'Was adopted in an orphanage in Calcutta': Who is Indian-origin New York State senator Jeremy Cooney?

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial: After Kid Cudi, Cassie Ventura names Britney Spears and Michael B. Jordan in testimony

Cassie Ventura's testimony in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking trial revealed shocking details, including Combs inviting Britney Spears to her 21st birthday and suspecting her of an affair with Michael B. Jordan. Ventura also recounted threats against Kid Cudi, alleging Combs mentioned blowing up Cudi's car.

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FBI axes public corruption squad ‘CR15’ that backed Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into Trump’s Capitol riots

The FBI has disbanded CR15, a key unit that supported the investigation into Donald Trump, citing corruption and a broader reorganization. This decision follows earlier cuts to the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section and a shift in FBI resources towards immigration enforcement.

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Russian court jails prominent election monitoring activist for 5 years

A Moscow court sentenced Grigory Melkonyants, a leader of election monitoring group Golos, to five years in prison for organizing an "undesirable" organization. Melkonyants, who rejects the charges as politically motivated, is a victim of the Kremlin's crackdown on critics since the Ukraine invasion. Golos, known for exposing election violations, has faced increasing pressure and designation as a "foreign agent."

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What would lifting US sanctions on Syria mean to the war-torn country?

President Trump's decision to ease sanctions on Syria, following a historic meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, signals a potential turning point for the war-torn nation. This move aims to stimulate reconstruction and economic recovery after decades of crippling restrictions. While challenges remain, the decision has sparked optimism and could pave the way for improved humanitarian conditions and regional stability.

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'Don’t take medical advice...’: US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr responds to question on vaccinating his children

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers regarding his controversial vaccine views and proposed budget cuts. Despite a measles outbreak, Kennedy stated Americans shouldn't seek medical advice from him. He defended slashing billions from health agencies, claiming it would save taxpayer money.

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs threatened to 'blow up' Kid Cudi’s car, testifies ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura

Cassie Ventura testified that Sean "Diddy" Combs threatened to blow up Kid Cudi's car after discovering their relationship. Shortly after the threat in late 2011, Cudi's car exploded, Ventura told the court. Ventura also detailed instances of abuse, including physical assault and threats to release sexually explicit videos, during her 11-year relationship with Combs.

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Strong 6.1 earthquake strikes off Greek island of Kasos, eastern Mediterranean

A significant 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Kasos, Greece, early Wednesday, sending tremors across the eastern Mediterranean. The quake, centered near Kasos and Crete, was felt on several Greek islands, as well as in Israel and Egypt.

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Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality

US-based academics Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson won the 2024 Nobel economics prize “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said yesterday.The prestigious award, formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is the final prize to be given out this year and is worth 11mn Swedish crowns ($1.1mn).“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time’s greatest challenges. The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,” said Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.“Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better,” the award organisers added on their website.Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while James Robinson is at the University of Chicago.Acemoglu and Johnson recently collaborated on a book surveying technology through the ages which demonstrated how some technological advances were better at creating jobs and spreading wealth than others.The economics award is not one of the original prizes for science, literature and peace created in the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and first awarded in 1901, but a later addition established and funded by Sweden’s central bank in 1968.However, like for the other Nobel science prizes, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decides the winner and follows the same selection process.Past winners include a host of influential thinkers such as Milton Friedman, John Nash – played by actor Russell Crowe in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind – and, more recently, former US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.Last year, Harvard economic historian Claudia Goldin won the prize for her work highlighting the causes of wage and labour market inequality between men and women.The economics prize has been dominated by US academics since its inception, while US-based researchers also tend to account for a large portion of winners in the scientific fields for which 2024 laureates were announced last week.That crop of prizes began with US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun winning the prize for medicine on October 7 and concluded with Japan’s Nihon Hidankyo, an organisation of survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki who campaigned for the abolition of nuclear weapons landing the award for peace on Friday.South Korea’s Han Kan won the literature prize – the only woman laureate so far this year.The Nobel Prizes consist of a diploma, a gold medal and the cash sum.They will be presented at ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of scientist and prize creator Alfred Nobel.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/692589/international/trio-wins-economics-nobel-for-work-on-wealth-inequality

