Two decades of studies undercut Ottawas plan to combat violence against Indigenous
APTN National News OTTAWA — The federal government’s strategy to deal with the high number of murdered and missing Indigenous women is not supported by nearly 60 studies that have examined the issue, according to a new report.The Harper government has rejected calls for a national inquiry into the causes behind the nearly 1,200 Indigenous women who have been murdered or gone missing since 1980, arguing the issue has been studied enough and now is the time for “action.” Justice Canada has even released a list of 40 reports to support that position.A report released Thursday shows that those 40 studies do not “support the government’s stance.” The report, by the Legal Strategy Coalition on Violence Against Indigenous Women (LSC), reviewed a total of 58 studies dating back to 1994.The LSC report said the federal government wrongly believes that violence against Indigenous women is not a sociological problem, but rather one as a “series of crimes.” Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he personally doesn’t believe the issue to be a sociological one.“Despite diverse authors, the reports reviewed show strong consensus about the root causes of this violence; it is a sociological issue,” said the report. “The recommendations that are repeated time and again in so many of the reports highlight exactly why and inquiry is needed: to ascertain the extent to which these recommendations have been implemented and to identify and address obstacles to implementation.”The report said that many of the studies “stress that the economic and social marginalization of Indigenous women makes them more susceptible to violence and less able to escape violent circumstances.”The LSC report found that many of the studies found that a toxic mix of family breakdowns, overcrowded housing, food insecurity, lack of access to education and chronic underfunding for services targeting Indigenous women increased their exposure and vulnerability to violence.Added to this is the continuing racism and sexism in Canada, the legacies of colonialism, the shadow of residential schools and discriminatory legislation like the Indian Act.“And yet, police and health care professionals fail to adequately prioritize the health and safety of Indigenous women and a lack of culturally sensitive programs prevent the services that already exist from addressing challenges specific to Indigenous women’s experiences,” said the report.Executive Summary of LSC reportDownload (PDF, Unknown)The report was released a day before a planned roundtable on murdered and missing Indigenous women that will include federal and provincial premiers and cabinet ministers along with Indigenous leaders and the families of victims.The roundtable aims to hammer out a strategy to stem the disproportionate level of violence faced by Indigenous women.LSC includes a number of First Nation, universities and human rights organizations including Amnesty International, the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association, Dalhousie University, University of Saskatchewan, Aboriginal Legal Services Toronto and the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, among others.news@aptn.ca@APTNNews
DETROIT — Even though unemployment is low, the economy is growing and U.S. auto sales are near historic highs, General Motors is cutting thousands of jobs in a major restructuring aimed at generating cash to spend on innovation.It’s the new reality for automakers that are faced with the present cost of designing gas-powered cars and trucks that appeal to buyers now while at the same time preparing for a future world of electric and autonomous vehicles.GM announced Monday that it will cut as many as 14,000 workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it abandons many of its car models and restructures to focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles.CEO Mary Barra said as cars and trucks become more complex, GM will need more computer coders but fewer engineers who work on internal combustion engines.“The vehicle has become much more software-oriented” with millions of lines of code, she said. “We still need many technical resources in the company.”The reductions could amount to as much as 8 per cent of GM’s global workforce of 180,000 employees.The restructuring also reflects changing North American auto markets as manufacturers continue to shift away from cars toward SUVs and trucks. In October, almost 65 per cent of new vehicles sold in the U.S. were trucks or SUVs. That figure was about 50 per cent cars just five years ago.GM is shedding cars largely because it doesn’t make money on them, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a note to investors.“We estimate sedans operate at a significant loss, hence the need for classic restructuring,” he wrote.The reduction includes about 8,000 white-collar employees, or 15 per cent of GM’s North American white-collar workforce. Some will take buyouts while others will be laid off.At the factories, around 3,300 blue-collar workers could lose jobs in the U.S. and another 2,600 in Canada, but some U.S. workers could transfer to truck or SUV factories that are increasing production. The cuts mark GM’s first major downsizing since shedding thousands of jobs in the Great Recession.The company also said it will stop operating two additional factories outside North America by the end of next year.The move to make GM get leaner before the next downturn likely will be followed by Ford Motor Co., which also has struggled to keep one foot in the present and another in an ambiguous future of new mobility. Ford has been slower to react, but says it will lay off an unspecified number of white-collar workers as it exits much of the car market in favour of trucks and SUVs, some of them powered by batteries.The GM layoffs come amid the backdrop of a trade wars between the U.S., China and Europe that likely will lead to higher prices for imported vehicles and those exported from the U.S. Barra said the company faces challenges from tariffs but she did not directly link the layoffs to them.GM doesn’t foresee an economic downturn and is making the cuts “to get in front of it while the company is strong and while the economy is strong,” Barra told reporters.Factories that could be closed include assembly plants in Detroit and Oshawa, Ontario, and Lordstown, Ohio, as well as transmission plants in Warren, Michigan, and near Baltimore.The announcement worried GM workers who could lose their jobs.“I don’t know how I’m going to feed my family,” Matt Smith, a worker at the Ontario factory, said Monday outside the plant’s south gate, where workers blocked trucks from entering or leaving. “It’s hard. It’s horrible.” Smith’s wife also works at the plant. The couple has an 11-month-old at home.Workers at the Ontario plant walked off the job Monday but were expected to return Tuesday.After the morning announcement, Barra headed for Washington to speak with White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow in what was described as a previously scheduled meeting.President Donald Trump, who has made bringing back auto jobs a big part of his appeal to Ohio and other Great Lakes states that are crucial to his re-election, said his administration and lawmakers are exerting “a lot of pressure” on GM.Trump said he was being tough on Barra, telling the company that the U.S. has done a lot for GM and that if its cars aren’t selling, the company needs to produce ones that will.At a rally near GM’s Lordstown, Ohio, plant last summer, Trump told people not to sell their homes because the jobs are “all coming back.”Most of the factories to be affected by GM’s restructuring build cars that will not be sold in the U.S. after next year. They could close or they could get different vehicles to build. Their futures will be part of contract talks with the United Auto Workers union next year.The Detroit-based union has already condemned GM’s actions and threatened to fight them “through every legal, contractual and collective bargaining avenue open to our membership.”Bobbi Marsh, who has worked assembling the Chevrolet Cruze compact car at the Ohio plant since 2008, said she can’t understand why the factory might close given the strong economy.“I can’t believe our president would allow this to happen,” she said Monday. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said the move will be disastrous for the region around Youngstown, Ohio, east of Cleveland, where GM is one of the area’s few remaining industrial anchors.“GM received record tax breaks as a result of the GOP’s tax bill last year, and has eliminated jobs instead of using that tax windfall to invest in American workers,” he said in a statement.GM, the nation’s largest automaker, will stop producing cars and transmissions at the plants through 2019. In all, six car models were scrapped, leaving the company with nine remaining car models for its four brands, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC.Among the cars that won’t be made after next year is the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable gas-electric hybrid. When introduced a decade ago, the Volt was meant to be a bridge to fully electric cars, the company said. It has a small battery that can take it about 50 miles, then it switches to a small gasoline engine.But since it was introduced, battery technology has improved dramatically, GM said. Now the full-electric Chevrolet Bolt can go up to 238 miles on a single charge.The United Auto Workers promised to fight any plant closures and criticized GM for cutting U.S. jobs while building full-size pickups in Mexico. It also recently announced that a new Chevrolet Blazer SUV will be built there. Also, GM imports the Buick Envision midsize SUV from China.___Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.Tom Krisher, The Associated Press
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Recently the FSJ Tourism Board made a presentation to City Council regarding their role working with the City as well as their desire to change a bylaw to allow them to become a society.In 2010, Tourism Fort St. John board was developed with a bylaw that has prevented and limits potential growth opportunities for the tourism organization to operate efficiently in Fort St John.The Board made a request to Council to rescind the bylaw and allow the board to incorporate as registered Society in BC rather than a Board of Council as well as retaining ownership of the branding and name ‘Tourism Fort St. John’. The Tourism Board also requested a financial commitment in the amount of $52,000.00 annually for a three year period (2020 – 2022). The annual funding would continue to provide Fort St. John with tourism services and capacity development through the creation of a business plan, a Tap Know & Go development study, professional development, stakeholder engagement, marketing, administration costs and would take over the NE BCTourism Marketing Cooperative, currently undertaken by the Visitor Centre.Council approved the motion and a repeal bylaw will be drafted for Tourism Fort St.John Bylaw No. 2049, 2010 and a fee for service agreement developed.
