind. The musical score is pretty watery, and with Schrader you always get a few lines of tortured rhetoric interrupting the good stuff. In the end, “Oh, Canada” has an extraordinarily simple idea at its core: That of a man with a movie camera, most of his life, now on the other side of the lens. Not easy. “I can’t tell the truth unless that camera’s on!” he barks at one point. I don’t think the line from the novel made it into Schrader’s script, but it too sums up this lion-in-winter feeling of truth without triumphal Hollywood catharsis. The interview, Banks wrote, is one’s man’s “last chance to stop lying.” It’s also a “final prayer,” dramatized by the Calvinist-to-the-bone filmmaker who made sure to include that phrase in his latest devotion to final prayers and missions of redemption. “Oh, Canada” — 3 stars (out of 4) No MPA rating (some language and sexual material) Running time: 1:34 How to watch: Opens in theaters Dec. 13, running 1in Chicago Dec. 13-19 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.; siskelfilmcenter.org Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.
IRS Releases Final Regulations Under Section 48 of the CodeTraffic Advisory: Circle Drive And Millar Avenue - Saskatoon Police ServiceOregon Duck legend and fan favorite Kenjon Barner, a 9-year veteran in the NFL with three Super Bowl rings and a Consensus All-American for UO in 2012, had strong words for Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes after their 13-10 loss to Michigan at the Horseshoe today. The Bucknuts laid an egg during the game, losing to That Team Up North for the fourth time in a row, all on Day's watch. They missed two field goals and Will Howard threw a pair of costly picks. The first came early in the second quarter, intercepted by Aamir Hill at the OSU 11 and returned down to the two, setting up the Wolverines' only touchdown, a one-yard run by Kalel Mullings. The teams were tied 10-10 at halftime. Number two ranked Ohio State had a chance to take a lead in the third quarter on a drive that reached the Michigan 16, third and 7. Howard got some inside pressure from Kenneth Grant and threw wide of his target, into the arms of Michigan's Makari Paige. It stayed 10-10 until late in the fourth quarter when the visitors drove 57 yards for a short field goal in the final minute. The Buckeyes tried to put together a comeback in the last 45 seconds but Howard threw incomplete on third and fourth down. Go Blue, 19-point underdogs going in, went into Victory Formation for an upset victory, knocking their bitter rivals out of the Big Ten Championship Game and a potential top seed in the College Football Playoff. After the game a few of the jubilant MIchigan players tried to plant their flag at midfield in the O logo. A fight broke out, with a couple of Wolverine players and a photographer pepper sprayed by police, a melee at midfield that last several minutes. © Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images It was an ugly scene, and Barner, a veteran of three PAC-12 Championships and many victories in big games, had harsh words for the Buckeyes on X. Just after the game and the brouhaha he posted, "Now if Ohio State would have had the same fight in them during the game the outcome might have been different! That’s a bad look!" Now if Ohio st would have had the same fight in them during the game the outcome might have been different! That’s a bad look! Multiple fights breaking out after Michigan takes down Ohio State for the 4th straight year #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/jURVibT6kG
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is pushing toward a vote on legislation that would provide full Social Security benefits to millions of people, setting up potential passage in the final days of the lame-duck Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday he would begin the process for a final vote on the bill, known as the Social Security Fairness Act , which would eliminate policies that currently limit Social Security payouts for roughly 2.8 million people. Schumer said the bill would “ensure Americans are not erroneously denied their well-earned Social Security benefits simply because they chose at some point to work in their careers in public service.” The legislation passed the House on a bipartisan vote, and a Senate version of the bill introduced last year gained 62 cosponsors. But the bill still needs support from at least 60 senators to pass Congress. It would then head to President Biden. At least one GOP senator who signed onto similar legislation last year, Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, said he was still “weighing” whether to vote for the bill next week. “Nothing ever gets paid for, so if it's further indebtedness, I don't know,” he said. Decades in the making, the bill would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that broadly reduce payments to two groups of Social Security recipients: people who also receive a pension from a job that is not covered by Social Security and surviving spouses of Social Security recipients who receive a government pension of their own. The bill would add more strain on the Social Security Trust funds , which were already estimated to be unable to pay out full benefits beginning in 2035. It would add an estimated $195 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office . The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget also estimates that if passed, the policy would hasten the Social Security program's insolvency date by about half a year as well as reduce lifetime Social Security benefits by an additional $25,000 for a typical dual-income couple retiring in 2033. Sen. John Thune, the no. 2 Republican in leadership, acknowledged that the policy has strong bipartisan support, but said some Republicans also want to see it “fixed in the context of a broader Social Security reform effort.” Conservatives have opposed the bill, decrying its cost. “Even for something that people consider to be a good cause, it shows a lack of concern for the future of the country, so I think it would be a big mistake,” said Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky. Still, other Republicans have pushed Schumer to bring it up for a vote. