The Times of India
중도 성향
기타
"TRANSFORMATIVE" · 총 28건
필터 보기현재 지수
50.3
0 = 부정 우세
50 = 중립
100 = 긍정 우세
최근 7일 기준 80,785건을 분석한 결과, 뉴스 심리지수는 50.2(균형)입니다. 긍정 3,942건(4.9%)·중립 74,943건(92.8%)·부정 1,900건(2.4%)이며, 중립 비중이 뚜렷하게 높습니다. 성향 지수는 종합 14.6(중도 균형)입니다.
India and Nepal are poised to significantly enhance their "very special relationship," with discussions focusing on expanding cooperation in energy, digital technology, and new sectors. Both nations emphasized their civilizational ties and a shared resolve for a transformative partnership, aiming to unlock its full potential amidst ongoing collaboration and mutual support.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and local partners have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the development of a maritime business district on prime Karachi Port Trust’s (KPT) waterfront land, the maritime affairs ministry said on Saturday. In a statement, Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said the MoU was signed between KPT, Saudi Business Council–Najd Gateway Holding Company, Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management Limited (AHDRML), and the Pakistan Corporate Consortium. The proposed project would be built on a 140‑acre KPT site on Karachi’s MT Khan Road and is intended to transform the area into a major commercial and maritime hub, the minister said. The development is envisaged to include modern commercial infrastructure aimed at attracting investment, generating employment, and supporting urban development, he added. “This strategic collaboration is a transformative opportunity to unlock the full potential of KPT’s waterfront assets and position Pakistan as a regional hub for maritime commerce and investment,” Chaudhry was quoted as saying. The minister affirmed that all regulatory and legal requirements under the Pakistani law would be met before the project proceeds. Members of the Saudi delegation showed keen interest in broader cooperation in the maritime sector, including potential involvement in port infrastructure and related projects, he added. The minister noted that the visit was part of wider efforts by Islamabad and Riyadh to deepen economic ties and explore investment opportunities in ports, logistics, infrastructure and trade facilitation. “Subject to regulatory approvals, the development could become one of the largest waterfront commercial projects in the region,” the minister added. In November last year, the ministry had invited proposals from the business community for the development of 140 acres of KPT land, proposing a joint venture model where the port acts as a strategic partner to establish an industrial park. Chaudhry had also said the government planned to expand the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation’s (PNSC) fleet by 50 per cent. He said the PNSC’s target of 30 vessels, initially planned for three years, should now be achieved within a year.
First published in 2000, Persepolis created a transformative shift in comics, memoir and political storytelling
First published in 2000, Persepolis created a transformative shift in comics, memoir and political storytelling. Its Iranian–French creator has died, aged 56.
Veteran gospel artiste Guardian Angel unveils his transformative Waingo Farm, showcasing large-scale agriculture and commitment to innovation in Machakos County.
The Female Quotient CEO Shelley Zalis talks 'transformative' change at POSSIBLE
As the world confronts challenges of aging populations and healthcare workforce shortages, smart healthcare is no longer optional — it’s essential. And Taiwan is a proven expert. A nationwide digital health infrastructure delivering visible, transformative results. 13 Taiwanese hospitals among Newsweek’s 2026 World’s Best Smart Hospitals, ranking second in Asia. More than 50 artificial intelligence-driven […]
• Only Rs1.13tr allocated to PSDP against Rs4.1tr requirement; minister terms shortfall ‘new circular debt crisis’ • Record Rs4.715tr development plan unveiled • APCC resolves to divert resources to ongoing projects ISLAMABAD: Under tight International Monetary Fund (IMF) oversight, the government has trimmed allocations for most sectors in the next federal development programme to create additional fiscal space for the PML-N’s trademark national highways, a new Rs87 billion share for coalition partners and a Rs70bn allocation for ruling party lawmakers’ schemes. Yet, the Annual Plan Coordination Committee, led by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, on Monday unveiled a record national development programme of Rs4.715 trillion, made possible by an unprecedented 27pc hike in development allocations by state-owned entities and a 10pc rise in provincial allocations to an all-time high of Rs3.138tr. The overall Rs4.715tr development portfolio comprises the largest share of provincial annual development plans (ADPs) at Rs3.138tr (up 9.6pc), followed by the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs1.126tr, up 12.6pc from the current year, and Rs451bn from SOEs, up 27pc from Rs355bn in the current fiscal