News from November 20, 2025

Technology

Labor and birthrate issues dominate Q&A session with Sam Hou Fai

Labor-related matters, as well as the low birthrate in Macau and its consequences, were highlighted during the Q&A session with lawmakers and the Chief Executive (CE), Sam Hou Fai. The CE attended the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly to answer lawmakers’ questions on the Policy Address for fiscal year 2026. On matters related to labor, lawmakers Ma Chi Seng and Leong Sun Iok, first, and José Pereira Coutinho, later, questioned the CE on the announced reforms in public administration and their potential impacts on the work and employment of civil servants. The government had earlier announced the merging of several departments and bureaus, as well as the mobility of civil servants across different services. Admin reform does not involve layoffs Questioned on the topic, Sam stated, “Public administration reform will not involve layoffs, salary reductions, or demotions,” and urged civil servants to rest assured that this is not among the government’s goals in implementing the reform. “This [reform] will be done over three years, and the program has already been presented. The goal is clear. Through a strong mechanism, [we aim] to increase efficiency and optimize services, reinforcing quality,” the CE said, adding, “To improve efficiency and optimize services, we need everyone’s efforts.” On the topic, the CE reaffirmed that civil servants are “valuable resources” for the government’s administrative machine. Leong stated that he had received complaints from civil servants about increased workload and staff shortages, which were affecting their physical and mental health, to which Sam replied with calls for resilience and an increased “sense of responsibility.” In response to Pereira Coutinho’s call for a salary update, the CE reaffirmed that such matters are handled by a mechanism that is enforced and evaluates livelihood conditions, namely the inflation rate, to propose salary updates. He reaffirmed that if this did not happen this year, it was because “the conditions were not met.” Still on labor matters, lawmaker Ella Lei addressed the difficulties of workers in a challenging job market and salaries that have not been growing at the same rate as expenses. She also called for a clear plan for the announced regime improvements in the importation of non-resident workers (TNRs). In response, the CE said that the government has done a lot to help residents and address their employment difficulties, blaming some who are “unwilling to make an effort” for the current unemployment rate. “We already did a lot to promote and solve the unemployment issue. Unemployed people need the will to work; if they do not, the government cannot help them. This is a problem not restricted to Macau, but we also have it. We need to support those who want to work and have the will to do so,” he said. Companies must prioritize hiring of young locals As for the TNRs, Sam remarked that the import of labor had always been and will continue to be intended to address the lack of local resources. Claiming that the government and public entities are doing their best and sharing the best practices on the matter, the CE stated that the government needs to be pragmatic and understand that there are cases of exception in which companies cannot resort to local manpower for specific jobs due to a lack of experienced and qualified people. “We need to take this rule [primacy of locals over imported labor] as a mission and not just look at the potential benefits in terms of lower salaries [or hiring TNRs],” the CE said, warning local employers that the policy is very clear and even applies to specific industries or sectors that have been named. “If we have fresh graduates who can do the job, the TNRs should be replaced. Even if they [the locals] need training, they should be preferred and trained to do the job rather than resort to imported labor.” The CE said that at the moment, 89.7% of the high managerial posts in the six major leisure and entertainment companies are already occupied by locals, hinting that similar rules could be extended to other sectors or specific industries. Leong Pou U also insisted on learning more about the planned revision of the Labor Law next year. The newly elected lawmaker wanted to know if, among the amendments, there would be the extension of maternity leave days as well as an increase in the number of days for annual leave and public holidays. Without unveiling many of the amendments, Sam said that all those aspects need to be considered and weighed, claiming that what is essential is to have a permanent mechanism to address several of these matters. Addressing the topic of the increase in the minimum wage, Sam refuted the idea of extending it to other professional categories, claiming that “most of them already have salaries that exceed the minimum wage level.” Birthrate decline causes concern Lawmakers Loi I Weng and Wong Kit Cheng have brought to the Q&A session topics related to the decline of the birthrate and some of its immediate consequences. Loi noted that the decline in the number of babies over the past few years is already affecting schools and other educational institutions, as they lose the opportunity to receive government subsidies due to fewer students per class. The lawmaker was calling for solutions to the issue, proposing an adjustment to the rules for the subsidy, which is only awarded to classes with 25 to 35 students. In response, the CE refuted the idea of adjusting the rules and insisted that what needs to change is the current trend of declining birth rates. For Sam, the key is to incentivize youngsters to have more kids, noting that the school subsidy formula is similar to that used in other regions, particularly the mainland. “We need to advance studies to analyze this problem and see what is happening in other countries that suffer from the same issue, like Japan,” the CE said, admitting that the number of K1 students has decreased by 38%. Teacher reconversion is a solution proposed “This is a reality, and what we need to [do in the short term is to] improve the distribution of resources,” he said, proposing that schools diversify their offers and teachers requalify their skills and reconvert into other areas such as continuous education. “We will refine the subsidy and also help schools that possess conditions to do so, for reconversion and advance with continuous education courses. We need to do this because of the legal rules; for now, these state that it’s for 25-35 students. Maybe we can create a platform to improve communication between schools and consider teacher transfers between different school levels,” he remarked. Citing government statistics, Sam said that research has been conducted and that the government knows about 200 teachers may soon be without a class. “Maybe we can transfer them to other duties like continuous education courses. I think they have a strong capacity for adaptability. We can also train them in other fields, such as technology. We will organize programs for the medium- and long-term for this. Teachers and schools need to adjust to the new reality. The government, together with schools and teachers, will do this,” he concluded.

MDT,Renato Marques 3 hours ago

Health

I became a full-time paramedic for strangers in Arc Raiders, and ended up showered with more rare loot than I could carry