MATHURA: Actor and BJP lawmaker Hema Malini on Sunday campaigned in her parliamentary constituency, Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh with her husband and actor, Dharmendra, by her side. The popular Bollywood couple addressed a crowd for the Jat community where a massive crowd turned up. Addressing the rally, Dharmendra recalled how his humble beginnings helped him become a successful actor. “I am the son of a farmer and I have worked very hard in the fields when I was young,” he said. Dharmendra had a brief political stint about ten years ago when he contested the 2004 national elections from Rajasthan’s Bikaner on BJP ticket and won. Raising the poll pitch in the constituency, where the BJP has won four out of six Lok Sabha elections since 1991, Dharmendra told the crowd: “Gao walon, (Hema ji ke liye) vote karna. Nahi to kisi aas paas ki tanki pe chad jaunga aur wahan bahut mausi ko pukarunga. Bahut mausiyan aa jayengi. (Dear villagers, please vote for Hema Malini ji. Else, I will climb on one of the tanks and give a shout out to Mausi ji. I am sure a lot of them will come).” He reminded the crowd of the iconic scene from the movie, “Sholay”, where Hema Malini starred together with her husband and played the role of “Basanti”, a village girl. Hema Malini said she was excited to have her husband by her side. “With just two days remaining for the poll campaign to end in Mathura, people are excited to see me and him together. People have seen both of us together in so many movies. We are seeking votes for Mathura’s development,” she told reporters. Before the rally, she tweeted a picture of two of them together and said it was a “special day”. “Today is also a special day for me! Dharam ji is here in Mathura to campaign for a whole day on my behalf. The public is waiting eagerly to get a glimpse of him & listen to what he has to say! A photo taken in my house in Mathura just now before we leave for campaigning…(sic),” she wrote.
Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets feels that they only have themselves to blame after their unbeaten league run came to an end in their shocking 5-4 defeat to LevanteThe Catalan giants were 5-1 down against the 15th-place side at the Estadi Ciutat de València on Sunday night, before Phillipe Coutinho and Luis Suarez put the deficit down to 5-4 with 19 minutes remaining.However, Barcelona was unable to find an equaliser in the final moments and fell to their first La Liga defeat in 44 games.“Conceding five goals makes it very hard. We were caught on the counter-attack and there was a lack of concentration at times, too. Like I say, when you concede five, it’s hard to get anything positive from the game and that’s been the case,” said Busquets, according to Sport.The league champion’s late comeback proved to be futile in the end, despite their best efforts.“The fourth goal came with 20 minutes left,” he added.
Zidane reveals Sergio Ramos injury concern for Real Madrid Andrew Smyth – September 14, 2019 Zinedine Zidane has put Sergio Ramos’ availability for Real Madrid’s trip to Sevilla next weekend in doubt after withdrawing him against Levante.“We were pushing, working hard and used lots of energy, but that takes its toll in the end. We had chances to equalise but it wasn’t our night. When you give away five goals it’s hard to haul it back.”While disappointed to have not finished the season unbeaten, Busquets hopes that this defeat does not spoil what has been otherwise an outstanding season and the Spanish midfielder feels that his teammates should be proud to have managed a record 43 games unbeaten.“It’s clear we wanted to end the season unbeaten, but this doesn’t take any credit away from what we have done this season and everything we have achieved in La Liga,” said the 29-year-old.“The record [for games unbeaten, 43] we have over two years, but it’s shame [to lose out on an unbeaten season].“But we have won the league, it’s been an incredible season beyond this one game and I think we can be proud. Now we can celebrate with our fans in the final game.”
The 19-year-old has donated a minibus to his former Escola de Futebol O Fintas in Braga, where he was developed as a footballer.Full-back Diogo Dalot moved from Porto in the Portuguese First Division to Manchester United in the English Premier League in the summer of 2018.He had barely spent one season as a professional with his club, debuting in 2017.But the 19-year-old doesn’t forget where he comes from, and he just donated a minibus to his Escola de Futebol O Fintas in Braga.“I wanted to give them something because they didn’t get anything for my transfer to here and I’m aware of their difficulties,” Dalot told the Manchester United official website.“I needed to help – it’s my job. I didn’t do it for the press. I did it because I wanted to and they’ve helped me get here.”“I think we [as footballers] can all help in some way. I don’t think it’s just all about the money, but I tried to help in this way and I think it was good for them,” he added.“I remember the days when my dad had to drive my friends and I [to matches] because they didn’t have a van for the players.””I will try and help more if I can. I gave them a shirt too and they thought it was just the shirt, so they were very surprised [about the minibus],” he continued.“I Facetimed them when I was traveling to a United game, so it was a good moment to see.”
Lukaku backed to beat Ronaldo in Serie A scoring charts Andrew Smyth – September 14, 2019 Former Inter Milan star Andy van der Meyde is confident Romelu Lukaku will outscore Cristiano Ronaldo in this season’s Serie A.The Red Devils will pay Crystal Palace a visit tonight, as part of the Premier League Matchday 28.“I think when we play them at [their] home it’s always a tough game,” he said.“Of course we have a few injuries so we need to stick together as always, but this time more than ever. I think we’re going to be ready for it.”“In the last game, Crystal Palace did well, but we just need to keep focusing on ourselves first and, of course, be ready for the dangers,” Dalot recalled.“I think we’ve had some very good games. The away games have been incredible. I think we are keeping the team solid and playing good football and the away games, for me, have been a good experience to be a part of.”Next up for #MUFC:🆚 Crystal Palace📆 Wednesday 27 February⏰ 20:00 GMT🏟 Selhurst Park🏆 #PL pic.twitter.com/qr00vzO854— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 25, 2019
Related Items:cctv may be coming to TCI, meeting held to see what other jurisdictions are doing in terms of cctv Facebook Twitter Google+LinkedInPinterestWhatsApp Facebook Twitter Google+LinkedInPinterestWhatsAppProvidenciales, TCI, July 29, 2016 – A steering committee will be formed and CCTV is finally closer to coming for the Turks and Caicos Islands. In the fifth National Security Council or NSC meeting, held on Tuesday July 26, it was determined that a committee will explore what other jurisdictions are doing. This committee is to be chaired by Director of the Premier’s Office, Althea Been. At the meeting were: the Governor, Premier, Police Commissioner, Minister for Border Control and the Attorney General. 