year. However, the federal PSDP allocation of Rs1.126tr for next year disappointed the planning minister, who described it as “a new circular debt crisis”, with almost Rs11tr in throw-forward liabilities from around 800 ongoing projects that would be impossible to complete over the next decade. He said he had requested the prime minister for a minimum allocation of Rs2.9tr for development next year against actual requirements of Rs4.1tr, but the Ministry of Finance could spare only Rs1.126tr owing to IMF restrictions. Mr Iqbal said development projects had come to a standstill over the past eight years after record development investments between 2013 and 2018. He said it should be a matter of shame that the country continued to celebrate raising foreign debt and issuing bonds to service liabilities instead of supporting export growth to finance national development and social welfare needs. Even within the constrained PSDP allocation of Rs1.126tr, which includes Rs267bn in foreign assistance, about Rs125bn pertains to the N-25 highway in Balochistan, for which the prime minister had separately imposed an additional Rs10 per litre levy on petroleum products. This effectively leaves the PSDP size at Rs1.001tr — almost unchanged from the current year’s Rs1tr allocation, which was later reduced to Rs836bn to partially finance the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The government has allocated Rs264bn for national highways next year, up 18.4pc from Rs223bn in the current fiscal year, while the power sector has been earmarked Rs91bn, almost unchanged from this year’s Rs90.8bn. The planning minister told the APCC that after allocating Rs87bn for coalition partners, Rs70bn for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme, Rs100bn for Balochistan projects excluding the N-25, and Rs153bn for AJK, GB and the newly-merged districts of KP, the actual PSDP allocation drops to a “disgraceful” Rs591bn. After meeting the Rs426bn rupee-cover requirement for foreign-funded projects, only Rs165bn remains available for other ongoing schemes. The Rs3.138tr provincial development outlay is led by Punjab, which has allocated Rs1.450tr (46pc) for next year, up 17pc. Sindh follows with a relatively restrained development allocation of Rs816bn compared to Rs887bn in the current fiscal year, a decline of 8pc. KP has proposed a development envelope of Rs564bn for next year, up almost 24pc from Rs455bn in the current year. In addition to substantial federal allocations, Balochistan has increased its ADP size to Rs308bn, up 10pc from Rs279bn this year. Based on these financial envelopes, the government has set next year’s economic growth target at 4pc, supported by projected growth of 3.8pc in agriculture, 4pc in industry and 4.2pc in services. Inflation is targeted at 8.2pc. Given the tight fiscal position, the APCC decided to make limited allocations, focusing on strategic and high-impact projects, ensuring adequate rupee cover for foreign-funded schemes to honour international obligations, prioritising projects with more than 70pc completion for early execution, avoiding token allocations, restricting new projects except those aimed at enhancing productivity, and discouraging projects of a provincial nature except in less-developed areas. The sector-wise breakdown shows that the largest share — Rs729.9bn, or 65pc — has been earmarked for infrastructure projects, compared to Rs615bn budgeted in the current fiscal year, an increase of 19pc. Within infrastructure, transport and communications receive the highest allocation at Rs409bn (36pc), compared to Rs326bn in the current year, up 25pc. This is followed by water resources at Rs140bn (12.5pc), energy at Rs136bn (12pc), and physical planning and housing at Rs45bn (4pc). The social sector has been allocated Rs187.2bn (16.6pc), including education (7pc), health (2.2pc), the SDGs Achievement Programme (6.2pc) and other social sectors (1.3pc). To help less-developed regions catch up with the rest of the country, Rs54.1bn (4.8pc) has been earmarked for AJK, GB and the newly merged districts of KP. The science, technology and information technology sector has been allocated Rs45bn (4pc), while governance and production sectors have been allocated Rs10.2bn and 0.8pc of the PSDP, respectively. Iqbal lamented that the country was operating with an extremely reduced PSDP at a time when development needs were rising sharply. He said development space had been squeezed by mounting debt-servicing pressures, prolonged macroeconomic stress and worsening global headwinds. PSDP allocations, he noted, stood at 19.6pc of the national budget and 2.5pc of GDP in FY18, but had fallen to just 4pc of the budget and 0.6pc of GDP by 2025-26. “The PSDP is not merely a budget line — it is a statement of national intent,” the minister said, stressing that development funding was directly linked to economic growth, national productivity and public welfare. He warned that Pakistan was still struggling to recover from the post-2018 economic shock, with debt servicing burdens and recurring external vulnerabilities limiting the country’s ability to invest in transformative projects. Given the limited fiscal space, the APCC decided that more than 98pc of available resources would be directed towards ongoing projects, with priority accorded to high-impact and near-completion schemes, particularly in water, energy, transport and other core infrastructure sectors. Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026