OK, I'll admit it: Arc Raiders can get a little boring when you're a pacifist. Casually waving hello to solo raiders as they loot the locker you were hoping to have to yourself is not as novel or fun the hundredth time it happens, especially after you've gotten so good enough at eluding Arc patrols that even they're only rarely a threat. Last week, I went on three raids in a row without firing a shot. It's at this point that solo players looking to zest up their routine might turn to the dark side: picking fights out in the open, setting traps at extraction points, or the least forgivable 2012-ass DayZ behavior of all, shooting randos in the back after establishing a "Don't shoot!" truce. Banditry did cross my mind. PvP is pretty fun in Arc Raiders, after all, and after 43 hours I still haven't gotten to do very much of it. But I've come to value Arc Raiders' gentle culture so much (and judge every hostile player so harshly) that I can't become the hypocrite now. I'd sooner uninstall. To treat my boredom without blackening my soul, I decided to try something else: Inspired by a Reddit clip of a self-proclaimed "rescue raider," I began deploying on solo raids with a full stack of defibrillators. The goal? Run toward downed raider flares, find the patient, and revive them. Park Ambulance Dispatch (PAD) is here to help. The first hurdle to becoming an effective Arc Raiders paramedic was cardio. I'd run and run and run straight toward every flare, but most players I responded to had died by the time I got there. Not too surprising: Solo players tend to give up as soon as they're downed, assuming that even if a friendly face passes by, they won't be holding a defib that's only good for reviving others. After that first night, I'd saved a whopping two people. Good, but not good enough. So I switched up the gameplan: Hang around the center of the map so I'm as close as possible to flaresPlay mostly on Buried City and Stella Montis, the two smallest mapsInvest in the Mobility skill tree to improve my stamina, climb speed, and therefore my response timeAnnounce myself as a friendly medic as soon as the patient is within earshot Above: The only time I've gotten the coveted "My hero!" chant from a grateful patient. I raced across the rooftops, landed risky jumps, and deployed ziplines to fly across maps like Spider-Man with a backpack full of drugs. That's when I started finding some real success. I'd revive at least one raider per run, sometimes two or three, and sometimes I'd have to save the same person twice. At the risk of sounding like I'm fishing for good samaritan praise, what I'm actually saying is that this is way more thrilling than peacefully looting the Rust Belt or turning every match into a warzone. Honestly, I've never had as much fun in Arc Raiders. The pressure of reaching people in time to save them completely recontextualized the game. Routes I'd taken hundreds of times became race courses, and the Arc were a scarier presence because I didn't have time to just hide in a bush until they passed. I could still complete quests and loot stuff for my base upgrades, but I also had a main quest that superseded everything. What I didn't expect were all the gifts. Most patients just said thank you, often in a confused "Is he really just gonna let me go?" sorta way, but occasionally they'd just start dropping valuables. I'm sitting on a pile of rare parts from Arc I've never even fought—Bastion Cores, Leaper Pulse Units, Bombardier Cells—plus loads of random trinkets. Most of which I plan to sell because, um, it turns out being a paramedic is an expensive hobby. Defibrillators are not a standard recipe of the medicine bench, and I've yet to find the blueprint to craft them myself, so I've just been buying loads of them from the Clinic at 3,000 coins a pop. In fact, I just ran the numbers for the first time and, at 9,000 coins for a full stack of three, I've been going through approximately 50k worth of defibs per night. That's by way of sometimes using all defibs in one run, other times having leftovers, and sometimes getting murdered myself. Yea so, I've danced around it so far, but there are also plenty of reasons why the paramedic playstyle is a terrible idea. For one, I'm dying way more than I used to, and you can probably imagine how. A good half of raider flares I've responded to were folks downed by another player. I've lost full packs of medical supplies because I sprinted straight at a flare yelling "I'm a medic, don't give up!" and immediately got shot in the face by my patient's killer. Eventually, this too called for an updated plan: Get good at detecting dangerInvestigate crime scenesFight, if necessaryPrioritize the revive This really comes down to mitigating risk, but accepting a regular state of peril. The one big tip I can give here is to not just take note of distant gunshots, but listen to them. Before the flare popped, what did I hear? Were there rockets, bombs, or machineguns typical of Arc, or did it sound like two Ferros trading shots from opposite rooftops? I'd take my best guess and let that calibrate how much caution I should use, which has worked well enough so far. Now I mosey up to some flares quietly, assessing the crime scene before I initiate voice chat. If I'm quick enough, I can catch the killer before they finish the job. If I'm too late, well, I can at least dispense justice with some PvP that won't weigh on my conscience. The most interesting cases unfold when I arrive late enough that I can't quite tell what just happened: One player is dead, another is looting them, but were they the aggressor? The only way to find out without risking my hide, I decided, is to light 'em up until they're down and then question them. If I believe their story, they get a defib. If my lie detector goes off, their raid is over. I know that I've probably revived a few murders by accident along the way, but letting some folks live eases the conscience and produces its own unique social interactions. Just the other day, I downed a guy who'd just killed someone in the Buried City hospital. I asked if he killed the guy upstairs, he insisted it was self defense. I asked why he didn't respond to my "Don't shoot" calls, he said he didn't hear me. He had basic guns, the default outfit, and could've just been a brand new player, so I decided to take the chance and used my last defib. He seemed legitimately shocked, thanked me a bunch, and slowly backed away. Later that night, I got a friend request. Perhaps it's time for the Park Ambulance Dispatch to grow?

Morgan Park 3 hours ago

Technology

Technology research industrial park set to progress gradually

Macau will progress in an orderly manner with the construction of the technology research industrial park, with authorities confirming yesterday that extensive public consultations will be conducted from next Thursday through December 26 regarding site selection, planning, and funding arrangements. The 2026 Policy Address outlines four major construction projects for Macau: the Macau-Hengqin International Education (University) Town, the Macau International Integrated Tourism and Cultural Zone, the Macau Pearl River West Bank International Air Transport Hub (Port), and the Macau Science and Technology Research and Development Industrial Park. Notably, the education town and the integrated tourism and cultural zone are set to begin graduate-level teaching next year, while the latter is currently gathering public feedback. Investment in the cultural area will depend on future circumstances, with annual public investment expected to remain around MOP20 billion, consistent with recent years. Presenting his second Policy Address on Tuesday, Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai provided further details on the progress of the technology research industrial park, stating, “We will finalize the development plan for the park, including conducting preliminary consultations and research on its requirements, industrial positioning, functional layout, and development model.” He emphasized the need to expedite subsequent budget preparation and project tendering, initiate the hiring of a project management company, and actively attract investment. Sam also mentioned that support from central government ministries and commissions would be sought for the park’s development. He noted that prior to the park’s completion, the technology research industrial park will be established to attract technology enterprises and projects in fields such as integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, and digital technology. “These four initiatives aim to diversify the economy,” he added. Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai will conduct extensive consultations regarding the technology research industrial park by month-end, with plans to leverage decades of mainland China’s technological development experience. “We will adapt to Macau’s actual conditions and fully leverage the benefits of ‘One Country, Two Systems,’” Sam stated. The primary focus of the technology park will be on research and development, centered around Macau’s technology research industry. Leveraging Macau’s four national key laboratories in biotechnology, traditional Chinese medicine, and integrated circuits, the park will also advance space technology through initiatives like Macau Science 1 and Macau Science 2. “I look forward to hearing everyone’s input, particularly from the technology sector,” he said. Sam referenced his previous visits to Changsha, the Pearl River Delta, and Beijing to observe their technological advancements, highlighting that Macau can draw from their successful experiences, especially in biomedicine and digital technology. He revealed plans for a phased development of the technology industry, stating, “This will be a gradual process.” Meanwhile, the establishment of the government’s industrial fund and guiding fund is anticipated by the end of this year or early next year.