Comments W-O-W! @JanelleMonae is giving us an unforgettable #GRAMMYs performance and we’re here for it. 🙌 🎶 pic.twitter.com/4cqjbOQwSu— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 11, 2019 Tags BTS loving the Dolly tribute is EXACTLY what I needed to see rn 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌 #GRAMMYs #GRAMMYs @RecordingAcad @DollyParton @BTS_twt #BTS pic.twitter.com/PxegUz6zQF— GIPHY (@GIPHY) February 11, 2019 Share your voice Who dis bad-ass pianist? @iamcardib #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/VNMzbqbtnS— SandyLeeTV (@SandyLeeTV) February 11, 2019 3. Camila Cabello, Ricky Martin, J Balvin, Young Thug, Arturo Sandoval — HavanaHow to open the biggest music awards show? Take our hearts to Havana. Camila Cabello did just that, with a big dance crew and Young Thug, Ricky Martin, J Balvin and legendary Arturo Sandoval on trumpet solo playing her hit song. Check out the epic stage design involving massive colourful apartment units that need to become part of a Rear Window musical.4. Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson — ShallowExperimental dance moves to spare, Gaga showed us how to be happy in this modern world with Shallow, the song that featured in the Oscar-nominated A Star is Born and that won her Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at this year’s Grammys. Her talent runs deep and her rock star status was evident on stage, which she shared with equally up-for-it British DJ Mark Ronson.5. Cardi B — MoneyYes, girl on the piano who preceded Cardi B and whose name everyone wants to know now. That look right into the camera. Chills. Grammy-winning Cardi B (for Best Rap Album) — the actual main act — tore up a stage padded with purple straight out of an underground jazz club. Then she saluted Wakanda. Forever. Take our money! 14. Shawn Mendes, Miley Cyrus — In My BloodNot just Shawn Mendes on piano, Shawn Mendes on a piano with cracks emitting golden light. With Miley Cyrus, a backing orchestra and a shower of golden rain, it’s more than a party in the USA.15. H.E.R. — Hard PlaceSparkly disco ball suit, cool clear guitar and John Lennon round sunnies — never change, H.E.R. Having Everything Revealed represented for R&B, guitar solo included.16. Jennifer Lopez, Smokey Robinson — Dancing in the Street, Please Mr. Postman, Money That’s What I Want, War (What is it good for) and moreWhat an entrance. J.Lo rose up through the floor for her Motown tribute (deemed controversial by some) and made a moment by getting everyone to sing My Girl. With an Alicia Keys cameo, Lopez was unflappable.17. Chloe x Halle — Where is the love?With a tribute to Donny Hathaway, the internet stars added Grammy performance to their CV, along with Beyonce opening act. And they didn’t disappoint with their singularly unique duet style.Correction, Feb. 11 at 1:20 p.m. PT: Corrects spelling of Shawn Mendes’ name and that Alicia Keys’ sang Empire State of Mind.’Hello, humans’: Google’s Duplex could make Assistant the most lifelike AI yet.Infowars and Silicon Valley: Everything you need to know about the tech industry’s free speech debate. Adobe Post We’re still 😍 over @st_vincent and @DUALIPA’s #GRAMMYs performance. pic.twitter.com/DFvnnwKhgW— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 11, 2019 8. Dan + Shay — Tequila”When I, when I, when IIIII” — how do I get that playing in the background whenever I’m feeling nostalgic? And then that last note from Shay whenever that involves heartbreak. Drink a glass for this country music duo, winners of Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their incredible song Tequila.9. St. Vincent, Dua Lipa — Masseduction, Respect, One KissWhen Dua Lipa crept out from the back of the stage to join St. Vincent out front, a perfect duo was made. Matching bob cuts and black-and-white outfits are all you need, apparently. Their interpretation of Aretha Franklin’s Respect was a highlight, along with St. Vincent’s guitar solo. The two were perfectly in sync, even if Dua Lipa, newly awarded Grammy winner for Best New Artist, needed bobby pins to hold up her dress.
🤯 @trvisXX jumping out of the cage #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/u7O1NSJzNq— Brian A. Hernandez (@BAHjournalist) February 11, 2019 23 6. Brandi Carlile — The JokeContrasting with the razzle dazzle, Brandi Carlile went lower key, bringing all the compassion with a song about the misrepresented out there. The most-nominated woman at the 61st Grammys delivered head-shaking goodness. Even Post Malone approved. Take a bow. 10. Kacey Musgraves — RainbowListen to these lyrics. Simple but incredibly elegant, Kacey Musgraves, Grammy winner for Best Album of the Year, filled Staples Center with her soulful rainbow of country music. “Everything is all right now.” Yes, it is.11. Post Malone and Red Hot Chili Peppers — Stay, Rockstar, Dark NecessitiesA smoky spotlight lit up Post Malone, his acoustic guitar and his gold teeth with gold mic to match. It was gold. Add RHCP. More gold.12. Diana Ross — The Best Years of My Life, Reach Out And TouchShe turns 75 next month. The Detroit-born singer famous for The Supremes is one of the most successful Motown singers of all time. Introduced by her grandson, she burst onto the stage in a redder-than-red dress. Right to the end, she’s given us the best years of our lives. She couldn’t hold the tears back. Also, how can she be 74? Happy birthday!13. Travis Scott — Can’t SayCue soulful vibrato chorus. Then cue Travis Scott in a cage — with rambunctious hip hop guys climbing up the sides, precariously over Ross’ grandson. Scott had arguably one of the most impressive stages of the night — which he ditched to crowd-surf. Music We’re doing the same thing, @PostMalone and @PUSHA_T! When @brandicarlile is performing “The Joke” at the #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/AQI4J7uTGe— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 11, 2019 Cardi B had an A+ performance. Kevin Winter/Getty Even without Beyonce or Taylor Swift, the 2019 Grammys showed up.On Sunday night, the 61st Grammy Awards saw Childish Gambino win big with This is America for both Record and Song of the Year, and Kacey Musgraves for Album of the Year.While a few big names like Queen Bee and Swift didn’t even set foot in Staples Center in Los Angeles (the former saw her album with Jay-Z snubbed in the big categories and the latter didn’t show up last year either), there were some memorable moments from a, well, wide range of performances.From dual piano-playing to Motown tributes, these are the best Grammy performances ranked in order of awards show greatness. But did they reach pregnant Beyonce levels of greatness? That’s what you should be looking for below. (Disclosure: The Grammys aired on CBS, parent company of CNET.) Read: Winners of Grammy Awards 2019: The full list
Meghan MarkleGetty ImagesMeghan Markle is a proud mom, but it looks like her first weeks as a mother a proving to be a little more difficult than she had anticipated according to a royal source. And that is saying something, since she is the Duchess of Sussex and has an army of helpers at her disposal. But it seems that Meghan is determined to do everything by herself.Meghan and Harry are new parents and as such want to spend as much time as they can with their newborn, but Meghan seems to be taking things a little too far. A royal source has claimed that Meghan is so wrapped up in her role as a mother that she won’t let anyone else help out, including her mother, Doria. The source said: “Meghan likes to be in control of everything.”She just can’t have anyone be alone with Archie…..She’s ignoring help…..”No one has looked after him but her.” Meghan MarkleGetty ImagesIt is surprising that Meghan Markle doesn’t want to use the staff at her disposal. Most mothers would kill to have a staff to take care of their baby while they took some much-needed rest. Her behavior has gotten to the point that one of the nannies stormed out. Meghan is determined to keep any helping hands away from her baby. Even Meghan’s mother Doria has also found it difficult to help out.The source explained: “Meghan will only let Doria hold him for a minute, she literally runs in and out of the shower to snap him back up…..”Harry and the mum can hang with Archie but Meghan has to be holding him.”Meghan Markel needs to loosen the reins a bit for the sake of her baby and herself. She can’t control every second of baby Archie’s life, even if she desperately might want to.
