All posts tagged: push

Palestinian allies make last-ditch push for speaker on the DNC stage

Palestinian allies make last-ditch push for speaker on the DNC stage

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — Arab Americans, Muslim Americans and their interfaith allies spent much of Thursday (Aug. 22) pushing Democratic officials to allow a Palestinian American to speak from the party convention’s main stage, to convey a message of solidarity despite the party’s so-far consistent support for Israel in its prosecution of the war in Gaza. The push was accompanied by an all-night sit-in outside Chicago’s United Center at which members of the “uncommitted” movement also made speeches pressing the Democratic National Convention to feature a Palestinian speaker. The uncommitted — so-called because members of the movement wrote in “uncommitted” on their ballots rather than vote for President Joe Biden in this year’s Democratic primaries — want the DNC to recognize the suffering of Palestinians, 40,000 of whom have been killed by Israel’s massive Gaza assault of the past 10 months, an assault backed by U.S. bombs and munitions that has flattened the Gaza Strip and left tens of thousands homeless.  In an emotional speech from the stage of the convention on Wednesday, Israeli Americans Rachel Goldberg-Polin …

‘Push through the painful bit’: record 3,000 people join nude Dark Mofo swim in Derwent | Hobart

‘Push through the painful bit’: record 3,000 people join nude Dark Mofo swim in Derwent | Hobart

Published by skeptic

Double up on your socks, leave your shoes on until the last minute, don’t overthink it and bring a friend. Those were some of the top tips shared among a record crowd of 3,000 people who went for a nude sunrise swim in Hobart’s River Derwent on Friday to mark the winter solstice. Shrieks filled the air at 7.42am as the brave swimmers celebrated the passing of the longest night of the year. Tasmanian Bec Wade, who was perhaps a little more prepared than most, said the experience was invigorating. “There is a group of us who go [swimming] every Sunday morning,” she said. “But this is iconic – to be in a big group of people doing the same thing.” Solstice sunrise swimmers Bec Trollip and Bec Wade. Photograph: Ethan James/AAP Wade and her friend Bec Trollip said wearing two pairs of socks before and after taking the plunge and packing a vacuum flask with a hot drink were essential. “It was really hard when [the water] reached your waist – you had to …

Ukraine Plans Privatization Push to Help Fund War Effort

Ukraine Plans Privatization Push to Help Fund War Effort

Published by Sam

Towering over Kyiv for six decades, Hotel Ukraine has witnessed some pivotal moments in Ukraine’s recent history. Crowds gathered on the square in front of the 14-story hotel to celebrate the fall of the Soviet Union. Popular uprisings on what was later called Independence Square toppled Ukrainian leaders. Today, blue and yellow flags cover lawns near the hotel, serving as a reminder of the many lives lost in the war between Ukraine and Russia. Now, Hotel Ukraine is up for auction as part of an effort to sell off some large state assets to help fund the military and bolster an economy battered by a grueling war that has drained the country’s coffers. The starting price for Hotel Ukraine is $25 million. Beginning this summer, the government will auction some 20 state-owned companies, including Hotel Ukraine, a vast shopping mall in Kyiv, and several mining and chemical companies. The privatization push has two main goals: to raise money for a state budget that is short $5 billion this year for military spending, and to strengthen …

Blinken to visit Middle East next week to push ceasefire plan as war enters ninth month

Blinken to visit Middle East next week to push ceasefire plan as war enters ninth month

Published by Sam

Back to homepage / Middle East AS IT HAPPENED US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the Middle East next week to push a plan for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the State Department announced Friday. Blinken, who will be paying his eighth visit to the region since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, will visit Israel and key US Arab partners Egypt, Jordan and Qatar from Monday through Wednesday, the State Department said. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. Issued on: 07/06/2024 – 03:21Modified: 07/06/2024 – 22:47 2 min Food and good stalls are set-up by vendors outside the burnt out ruins of the building (L) housing the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip on June 7, 2024. © Omar Al-Qattaa, AFP This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here. Summary: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the Middle East next week to push a plan for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, …