• Only Rs1.13tr allocated to PSDP against Rs4.1tr requirement; minister terms shortfall ‘new circular debt crisis’ • Record Rs4.715tr development plan unveiled • APCC resolves to divert resources to ongoing projects ISLAMABAD: Under tight International Monetary Fund (IMF) oversight, the government has trimmed allocations for most sectors in the next federal development programme to create additional fiscal space for the PML-N’s trademark national highways, a new Rs87 billion share for coalition partners and a Rs70bn allocation for ruling party lawmakers’ schemes. Yet, the Annual Plan Coordination Committee, led by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, on Monday unveiled a record national development programme of Rs4.715 trillion, made possible by an unprecedented 27pc hike in development allocations by state-owned entities and a 10pc rise in provincial allocations to an all-time high of Rs3.138tr. The overall Rs4.715tr development portfolio comprises the largest share of provincial annual development plans (ADPs) at Rs3.138tr (up 9.6pc), followed by the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs1.126tr, up 12.6pc from the current year, and Rs451bn from SOEs, up 27pc from Rs355bn in the current fiscal year. However, the federal PSDP allocation of Rs1.126tr for next year disappointed the planning minister, who described it as “a new circular debt crisis”, with almost Rs11tr in throw-forward liabilities from around 800 ongoing projects that would be impossible to complete over the next decade. He said he had requested the prime minister for a minimum allocation of Rs2.9tr for development next year against actual requirements of Rs4.1tr, but the Ministry of Finance could spare only Rs1.126tr owing to IMF restrictions. Mr Iqbal said development projects had come to a standstill over the past eight years after record development investments between 2013 and 2018. He said it should be a matter of shame that the country continued to celebrate raising foreign debt and issuing bonds to service liabilities instead of supporting export growth to finance national development and social welfare needs. Even within the constrained PSDP allocation of Rs1.126tr, which includes Rs267bn in foreign assistance, about Rs125bn pertains to the N-25 highway in Balochistan, for which the prime minister had separately imposed an additional Rs10 per litre levy on petroleum products. This effectively leaves the PSDP size at Rs1.001tr — almost unchanged from the current year’s Rs1tr allocation, which was later reduced to Rs836bn to partially finance the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The government has allocated Rs264bn for national highways next year, up 18.4pc from Rs223bn in the current fiscal year, while the power sector has been earmarked Rs91bn, almost unchanged from this year’s Rs90.8bn. The planning minister told the APCC that after allocating Rs87bn for coalition partners, Rs70bn for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme, Rs100bn for Balochistan projects excluding the N-25, and Rs153bn for AJK, GB and the newly-merged districts of KP, the actual PSDP allocation drops to a “disgraceful” Rs591bn. After meeting the Rs426bn rupee-cover requirement for foreign-funded projects, only Rs165bn remains available for other ongoing schemes. The Rs3.138tr provincial development outlay is led by Punjab, which has allocated Rs1.450tr (46pc) for next year, up 17pc. Sindh follows with a relatively restrained development allocation of Rs816bn compared to Rs887bn in the current fiscal year, a decline of 8pc. KP has proposed a development envelope of Rs564bn for next year, up almost 24pc from Rs455bn in the current year. In addition to substantial federal allocations, Balochistan has increased its ADP size to Rs308bn, up 10pc from Rs279bn this year. Based on these financial envelopes, the government has set next year’s economic growth target at 4pc, supported by projected growth of 3.8pc in agriculture, 4pc in industry and 4.2pc in services. Inflation is targeted at 8.2pc. Given the tight fiscal position, the APCC decided to make limited allocations, focusing on strategic and high-impact projects, ensuring adequate rupee cover for foreign-funded schemes to honour international obligations, prioritising projects with more than 70pc completion for early execution, avoiding token allocations, restricting new projects except those aimed at enhancing productivity, and discouraging projects of a provincial nature except in less-developed areas. The sector-wise breakdown shows that the largest share — Rs729.9bn, or 65pc — has been earmarked for infrastructure projects, compared to Rs615bn