MDT,Yuki Lei 3 hours ago

Politics

Trump administration makes major changes to a report it commissioned on FEMA reforms, AP sources say

A draft of a much-anticipated report on reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been whittled down in size, with recommendations compiled by a council appointed by the president slashed and amended by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s office, according to three people familiar with the developments. The report “got nuked,” said one former FEMA official. The three people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue with the media, said the report shrunk from over 160 pages to roughly 20. They said it left council members and other emergency management leaders concerned that some of the recommendations about the country’s disaster preparedness won’t make it into the final copy, which is expected around Dec. 12. The draft report’s downsizing reflects the Trump administration’s push to disengage the federal government from disaster management and the agency overseeing it, FEMA, pushing more responsibility for preparing, responding to and recovering from climate on states, tribes and territories. The former officials said that cutting some of the original recommendations and adding others that further diminish FEMA will not only show that the administration is intervening politically in a professional undertaking. They said the changed recommendations could ultimately leave states and other governments unequipped to prepare for or recover from disasters. Those who oppose shrinking FEMA say most state and local governments can’t take on more of the enormous financial and logistical strains of rebuilding, especially as the frequency and severity of extreme weather wrought by climate change grows, and that FEMA plays a key coordinating role, shepherding help from across the federal government. DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Asked about the status of the report, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the review council will recommend to President Donald Trump how FEMA may be reformed “such that the Federal role remains supplemental and appropriate to the scale of disaster,” and that “Secretary Noem is working hard to implement the President’s vision that will best serve the American public.” The initial draft sought reforms to FEMA The council, appointed by Trump and made up almost exclusively by members from Republican-led states who support significant FEMA reforms, finished a draft report in early November of over 160 pages, according to the three people. A table of contents obtained by the AP showed the initial draft included nine “key principles,” including reforming public assistance, flood insurance, direct assistance to survivors, and improving rural resilience. It also included sections on potential reforms to the Stafford Act, which dictates most of FEMA’s authorities, and proposes a phased approach to the changes, to prepare state and local governments. Two former officials familiar with the matter told the AP the initial recommendations included several of the reforms Trump and Noem have repeatedly touted, including giving states upfront direct grants for disaster recovery instead of reimbursing for the work after it’s done, a process that is often criticized for being too slow and bureaucratic. Other initial recommendations would reduce how much FEMA pays for disasters by reducing the federal cost share below its current minimum of 75%, and raising the threshold of how much a disaster must be estimated to cost before FEMA recommends to the president that it receive a major disaster declaration. Declarations are ultimately up to the president regardless of that formula. The new draft cuts proposed reforms and makes others After submitting the draft in early November to DHS for comment and approval, council members learned Noem’s office cut the report to around 20 pages, the former officials said. Two people who had not seen the DHS version but are close to members of the council who did said the new draft removes any mention of mitigation programs and slashes preparedness dollars for local emergency management agencies. The AP could not independently confirm other changes made to the draft. Noem called a last-minute meeting of the FEMA Review Council on Wednesday afternoon. DHS did not respond to questions about the meeting. The AP could not reach council members for comment. At a disaster resilience conference in Florida Wednesday, council member and Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said federal funds would “continue to come down” to states, but that, with legislative changes, the money could potentially arrive in “days and weeks,” hinting at the transition to using direct grants. He did not address the draft report in his remarks. Many of the expected recommendations would require action by Congress because the 1988 Stafford Act lays out most of FEMA’s responsibilities. Other changes could be implemented by Trump or the FEMA administrator. A Republican-dominated council For nearly a year, the council has been meeting around the country, holding listening sessions in disaster-impacted places and surveying emergency management professionals and others on how to reform FEMA, and streamline federal support after disasters. Trump created the review council by executive order on Jan. 24, the same day he proposed “ getting rid of ” FEMA after touring Hurricane Helene damage in North Carolina. It is co-chaired by Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, though Hegseth did not attend the last of three public meetings, and Noem attended two meetings virtually. The members are almost exclusively from Republican-led states and include the emergency management directors of Texas and Florida, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is vice chair. Members held three public meetings between May and August in Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Oklahoma City, along with multiple closed-door listening sessions with Native tribes and in disaster-impacted states and territories including North Carolina and Puerto Rico. They also surveyed emergency management directors and others involved with disaster recovery. Experts hoped that what they believed was a thorough approach would mean that the final recommendations would be reflective of the broad input.

Gabriela Aoun Angueira 3 hours ago

Technology

Escaping the press gallery lows to revel in the high life

The Snowy River sits cold and trapped against a dam wall below us, the last wild run of it spent. Each year for the past 17 years we have come bringing food and wine and benevolence, leaving the familiar world and all its parts in the lowlands. Most years we came in winter, stamping on skis, wearing ourselves out on the slopes before vespers at the pub. Whoever coined the name Snowy Mountains knew what they were talking about. Some years we trudged to our lodgings towing luggage-heavy sleds through blizzards, and spent hours digging cars out of snow drifts before we could leave.

Tony Wright 4 hours ago

Technology

Rachael Wilson leaving Ottawa Food Bank to go to United Way

Wilson served as food bank director of communications and development from 2016 to 2021, then became CEO, making her the first and only woman to lead the organization in that capacity. In the food bank’s post, chair Trevor Whike said the board of directors had appointed Natalie Spooner, currently director of programs and planning, as interim CEO while it conducted a formal search for a permanent candidate. Dennise Taylor-Gilhen has served as United Way East Ontario’s interim president and CEO since June 2024, when the organization parted ways with longtime chief executive Michael Allen. The online post said Taylor-Gilhen would move into “an advisory role, supporting several strategic initiatives.” In early 2025, the United Way’s board engaged an executive recruitment firm for a cross-Canada search for a new president and CEO.