Sign board of Ant Financial is seen at its office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China September 21, 2016.ReutersOnline food ordering firm Zomato is in an advanced level of discussions with Ant Financial — an affiliate company of China’s Alibaba — to raise funds.If the deal fructifies, Zomato will raise up to $200 million from the online payment service provider.The deal is yet to be finalised and may put the value of the company at about $900 million. The value may also exceed $1 billion, according to the sources of Mint.Zomato received another round of funding from Info Edge, Vy Capital, Sequoia Capital and a Singapore government-owned investment company in 2015.The company is growing fast and has expanded its operations worldwide within a short span of time. Its revenue has doubled in the past one year, and its revenue from advertising is growing at 11 percent.Zomato’s performance so farZomato started its delivery business in 2015, which incurred losses. The 2016 financial year was a tough time for the company. Investors like HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt Ltd also slashed its valuation by about half to $500 million.”We make Rs 20 profit on every delivery fulfilled by restaurants, while losing Rs 2 on every delivery we undertake,” said Zomato’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Deepinder Goyal.The company had also withdrawn its operations from nine countries last year out of the 23 where it was present in order to maintain its cash burn rate.Besides scaling back its operations and facing valuation markdown last year, the company had also trimmed its workforce. ZomatoFacebook/ZomatoHowever, the food-ordering platform now seems to be on the path of recovery as its March 2017 revenues alone have touched the $5-million mark. The company crossed 2 million orders in March 2017 – a move that gave it a 23 percent month-on-month growth.At present, besides being on talks with Ant Financial, Zomato is also planning to bank on the more high-margin advertising business this year along with its food-ordering business.Over and above, the company is still fighting for a leadership in the food delivery space that is right now dominated by startup competitor Swiggy in India.
Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan. Photo: ReutersMore than 300,000 people have signed online petitions calling for Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan to receive a Nobel peace prize after he freed an Indian pilot in a bid to defuse tensions with his country’s arch-rival neighbour.The capture of wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman had become the focus of renewed hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals which have alarmed the international community.Tensions have soared since a suicide bombing in Kashmir last month claimed by Pakistan-based militants killed 40 Indian paramilitaries.The hashtag #NobelPeaceForImranKhan began trending on Twitter on Thursday after Khan unexpectedly announced that the captured pilot would be released as a “peace gesture”.Abhinandan — whose MiG fighter was shot down a day earlier as he chased Pakistani jets over disputed Kashmir — was returned to India late Friday.Two similarly-worded campaigns on the change.org platform launched by users in the UK and Pakistan called for Imran Khan to be nominated for next year’s prize “for his peace efforts and dialogues in the Asian region on diverse conflicts”.They have gained more than 240,000 and 60,000 digital signatures respectively.Pakistan’s information minister Fawad Chaudhry Saturday also submitted a resolution in the country’s parliament demanding Khan be given the award for his contribution to peace in the region.”Imran Khan played a sagacious role in de-escalating tension between Pakistan and India,” the resolution said.In his speech announcing Abhinandan’s release, Khan referred to the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war as he called for talks with New Delhi.Thousands of people around the world are allowed to make nominations for the Peace Prize, including members of parliament and government ministers, former laureates and some university professors.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media during her post cabinet press conference at Parliament in Wellington on 25 March. Photo: AFPNew Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday ordered an independent judicial inquiry into whether police and intelligence services could have prevented the Christchurch mosque attacks on 15 March.Ardern said a royal commission — the most powerful judicial probe available under New Zealand law — was needed to find out how a single gunman was able to kill 50 people in an attack that shocked the world.”It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to how this act of terrorism occurred and how we could have stopped it,” she told reporters.New Zealand’s spy agencies have faced criticism in the wake of the attack for concentrating on the threat from Islamic extremism.Instead, the victims were all Muslims and the massacre was allegedly carried out by a white supremacist fixated on the belief that there was an Islamist plot to “invade” Western countries.”One question we need to answer is whether or not we could or should have known more,” Ardern said.”New Zealand is not a surveillance state … but questions need to be answered.”Ardern ruled out New Zealand re-introducing the death penalty for accused gunman Brenton Tarrant, 28, who was arrested minutes after the attack on the mosques and has been charged with murder.She said details of the royal commission were being finalised, but it would be comprehensive and would report in a timely manner.It will cover the activities of intelligence services, police, customs, immigration and any other relevant government agencies in the lead-up to the attack.The gunman livestreamed the attack online, although New Zealand has outlawed the footage as “objectionable content”.Ardern reiterated her believe it should not be aired.”That video should not be shared. That is harmful content,” she said when questioned about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan showing excerpts of the footage at campaign rallies for local elections this month.Erdogan had angered both Wellington and Canberra with campaign rhetoric about anti-Muslim Australians and New Zealanders being sent back in “coffins” like their grandfathers at Gallipoli, a World War I battle.New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters travelled to Istanbul to meet Erdogan and address an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.Peters said OIC members were full of praise for the support New Zealand had offered its small, tight-knit Muslim community in the wake of the killings.”A number of them were weeping and sobbing at the demonstration (of support) by non-Muslim New Zealand towards the Muslim victims,” he told reporters.”It was dramatic and I was told by countless ministers that they’ve never seen anything of that type.”The body of an Indian student killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks, meanwhile, was returned Monday to her grieving family in Kochi, where relatives remembered a bright young woman dedicated to her studies.Ansi Alibava, 25, was the first of at least five Indians shot dead on March 15 to be repatriated.The family planned to hold a funeral ceremony for the masters student in their nearby hometown of Kodungallur.
Damian Dovarganes/APThe President’s Daily Briefing, or PDB, is the top-secret intelligence report the CIA presents to the president every weekday. The book shown here is for a briefing delivered to President George W. Bush in 2002.On Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush was visiting Sarasota, Fla. At 8 a.m. sharp, the CIA’s Michael Morell delivered the daily intelligence briefing — something he did six mornings a week — regardless of whether the president was at the White House or on the road.“Contrary to press reporting and myth there was absolutely nothing in my briefing that had to do with terrorism that day,” Morell recalled. “Most of it had to do with the Israeli-Palestinian issue.”As Morell concluded, Bush stepped into his waiting motorcade and headed to an elementary school. Moments later, news broke of the terror attacks in New York. Shortly after that, Bush and Morell were on Air Force One — and the president wanted answers.“The president said to me, ‘Michael, who did this?’ ” Morell said. He didn’t know, but had a strong suspicion.“I told him that when we got to the end of the trail, I was absolutely confident, absolutely certain, that it would take us to [Osama] bin Laden and al-Qaida,” said Morell, who retired in 2013 as the CIA’s deputy director and now hosts the podcast Intelligence Matters.That landmark day captured both the critical importance — and the frustrating limits — of the President’s Daily Briefing, or PDB.Doug Mills/APChief of Staff Andy Card whispers into the ear of President George W. Bush to give him word of the planes that slammed into the World Trade Center in New York, on Sept. 11, 2001. Bush had received his daily intelligence briefing shortly before, and had just begun a visit to the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla.Launched under President TrumanThe practice of providing the president with a daily intelligence briefing began in 1946 with President Harry Truman, who was trying to make sense of a still chaotic world in the aftermath of World War II.“He was troubled that he was receiving these random reports from different departments and no one was telling him, or suggesting to him, what was particularly more important than something else,” said David Robarge, the CIA’s chief historian.Truman created the Central Intelligence Group, the forerunner of the CIA. Within weeks, the briefings began, and they were brief indeed. Most were short notes from U.S. ambassadors with little or no context.Many reports were based on rumors or newspaper stories abroad, and were difficult to verify, Robarge said.APThis image provided by the Central Intelligence Agency shows the first Daily Summary delivered to President Harry Truman on Feb. 15, 1946“We dealt a lot with information peddlers and fabricators and paper mills, as we called them,” he said. “We were very desperate for information and everybody knew that and took advantage of it. We spent a lot of our time in those early years sorting out the wheat from the chaff.”Despite being a part of every president’s daily routine for more than 70 years, the briefings are rarely discussed publicly. Just last month, the CIA declassified the first 20 briefings delivered to Truman — and many still resonate today.