Categories
Small Business Ideas

G20 summit calls for more aid to Gaza and an end to the war in Ukraine [Video]

Brazil’s president opened the second day of a meeting of the world’s 20 major economies Tuesday by calling for more action to slow global warming, saying developed nations must speed up their initiatives to reduce harmful emissions.President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva’s comments came the day after representatives of the G20 nations endorsed a joint statement that called for a pact to combat hunger, more aid for Gaza, an end to the war in Ukraine and other goals, amid global uncertainty surrounding the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.The president of Brazil, the host of the two-day meeting, opened Tuesdays session focusing on environmental challenges, saying developed nations should consider moving their 2050 emission goals forward to 2040 or 2045.The G20 is responsible for 80% of greenhouse effect emissions, he said. Even if we are not walking the same speed, we can all take one more step.In addition to a $325 million contribution for the World Bank clean technology fund, U.S. President Joe Biden has announced a series of climate and development related initiatives. But many of them would require buy-in from Trump, who opposes such projects and has called the climate crisis a hoax.Biden has also urged G20 members to each commit $2 billion to replenish a pandemic fund established in 2022. Biden has pledged the U.S. will provide up to $667 million by 2026, but that would require Congressional approval.Condemnation of wars but without casting blameThe joint statement approved Monday night called for urgent humanitarian assistance and better protection of civilians caught up in conflicts in the Middle East, plus affirmed the Palestinian right to self-determination.The war in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who dont distinguish between civilians and combatants when counting the dead. More than 3,500 people also have been killed in Lebanon due to Israels offensive against Hezbollah, according to Lebanons Health Ministry.The document didn’t mention the suffering of Israel, which is not a G20 member, nor the 100 or so Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.Looming large at the meeting on Monday was news of Biden easing of restrictions on Ukraines use of longer-range U.S. missiles to allow it to strike more deeply inside Russia also played into the meetings.The United States strongly supports Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should, as well, Biden said.Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t attend, and instead sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Putin has avoided such summits since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant that obliges member states to arrest him.The G20 declaration highlighted the human suffering in Ukraine and called for peace, but didn’t name Russia.The declaration avoids pointing the finger at the culprits, said Paulo Velasco, an international relations professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. It doesnt make any critical mention of Israel or Russia, but it highlights the dramatic humanitarian situations in both cases.The entire declaration lacks specificity, Velasco said, calling it a declaration of goodwill with “very few concrete, tangible measures.Push to tax global billionaires, fight global hunger and reform the UNThe declaration also suggested taxing global billionaires, which would affect about 3,000 people around the world.Brazils government stressed that Lulas launch of a global alliance against hunger and poverty on Monday was as important as the final G20 declaration. The alliance is backed by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and, as of Monday, 82 nations had signed onto the plan, Brazils government said.Leaders also pledged to work for transformative reform of the U.N. Security Council so that it aligns with the realities and demands of the 21st century, makes it more representative, inclusive, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable.Virtually all countries agree that nearly eight decades after the United Nations was established, the Security Council charged with maintaining international peace and security should be expanded to reflect the 21st century world and include more voices.The declaration doesnt specify the shape that reform should take.Argentina’s objectionsThe clause on billionaire taxes was included despite opposition from Argentina, as was another promoting gender equality, according to an official from Brazil and one from another G20 country, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly.Argentina did sign the G20 declaration, but had issues with references to the U.N.s 2030 sustainable development agenda, which right-wing President Javier Milei calls a supranational program of a socialist nature.Milei also objected to the idea that governments should do more to fight hunger, and said efforts to regulate hate speech on social media would infringe on national sovereignty.Milei, an outspoken critic of Lula, has recently adopted a Trump-like role as a spoiler in multilateral talks.Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, warned that Argentina’s last-minute approval of the joint statement “gave us a taste of what could come once Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president again. When that happens, Milei will not be embarrassed about troubling international negotiations.___Aamer Madhani in Rio de Janeiro, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, and Isabel DeBre in La Paz, Bolivia, contributed to this report.

Categories
Small Business Ideas

Impossible to imagine: Ret. Gen. is skeptical Trump admin. will court martial military leaders [Video]

As he prepares his Cabinet and administration picks, President-elect Trump and his transition team have floated the idea of court martials for military leaders in charge of carrying out the countrys withdrawal from Afghanistan under the Biden administration. Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey shares his thoughts on this and the Biden administrations change of policy regarding Ukraine.

