Hindi played important role in development of India: Om Birla‘We didn’t have a good day’: Greens set to suffer significant election losses

Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the party could not buck the trend in Ireland of junior coalition partners in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail governments losing support in subsequent elections. He said they expected to retain two to three seats out of the 12 they had won in the 2020 election on the back of a worldwide “Green wave”. “Undoubtedly it’s a disappointing result for our party today,” Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Ongar, Dublin. “It’s hard for a smaller party in government, that’s long been the tradition, the history in Ireland. We hoped going into the election to buck that but we haven’t been able to buck that today.” Mr O’Gorman, a candidate in Dublin West, is among the outgoing Green Party TDs in a battle to retain their seats. Culture Minister Catherine Martin, who is fighting to remain a Green Party TD for Dublin Rathdown, said it was a “very tight” race in her four-seat constituency. “We go in (to government) not afraid of that because the issue of the climate and biodiversity crisis is (greater) than our survival,” she said on RTE Radio. “I stand over and am proud of our track record of delivery.” Green candidate in Waterford Marc O Cathasaigh said he would not be “in the shake-up” to retain his seat in that constituency, while junior minister Ossian Smyth looks at risk of losing his seat in Dun Laoghaire. Junior minister Joe O’Brien is expected to lose his seat in Dublin Fingal, Neasa Hourigan is at risk in Dublin Central, while Wicklow’s Steven Matthews garnered just 4% of first preferences. Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in June, said his party had not had a good day. Arriving at the count centre at the RDS in Dublin, the outgoing environment minister told reporters: “If you don’t get elected you accept that, but you come back stronger and you learn lessons, and we’ve done that in the past and we will do that again.” He added: “No matter what the results today there will be a strong Green Party in Ireland, we have deep roots in the community and it’s a very distinct political philosophy and I think there is still space for that in Irish politics, for sure.” Mr Ryan said he did not believe his decision to retire, and the timing of his announcement, had affected the party’s showing. “Unfortunately – and this is just one of those days – we didn’t get the number of votes,” he said. He added: “We’ll look back and see what are the lessons, and what can we learn and what can we do differently. “It’s just one of those days when we didn’t have a good day.Lebawit Lily Girma | (TNS) Bloomberg News When winter rolls around, travelers predictably turn their attention to beaches. And this year, it’s the destination that comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean” that’s experiencing outsize demand from Americans planning a warm island vacation. Talk about trashing stereotypes. Related Articles Travel | Would you pay $700 a night to sleep under the stars at this Colorado resort? Travel | GM halts funding for Cruise robotaxi program Travel | Thailand’s starring role in ‘The White Lotus’ is about to pay off Travel | 5 under-the-radar travel destinations the UN says you should visit Travel | Gift ideas for people planning their next trip Puerto Rico has recovered overseas visitors (excluding those from Canada and Mexico) faster than any U.S. state or territory — a staggering 85% increase over its 2019 overseas inbound visitor levels as of 2023, according to an October study from the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office. There are now more daily flights from the U.S. West Coast, and hotel bookings are 6% higher so far in this last quarter of 2024 year-over-year. It’s a trifecta of tourism growth: more visitors, but also longer stays and a higher spend that reached a record $9.8 billion in 2023, boosting small businesses as well as major brands. “We don’t have a slow season in Puerto Rico anymore,” says Brad Dean, chief executive officer at Discover Puerto Rico. Even if they’re not booking, people are dreaming about “La Isla.” By tracking flight searches for trips between November 2024 and February 2025, a measure of “inspirational” demand, tourism intelligence company Mabrian Technologies reports Puerto Rico is up 9% compared with the same period last year and leads Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Bahamas in the Caribbean proper. Only Costa Rica ranked higher in the wider region. Dean attributes Puerto Rico’s ongoing tourism growth to a strategic effort to reposition the island’s brand as more than a sun-and-sea destination, starting back in 2018. That led to the Live Boricua campaign, which began in 2022 and leaned heavily on culture, history and cuisine and was, Dean says, “a pretty bold departure” in the way Puerto Rico was showcased to travelers. He adds that at least $2 billion in tourism spend is linked to this campaign. “We (also) haven’t shied away from actively embracing the LGBTQ+ community, and that has opened up Puerto Rico to audiences that may not have considered the Caribbean before,” Dean says. Hotels are preparing to meet this growing demand: A number of established boutique properties are undergoing upgrades valued between $4 million and more than $50 million, including Hotel El Convento; La Concha, which will join the Marriott Autograph Collection; Condado Vanderbilt Hotel; and the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar. That’s in addition to ultra-chic options that are coming online in 2025, including the adults-only Alma San Juan, with rooms overlooking Plaza Colón in the heart of Old San Juan, and the five-star Veranó boutique hotel in San Juan’s trendy Santurce neighborhood. The beachfront Ritz-Carlton San Juan in Isla Verde will also be reopening seven years after Hurricane Maria decimated the island. The travel industry’s success is helping boost employment on the island, to the tune of 101,000 leisure and hospitality jobs as of September 2024, a 26% increase over pre-pandemic levels, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Efforts to promote Puerto Rico’s provinces beyond the San Juan metro area — such as surfing hub Rincón on the west coast, historical Ponce on the south coast and Orocovis for nature and coffee haciendas in the central mountains —have spread the demand to small businesses previously ignored by the travel industry. Take Sheila Osorio, who leads workshops on Afro-Puerto Rican bomba music and dance at Taller Nzambi, in the town of Loíza, 15 miles east of San Juan; or Wanda Otero, founder of cheese-producing company Vaca Negra in Hatillo, an hour’s drive west of Old San Juan, where you can join a cheese-making workshop and indulge in artisanal cheese tastings. “The list of businesses involved in tourism has gone from 650 in 2018 to 6,100, many of which are artists and artisans,” Dean says. While New Yorkers and Miami residents have always been the largest visitor demographic, Dean says more mainland Americans now realize that going to Puerto Rico means passport-free travel to enjoy beaches, as well as opportunities to dine in Michelin-rated restaurants, hike the only rainforest in the U.S. and kayak in a bioluminescent bay. Visitors from Chicago and Dallas, for example, have increased by approximately 40% from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, compared with the same period in 2022-2023, and more travelers are expected from Denver now that United Airlines Holdings Inc. has kicked off its first nonstop service to San Juan, beginning on Oct. 29. Previously, beach destinations that were easy to reach on direct flights from Denver included Mexico, Belize and California, but now Puerto Rico joins that list with a 5.5-hour nonstop route that cuts more than two hours from the next-best option. Given United Airlines’ hub in San Francisco, it could mean more travelers from the Golden State in the near future, too. In December, U.S. airlines will have 3,000 more seats per day to the territory compared with the same period last year, for a total of 84,731 — surpassing even Mexico and the Dominican Republic in air capacity, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, the island’s primary gateway, is projecting a record volume of 13 million passengers by year’s end — far surpassing the 9.4 million it saw in 2019. As for Hinchcliffe’s “floating island of garbage” line, Dean says it was “a terribly insensitive attempt at humor” that transformed outrage into a marketing silver lining, with an outpouring of positive public sentiment and content on Puerto Rico all over social media. Success, as that old chestnut goes, may be the best revenge. “It was probably the most efficient influencer campaign we’ve ever had,” Dean says, “a groundswell of visitors who posted their photos and videos and said, ‘This is the Puerto Rico that I know.’” ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Biden did the second-guessing as he delivered a speech at the Brookings Institution defending his economic record and challenging Trump to preserve Democratic policy ideas when he returns to the White House next month.