Staff Reporter 4 hours ago

Politics

Türkiye set to host COP31 climate summit, Australia to lead government talks

BELEM, Brazil: Türkiye will host next year's UN climate summit while Australia will lead the conference's negotiations among governments, under a compromise deal taking shape in talks in Brazil, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday (Nov 20). The annual COP conferences are the world's main forum for driving climate action. The compromise would resolve a stand-off between Australia and Türkiye over who would stage COP31. Both bid in 2022 to host it and refused to stand down. The two sides were now close to a deal that would see Türkiye hosting COP31 as summit president, with a pre-COP event staged in the Pacific and Australia as president of negotiations, Albanese said. "What we've come up with is a big win for both Australia and Türkiye," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp Radio. The two nations now have just a year to prepare for an event that attracts tens of thousands of people and requires months of diplomatic legwork to reach consensus around climate goals. "There's a little way to go in these discussions," Australia's Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told reporters at COP30 in Belem, Brazil, adding that the compromise would achieve Australia's aims. "It would be great if Australia could have it all. But we can't have it all," he said. "It was important to strike an agreement." The Turkish government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Unknown 4 hours ago

Technology

Truck sumalpok sa TESDA sa Taguig City | ABS-CBN News

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Allison Co 4 hours ago

Politics

Congress passes measure to reverse Biden's Alaska oil leasing limits

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Congress has passed a measure to overturn a plan enacted during the Biden administration that put off limits to oil and gas leasing nearly half a vast petroleum reserve in Alaska. Critics see the vote as political meddling that creates confusion over the future management of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Tuesday’s House vote followed passage by the Senate during the government shutdown of the resolution disapproving a management plan for the reserve that was finalized in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden. The offices of Alaska’s Republican congressional delegation members have said the resolution “fulfills the objectives” of an Alaska-specific executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year. The executive order called for reinstating a plan dating to the first Trump administration that sought to make available for leasing about 80% of the reserve. The measure next goes to Trump for consideration. There has been outsized attention on Alaska since Trump’s return to office, with moves to expand development of oil and gas and other resources cheered by state political leaders who had considered the Biden administration overly restrictive in its approach. The votes are among the latest taken under the Congressional Review Act that are aimed at nullifying land management plans adopted under Biden. A statement from the congressional delegation last month said the review act provides an expedited way to overturn certain federal rules and forbids an agency from issuing another substantially similar rule unless it’s authorized by law. But Alex Cohen, director of government affairs for the Alaska Wilderness League, called use of the act a “super, super blunt instrument.” Regulatory policy instead requires “very careful, considered stakeholder engagement, scientific analysis,” he said. The approach taken by Congress also raises questions about what constitutes a substantially similar rule, Cohen said, adding there is a lack of clarity around what happens when a plan is overturned. A bill passed earlier this year calls for oil and gas lease sales in the petroleum reserve, for which the last sale was held in 2019, and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Major companies sat out the first two lease sales held for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; the first was at the end of Trump’s first term and the second near the end of Biden’s.