budgeted in the current fiscal year, an increase of 19pc. Within infrastructure, transport and communications receive the highest allocation at Rs409bn (36pc), compared to Rs326bn in the current year, up 25pc. This is followed by water resources at Rs140bn (12.5pc), energy at Rs136bn (12pc), and physical planning and housing at Rs45bn (4pc). The social sector has been allocated Rs187.2bn (16.6pc), including education (7pc), health (2.2pc), the SDGs Achievement Programme (6.2pc) and other social sectors (1.3pc). To help less-developed regions catch up with the rest of the country, Rs54.1bn (4.8pc) has been earmarked for AJK, GB and the newly merged districts of KP. The science, technology and information technology sector has been allocated Rs45bn (4pc), while governance and production sectors have been allocated Rs10.2bn and 0.8pc of the PSDP, respectively. Iqbal lamented that the country was operating with an extremely reduced PSDP at a time when development needs were rising sharply. He said development space had been squeezed by mounting debt-servicing pressures, prolonged macroeconomic stress and worsening global headwinds. PSDP allocations, he noted, stood at 19.6pc of the national budget and 2.5pc of GDP in FY18, but had fallen to just 4pc of the budget and 0.6pc of GDP by 2025-26. “The PSDP is not merely a budget line — it is a statement of national intent,” the minister said, stressing that development funding was directly linked to economic growth, national productivity and public welfare. He warned that Pakistan was still struggling to recover from the post-2018 economic shock, with debt servicing burdens and recurring external vulnerabilities limiting the country’s ability to invest in transformative projects. Given the limited fiscal space, the APCC decided that more than 98pc of available resources would be directed towards ongoing projects, with priority accorded to high-impact and near-completion schemes, particularly in water, energy, transport and other core infrastructure sectors. Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026
By Yinka Kolawole The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has commended Dangote Cement Plc for delivering measurable and transformative improvements in road safety, noting a significant decline in articulated truck crashes across Nigeria following the introduction of innovative transport safety policies and operational reforms. The Corps described Dangote Cement as a benchmark for transport management and […] The post FRSC commends Dangote Cement on new transport safety policy appeared first on Vanguard News.
In 1987, Richard Greenhill, a British photographer who was fascinated by (but had no actual training in) robotics, decided he wanted to build a life-size humanoid that could do useful things, like carrying luggage. He was working at a startup called Intergalactic Robots, but he couldn’t convince anyone there to build such a machine, so he set about building one himself, in his attic. To help with his project, he organized a weekly get-together of a dozen or so like-minded folks. Every Wednesday night, his wife, Sally, would make a big pot of spaghetti, and the group would tinker with components scavenged from old printers and picked up from junkyards. They called themselves the Shadow Group. They eventually constructed several different robots, but their main project was the two-legged Shadow Walker. In 1987, photographer Richard Greenhill organized a weekly gathering of DIY enthusiasts to work on projects in his attic, including the Shadow Walker. Richard Greenhill and David Buckley Greenhill’s friend David Buckley, a robotics and animatronics expert he’d met at Intergalactic, sketched out a rough design based on medical textbooks of human bone structure and muscle movement. The robot’s skeleton, made of maple, was greatly simplified—only one bone in the lower leg and a single wide toe on each foot. The ankle’s double-axis design allowed for two degrees of movement. The knee had no complicating kneecap. Greenhill didn’t want the robot to use motors, so its movement was controlled using compressed air to extend and contract 28 “air-muscles”—his version of a McKibben muscle, invented in the 1950s to mimic musculature with pneumatics. The muscles were connected to the bones across eight joints (hips, knees, ankles, toes), which provided 12 degrees of freedom. RELATED: The Short, Strange Life of the First Friendly Robot The robot’s headless torso held the control valves, electronics, and computer interfaces. It stood 168 centimeters tall and 46 cm wide and weighed about 38 kilograms. The group managed to get the robot to stand up reliably and balance itself; it could even regain its center if pushed a little. But walking turned out to be more of a challenge. Rich Walker joined the group as a teenager and began writing software to get the robot to stand. He was particularly interested in using neural networks to solve balancing problems, although he ran into a number of hardware obstacles, including the unreliability of the sensors and the valves, and