LONDON (AP) — A suspected Chinese spy with business ties to Prince Andrew has been barred from the U.K. because of concerns he poses a threat to national security. A British immigration tribunal upheld the decision on Thursday in a ruling that revealed the Chinese national had developed such a close relationship with Andrew that he was invited to the prince’s birthday party. Government officials were concerned the man could have misused his influence because the prince was under “considerable pressure” at the time, according to the ruling. British authorities believe the Chinese national, whose name wasn’t released, was working on behalf of the United Front Work Department, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party that is used to influence foreign entities. The government determined that the businessman “was in a position to generate relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent U.K. figures which could be leveraged for political interference purposes by the Chinese State,” according to the tribunal's decision. In a statement from his office, Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, said he accepted government advice and ceased all contact with the Chinese national as soon as concerns were raised. “The Duke met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed,′′ his office said. “He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.” Prince Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III, has been repeatedly criticized for his links to wealthy foreigners, raising concerns that those individuals are trying to buy access to the royal family. Andrew’s finances have been squeezed in recent years after he was forced to step away from royal duties and give up public funding amid concerns about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein , the American financier and convicted pedophile who committed suicide in prison in 2019. British intelligence chiefs have become increasingly concerned about China’s efforts to influence U.K. government policy. In 2022, Britain’s domestic intelligence service, known as MI5, warned politicians that a British-Chinese lawyer had been seeking to improperly influence members of Parliament for years. A parliamentary researcher was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of providing sensitive information to China. The 50-year-old Chinese national covered by this week’s ruling was described as a man who worked as a junior civil servant in China before he came to the U.K. as a student in 2002. He earned a master’s degree in public administration and public policy at the University of York before starting a business that advises U.K.-based companies on their operations in China. He was granted the right to live and work in the U.K. for an indefinite period in 2013. Although he didn’t make Britain his permanent home, the man told authorities that he spent one to two weeks a month in the country and considered it his “second home.” He was stopped while entering the U.K. on Nov. 6, 2021, and ordered to surrender his mobile phone and other digital devices on which authorities found a letter from a senior adviser to Andrew confirming that he was authorized to act on behalf of the prince in relation to potential partners and investors in China. The letter and other documents highlighted the strength of the relationship between Andrew, his adviser and the Chinese national. “I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal and indeed his family,” the adviser wrote. “You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship. Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.” The letter went on to describe how they had found a way to work around former private secretaries to the prince and other people who weren’t completely trusted. “Under your guidance, we found a way to get the relevant people unnoticed in and out of the house in Windsor,” the adviser wrote. Andrew lives at the Royal Lodge, a historic country estate near Windsor Castle, west of London. Danica Kirka, The Associated Press