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said last month that the current federal limitations “penalize families across the country who worked a public service job for part of their career with a separate pension. We’re talking about police officers, firefighters, teachers, and other public employees who are punished for serving their communities.” He predicted the bill would pass. ___ Stephen Groves, The Associated Press
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It looks like the great MAGA love story of Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle has come to an end, with the oldest son of President-elect Donald Trump seen holding hands with his reputed new girlfriend, Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, during a dinner date in her hometown Monday. Photos of Trump Jr. and Anderson, walking hand-in-hand while leaving a swanky Palm Beach restaurant, offer “incontrovertible proof” that the soon-to-be first son has moved on from Guilfoyle , his long-time fiancée and partner in pro-Donald Trump campaigning, the Daily Mail reported . Trump Jr., 46, has replaced Guilfoyle, 55, with Anderson, known as a 37-year-old “it girl” with a natural style of glamour, the Daily Mail has concluded. The New York Post also confirmed Tuesday that Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle had split — shortly before the incoming president announced that he had appointed the former Fox News host to serve as ambassador to Greece in his new White House term. “For many years, Kimberly has been a close friend and ally,” Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday afternoon, the Post and other outlets reported. “Her extensive experience and leadership in law, media, and politics along with her sharp intellect make her supremely qualified to represent the United States, and safeguard its interests abroad.” Guilfoyle, also the ex-wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said Tuesday that she was “honored to accept” Trump’s nomination, which requires Senate approval. Trump Jr. added on X : “I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and she always has wanted to serve the country as an Ambassador.” Any suggestion that Trump was sending Guilfoyle abroad to make way for his son’s new romance with Anderson was met with scorn by the president-elect’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, the New York Times reported . Cheung said such speculation was “sexist.” Whatever led to Guilfoyle’s appointment, the “loved-up” Trump Jr. and Anderson spent nearly two hours at the Palm Beach restaurant Buccan Monday night, the Daily Mail reported. The restaurant is some three miles from Anderson’s West Palm Beach townhouse, where the two “have been spending days and nights,” the Daily Mail added. But if Trump Jr. has been staying at Anderson’s place, that means that Guilfoyle could be holing up in the mansion about 20 miles north that she and Trump Jr. purchased together after they moved to Florida in 2021. Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle announced their “secret” engagement in early 2022, with the former San Francisco first lady sharing an Instagram photo showing her sporting a massive, sparkling diamond on the fourth finger of her left hand. She declared in a caption, “I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.” Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle began dating in 2018, shortly after Trump Jr.’s first wife, Vanessa, filed for divorce to end their 12-year marriage. Trump Jr. and Vanessa share five children. As a couple, Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle, a former San Francisco prosecutor, became known as “the prom king and queen of MAGA” politics as they campaigned together around the country on his father’s behalf. At donor events, they also were known for alluding to their playful sex life , while Guilfoyle often liked to introduce herself to the crowd — or appear at Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 rally preceding the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol — doing a sexy dance . Now comes the idea that Trump Jr. has ended his once red-hot romance with Guilfoyle. Then again, speculation has been brewing for months that they were no longer a couple. The Daily Mail first reported in September that his “dalliance” with Anderson had become an “open secret” in elite Republican circles in and around ritzy Palm Beach. The Daily Mail reported that Guilfoyle was said to be coming to terms that her fiancé had been “fooling around” with another woman. “Kimberly either didn’t know about Bettina — or didn’t want to know,” an insider told The Daily Mail in September. “Did she hear whispers that Don Jr. was fooling around with someone else? Probably.” At the time, the Daily Mail also revealed that Trump Jr. and Anderson had been seen “canoodling” and “kissing” during an “intimate brunch” in August. Breakup speculation grew on on election night, when Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump family observers noted a physical distance between Guilfoyle and Trump Jr., as they joined the rest of the family and other top supporters on stage in Florida to celebrate Trump’s return to the White House. Trump Jr. could even be seen in video, trying to avoid standing next to Guilfoyle