“The very first general item for Harry Truman was about some false information that was being put out about Russia and the United States,” said David Priess, a former CIA officer.Priess was a member of the presidential briefing team in the early 2000s and wrote a history of the briefings called The President’s Book of Secrets.Those initial briefings dealt with a trade dispute with China, which was resisting U.S. imports, and rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, where war would break out a few years later.“Many of the issues that President Truman was dealing with in February 1946 are still on the agenda today,” said Priess.APPresident Lyndon Johnson reads the President’s Daily Brief as his wife Lady Bird Johnson holds their first grandchild in the White House.Providing analysisToday’s version took shape under President John F. Kennedy and was driven in part by the Bay of Pigs, the failed CIA operation to overthrow Cuba’s leader Fidel Castro in 1961.“We knew John F. Kennedy was disappointed after the Bay of Pigs debacle early in his presidency and that helped spur this new intelligence product,” Priess said.The documents began including more analysis on the pros and cons of potential U.S. actions abroad. While the CIA has always handled the report, other agencies now contribute, including the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.One misconception is that all presidents are briefed face-to-face. But, as Rodney Faraon, a former CIA briefer, said, “Every president receives their briefing differently.”Most go over the briefing book on their own. For President Lyndon Johnson, it was bedtime reading. Richard Nixon didn’t care for it and allowed only one White House adviser to see it — Henry Kissinger. Barack Obama received it on his iPad and had it circulated to more than 30 advisers.Putting it togetherWhile Washington is sleeping, a team at CIA headquarters makes final edits to the leather-bound briefing book, updating it frequently.Rodney Faraon’s job in the late 1990s and early 2000s was to study up on the document overnight and head to the home of his boss, CIA Director George Tenet, at 6 a.m.“I would be briefing him in a secure vehicle on his way from his house to either the White House or to CIA headquarters,” Faraon recalled.David Priess delivered his briefing to the director of the FBI, a man who was always pressing him for more details — Robert Mueller. Mueller now leads the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign.And Michael Morell remembers his briefings with Bush as if “I was in graduate school preparing to go in to seven or eight exams every morning with somebody who is going to fire questions at you nonstop.”Trump’s approachPresident Trump initially questioned the need for a daily briefing.But Mike Pompeo, the CIA director before becoming secretary of state, said it’s become part of the president’s routine.“Nearly every day, I get up, get ready, read the material that’s been presented early in the morning and then trundle down [from CIA headquarters] to the White House,” Pompeo said back in January.His successor as CIA director, Gina Haspel, is now a regular at the briefings, as is Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence.The intelligence community has had both great successes — like locating Osama bin Laden in Pakistan — and failures — like claiming Iraq’s Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The former CIA briefers say their role is to provide the best possible intelligence, and leave the policy choices to the president.David Priess cites an old CIA expression: “You can lead policymakers to intelligence, but you can’t make them think.”Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Share
AUBURN, Ala.- The University of Louisville softball team fell 6-2 to No. 19/20 Auburn Saturday in the War Eagle Challenge. The Cardinals (14-7) will wrap up the weekend on Sunday at 11 a.m. (ET) against Mercer. Full Schedule Roster Louisville countered in the top of the sixth. Junior Celene Funke led off with a hit, took second on senior Megan Hensley’s groundout and sprinted home on Ferguson’s RBI single to pull the Cards within a run. Sophomore Danielle Watson (5-5) took the loss, allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits and striking out six in 6.0 innings. Matchup History Preview Junior Caitlin Ferguson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Cards at the plate. In their second game of the day, the Cardinals jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first when senior Sidney Melton singled and eventually crossed the plate on Ferguson’s base hit. Next Game: vs. Mercer 3/10/2019 | 11:00 a.m. The Cards threatened to score in the top of the seventh when sophomore Kyra Snyder connected on a leadoff single and senior Madison Cousineau was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, but a strikeout and groundout ended the game.
The Tigers answered with a run in the home half of the first when Casey McCracken reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. Auburn (20-4) pulled ahead with a run in the second when Bree Fornis connected on a two-out triple and an error on the play send her home to make the score 2-1. Auburn 6 – Louisville 2 Live Stats Auburn pulled away with three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Justus Perry walked, a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch moved her to third and scored on an RBI hit by Taylon Snow. McCracken followed with a home run to increase the Tigers’ lead to 6-2. Story Links The Tigers tacked on another run in the fifth when Tannon Snow delivered a two-out hit and pinch-runner Carmyn Greenwood scored on a double by Kendall Veach. Auburn’s Makayla Martin (10-2) picked up the win after surrendering two earned runs on six hits and striking out 11 in a complete game effort. Tannon Snow had two hits while McCrackin score a pair of runs and had two RBIs to lead the Tigers at the plate.LOUISVILLE NOTES:• Melton is now on a six-game hitting streak. • Funke is on a five-game hitting streak• Ferguson has reached base via a hit or a walk in nine straight games• Snyder has reached base in six straight games• Funke leads the team with a .361 batting average, 26 hits, 17 runs and six stolen bases Print Friendly Version
Hassell completed his 10th season working with the Louisville baseball program in 2019, having been with the program from 2008-11 and returning before the 2014 season. His first experience at the international level began immediately following Louisville’s fifth appearance at the College World Series. “USA Baseball is something I’ve wanted to be a part of ever since I started my career as an athletic trainer,” Hassell said. “USA Baseball is such a first class organization from top to bottom and I’m so thankful they gave me this chance to work with such a great coaching staff, not to mention what is most likely the next generation of big leaguers.” Hassell worked alongside UofL head coach Dan McDonnell, who served as the manager of the team, during the four-week period that saw the USA CNT compete across North Carolina against Cuba before series in Taiwan and Japan. Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB. Print Friendly Version “Working in college baseball for 14 years has given me so many memories and experiences that I’ll never forget, but having the opportunity to represent the United States and the University of Louisville in international competition is hard to top.” The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team was made up of an elite group of collegiate players from across the country, including a pair of student-athletes from UofL. Reid Detmers and Lucas Dunn competed for Team USA this summer, while Alex Binelas, Michael Kirian and Bobby Miller were all invited to training camp and Gabe Burchell served as the bullpen catcher. Team USA picked up victories in four of its five games in the 8th Annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series before heading across the globe to Taiwan. There, the USA CNT won two out of three to capture the 19th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series before falling 3-2 in the 43rd USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series to wrap up the summer. LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville Associate Director of Sports Medicine Pat Hassell represented the Cardinals on the international stage this summer, working as the athletic trainer for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Story Links