West Virginia Bureau for Behavioral Health launches Student Loan Repayment Grant programEast contender draws two separate fines for flopping in same gameA Brandon woman was barred from operating a vehicle for 18 months after pleading guilty to impaired driving charges. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $14.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! A Brandon woman was barred from operating a vehicle for 18 months after pleading guilty to impaired driving charges. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? A Brandon woman was barred from operating a vehicle for 18 months after pleading guilty to impaired driving charges. Taylor Christie, 32, was before the Court Of King’s Bench in Brandon on Monday, where Judge Patrick Sullivan barred her from driving for a year and a half, after she crashed her car into a snowbank in the 400 block of Rosser Avenue last week. Taking a serious view of the charge of impaired driving and emphasizing the possible need for rehabilitation, the judge also imposed a $2,000 fine on Christie, to be paid over the next 18 months. Sullivan delivered his sentence to Christie on Monday morning after she was charged on Dec. 18 with impaired driving. This was the second time Christie was charged with the same offence, following an earlier incident involving impaired driving in October of 2015. In issuing the sentence, the judge said he hopes that Wheat City residents will make smarter choices when it comes to driving responsibly, especially during the winter holidays, which typically see a spike in the number of such incidents being reported that usually stem from higher alcohol consumption during the holiday festivities. But he also credited Ms. Christie for pleading guilty and for doing so swiftly. “What can be said about this situation is that you’ve entered the guilty plea at an astonishing rate. This incident only occurred five days ago. This is a very quick guilty plea that does demonstrate remorse, as you have said. This is you taking accountability and responsibility for that. And I want to reflect that mitigating factor in a sentence,” Sullivan said. Judge Sullivan also acknowledged the severity of impaired driving, and that Christie was driving while being at least double the legal limit allowed for alcohol consumption when she was apprehended by Brandon police following the crash. The judge also emphasized just how hazardous winter driving conditions can be throughout the Westman region, even if a driver is not impaired. “I ask you to consider how you conduct yourself. Clearly, your ability to operate a vehicle on this occasion was heavily impaired by alcohol. You were double the legal limit. You were struggling to control the vehicle such that you had effectively a single vehicle accident in the snow bank. It is really a miracle that it wasn’t another vehicle, a person or a pedestrian that you hit because those are all real possibilities,” Sullivan said. “Having previously been before the court for impaired driving, bearing in mind it was almost nine or 10 years ago, it still suggests to me, that maybe the lesson hasn’t been learned yet by you,” he added. This sentiment was also echoed by Crown attorney Sarah Kok. “We have seen far too many fatalities in the province of Manitoba, and it’s very lucky that Ms. Christie herself wasn’t injured, and that no one else was involved in any kind of an accident that resulted in bodily harm or death,” Kok said during the court hearing on Monday. “Impaired driving is a scourge on our highways. It accounts for the highest number of fatalities and accidents on the roadway, particularly at this time of year, and a message needs to be sent to you, as well as other impaired drivers,” Kok added. Christie did not have any legal representation in pleading guilty to all the charges against her. According to Robert Harrison, a longtime defense attorney in Brandon at the firm Hunt, Miller, & Co, people tend to make less responsible decisions when they’re under the influence, which is especially relevant when it comes to impaired driving. “I would guess it’s because there’s more social events involving alcohol around this time of year between Christmas and New Year’s. People have parties, get togethers, and usually alcohol is served at these events. And unfortunately, people get behind the wheel when they’re under the influence,” said Harrison, who hopes people will plan alternative methods of transportation if they plan on drinking over the holidays. “The biggest thing is to get the message to people to not do it, and to find other ways of transportation,” Harrison said. Between taxi services, designated drivers, or sleeping at a friend’s place for the night, there is always an alternative to driving while intoxicated. Law enforcement officials in Brandon hope that the people they protect will take precautions when it comes to protecting themselves too. ^ » dstein@brandonsun.com » X: @davidpstein_ Advertisement Advertisement