Nobel economics prize goes to inequality researchers

Research shows link between institutions and prosperityAcemoglu urges democracies to reclaim better governanceJohnson says Nov. 5 a 'stress test' for US democracyPast winners include Milton Friedman and John NashEconomics was final prize awarded in 2024 NobelsThree US-based academics won the 2024 Nobel economics prize on Monday for research that explored the aftermath of colonisation to understand why global inequality persists today, especially in countries dogged by corruption and dictatorship.Simon Johnson and James Robinson, both British-American, and Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu were commended for their work on 'how institutions are formed and affect prosperity', the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.'Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time's greatest challenges,' said Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.'They have identified the historical roots of the weak institutional environments that characterize many low-income countries today,' he told a press conference. The award came a day after a World Bank report showed that the world's 26 poorest countries - home to 40% of its most poverty-stricken people - are more in debt than at any time since 2006, highlighting a major reversal in the fight against poverty.The prestigious award, formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is the final prize to be given out this year and is worth 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million).Acemoglu told reporters in Athens that data gathered by pro-democracy groups showed that public institutions and rule of law in many parts of the world were currently being weakened.'Authoritarian growth is often more unstable and doesn't generally lead to very rapid and original innovation,' he said, referring to China as 'a bit of a challenge'.Johnson told Reuters by telephone that established institutions in the United States were under stress, notably due to Donald Trump's refusal to acknowledge he lost the 2020 election.'I think that's the biggest concern that I see in the industrialised world,' he said, adding the Nov. 5 presidential election was 'a serious stress test' for U.S. democracy.Acemoglu and Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Robinson is at the University of Chicago.The laureates' research showed how European colonisation had dramatic but divergent impacts across the world, depending on whether the coloniser focused on extraction of resources or the setting up of long-term institutions for the benefit of European migrants.This, they found, resulted in a 'reversal of fortune' where former colonies that were once rich become poor, while some poorer countries - where institutions were often set up - were in the end able to garner some generalised prosperity through them.Another finding covered how 'dangerous' it was to colonise an area: the higher mortality among the colonisers, the lower today's current output per capita, a measure of prosperity. The economics award is not one of the original prizes for science, literature and peace created in the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and first awarded in 1901, but a later addition established and funded by Sweden's central bank in 1968.Past winners include a host of influential thinkers such as Milton Friedman, John Nash - played by actor Russell Crowe in the 2001 film 'A Beautiful Mind' - and, more recently, former US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Research into inequality has featured strongly in recent awards. Last year, Harvard economic historian Claudia Goldin won the prize for her work highlighting the causes of wage and labour market inequality between men and women.In 2019, economists Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer won the award for work on fighting poverty.The economics prize has been dominated by US academics since its inception, while US-based researchers also tend to account for a large portion of winners in the scientific fields for which 2024 laureates were announced last week. That crop of prizes began with U.S. scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun winning the prize for medicine on Monday and concluded with Japan's Nihon Hidankyo, an organisation of survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki who campaigned for the abolition of nuclear weapons landing the award for peace on Friday.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/692526/international/uslatin-america/nobel-economics-prize-goes-to-inequality-researchers

N. Korea put border troops on high alert

North Korea's military has ordered artillery units along the border with South Korea to be fully ready to open fire, state media has reported.'The Korean People's Army issued a preliminary operation order Oct. 12 to the combined artillery units along the border and the units taking on an important firepower task to get fully ready to open fire,' read the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.The North Korean military ordered eight artillery brigades fully armed in a wartime mode to be on standby to open fire, and reinforced anti-air observation posts in Pyongyang, it added.North Korea's defense ministry said that South Korea had sent unmanned drones carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month, according to South Korea's (Yonhap) news agency.'We warn repeatedly that we will take action according to our judgment, regarding any drones to be spotted again as the ones from the ROK and deeming it a declaration of war,' a spokesperson at the defense ministry said in a statement.The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong warned Saturday that South Korea will face a 'horrible disaster' in case such drones are flown again into the North

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/692523/international/n-korea-put-border-troops-on-high-alert