several times before finally settling on turning his back on her, the Daily Beast reported. But Trump Jr. wasn’t the only person who may have been trying to avoid Guilfoyle that night, according to another Daily Beast report. She seemed to be getting “major side-eye” from Trump Jr.’s oldest daughter, Kai Trump. Though just 17, Kai has emerged as an enthusiastic MAGA influencer and leading voice in the young, up-and-coming generation of America’s new ruling dynasty. She’s also created a major presence on social media by sharing slickly produced photos and videos about the fun she has hanging out with her beloved, president-elect “grandpa.” In those posts, Kai has given off major signals as to who’s in and who’s out in the family’s inner circle, according to the Daily Beast. From Kai’s perspective, Guilfoyle looked to be on the outs with the “side-eye” she appeared to give her. If GuIlfoyle hasn’t “won her would-be stepdaughter over, it could be an uphill battle for her future as Mrs. Don Jr.,” the Daily Beast said. Two days later, Kai Trump posted a curious family photo on X — that didn’t include Guilfoyle. The photo was taken at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach resort on election night, and the teenager captioned it “the whole squad.” The photo showed the future 47th president surrounded by all five of his adult children and three of their partners, along with Kai and her four siblings. But Guilfoyle was notably absent from the “squad” photo. More or less in her place was Vanessa Trump, who stood with her ex-husband and their five children. Speaking of Vanessa Trump, Anderson bears some resemblance to her, with both women sporting slender model looks and long, light-colored hair. Anderson often posts photos of herself modeling designer outfits in glamorous settings. She cheekily refers to herself on Instagram as “Your typical stay at home mom ... only I don’t do household chores... or have a husband... or have kids.” Anderson and Vanessa Trump also appeared to be pretty friendly when the socialite attended an “intimate” gathering of Trump supporters in Jupiter, Florida over the summer, the Daily Mail said in another report. Photos and videos shared on social media showed Anderson sitting close to both Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump. Kai Trump also was seen in the background, sharing a hug with her father and chatting with her mother and with Anderson. Again, Guilfoyle didn’t appear in any of these images. The Daily Mail reported Tuesday that Guilfoyle has not been photographed with Trump Jr. since Nov. 12. Meanwhile, Trump Jr. and Anderson looked very much like an established couple while leaving the restaurant in Palm Beach Monday night, according to the Daily Mail. They left the restaurant with another couple, and Trump Jr. could be heard laughing before he and Anderson said goodbye to the others and headed across the street to his pickup truck, while still holding hands. The first report about Trump Jr.’s alleged romance with Anderson came about four months after he proclaimed his love for Guilfoyle as the couple marked six years together. “Happy 6 year anniversary @kimberlyguilfoyle thanks for always being there no matter what the haters are throwing our way. I love you,” Trump Jr. gushed in an Instagram post. To mark the occasion, Guilfoyle also wrote on Instagram : “You are my best friend and my soulmate. Here’s to us and out incredibly blessed life we share together. Looking forward to creating new memories and enjoying more adventures together.”In a way, tariffs, sanctions and bans all boil down to one word: no. We’ve just had a month of “no”. No-vember, you could even say. But not all noes are the same. Tariffs, sanctions and bans are designed to achieve different things. This November, the words became confused, a scrambled negation. So it is with Donald Trump’s tariffs , promised during the election campaign as a way to protect American manufacturing interests in the face of competition from global trade. These promises spoke to the towns and cities gutted and citizens rendered jobless and hopeless as corporates offshored their business. They painted a picture of resurgent industry and innovation in America, leading to prosperity for working people. Trump’s tariff announcement wiped billions from the Australian sharemarket. Credit: The idea of tariffs has economists in a flap. As you are sure to have heard them patiently, if condescendingly, explain by now, tariffs are really taxes on consumers in the country that imposes them. They make imported goods more expensive, lowering the overall buying power of the average punter. In an economists’ paradise, our interests would be best served by removing trade barriers entirely and letting every country produce according to its ability and sell to others according to their need. Unfortunately, humanity has proven unworthy of this lofty ideal. In the real world, there are wars and chaos. In this world, a tariff can serve a strategic purpose – for instance, a country might put a tariff on the import of milk to protect its local milk producers. This ensures it always has access to the nutritious comestible, even if supply chains are cut off or relations with the supplying nations sour. Loading Trump isn’t yet president again, but he’s already described the tariffs he actually plans to make policy. When he gains office, at the end of January next year, he will slap a 25 per cent tariff on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, along with another 10 per cent tariff on China. But here’s the perplexing thing: the purpose of these so-called tariffs is not to protect US industry (at least not any legal one) from cheaper goods from overseas. The tariffs Trump has announced since winning have been focused on curbing the importation of illegal drugs and stopping immigrants entering the US without permission. Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, that his tariffs “will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Which reveals the problem: the word tariff doesn’t mean what Trump thinks it means. A tariff levied on all goods for the purposes of forcing a country to comply with international rules, such as respect for borders and prohibitions on narcotics, is not a tariff at all. It’s a sanction. Sorry, not sorry, for splitting that hair. Confounding tariffs and sanctions is a serious matter, which will lead to poor policy outcomes and worse living conditions for your average world citizen. Only pedantry can save us now. Loading It could save sex, too, and the joy of human relations. To celebrate this No-vember, American women unhappy with Donald Trump’s win imported the 4B movement from South Korea. The name translates to the Four Noes – because adherents say no to dating men, no to marrying men, no to having sex with men, and no to having children with men (which presumably means no entirely to the last, given the tricky gamete situation faced by our dioecious species). This is a classic case of imposing a sanction where a tariff would be better suited. It must be assumed that the women committing themselves to 4B are heterosexual women (otherwise there’s nothing to give up) who have decided, on the basis that some men have political or social attitudes that they disagree with, to place sanctions on the entire gender. Not only is this a neat illustration of the fact that sanctions can also have consequences for the sanctioning party – these women are denying their own urges to inflict a punishment on others – but it demonstrates the importance of choosing the right tariff, sanction or ban to achieve your objective. In this case, a tariff would be more beneficial. Instead of swearing off men entirely, heterosexual women (who want those things) could impose an extra cost on sex, dating, marriage and children by only engaging in those activities with men who treat women well and respect their physical autonomy. There are no rules that tariffs have to be levied in dollars and cents. Loading You could say that, before social norms changed, the tariff levied on sex used to be marriage; selecting for character was called being choosy. Sure, it’s harder to find a decent man than settle for one who’s handy, randy and willing. But as we’ve already established, while tariffs might protect something we consider desirable, they do it by making goods dearer for the consumer. At least, unlike sanctions, tariffs don’t render them unavailable entirely. So the power of pedantry to clarify the different types of “no” is crucial to getting the best out of national and social relations. But it could also create a better conversation around the so-called social media bans for under 16s. This legislation has been rammed through parliament just in time for parents to spend Christmas trying to explain it to their children. The trouble is, the ban is not a ban – it’s an attempt to respond to the damage that autoplay and algorithms are doing to attention spans and to discourage a scrolling spiral of harmful content. And that needs, somehow, to stop. Most people don’t necessarily want to ban social media; we want it to be better. Targeted modifications could help, but even more powerful would be a subscription fee that would force platforms to verify users through a credit card payment. So, yes, it would cost the consumer to fix social media. But if there’s one thing we can learn from this November, it’s that saying no – whether through tariffs, sanctions or bans – can, in the right circumstances, be worth the price. Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director at campaigns firm Agenda C. She has done work for the Liberal Party and the German Greens. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Trade wars Opinion Donald Trump Trump diplomacy China Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director at campaigns firm Agenda C. She has done work for the Liberal Party and the German Greens. Most Viewed in Business Loading
The Kremlin fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday in response to Kyiv's use this week of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia, President Vladimir Putin said. In a televised address to the country, the Russian president warned that U.S. air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies at ten times the speed of sound and which he called the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree. He also said it could be used to attack any Ukrainian ally whose missiles are used to attack Russia. “We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” Putin said in his first comments since President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light this month to use U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike at limited targets inside Russia. RELATED STORY | Russia says Ukraine fired 6 US-made missiles at the Bryansk region, days after Biden policy shift Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia’s missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. “This was new type of lethal capability that was deployed on the battlefield, so that was certainly of concern," Singh said, noting that the missile could carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. The U.S. was notified ahead of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels, she said. The attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro came in response to Kyiv's use of longer-range U.S. and British missiles in strikes Tuesday and Wednesday on southern Russia, Putin said. Those strikes caused a fire at