Becky Bohrer 4 hours ago

Technology

The Algorithm Thinks You’re Ugly: An Interview With Artist Gretchen Andrew

There is a direct line between lip fillers and the techno-apocalypse, and Gretchen Andrew draws that line with her latest Universal Beauty series. This series, recently acquired by the Whitney in New York, reveals the preferences of hidden algorithms that define our current beauty standards. Standards not even Miss Universe contestants can meet. In our conversation, Andrew and I discuss how impossible-to-achieve criteria are flattening people’s relationship to their bodies and homogenizing faces around the globe. What is at stake? “The whole diversity of humanity is lost,” according to the artist. Gretchen, an ex-Googler, is a Silicon Valley dropout. After becoming disillusioned by the way technology was designed to exploit users and experiencing a culture that penalized her for dressing like Cher from Clueless, Gretchen left tech to pursue a career in art. In the art world, she felt free to use technology subversively and wear short skirts as a form of 3.0 feminism. Her previous projects: Thirst Trap Glitch Gifs, in which she used SEO optimization hacks to make her vision board canvases the top search result for “contemporary art auction record,” capture the artist’s drive perfectly. Gretchen could have continued further along this line, using her brilliance to expose technological loopholes while promoting her name. However, Universal Beauty marks a departure. Or perhaps an evolution or maturing. Not in Gretchen’s interests, but in her tactics. The focus is less about her explicitly and more about the technology that traps us all. Making us feel forever inadequate. Forever ugly. While keeping us craving more of this feeling. And Gretchen will be the first to admit that she is not above social media addiction. But admission, be it via her work or her words, is always the first step. First, congratulations on your acquisition by the Whitney. What can you tell us about the Facetune Portraits project, and about the work that was acquired? In Facetune Portraits, I look at how A.I.-driven beauty standards are impacting how we experience ourselves and how we experience others. I take what is normally an invisible force—whether it’s digital Facetuning or the way it’s impacting things like lip fillers and plastic surgery—and make it visible so that we can talk about it. In my Universal Beauty series, I look at Miss Universe contestants who are from all over the world—they’re completely gorgeous—and yet they’re not good enough for the algorithms, giving the rest of us absolutely no hope. Not only that, but the contestants are from all around the world. They should look completely different, but we see the homogenizing impact of A.I. when we see Miss Jamaica being given the same body as Miss Finland being given the same body as Miss Philippines. It’s compressing all humanity into a single unified look. Describe the Facetune aesthetic. What does the algorithm think is beautiful? We’ve grown so used to seeing each other and ourselves on a two-dimensional screen. And because screens are flat, our expectations of how we’re supposed to look are incorporating efforts to mimic that third dimension within the two-dimensional space of the screen. One example is having absurdly big lips. Some people really like the way that those big lips look from the front, but no one thinks that they look great from the side. That’s why we get memes around “duck lip.” There’s this distinct prioritization of making sure we look good on a screen. It reminds me of ancient Egyptian art. The reason why hieroglyphics have bodies that are contorted is that, within the two-dimensional surface, the Egyptians wanted to convey the three-dimensionality of the body. So they represented each body part from its most recognizable angle and sort of stuck it all together. That’s really what’s happening today with our cameras and algorithms: we are attempting to convey three dimensions in the 2D space of a screen. What is lost when we do that? The whole diversity of humanity is lost. There have always been beauty standards, but never before has there been a single, universal, international beauty standard. We’re also losing connections to our actual bodies. We’re prioritizing how people look over what they do. We’re prioritizing how we look over how we feel. Within that prioritization, we lose a really important connection to ourselves. Another thing we’re losing is the celebration of the individual. I see not just a desire to be beautiful, but a desire to be like everyone else. That feels safer to people today than to actually look like yourself. How is this different than in the ‘90s, before there was social media, when media was dominated by a couple channels or Vogue, and these Western exports were setting the dominant beauty standard around the world? I think with A.I., the pace and the uniformity of that has increased significantly. Although there has been this Western beauty standard before, maybe there was a slightly different beauty standard in Japan or Kenya. With A.I., there has been an acceleration of this beauty standard convergence. Anybody—they don’t need massive Photoshop skills—can take their image, process it through a Facetune algorithm, and go to a plastic surgeon and say: Make me look like this, which is increasingly happening. I read a study out of Cornell that 0.2 percent of the data used to train A.I. comes from Africa and South America. Do you know where most of the data that’s training these beauty algorithms is coming from? We’re in a feedback loop, especially with social media. I’m sure you’ve noticed that if you post a photo of your face or other people, you’re more likely to get engagement. I don’t think that’s because that’s what people want to see. I think these platforms are driving more engagement in order to get more images of faces and bodies for training their algorithms. I think Instagram, by volume, must be Western. It’s also not so much who is using it as it is about the quantity of images that people are seeing. Influencers, for example, have so many more followers and get so much more exposure. It doesn’t matter how many regular people are using the app, the majority of people are seeing images that look like these influencers. What made you interested in addressing social media and beauty standards in your work? I like to find seemingly innocuous, frivolous and feminine things and use them as opportunities to have conversations about technology and its impact on our lives. Beauty standards seemed like a ripe area where a lot of people are not thinking about A.I. or the technological apocalypse, and so it became a very wide doorway to have these conversations. On top of that, I think a lot about the physical and metaphorical shapes that we as women contort ourselves into to meet societal expectations, especially as we age. I’m approaching 40, and my friends are getting Botox or plastic surgery. This project is not about shaming women for these things. It’s about understanding where standards come from and making decisions from there. Can you talk about your decision to turn these digital images into oil paintings via an oil paint printer? I wanted to create a portrait that shows both who we are and who we’re told to be at the same time. I wanted to represent this in a way that would be part of the history of portraiture. Portraits have always shown what we value at any given time. Look at me and my big family. Look at my jewels. Look at my land behind me. Within this current world of A.I., I wanted to investigate what is important to us, and I think what’s important to us is fitting in. It’s being accepted by the algorithm. What do you think about celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker who refuse to get plastic surgery? Celebrities like that are really important. They remind us that beauty can exist outside of the algorithm. But also, she’s not coming up today. She’s already a big deal, and she can make that stand now in a way that I think is very important and interesting. What I really want to see is somebody who’s very young make that same decision and succeed. I think it’s going to be a lot harder. Totally. I read the memoir Careless People by Sarah Wynn Williams. It’s such a damning portrait of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. After I read it, I was so worked up, and I was like, ‘I have to get off social media.’ And then, of course, I didn’t. So my question is, what does awareness do? There’s an idea that it changes things. But my question is: does it? As far as what awareness does, I think it makes us cognizant that we are making a choice, even if we continue to use filters and get lip fillers. Technology has made things so seamless that we have slipped into an absurd world where people are injecting things into their lips that they have bought on Alibaba, and it happens to be cement. This is becoming normal so fast. I really believe social media is going to be the tobacco of our generation, with the impact on mental health. Here we are, knowing it’s bad for us, still smoking. When I hang up on this phone call, I’ll probably get on Instagram for a second. Awareness is not going to win the war, but it is at least a way to see what’s going on and maybe have a little bit more agency as an individual, even if societally we’re totally fucked. My last question is, if social media is like tobacco and it’s bad for us, why do you still use it? Because I’m addicted. Yeah, me too. More Arts interviews Anthony Kiendl On Unlocking MCA Denver’s Potential and Upending Art World Hierarchies How Artist Eamon Ore-Giron Is Keeping Ancient Deities Alive Adrián Villar Rojas On Time, Decay and the Fragile Afterlife of Art Five Decades On, Hal Bromm Reflects On His Gallery’s History and His Own Legacy Abang-Guard Talk Labor, Legacy and “Makibaka” at the Queens Museum

Mieke Marple 4 hours ago

Politics

Army secretary to meet with Zelenskyy on Ukraine peace talks, officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several high-ranking Army officials, including Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, are in Ukraine to help with peace talks, U.S. officials said Wednesday, as Trump administration efforts to halt Russia’s war in Ukraine have stalled. Driscoll had been planning a trip to Ukraine for some time to discuss the country’s drone warfare innovations and tactics, but last week President Donald Trump decided to identify him as a kind of “special representative” to kick-start peace negotiations and conduct a fact-finding mission, one of the officials said. That official confirmed Driscoll is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week as well as top Ukrainian government, military and defense industry officials. Driscoll is accompanied by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, the service’s most senior officer; Gen. Chris Donahue, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commanding general; and Sgt. Maj. Michael Weimer, the Army’s top enlisted official, an Army official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, said in a post on Facebook that the U.S. Army officials began their visit by meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal. She said they were told about the situation on the battlefield and what was needed to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities, and the two sides also discussed areas of potential defense cooperation. Shmyhal posted a picture on X of himself meeting with Driscoll. Both he and the ambassador noted that the Americans and Ukrainians were focused on implementing defense agreements reached between Trump and Zelenskyy. Neither Ukrainian official mentioned any discussion about renewing peace negotiations with Russia. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller declined to comment on reports that the Trump administration has drafted a new peace plan and had dispatched U.S. defense officials to Kyiv to go over it with the Ukrainians. “I would agree that that’s an issue in which the president has continued to put at the forefront of our foreign policy goal, which is to reach a settlement in the Ukraine-Russia war, so that we can have peace in Europe and we can end the killing and the slaughter of so many innocents,” Miller said. The Trump administration’s efforts to broker an end to the war have hit roadblocks since the president met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August. Tough new U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil industry are aimed at pushing him to the negotiating table. Trump said last month that he was putting on hold his plan for a meeting with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.” Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Ankara on Wednesday and said they’re committed to finding a peaceful settlement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia was not sending a representative to the meeting in Turkey, but insisted that Moscow was ready to negotiate. The U.S. official, meanwhile, said Driscoll is hoping to make a subsequent trip to meet with Russian officials for similar negotiations, adding that the intent is to achieve Trump’s desire for peace as quickly as possible in a way that both sides support. The trip to Ukraine also will help the U.S. address the issue of drone warfare, which military officials have consistently said is being pioneered by Ukraine. During an appearance Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Driscoll said that drones were the “threat of humanity’s lifetime.” He has spent a major portion of his tenure as Army secretary pushing greater integration of drones into the U.S. military arsenal. Shmyhal said in his post that the Americans were shown Ukraine’s “developments in defense innovation: production of FPV drones, interceptors, and deep-strike capabilities.” The Wall Street Journal first reported the visit by the Army officials. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.