Categories
Small Business Ideas

Body camera video shows arrest of driver accused of driving the wrong way past VP motorcade

PULLED HIM OVER. CLEARLY, TOO LITTLE, TOO MUCH TO DRINK, EVEN THOUGH WITH YOUR MILLER LITE HERE, IT DOESNT MATTER. NEW VIDEO TONIGHT SHOWS THE MOMENTS AFTER POLICE PULLED OVER WAYNE WALKER. LETS GET HIM OUT FIRST. LETS GET HIM OUT. PROSECUTORS SAY WALKER DROVE THIS CAR THE WRONG WAY ON 794, PASSING THE VICE PRESIDENTS MOTORCADE. TWO TRAILING MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPUTIES IN THE MOTORCADE STOPPED HIM. YOU KNOW, YOU COULD HAVE KILLED SOMEBODY, RIGHT? GOING THE WRONG WAY IN TRAFFIC, MAN. IM VERY BUSY HIGHWAY HERE. ONCE PULLED OVER, HE CANT FIND HIS DRIVERS LICENSE. SECRET SERVICE QUESTIONS HIM. SECRET SERVICE? I DONT. WHAT? SEE A BUNCH OF CARS GO BY. WERE GOING THE WRONG WAY. YEAH. WALKER SAYS HE HAD TWO BEERS AND WAS CONFUSED. IF THE VICE PRESIDENT WAS IN TOWN. ANY IDEA KAMALA HARRIS WAS IN TOWN? WELL, I GUESS I DID GET THE DRIVER RIGHT OFF THE HIGHWAY. RICHLAND. WHERE HE GOT ON THE HIGHWAY? YEAH. WHAT WAS LATER? THE SECRET SERVICE TRIES TO FIGURE OUT HIS MOTIVATION. IF THERE WAS ONE FOR DRIVING THE WRONG WAY. ARE YOU MOTIVATED BY ANY KIND OF EXTREMISM GROUP? ARE YOU INVOLVED OR ASSOCIATED WITH ANY KIND OF GROUPS? NO. DEPUTIES EVENTUALLY TAKE HIM OFF THE INTERSTATE AND GIVE HIM A FIELD SOBRIETY TEST, WHERE HE REPEATEDLY STUMBLES. ONE, TWO. HELLO? AND HE AGREES TO A BREATHALYZER TEST. I PASSED. ALL RIGHT, SO YOURE YOURE AT A .252. OKAY. SO THATS THATS MORE THAN THREE TIMES THE LEGAL LIMIT WHEN YOURE GOING TO BE PLACED UNDER ARREST FOR OWI TONIGHT. OKAY. INCREDIBLE VIDEO THERE, JAMES. THIS HAPPENED BEFORE ELECTION DAY. HIS ATTORNEY SAID WALKER MEANT NO HARM IN A COURT HEARING LAST WEEK. HIS ATTORNEY TOLD 12 NEWS THIS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ELECTION OR THE FACT THAT VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS WAS SIMPLY DRIVING BY. WALKER, CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE

Categories
Small Business Ideas

Both sides of Question 2 make last minute push ahead of Election Day [Video]

With Election Day only one day away, the final push for both the “yes” and “no” sides of Ballot Question 2 has brought in big names and big money to try to help voters make up their minds.Three weeks ago, a UMass poll showed the “yes” side with a double-digit lead.However, a new UNH poll shows the “yes” side’s lead cut to six points, with a margin of error of three and a half points either way. 8% of voters are still undecided.Actor and Cambridge-native Matt Damon plays pitchman in a last-minute social media ad for the “yes” on 2 campaign.”High stakes testing, in general, tends to narrow the curriculum and the curriculum so that teachers are teaching to the test,” Damon said in the video.If approved, Question 2 would eliminate the MCAS exam as a high school graduation requirement in Massachusetts. The “yes” side has been funded almost entirely by the Massachusetts Teachers Association.”That video by Matt Damon, son of an educator, by the way, and obviously a product of our public schools in Cambridge, has gone everywhere and means a lot,” said Max Page, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. “He’s obviously a famous figure but much revered.”The ‘no” campaign has also gotten a last-minute boost from a well-known name. Former New York City Mayor and Medford native Michael Bloomberg has contributed $2.5 million. The fight has split state leaders, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the “yes” side, while Gov. Maura Healey is on the “no” side.”She’s been clear so that folks like me can say to our neighbors and friends and other parents, this is an issue that the highest levels of state leadership are saying is a bad idea,” said Jill Norton, from the No on 2 Campaign.Even with Bloomberg’s last-minute contribution, the state’s campaign finance website shows the “yes” side has outspent the “no” side by more than $8 million.