an ammunition depot in Russia's Bryansk region and killed and wounded some security services personnel in the Kursk region, he said. RELATED STORY | Biden authorizes Ukraine's use of US-supplied long-range missiles for deeper strikes inside Russia “In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in kind,” the Russian president said, adding that Western leaders who are hatching plans to use their forces against Moscow should “seriously think about this.” Putin said the Oreshnik fired Thursday struck a well-known missile factory in Dnipro. He also said Russia would issue advance warnings if it launches more strikes with the Oreshnik against Ukraine to allow civilians to evacuate to safety — something Moscow hasn’t done before previous aerial attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially said Russia hadn’t warned the U.S. about the coming launch of the new missile, noting that it wasn't obligated to do so. But he later changed tack and said Moscow did issue a warning 30 minutes before the launch. Putin's announcement came hours after Ukraine claimed that Russia had used an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dnipro attack, which wounded two people and damaged an industrial facility and rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, according to local officials. But American officials said an initial U.S. assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the use of the missile was an "obvious and serious escalation in the scale and brutality of this war, a cynical violation of the UN Charter.” He also said there had been “no strong global reaction” to the use of the missile, which he said could threaten other countries. “Putin is very sensitive to this. He is testing you, dear partners,” Zelenskyy wrote. “If there is no tough response to Russia’s actions, it means they see that such actions are possible.” The attack comes during a week of escalating tensions, as the U.S. eased restrictions on Ukraine's use of American-made longer-range missiles inside Russia and Putin lowered the threshold for launching nuclear weapons. The Ukrainian air force said in a statement that the Dnipro attack was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea. “Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is,” Zelenskyy said hours before Putin's address. “And how afraid he is.” Russia was sending a message by attacking Ukraine with an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of releasing multiple warheads at extremely high speeds, even if they are less accurate than cruise missiles or short-range ballistic missiles, said Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “Why might you use it therefore?” Savill said. "Signaling — signaling to the Ukrainians. We’ve got stuff that outrages you. But really signaling to the West ‘We’re happy to enter into a competition around intermediate range ballistic missiles. P.S.: These could be nuclear tipped. Do you really want to take that risk?’” Military experts say that modern ICBMs and IRBMs are extremely difficult to intercept, although Ukraine has previously claimed to have stopped some other weapons that Russia described as “unstoppable,” including the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missile. David Albright, of the Washington-based think tank the Institute for Science and International Security, said he was “skeptical” of Putin’s claim, adding that Russian technology sometimes “falls short.” He suggested Putin was “taunting the West to try to shoot it down ... like a braggart boasting, taunting his enemy.” Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use the U.S.-supplied, longer-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia — a move that drew an angry response from Moscow. Days later, Ukraine fired several of the missiles into Russia, according to the Kremlin. The same day, Putin signed a new doctrine that allows for a potential nuclear response even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. The doctrine is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons. In response, Western countries, including the U.S., said Russia has used irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behavior throughout the war to intimidate Ukraine and other nations. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Russia’s formal lowering of the threshold for nuclear weapons use did not prompt any changes in U.S. doctrine. She pushed back on concerns that the decision to allow Ukraine to use Western missiles to strike deeper inside Russia might escalate the war. ′′They’re the ones who are escalating this,” she said of the Kremlin — in part because of a flood of North Korean troops sent to the region. More than 1,000 days into war, Russia has the upper hand, with its larger army advancing in Donetsk and Ukrainian civilians suffering from relentless drone and missile strikes. Analysts and observers say the loosening of restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western missiles is unlikely to change the course of the war, but it puts the Russian army in a more vulnerable position and could complicate the logistics that are crucial in warfare. Putin has also warned that the move would mean that Russia and NATO are at war. “It is an important move and it pulls against, undermines the narrative that Putin had been trying to establish that it was fine for Russia to rain down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles on Ukraine but a reckless escalation for Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons at legitimate targets in Russia,” said Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security adviser who now sits in the House of Lords.
Move over ‘Barbenheimer,’ hello...'Glicked'?
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