Konstantin Toropin 4 hours ago

World

‘The Real Housewives of Potomac’ Alum Mia Thornton Arrested, Charged With Theft

Mia Thornton, a former star of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” has been arrested and charged with theft, according to multiple outlets. Thornton, whose real name is Mia Fields-Thornton, is currently in police custody after being arrested on Wednesday at the Atlanta airport. The former Bravo star was then booked at the Fulton County Jail, where she was charged with felony theft by taking. Representatives for Thornton did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Per CBS News, Atlanta officers assigned to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport were called to the Customs and Border Protection office on Wednesday over a wanted person. The person in-question was later revealed to be Thornton. The reality TV personality has been accused of stealing furniture from a condo she was renting in the area. According to claims made by the condo’s management company in a police report, Thornton and a man, identified as Jared McGriff, “suddenly moved out of the unit in the middle of the night” at the end of October. She is accused of taking the condo’s furniture and TV, which are estimated to cost around $11,000. In body-camera footage of the arrest obtained by TMZ, Thornton is seen telling arresting officers that she knew of the warrant out for her arrest and the reason for the court order. “I just want him to put the furniture back,” she noted while being escorted out of the airport. “Enough is enough. I have several emails to my roommate telling him to put it back.” Thornton’s arrest comes nearly seven months after she announced her exit from “The Real Housewives of Potomac.” In a message released on Instagram, Thornton shared she and her family had “made the decision to relocate to Atlanta,” which is why she would no longer be appearing on “RHOP.” “The past four seasons have been an unforgettable journey one filled with growth, lessons, and so many incredible memories,” she noted before thanking Andy Cohen, her castmates and the show’s producers. She added: “This next chapter is already full of exciting opportunities, and I can’t wait to take you all along for the ride. Big things are coming…”

Alyssa Ray 4 hours ago

World

None Dare Call It Mutiny

No word in military lexicon evokes fear and dread like mutiny. Most often defined as the illegal transfer of a ship’s command from its lawful captain or master, mutiny can lead to the same punishment today as it did centuries ago when Fletcher Christian wrested command of HMAV Bounty from Capt. William Bligh: death. This penalty is detailed in Article 90 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the document that governs how military personnel are required to behave. It reads, in part, that anyone disobeying lawful orders shall be punished as follows: “If the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.” Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice further reminds service members they may face court martial for failure to obey lawful orders, calling such disobedience a dereliction of duty. These severe penalties are what make the video by a half-dozen congressional Democrats suggesting service members disobey so stunning. Contrary to some media reports, they did not expressly call for mutiny among those in uniform, but they came about as close to it as the law allows. “You must refuse illegal orders,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., in the 90-second video inciting servicemen and women to disobey. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Deluzio joined fellow former naval officer Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and former CIA analyst Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., in invoking illegal orders, though the elected officials merely said that “you can refuse illegal orders,” rather than requiring disobedience. This may be technically correct, but it’s abjectly corrupt. The severity of punishment for disobeying orders might explain why nobody refused Barack Obama’s order to kill Anwar al-Awlaki. America was at war when Obama ordered the 2011 death of al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico, so anyone in the chain of command refusing to carry out the drone strike that killed him could be subject to the death penalty. Al-Awlaki was thought to be aligned with al-Qaeda, but there was no trial for this U.S. citizen, no judge, no jury, no verdict, just a Hellfire missile strike in the desert of Yemen. Such vagaries make this ‘Don’t Give Up the Ship’ video very dangerous, not only for the nation but for ordinary military personnel. It repeatedly suggests that people in uniform, who are trained in everything from small boat handling and computer repair, to engineering and command, interpret law. Whether it’s the captain of an aircraft carrier or the teenage bosun’s mate, none of them are steeped in interpreting the law. That’s what judges are for. Deluzio, Slotkin, Kelly and the other Democrats featured in the video won’t spark a military uprising against the government like the world saw in Russia’s 1917 February Revolution. But the infusion of woke ideology into the military in recent years means there are some people in the chain of command who may take this video to heart and just start saying ”no” when given an order. That includes admirals and generals possibly acting in defiance of the commander in chief. Most military officers have at least a cursory understanding of law and its relationship with military action; that’s part of the command structure. The video isn’t telling them anything they don’t already know, but it is replete with finely-crafted misinterpretations of the truth. Among other things, it claims, “This administration is pitting our uniformed military, and intelligence community professionals, against American citizens.” It’s an incendiary statement but means nothing more than some liberals disagree with what those in uniform have been ordered to do, like the war in Vietnam; some people are ideologically pitted against others. The video’s six Democrats don’t specify any particular military action or orders that demand disobedience, but it’s a good bet they’re referring to the National Guard deployments to crime-ridden cities and the escalating American attacks on suspected drug boats in international waters. They may also be trying to lay a groundwork for derailing any military intervention in Venezuela. We don’t know because they won’t say, which is typical of leftist rhetoric. The risks promoted by these politicians are staggering. Attorney David Sheldon, whose law firm specializes in military justice, advises service members, “All military orders are presumed lawful. The burden falls on the service member to establish that an order is manifestly unlawful.” This counsel is much wiser than what these lawmakers are advocating. They are engaged in the worst kind of manipulation, hoping for one man or woman to face court martial for dereliction of duty in pursuit of the Left’s newest cause celebre, and that person, depending on circumstances, faces a penalty up to and including death. This attempt to foment mutiny among the ranks may not be illegal, but it is despicable. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

Scott Hogenson 4 hours ago

Entertainment

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon Comedy ‘Compulsive Liar’ Lands at Amazon MGM Studios

Nearly a decade after working together on the Oscar-nominated screenplay for “The Big Sick,” Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon have set up the upcoming comedy “Compulsive Liar” with Amazon MGM. Just as with “The Big Sick,” Nanjiani will star in the film as well as co-write and co-produce with Gordon alongside Holly Brown of Gaumont. Shawn Levy and Dan Levine will also produce through 21 Laps, with Emily Feher overseeing the project. “Compulsive Liar” will be based on the Canadian comedy “Menteur” from director Émile Gaudreault, who is an executive producer on this film. While plot details for “Compulsive Liar” are being kept under wraps, “Menteur” follows a man who constantly lies to everyone in his life, right up to the point where his friends and family stage an intervention about his deception. When he fights his loved ones over the intervention, he wakes up the next day in a world where all his lies have come true. Nanjiani is set to release his next standup special, “Night Thoughts,” on Hulu on December 19. He is also set to appear in Amazon MGM’s upcoming second season of “Fallout” due out next year as well as the new James L. Brooks film, “Ella McCay”; the forthcoming teen road trip comedy from director Bobby Farrelly, “Driver’s Ed”; and Dylan Meyer’s upcoming directorial debut for NEON, “The Wrong Girls.” Gordon co-developed, wrote and executive produced “Little America” for Apple TV, which just picked up the show based on true American immigrant stories for a second season. Alongside Nanjiani, they formed the production company Winter Coat, which has a first look deal with Sony Television. Gordon is represented by Mosaic, Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham and UTA.