Five held over humiliation of freedom fighter

Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use

Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use1 2 Chennai: Chennai-based Sai University announced the launch of four new schools in artificial intelligence, management, biotechnology, and media studies from next year. Founder chancellor of the university, K V Ramani, announced the launch of these schools at a conclave in the city on Saturday. These schools will offer 16 new programmes, including BTech in artificial intelligence and BCA in artificial intelligence . Other programmes include BTech in biotechnology, BBA (honours), BCom (honours), MBA, BA Media Studies with various specialisations, and BA in Film Production, TV, and OTT. "The admission process will begin in January," said Anubha Sing, deputy vice-chancellor of Sai University. The School of Artificial Intelligence will focus on AI, machine learning, and data science, while the School of Management will focus on business management, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The School of Biotechnology will foster research in biotechnology, bioinformatics, and related fields. The School of Media Studies is planning to create storytellers and media professionals. The university is currently offering programmes including BTech in computing and data science, BA LLB and LLM, and BA and BSc programmes in various streams. Sai University aims to provide a liberal education model, focusing on undergraduate education across arts and sciences, technology, and law. The university's curriculum is delivered by international faculty from prestigious universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Tufts, Cambridge, and other renowned global institutions. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .

AN AMERICAN MOMENT

BCDA chief takes big, bold stepsThe Minnesota Twins acquired infielder Mickey Gasper from the Red Sox on Tuesday, sending left-hander Jovani Moran to Boston. Gasper, 29, made his major league debut in 2024 with the Red Sox, going hitless with four walks and one run in 18 at-bats over 13 games. The switch-hitter spent most of the 2024 season at Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester, hitting a combined .328 with 27 doubles, 12 home runs and 58 RBIs in 92 games. The Red Sox selected him from the New York Yankees in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft. A 27th-round pick of the Yankees in the 2018 draft, Gasper has played four positions in the minors -- first base, second base, third base and catcher -- along with serving as designated hitter. In 407 minor league games with the Yankees and Red Sox farm systems, he has hit .275 with 48 home runs and 207 RBIs. Moran, 27, underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2023 season and didn't pitch in 2024. In 79 relief appearances with the Twins from 2021-23, Minnesota's seventh-round pick in the 2015 draft is 2-3 with one save along with a 4.15 ERA, 52 walks, 112 strikeouts and a 1.33 WHIP in 91 innings. This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.Bauchi: Shettima, Dangote da gwamnoni sun halarci bikin dan Bagudu