As Ueno notes, one of the most basic principles underlying semiconductor devices is the band gap—which is a measure of the energy needed to excite a material enough to make it conduct electricity. Much work has been done over the years to control the band gap in inorganic (non-carbon based) materials such as gallium, arsenide and of course silicon, by creating different alloys and putting them together in different ways to allow for tuning—success in this area meant that many different types of semiconductor based devices could be created. In recent years researchers have looked more and more at applying similar techniques to organic semiconductors, which as their name implies are semiconductors made from materials that are carbon based. Holding up such work has been an inability to find a way around the strong localization of the electronic states in them. In this new effort, the researchers report that they have developed a means at long last for engineering organic semiconductors.The new approach involved taking note of the influence of Coulomb interactions (interactions that occur between electrically charged particles) which up to now, the team points out, have been mostly ignored by other researchers attempting to control band gaps in organic semiconductors. They found that the ionization energies of crystalline organic semiconductors could be tuned continuously over a large number of options by mixing them with their halogenated derivatives. In addition they showed that the photovoltaic gap and open-circuit voltage of organic solar cells could be tuned on a continuous basis by mixing the ratio of the donors.As Ueno notes, this new technique could very well lead to the development of a whole new kind of device architecture—one that is able to take advantage of the ability to engineer the band gap in organic devices. (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with members from institutions in Germany and Switzerland has shown that band structure engineering is possible when designing organic semiconductors. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes a technique that involves long-range Coulomb interactions that are loosely bound by van der Walls forces. Nobuo Ueno with Chiba University, in Japan offers a deeper look at the work done by the team in a Perspective commentary in the same journal issue. Molecular structural properties of (halogenated) ZnPc and SubPc. Credit: (c) Science (2016). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf0590 Organic semiconductors will create cheaper, greener devices More information: M. Schwarze et al. Band structure engineering in organic semiconductors, Science (2016). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf0590AbstractA key breakthrough in modern electronics was the introduction of band structure engineering, the design of almost arbitrary electronic potential structures by alloying different semiconductors to continuously tune the band gap and band-edge energies. Implementation of this approach in organic semiconductors has been hindered by strong localization of the electronic states in these materials. We show that the influence of so far largely ignored long-range Coulomb interactions provides a workaround. Photoelectron spectroscopy confirms that the ionization energies of crystalline organic semiconductors can be continuously tuned over a wide range by blending them with their halogenated derivatives. Correspondingly, the photovoltaic gap and open-circuit voltage of organic solar cells can be continuously tuned by the blending ratio of these donors. © 2016 Tech Xplore
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For a change, overnight activity in the Far East in both gold and silver showed some real signs of life.It was a very slow day in the gold world on Wednesday…and most of gold’s price movements, such as they were, were most likely currency related. Gold closed at $1,693.40 spot…down $2.80 from Tuesday. Volume, most of it of the high-frequency trading variety, was decent at around 113,000 contracts.Silver’s price pattern was similar…and the price briefly dipped below $32.00 spot before recovering as the dollar index headed south. Silver closed at $32.70 spot…down 9 cents on the day. Net volume was average…whatever that means these days…at around 33,000 contracts.All the ‘action’ yesterday was in the dollar index. It opened at 81.34 at 6:00 p.m. in New York on Tuesday night…and by 9:30 a.m. in London the next day, it had hit its zenith at around 81.65. From there it went into a decline that bottomed out at 81.14 shortly after 11:00 a.m. in New York. It recovered a hair from that low…closing at 81.20…down a whole 14 basis points when all was said and done.Both the gold and silver charts show this currency move pretty clearly.The gold stocks started in the red, but finally got into positive territory…and then mostly stayed there for the rest of the trading day. The HUI closed up 0.45%.The silver equities were mixed yesterday…and gave back a bit of their Monday and Tuesday gains, as Nick Laird’s Silver Sentiment Index closed down 0.45%.(Click on image to enlarge)For a change, the CME’s Daily Delivery Report was much more interesting. They reported that 16 gold and 485 silver contracts were posted for delivery within the Comex-approved depositories on Friday. Jefferies was the short/issuer de jour, posting 476 contracts…and it should come as no surprise to anyone that the big long/stopper was JPMorgan…with 253 contracts in its client account and 186 contracts in its proprietary [in house] account. The Issuers and Stoppers Report is definitely worth checking out…and the link is here.There were no reported changes in GLD yesterday…but after a big withdrawal from SLV on Tuesday, there was an even bigger addition on Wednesday, as an authorized participant[s] added 2,934,108 troy ounces.The U.S. Mint had another smallish sales report yesterday. They sold 4,500 ounces of gold eagles…and another 125,000 silver eagles.It was another very busy day over at the Comex-approved depositories on Tuesday. They reported receiving 602,812 troy ounces of silver…and shipped 1,558,280 troy ounces out the door.While on the subject of the Comex-approved depositories, I noticed something different about the CME’s web page when I clicked on it early yesterday evening…but I didn’t investigate any further. It took an e-mail from Nick Laird very late last night that pointed out the difference. There’s a new depository added to the list. It’s called CNT Depository…and a Google search revealed this.I’ll be very interested in seeing how they fit into the grand scheme of things…and just how much metal they accumulate on behalf of their clientele. According to Nick, they reported receiving 631,389 troy ounces on Tuesday…the first day they showed up as a depository.In the same e-mail, Nick sent along this chart entitled “Comex Depository Warehouse Silver Stocks” that goes back about 41 years…and here it is.(Click on image to enlarge)I have the usual number of stories today…and I hope you have time to read the ones that interest you the most.It was a nothing sort of day in the precious metal markets yesterday…another day off the calendar as Ted Butler would say…so I’ll just move along to other things.Tomorrow we get the latest Commitment of Traders Report…and as you are already aware, I’m more than interested in what’s in it.For a change, overnight activity in the Far East in both gold and silver showed some real signs of life. After rallying a bit in early morning trading, a more substantial rally began around 2:30 p.m. Hong Kong time…and is continuing into early London trading as well. The rally in silver is even more impressive.However, the volume in gold is getting way up there…35,000 contracts. And silver’s volume is already an eye-watering 12,300 contracts as I hit the ‘send’ button at 5:13 a.m. Eastern time. The dollar index is comatose.These are not short covering rallies by any stretch of the imagination, but new long positions being established and, without doubt, it’s JPMorgan et al going short against all comers. Unfortunately none of this data will be in tomorrow’s COT report. We’ll have to wait until next Friday…and in the current environment, that’s a lifetime away.It remains to be seen whether these rallies continue in London…or get stepped on before New York opens, as the similar rallies that developed in both platinum and palladium earlier today, have already met that fate.Here are the current gold and silver charts as of 4:53 a.m. Eastern time. Avrupa Minerals Ltd. is a growth-oriented prospect generator focused on aggressive exploration for valuable mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe with a growing pipeline of prospects in Portugal, Kosovo and Germany.Company highlights:Alvalade Project JV with Antofagasta Minerals SA – Copper and Zinc on 1000 km2 project area in the Portuguese Pyrite Belt – 2012 exploration budget of US$ 2.5 million, all provided by Antofagasta, including 6000 meters of core drillingGold exploration in the Erzgebirge Mining District, Germany – 307 km2 exploration license in 1000+ year producing region of tin, tungsten, silver, base metals, and uranium – Increasingly favorable permitting and mining regulations, long mining culture, widespread known gold panning locationsCovas Tungsten JV with Blackheath Resources Inc. – 922,900 mt @ 0.78% WO3 (non NI 43-101 compliant) historic resource – Potential to increase the tungsten resource – New gold target on the projectStrong management including Paul Kuhn, CEO, previously involved with several discoveries around the world, and Mark T. Brown, Director, founder of Rare Element Resources Ltd.Low risk exploration strategyShare structure and cash on hand (12/31/2011):16.1 million shares outstanding; 23.7 million shares outstanding, fully diluted40% of shares held by insiders, family, friends, and long-term investorsApprox. C$ 500,000 cash on hand (consolidated Canada and Europe)Antofagasta has provided US$ 350,000 for all anticipated Alvalade JV expenses for Q1 2012.Please visit our website for more information. Sponsor Advertisement
Considering the start to the Thursday trading session in both the Far East and London…it could be a wild one in New York today…and I’m looking forward to the 8:20 a.m. Eastern time Comex open with more than the usual amount of interest.Before hitting the ‘send’ button on today’s column, I want to bring this Casey Research offer to your attention ONE LAST TIME…as you’ve only got THREE DAYS LEFT TO ACT. As you probably already know, the September 7th Casey Research/Sprott Inc. Summit: Navigating the Politicized Economy, will be held in Carlsbad, CA. If you’re not registered to attend, you may want to purchase the complete audio collection (available in a 20-CD set and/or MP3 downloads) to listen to at home.The faculty presenting includes David Walker, former US Comptroller General, Dr. Lacy Hunt, former Senior Economist, Dallas Fed; Executive VP, HIMCO, Don Coxe, Global Strategy Advisor, BMO Financial Group, David Webb, hedge fund phenomenon, Origin Investments, AB, Dr. Thomas M. Barnett, former Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary of Defense, G. Edward Griffin, author, The Creature from Jekyll Island, Bob Hoye, Chief Financial Strategist, Institutional Advisors, Peter Schweizer, Hoover Institute, author of Throw Them All Out, Doug Casey, contrarian speculator, Eric Sprott, Chairman, Sprott Asset Management, and 18 other financial luminaries.These are top-drawer speakers…and the ladies at Casey Research in Stowe, Vermont are telling me if you order before the summit ends on September 9th, you’ll save $100. To learn more about the 28 financial experts and what they are presenting, please click here…and it doesn’t cost a dime to look!See you on Friday…Saturday west of the International Date Line.