Tribunal cases to rise as UK firms push back on remote working, experts say | Working from home

Tribunal cases to rise as UK firms push back on remote working, experts say | Working from home

Published by skeptic

Lawyers and HR experts expect an increase in employment tribunal cases as companies increasingly clamp down on working from home and staff become resentful that the flexibility they have enjoyed since the Covid crisis is being slowly rolled back. A number of companies are now advocating a full five-day return to the office, with others enforcing a minimum number of days in the workplace. Administrative staff at Boots, who previously worked in the office three days a week, will return to the office five days a week from September. Many US banks, such as Goldman Sachs, also expect senior staff to come in for the full week, and its chief executive, David Solomon, labelled remote working an “aberration”. Lawyers say some employers have become emboldened after an employment tribunal earlier this year rejected the case of a senior manager who sued the City watchdog, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), because she wanted to work at home full-time. The employment judge Robert Richter ruled that the financial watchdog was within its rights to reject Elizabeth …

China’s push for greener aluminium hit by erratic rains, power cuts

China’s push for greener aluminium hit by erratic rains, power cuts

Published by skeptic

BEIJING: Erratic rainfall in China’s southwest is frustrating a multibillion-dollar push to green an aluminium industry that accounts for almost 60 per cent of global output and, by some estimates, emits more carbon dioxide than Australia. Lured by official promises of cheap hydropower, China Hongqiao Group and a handful of other coal-reliant smelters several years ago began moving 6.56 million metric tons of capacity – about 15 per cent of China’s total – from the northern rust belt to the mountainous and ethnically diverse Yunnan province, known for tea, coffee and wild mushrooms. The opportunity to cut electricity bills and help the world’s top polluter tackle global warming seemed like a safe bet. But as Yunnan’s rivers and reservoirs dwindled amid poor rainfall, which some experts attribute to climate change, so did the reliability of electricity. Reuters interviews with almost two dozen industry figures and analysts, as well as company filings and official documents, found insufficient hydropower has meant that only a little over half of the planned aluminium capacity shift has materialised. Some smelters …

Shareholders push casinos to reassess indoor smoking

Shareholders push casinos to reassess indoor smoking

Published by skeptic

A new strategy has emerged in the battle to ban smoking in casinos: the shareholder vote. Shareholders at Boyd Gaming, Bally’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment will put on the ballot at the respective casino companies proposals to force them to study the costs associated with permitting smoking indoors — and whether going smoke-free could save money. The proposals are sponsored by Trinity Health, a nonprofit health care network, and the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. Trinity Health, based in Livonia, Michigan, has used its shareholder status to fight for various health initiatives despite the fact that it owns just a tiny fraction of these companies. For example, public records show Trinity owns just 440 shares of Bally’s stock, or about 0.001% of the company. Boyd, Bally’s and Caesars fought to keep the proposals out of the proxy materials distributed to shareholders. The Securities and Exchange Commission denied the casinos’ requests, and the proposals as well as the rationale behind them were delivered to all shareholders. Boyd will face a vote over a smoke-free assessment at its annual shareholder meeting Thursday. Bally’s holds its annual …

House votes overwhelmingly to save Speaker Johnson from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s push to oust him

House votes overwhelmingly to save Speaker Johnson from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s push to oust him

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his allies beat back a dramatic effort by far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust him from power on Wednesday, ending — for now — months of threats against his speakership. The lopsided vote to “table” or kill Greene’s motion to vacate the speaker’s chair was 359-43. Just 10 Republicans voted with Greene, seven Democrats voted present. There were 196 Republicans and 163 Democrats who voted to kill Greene’s motion; along with the 11 Republicans, 32 Democrats voted to move forward with her motion to oust Johnson. The vote came after weeks of threats from Greene to force the issue and after dragging her feet as it became clear she didn’t have enough support to remove the speaker. Unlike last year’s successful vote to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., many Democrats had made clear they would vote to save the speaker, especially after Johnson helped stave off a government shutdown, pushed through the renewal of a critical FISA spy tool and passed billions of dollars in foreign aid for Ukraine after months …