Categories
Small Business Ideas

‘We can get things done’: Sen. Angus King is running for re-election [Video]

TURNING NOW TO COMMITMENT 2024 – WE’RE HELPING YOU HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THE CANDIDATES FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. TONIGHT YOU’LL HEAR FROM SENATOR ANGUS KING. THE INDEPENDENT SENATOR SAYS HE IS RUNNING FOR RE- ELECTION BECAUSE HE BELIEVES THE MIDDLE IS SHRINKING IN CONGRESS. CATE MCCUSKER REPORTS. FORMER MAINE GOVERNOR AND CURRENT SENATOR ANGUS KING IS RUNNING FOR RE- ELECTION. 00;00;42;13 – 00;01;07;29 “I RAN IN 2012, WAS REELECTED IN 18 AND REALLY DIDN’T INTEND TO RUN AGAIN THIS YEAR. BUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES, REALLY MADE ME THINK IT WAS IMPORTANT TO DO SO.” AS AN INDEPENDENT – HE HOPES TO CONTINUE TO STRIVE FOR THE MIDDLE GROUND IN CONGRESS. 00;23;11;03 – 00;23;30;06 I DON’T WANT TO SEE THE SENATE BECOME SO POLARIZED. NOBODY’S TALKING TO EACH OTHER, AND NOBODY’S GETTING ANYTHING DONE. MY WHOLE REASON FOR DOING THIS IS TO MAKE IT WORK FOR THE COUNTRY AND FOR MAINE. KING SAYS HE’S PURSUING SEVERAL WAYS TO HELP WITH THE ECONOMY 00;03;19;17 – 00;03;45;16 HOUSING IS A HIGH PRIORITY BECAUSE THAT CONTRIBUTES SO CRITICALLY TO THE COST OF LIVING. AND THEN WE’VE GOT THINGS LIKE THE HIGH COST OF OF GROCERIES. BUTTED 00;03;45;19 – 00;04;12;02 AND ONE OF THE PROBLEMS THAT I’M FOCUSED ON IS WHAT I CALL CONCENTRATION IN THE ECONOMY. BUTTED 00;04;30;05 – 00;04;56;06 MY FIGHT IS ON KEEPING COMPETITION ALIVE IN THE MARKETPLACE TO BRING COSTS DOWN. IN RESPONSE TO THE LEWISTON MASS SHOOTING – KING IS WORKING TO REGULATE HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINES AND TO ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH. 00;08;30;24 – 00;08;55;14 THE GO SAFE ACT BASICALLY SAYS NO MORE THAN TEN BULLETS IN A MAGAZINE, PERIOD. CAN’T BE MODIFIED, CAN’T BE ENLARGED. AND WE BELIEVE, LOOKING AT THE HISTORY OF THESE MASS SHOOTINGS, THAT WOULD MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE. BUTTED 00;08;55;16 – 00;09;28;12 BUT THE OTHER PIECE IS, MENTAL HEALTH AND BRAIN DAMAGE. LEWISTON INVOLVED AN INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS IN THE MILITARY WHOSE BRAIN HAD BEEN DAMAGED BY REPEATED EXPOSURE TO EXPLOSIONS. WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR THE TWO TERM SENATOR – AND HE PLEDGED TO SUPPORT EFFORTS TO CODIFY ROE V WADE. 00;12;56;29 – 00;13;27;14 THAT’S ONE OF MY HIGHEST PRIORITIES. AND THIS IDEA THAT IT SHOULD BE STATE BY STATE, A WOMAN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS SHOULD NOT DEPEND ON THEIR ZIP CODE. IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT. HE ALSO CRITICIZED REPUBLICANS FOR BLOCKING A BORDER SECURITY BILL – AND SAYS HE HAS AND WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR A SOLUTION. 00;16;10;28 – 00;16;39;09 I’VE BEEN STRONG ON BORDER SECURITY EVER SINCE I’VE BEEN THERE. IN FACT, THE PRIOR STRONGEST BORDER SECURITY BILL I AND SENATOR MIKE ROUNDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA WERE THE PRIME SPONSORS OF. WE GOT IT TO THE FLOOR. IT WAS A PRETTY SIMPLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD BILL THAT WOULD HAVE BUILT DONALD TRUMP’S WALL AND IT WOULD HAVE ACCOUNTED FOR THE DREAMERS. AND THE 80 YEAR OLD SENATOR DEFENDED HIS AGE – AND SAYS HE IS FIT TO SERVE THE PEOPLE OF MAINE. 00;18;57;01 – 00;19;18;01 I’M A YEAR YOUNGER THAN MICK JAGGER. BUTTED 00;19;18;03 – 00;19;43;25 I FEEL GREAT. I HAVE THE ENERGY ENGAGEMENT. I ALSO HAVE THE EXP