Emission systems. Demand for platinum in autocatalysts dropped by 1% in 2012, mostly due to lower vehicle production in Europe and lower market share of diesel engines. However, emission-system demand from Japan and India is expected to increase, and diesel-emission controls recently introduced in Beijing will also support industrial demand for both metals. Auto sales in China rose a whopping 19.5% in the first two months of the year and are 6.5% higher in the US than a year ago. Platinum is a precious metal, as is palladium, though to a lesser degree. However, like silver, both are also industrial metals. Unlike silver, it’s their industrial use that is the primary price driver for both platinum and palladium – and that use is undergoing a fundamental shift. The largest source of demand for platinum and palladium is the automotive industry, for use in autocatalysts. In turn, the fortunes of the auto industry are sensitive to the health of the world’s major economies. We’ve been bearish on platinum-group metals for years, primarily because we weren’t convinced a healthy – much less roaring – world economy could be sustained when so many governments continue spending beyond their means. We reconsidered the market last year, when strikes in South Africa – home to 75% of global platinum production and 95% of known reserves – threatened supplies. But as we wrote last December, the strikes ended without great impact on long-term supply. Since then, however, the fundamentals of this market have changed. Others may disagree with our economic outlook, which is still bearish, but it’s due to supply issues – not demand – that our interest is now drawn to these metals, and particularly to palladium. Here’s a look at global supply against auto-industry demand for both metals. Demand. Autocatalytic demand rose by 7% in 2012, as palladium can be easily substituted for platinum in emission-control systems for gas-powered motors (but not diesel-powered ones), such as are favored in China and India. In fact, several experts we consulted were more bullish on palladium than platinum due to this “substitution factor” – and China just mandated catalytic systems for all cars in the country. Palladium investment demand was positive last year, though palladium jewelry has yet to gain traction in China, one of the world’s biggest jewelry markets. Total jewelry demand for palladium was 11% lower in 2012. However, we expect a greater shift to palladium in the expanding Asian automotive market, which in turn will boost palladium prices. The fundamental drivers of the palladium market are similar to those for platinum, which makes the palladium market an equally attractive investment. If this all weren’t bad enough, most companies’ production costs are now above current platinum and palladium prices. This can only be solved one way: higher metals prices. Bottom Line The supply disruptions in South Africa combined with secondary factors have led to deficits in both metals that won’t be erased overnight. Such imbalances, together with mainstream expectations of global economic growth, create a favorable environment for PGM price appreciation. This much seems like a safe bet. There is, however, a great deal of speculative upside in the not-inconceivable case of South Africa going off the rails in a major way. Massive – not marginal – supply disruptions in the world’s main source of both metals would send their prices through the roof. You get this speculative potential “for free” when you bet on the more conservative projections that call for rising prices regardless. While we wait for our gold positions to rebound, an investment in platinum and palladium could be very profitable. How to invest? You can learn which company is our #1 pick for this space with a risk-free trial subscription to BIG GOLD. Note: our longer-term outlook remains in place: most G7 economies are not fundamentally sound and continue to print money. Gold is still our priority asset class, so we don’t recommend that investors replace their gold holdings with platinum and palladium investment vehicles. This PGM trend is simply an addition to and diversification of our current investment strategy. Recycling. This important source of supply is falling in reaction to lower metals prices. It is estimated that recycling fell by 11% in 2012. Investment. Although it represents just 6% of total demand for the metal, investor demand nonetheless grew 6.5% last year, adding to pressure on supplies. Given these factors – primarily the first one – a supply deficit stretching into 2014 seems almost certain. Until South Africa can resolve its labor and power issues, pressure on platinum supply will remain, producing a favorable environment for rising prices. Palladium Palladium, platinum’s “little brother,” also faces a market imbalance. In 2012, the deficit totaled 915,000 ounces, the highest level since 2001. Supply. Russia is the second-largest producer of palladium, and some analysts report that rumors of its stockpile being close to depletion are true. Recycling is also falling, and production disruptions in South Africa – the largest producer of palladium – are the same as outlined for platinum. Overall supply of the metal is falling. Jewelry. Worldwide demand for platinum jewelry rose last year, with strong demand coming from China and growth in India, and is mainly the consequence of lower prices. Jewelry accounts for 30% of total platinum demand. Approximately 55% of platinum and the bulk of palladium supply was used in catalytic systems last year. The shrinking supply that’s under way with both metals is obvious, and palladium is approaching a supply/demand crunch. Here’s what’s going on… Platinum The fall in platinum supply has been so great that it moved from a surplus in 2011 to a deficit in 2012, with Johnson Matthey estimating that deficit to hit 400,000 ounces, the highest level since 2003. Why the shift? Labor strife and power outages. The mining industry in South Africa is, frankly, a mess. Labor strikes continue to haunt the platinum mining companies. The largest mining union in South Africa, AMCU, recently refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement on worker compensation, and CNBC is predicting a massive strike. Amplats, the world’s largest platinum producer, is threatening to cut 14,000 jobs and mothball two operating mines due to various issues. Meanwhile, power outages, a longstanding problem, continue unresolved; they have already forced the closure of some mines and are widely expected to cause further cuts in production. As a result, supply from mining is expected to decline another 10% this year.
As you also already know, supply/demand fundamentals mean nothing It was a volatile trading session for gold yesterday, but it all happened within a very tight price range—and appeared to center around the $1,200 price mark. The high tick came at exactly 9 a.m. Hong Kong time on their Tuesday morning—and the low tick came at the London afternoon gold fix—and the subsequent rally got hammered flat during the next two hours of trading. Then, starting a minute or so after 12 o’clock noon in New York, the gold price rallied back towards the $1,200 spot price mark—and made it shortly after the COMEX trading session ended. From there, the price traded basically flat into the close. The CME Group recorded the high and low ticks as $1,204.40 and $1,190.00 in the April contracts. Gold finished the Tuesday session in New York at $1,201.30 spot, down 50 cents from Monday’s close. Net volume checked in around 105,000 contracts—about the same daily volume it has been for last five trading days or so. Not surprisingly, the gold stocks hit their high at the same time as the metal itself, which was shortly before 11 a.m. EST. From there they chopped lower—and never got a sniff of positive territory after that, even though the gold price recovered to virtually unchanged. The HUI closed down 0.56 percent—and as you can tell, there was a problem with the main data feed—and the chart is not “all there” so to speak. Nick Laird’s HUI chart looked the same, or I would have posted that in lieu of. By the way, if you’re not up on your Grand Canyon statistics, I found this excellent Reader’s Digest version of the whole place linked here. The dollar index closed late on Monday afternoon in New York at 94.55—and continued on with the rally that it was currently in. That rally developed even more momentum starting about 3 p.m. Hong Kong time, which was an hour before the London open. The 94.86 high tick came at the 10:30 a.m. GMT London a.m. gold fix—and then the index chopped lower in a very wide range, closing at 94.47—which was down 8 basis points from Monday’s close. Here’s the 5-minute gold chart courtesy of Brad Robertson—and as you can tell, almost all yesterday’s volume occurred between the London afternoon gold fix—and 11:45 a.m. EST. Before and after, there was there was virtually no volume worth mentioning. Don’t forget to add two hours for EST—and the ‘click to enlarge’ feature really helps with this chart. Platinum’s chart was a mini version of both the gold and silver charts. Platinum closed at $1,163 spot, up two bucks on the day. The silver chart looked very similar, with the high tick coming in morning trading in Hong Kong. But the low tick of the day came a few moments after 12 o’clock noon in New York. From there it chopped quietly higher and, like gold, closed almost unchanged. The high and lows were reported as $16.04 and $16.455 in the March contract. Silver closed yesterday at $16.31 spot, down a penny. Net volume was only 16,000 contracts, but gross volume was, not surprisingly, very high as traders continue to roll out of the March contract and into future months.