the robot’s overall fragility. Over time, Walker and the team developed a standard library of routines to control the robot. Walker wrote a detailed description of the Shadow Walker in 1999, which is available on David Buckley’s website. The 1st International Robot Olympics By the time the Shadow Group began developing Shadow Walker, engineers in academia and industry had been working on robotics for several decades. The world’s first industrial robot, the Unimate, debuted in 1961, and in 1967 Donald Michie and others began building a series of Freddy robots to investigate machine intelligence. The IEEE created its first dedicated robotics organization in 1984 when it established the IEEE Robotics and Automation Council, which became the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in 1987. Also in 1987, the nonprofit International Federation of Robotics was established to promote research, development, use, and cooperation in the field of robotics. As Shadow Walker pushed the limits for a DIY humanoid robot, industrial humanoids were also gaining ground. In 1986, Honda began working on its experimental (E-series) and later the prototype (P-series) humanoid robots, finally unveiling the P2 in 1996. The P2 stood 183 cm tall and weighed 210 kg. It was the first humanoid capable of stable, autonomous walking. This work eventually led to the development of the groundbreaking ASIMO. Greenhill’s friend, roboticist David Buckley, consulted medical textbooks to create Shadow Walker’s humanoid design.Richard Greenhill and David Buckley In the late 1980s, the public was both fascinated and horrified by the potential of robots. Businesses saw robots as a way to increase productivity, while workers worried they would take their jobs. Children viewed them as wondrous toys, while people with disabilities embraced them as tools of liberation. Military experts hoped robots would fight wars without endangering human soldiers, while politicians pondered if robots might eventually get to vote. Philosophers thought robots could challenge our notions of intelligence (and stupidity), while the religious struggled with concerns about the human race in a robot-dominated future. Shadow Walker’s simplified anatomy included only one bone in the lower leg and a single wide toe on each foot.Science Museum Group Peter Mowforth, cofounder of the Turing Institute in Glasgow, noted these disparate visions for robots when he announced the 1st International Robot Olympics, to be held in 27 and 28 September 1990 and hosted by the Turing Institute and the University of Strathclyde. The Olympics would round up the world’s best robots and showcase them head-to-head. Mowforth himself thought all of the competing visions of robots were overblown. Steeped in machine learning research and robotics development, he knew firsthand the limitations of the state of the art: Robots rarely worked as intended, easily broke down, and glitched over seemingly trivial problems. He envisioned the Robot Olympics as a testbed to assess what the latest generation of robots could and could not do. At the 1990 Robot Olympics, held in Glasgow, Shadow Walker wore pants to conceal its pneumatic “air-muscles” from competitors.Adam Hart-Davis/Science Source The call for participation was wide open. Instead of having predetermined categories of competition, the organizers opted to see who applied to compete and then group them based on their claimed capabilities. In addition to picking the winners of individual events, the judges would select an overall Olympic champion based on the quality of the hardware, the sophistication of behavior, and novelty. Other prizes were given for young competitors, technologies that showed commercial potential, and design. In the end, more than 50 robots were entered, from a mix of universities, industry, and hobbyist groups from Canada, France, India, Japan, Mexico, the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia. There were plenty of disappointments. Trolleyman, a golf-cart-like wheeled robot, suffered a power failure while carrying the opening Olympic torch through the streets of Glasgow. The pile rug in the arena tripped up many robots that had been trained only on flat, smooth floors. David Buckley later concluded that the events were too difficult, and that the Olympics didn’t push development forward. Of course, there were winners. In a surprise triumph for vintage technology, the fully mechanical 19th-century Japanese Archer from the Museum of Automata in York, England, won gold in javelin, beating out competitors more than 100 years its junior. The overall Olympic Champion was Yamabico, Shoji Suzuki’s entry from the University of Tsukuba, in Japan, which won bronze in obstacle avoidance and gold in wall following, but was disqualified in the talking category for not speaking English. The Shadow Group had high hopes for Shadow Walker. Unfortunately, though, it failed to take a step, and the biped race was won by the Cardiff University Biped. Shadow Walker now resides in the collections of the Science Museum in London. The