Amazon Mgm,Jeremy Fuster 4 hours ago

Technology

#MetroStyleWatch: The Best Dressed Korean Stars At the Blue Dragon Awards 2025 | ABS-CBN Metro.Style

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo arrived in quintessential Wicked-era fashion. Ariana chose an archival Dior by John Galliano from the Fall/Winter 2007 collection—an unexpected but successful reach into the early-2000s couture vault. Cynthia countered with a statement-making off-the-runway look from Sarah Burton's Spring/Summer 2026 collection for Givenchy. Their complementary styling has become a staple of this awards season, and its absence next season will be felt. White emerged as the evening’s dominant color. Metro's Best Dressed Anya Taylor-Joy wore a sheer Maison Margiela couture design from Fall/Winter 2025, a look that balanced theatricality with technical finesse. Jennifer Lawrence returned to her Dior roots in clean, confident ruched tailoring. Rising star Chase Infiniti delivered one of Louis Vuitton’s strongest tulle experiments to date, offering a floating, near-architectural silhouette. Sydney Sweeney kept things modern in Miu Miu, leaning into the label’s ongoing exploration of pared-back glamour.

Unknown 4 hours ago

Technology

Australia’s biggest gold miner tops up childcare workers’ salaries to keep them out of the Super Pit

“There are more childcare places than there are child carers, so it’s not a lack of buildings and infrastructure, it’s a lack of the carer ratio that’s required in a childcare so they can’t actually meet those ratios, which then reduces the amount of spots,” he said. “So the first problem to deal with is getting more carers interested or employed into those roles so that the children can actually be looked after. “It is a real critical issue for us in order to release the worker from their domestic life to come work for us if their kids can’t get care. “It’s kind of levelling them up to sort of make being a child-carer in Kalgoorlie competitive with being a child-carer anywhere else because the rent Kalgoorlie is astronomically high. “When they’re on a lower wage base and having to pay higher costs, it just destroys it, they say, ‘If I’m going to be a childcare worker, why would I do it here?’”

Hamish Hastie 4 hours ago

Politics

Sen. Tammy Duckworth accuses Trump administration of aviation politics during shutdown

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth suggested during a hearing Wednesday that the Trump administration was playing politics with the aviation system during the shutdown to force an agreement to reopen the government. Duckworth, of Illinois, zeroed in on why the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy never shared the safety data they relied upon when they decided to order airlines to cut some of their flights at 40 busy airports near the end of the shutdown. She also questioned why President Donald Trump didn’t just find a way to pay air traffic controllers the way he did for the military, although the government relied on help from a private donor to pay soldiers. “It fails to strengthen confidence in good government, and the American people are understandably suspicious of a DOT and FAA that does not show its work,” Duckworth said during the Commerce Committee’s aviation subcommittee hearing. During the shutdown, Duffy said repeatedly that the FAA ordered airlines to cut flights because of concerning safety data that FAA experts recognized. He said the order was based on the increasing number of controllers calling out of work as they dealt with the financial pressures of working without a paycheck, along with some reports from pilots concerned about controllers’ responses and a number of runway incursions. Duckworth got political during Wednesday’s hearing because she took offense to the way Republican leaders on the committee said when they announced it that it would “examine the toll Democrats’ government shutdown took on the air traffic control system, airline operations, and training.” The White House said Duckworth was the one playing politics after her party repeatedly voted against reopening the government while Democrats tried to reach an agreement on health insurance subsidies. “If Tammy Duckworth had a shred of integrity and honesty, she would be commending Secretary Duffy’s heroic efforts to keep the skies safe while she and fellow Democrats prioritized playing stupid political games,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said Wednesday. Shutdown may hurt the effort to eliminate controller shortage Although Duckworth led the hearing on a detour into the debate about health insurance subsidies, most of the discussion focused on worries that there could be lasting damage to efforts to eliminate the longstanding shortage of air traffic controllers and attract young people to the profession. “How do you go into a high school and encourage someone who is about to graduate to get excited about aviation? Get excited about the industry when the headline every single day is you don’t get paid?” said former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who now leads the Airlines for America trade group. Aviation industry backs paying controllers during shutdowns That’s why the entire aviation industry, through the Modern Skies Coalition, is saying it hopes Congress can find a way to spare crucial workers at the FAA and other agencies the pain of working without pay during the next government shutdown because thousands of flights were delayed or canceled nationwide during this fall’s lapse in funding. The airline trade group said more than 6 million travelers were affected by delays and cancellations. Efforts to address the controller shortage and hire more FAA technicians and test pilots were set back by the shutdown because some people decided to leave the profession and the yearslong training process for these crucial FAA employees was interrupted. The government did find a way to keep the academy that trains air traffic controllers open. But Duffy said that some students and young controllers quit and the number of experienced controllers who decided to retire spiked. Several bills that would make it possible for the FAA to pay its employees during a shutdown have been proposed since the last major shutdown in the first Trump administration, but none have passed because of concerns about costs. Lawmakers hope that the disruptions this fall might provide enough motivation to finally pass a measure like the bipartisan one introduced in the House Tuesday or one that Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, who led the hearing, proposed again before the shutdown. Financial stress weighed on controllers The president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union, Nick Daniels, said the financial stress of going without pay for a prolonged period adds risks to the nation’s aviation system. Many controllers already work 10-hour shifts six days a week because the FAA is so short on staffing. “Asking these dedicated, patriotic American workers to survive working full time for more than a month without pay is simply not sustainable,” Daniels said. “That situation creates substantial distractions for individuals who are already engaged in extremely stressful work.” Shutdown delayed plane makers Jim Viola, who leads the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, said he understands how disruptive shutdowns can be because he lived through them when he used to work at the FAA. He said this fall’s shutdown only added to the backlog of applications to get new designs and advancements of planes certified. “The most significant impact of the 2025 government shutdown on manufacturers is that no new certification projects were allowed to start which impacted the pace of U.S. aerospace innovation and completely halted new business activities,” Viola said. “During the shutdown, the FAA could not accept or facilitate work on any new applications for design and production approvals.”