The silver equities spiked well into positive territory, but fell back to unchanged as the not-for-profit sellers took the price to its noon low tick. From there they traded in a tight range either side of unchanged, closing down 0.06 percent. The CME Daily Delivery Report showed that 266 gold and 9 silver contracts were posted for delivery within the COMEX-approved depositories on Thursday. The big short/issuer sitting in the bushes until the last day turned out to be none other than HSBC USA with 255 contracts. JPMorgan stopped 261 contracts in its client account. The nine contracts in silver were issued by Jefferies and stopped by Canada’s Scotiabank. The link to yesterday’s Issuers and Stoppers Report is here. The CME’s Preliminary Report for the Tuesday trading session showed that February open interest was unchanged from Monday at 362 contracts minus, of course, the 266 contracts posted for delivery tomorrow. The remaining gold contracts for February delivery will be posted in tomorrow’s column. In silver, there are still 12 contracts outstanding, minus the 9 posted above. The remaining 3 will be in tomorrow’s Preliminary report. There were no reported changes in GLD—and as of 9:46 p.m. EST yesterday evening, there were no changes in SLV, either. The U.S. Mint had another sales report. They sold 1,500 troy ounces of gold eagles—500 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes—and another 253,500 silver eagles. There was very little gold activity over at the COMEX-approved depositories on Monday, as only 643.000 troy ounces were reported received—and 128.600 were shipped out. That’s 20 kilobars and 4 kilobars respectively. As always, it was a pretty big day in silver, as 886,249 troy ounces were shipped in, but only 20,180 were shipped out the door. The link to the silver activity is here. Once again I have a very decent number of stories for you today—and I hope you find some in here that are of interest to you. Even though the headline number of the total commercial net short position [in silver in last Friday’s COT Report] has declined by nearly 14,000 contracts since January 27, the concentrated net short position of the eight largest shorts has hardly budged—and remains over 65,000 contracts. This is still a manipulative position on its face since it represents more than 325 million ounces and 40% of world annual production, an amount unequalled among all commodities. Reviewing the dismal earnings reports by those companies that mine silver, I have uncovered not a one holding any of the 325 million oz held short by the 8 crooked COMEX shorts. Excepting JPMorgan, I doubt any of the other seven big shorts own much real silver, even though the concentrated short position represents more than 30% of all the silver bullion in the world. This is simply preposterous and illegal. – Silver analyst Ted Butler: 21 February 2015 I’m not sure what, if anything should be read into yesterday’s gold price action because, once again, there wasn’t a lot of volume—and there was little net volume in silver, although roll-over activity was very high, of course. But, whatever action there was will be in Friday’s Commitment of Traders Report, as yesterday at the close of COMEX trading was the cut-off. Here are the 6-month charts for all four precious metals updated with Tuesday’s price/volume action. Freegold Ventures Limited is a North American gold exploration company with three gold projects in Alaska. Current projects include Golden Summit, Vinasale and Rob. Both Vinasale and Golden Summit host NI 43-101 Compliant Resource Calculations. An updated NI 43-101 resource was calculated on Golden Summit in October 2012 and using 0.3 g/t cutoff the current resource is 73,580,000 tonnes grading 0.67 g/t Au for total of 1,576,000 contained ounces in the indicated category, and 223,300,000 tonnes grading 0.62 g/t Au for a total of 4,437,000 contained ounces in the inferred category. In addition to the Golden Summit Project the Vinasale also hosts a NI 43-101 resource calculation which was updated in March 2013. Indicated resources are 3.41 million tonnes averaging 1.48 g/t Au for 162,000 ounces, and Inferred resources are 53.25 million tonnes averaging 1.05 g/t Au for 1,799,000 ounces of gold utilizing a cutoff value of 0.5 grams/tonne (g/t) as a possible open pit cutoff. Please send us an email for more information, ir@freegoldventures.com These photos were taken on Day 2 at Grand Canyon—January 11. It’s not raining or snowing—and cloud base has lifted by a couple of hundred feet and is more well defined. You can’t see the North Rim, which is about 10 miles/16 kilometers away, because it’s about 1,000 feet/330 meters higher than than the South Rim, so it’s buried in cloud/fog. These are just general canyon shots along the trail. You’ll need to use the ‘click to enlarge’ feature to see the people in photo #2—and that gives you some idea of scale. I cropped the last photo in order to enhance the sense of danger, which is all too real. There’s nothing below her but air for many thousands of feet. Palladium, as usual, was trading in a world all its own, closing at $792 spot, up another 7 dollars from Monday’s close—and heading back to the $800 spot mark. Will it be allowed to get there? And as I write this paragraph, the London open is about forty-five minutes away—and there certainly has been some rather interesting price activity in Far East trading on their Wednesday. I’m guessing that the Chinese New Year holiday has come to an end—and that traders are back at their desks over there. Right out of the chute at 6 p.m. EST yesterday evening, all four precious metals powered higher, particularly silver, which I thought very unusual. Depending on which metal you’re looking at, the fun ended by 9 or 10 a.m. Hong Kong time—but started again with somewhat less enthusiasm in early afternoon trading. Gold volume is very chunky at 25,000 contracts net, so this rally obviously ran into ferocious opposition by JPMorgan et al—but silver’s net volume is only 2,870 contracts. Gross volume is north of 10,500 contracts, so roll-over activity is already way up there, as the large traders have to be out by the end of COMEX trading today—and the rest of the traders tomorrow. Thinking about that silver rally last night I’m wondering if it involved a decent amount of short covering, as the net volume is very light. But there’s no way of knowing for sure, because all the price/volume activity occurred after the cut-off for the COT Report on Friday—and by the time the next report is available, this trading action will be buried. And as I send this off to Stowe, Vermont at 4:50 a.m. EST, I note that the tiny rallies in all four precious metals in early afternoon trading in the Far East, ended at 3 p.m. Hong Kong time, which was an hour before the London open. And, with the exception of palladium, which is knocking on the $800 price door once again, the other three precious metals are heading quietly lower, but on such light volume, the price trend hardly matters. Net gold volume is up to a bit over 31,000 contracts, an increase of only 6,000 contracts from two and a half hours ago—and silver’s net volume is only 3,340 contracts, up only 500 contracts in the same time period. There’s nothing going on—and nothing to see at the moment. The dollar index is now down 32 basis points—and coming awfully close to the 94.00 level once more. It will be interesting to see if “gentle hands” put in an appearance once again. That’s all I have for today which, once again, is more than enough—and I look forward to the rest of Wednesday’s trading activity with more than the usual amount of interest. See you tomorrow.