Josh Funk 4 hours ago

Politics

Suspek sa pamamaril, arestado sa Quezon City | ABS-CBN News

Others covered by the proposed ban are: individuals related to incumbent government officials up to the 4th degree of consanguinity or affinity; those who served from the position of bureau chief up to any position in the cabinet within five years from the party list elections they are being nominated for; former provincial police directors; Armed Forces battalion commanders or any higher position within five years from the party list polls they are being nominated for; as well as individuals whose income is more than the base pay of a party list representative at the lower chamber. The bill further requires nominees to belong to the marginalized and underrepresented sector, which their group seeks to represent in Congress. “There is an urgent need to restore the party-list system to its original purpose, which is to give the marginalized sectors representation and voice in Congress. The party-list system has been bastardized throughout the years, and there is therefore an even more urgent need now to strengthen and further improve so as not to make useless and illusory the representation of marginalized and underrepresented sectors of our country,” ACT Teachers Party List Rep. Antonio Tinio, Gabriela Party List Rep. Sarah Elago, and Kabataan Party List Rep. Renee Co said in their explanatory note for the bill.

Bea Cuadra 4 hours ago

Technology

Magkaangkas sa motorsiklo sugatan matapos makabanggaan ang SUV | ABS-CBN News

Matapos nito ay tuluyang tinulak papalayo ng lalaki ang motorsiklo. “Yung exact na 2:54 a.m. galing siya rito, tinitingnan niya ‘yung motor, then lumipat po siya sa likod. Doon po siya nanunungkit ng mga nakasampay na damit, ‘yun po talaga ‘yung una niyang kinuha,” sabi ng biktima. Pasado alas-6 na ng umaga nang mapag-alaman ng may-ari na nawawala na ang kanyang motorsiklo. Agad siyang nagtungo sa barangay para mag-blotter at nagreport na rin sa pulis. "Palagay ko ito hindi taga-Tumana. Dumayo lang dito para magnakaw ng motor. Kung ito’y taga-Tumana dampot agad kasi may profile kami,” sabi ni Jamin Pahayahay, desk officer ng Barangay Tumana.

Bea Cuadra 4 hours ago

Business

African Development Bank Group rallies Stock Exchanges to reinvent Africa’s financial future

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, November 19, 2025/ — The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) on Tuesday commenced a round of high-level meetings with African development finance institutions and private sector financial partners to forge a bold, historic blueprint for a New African Financial Architecture, designed to bridge the financing gap for the continent’s development needs. Download Document: https://apo-opa.co/4r8E8Do At the invitation of Bank Group president Dr Sidi Ould Tah, more than 50 representatives of regional and continental banks and development finance institutions are convening at African Development Bank Group headquarters in Abidjan over the next two days for talks Dr Ould Tah described as vital to the continent’s destiny. “As the architects of Africa’s capital markets, you are custodians of financial institutions and catalysts of our continent’s future,” Dr Ould Tah said at the start of the first session with heads of African securities exchanges, private equity funds and venture capital funds. The meeting, a first of its kind between the Bank and African stock exchanges, aims to explore their role in long-term financing, with a focus on reforming how Africa’s capital is mobilized. Dr Felix Edoh Kossi Amenounve, CEO of the West African Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM), welcomed the meeting, highlighting the need for fundamental change. “There are gaps between financing needs and available resources, but we need to think about the reforms needed to achieve the capitalisation of African pension funds. Because these funds were originally created to finance governments,” Amenounve said. The continent’s leading financial institutions represented at today’s meetings include the African Exchange Linkage Project (AELP), Rwanda Stock Exchange, Mozambique Stock exchange, Cabo Verde Stock Exchange, Nairobi Stock Exchange, Tunis Stock Exchange, West African Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM), the Central African Stock Exchange, Casablanca Stock Exchange and the Ghana Stock Exchange. “The capital markets are the bedrock upon which long-term, sustainable economic growth is built,” Dr Ould Tah said, adding “by mobilizing patient capital, you provide our sovereigns and businesses with diversified funding sources, while offering investors, particularly institutional investors, a broader array of opportunities.” Underpinning Dr Ould Tah’s Four Cardinal Points (https://apo-opa.co/43FpwRX) since taking over the helm of the institution in September is increasing access to predictable and affordable long-term financing. A key objective of the consultations is to enable financial flows for private equity and venture capital by reinforcing existing African investment funds and expanding their capacity to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mid-market companies, and emerging industrial champions. SMEs which represent nearly 90% of businesses and over 60% of jobs on the continent continue to face limited access to risk capital. The promotion of sustainable finance, the digitalisation of markets, attracting investment capital to Africa’s markets, and programmes tailored to SMEs were among the issues discussed during the meeting. The development of financial education among young people was also highlighted as a key focus for the approach to be developed by the continent’s stock exchanges, as well as increasing the use of digitalisation tools and fintech to boost opportunities. Donald Waweru Wangunyu, Non-Executive Director, Nairobi Stock Exchange, stressed the need for regional coordination in order to achieve “scaling up, policy coordination and implementation of reforms; we have good projects, but the obstacles are still there, ” he said. Ms Sonia Ben Frej, Chairwoman of the Board, Tunis Stock Exchange, emphasised the problems of regulatory convergence and the need to update obsolete regulations. Through engagement with fund managers, institutional investors, DFIs, and regulators, the goal of the two-day meetings will be to forge a path for financial institutions to mobilise additional financing for Africa, to enable countries to avoid the existing dependance on overseas development assistance. Dr Ould Tah said the Bank Group would take a comprehensive approach to capital market development, focusing on three key pillars: – Supporting capital market regulatory authorities, stock exchanges, and other intermediaries through technical assistance, institutional support projects, and policy-based operations. – Diversifying savings mobilization and market participants to promote product liquidity and deeper markets for credit enhancement companies, institutional investors, and other financial institutions. – Research, training, and policy dialogue to enhance the capacity of Africa’s capital market stakeholders. Capital markets development across Africa is a key priority and woven into the fabric of the strategic priorities of the Four Cardinal Points. Development finance institutions especially have a catalytic role to play. ‘We will build it together, it requires a collective effort from each of us,” Dr Ould Tah explained. The consultations will continue on Wednesday for a second day, with heads of African Development Financial Institutions. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB). About the African Development Bank Group:The African Development Bank Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the Bank contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org SOURCEAfrican Development Bank Group (AfDB)

ieyenews 4 hours ago