Legacy of Shadow Walker In 1997, a paying customer in search of a robotic leg compelled the Shadow Group to get serious and become a registered company. Shadow Robot is now Britain’s oldest robotics company. Rich Walker, who had left the Shadow Group to earn a B.A. in mathematics and a diploma in computer science at the University of Cambridge, joined Shadow Robot in 1999 as technical director. Today he’s the director of the company. Shadow Robot specializes in durable robot hands rather than walking robots. But the focus on hands is also a legacy of the Shadow Group. Walker remembers that the Shadow Group’s first humanoid hand in the late 1990s was impressive simply for being able to pick up a pint of beer (a smooth-sided, thin-walled glass). Today, Shadow Robot’s hands are testbeds for dexterity. Gone are the pneumatic muscles, replaced by actuators that move each finger with precision. The classic model contains 20 motors, allowing for abductive and adductive movement with 24 degrees of freedom. Shadow Walker’s operator wore a data suit that captured his movements and allowed the robot to copy them.Richard Greenhill In a recent blog post, Sejal Parsotomo, senior marketing executive at Shadow Robot, wrote that while humanoid robots are great for public relations, specialized dexterity is key for success: A robot that can walk into your factory may be impressive, but a robot that can reliably manipulate objects is transformative. In its struggles to take more than a few steps, the Shadow Walker showed the inherent difficulty that robots had in mastering even low-level skills. In August 2025, Beijing hosted the World Humanoid Robot Games. Competing in sports such as gymnastics, soccer, and track events, as well as more “useful” tasks like hotel cleaning and sorting medicine, these robots could literally have run circles around the competitors in the first Robot Olympics 35 years earlier. And yet, there is still so much work needed in order for robots to navigate the human-built environment. Despite the astonishing progress, we’re still not all that close to actually useful humanoid robots. Part of a continuing series looking at historical artifacts that embrace the boundless potential of technology. An abridged version of this article appears in the June 2026 print issue as “Learning to Walk.” References Richard Greenhill gives an overview of his life and the founding of the Shadow Group in a post on Shadow Robot’s corporate website. David Buckley has a compilation of resources on the Shadow Biped Walker, including specifications from the 1999 iteration and a brochure from the 1st International Robot Olympics. There is coverage of the Robot Olympics worthy of a gossip sheet in La Repubblica and lovely footage of the competition in this TV-am interview of Peter Mowforth by Lorraine Kelly.
A socio-political organisation, New Enugu Group, has congratulated the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, on what it described as three years of visionary, transformative and exemplary leadership that has repositioned the state for rapid economic growth and sustainable development. The post Group drums support, celebrates Mbah’s 3 years of innovative governance appeared first on Vanguard News.
Felix Adler's quote highlights love as a transformative force that encourages personal growth. Healthy relationships should empower individuals, fostering mutual understanding and respect while allowing each partner to maintain their identity and pursue their own goals.
The much-vaunted Land Bridge project, once marketed as a transformative mega-development that would redefine Thailand’s role in global trade, risks becoming a political liability for the ruling Bhumjaithai Party. What was initially presented as a bold national vision now appears mired in uncertainty, resistance and wavering political commitment.
The much-vaunted Land Bridge project, once marketed as a transformative mega-development that would redefine Thailand's role in global trade, risks becoming a political liability for the ruling Bhumjaithai Party (BJT). What was initially presented as a bold national vision now appears mired in uncertainty, resistance and wavering political commitment.
By Yinka Kolawole The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has commended Dangote Cement Plc for delivering measurable and transformative improvements in road safety, noting a significant decline in articulated truck crashes across Nigeria following the introduction of innovative transport safety policies and operational reforms. The Corps described Dangote Cement as a benchmark for transport management and […] The post FRSC commends Dangote Cement on new transport safety policy appeared first on Vanguard News.
Country: World Source: World Health Organization Please refer to the attached file. The WHO Botswana Biennial Report 2024–2025 showcases a period of strong progress, resilience, and transformative partnerships in advancing national health priorities. Botswana reached a historic milestone as the first country globally to attain Gold Tier status for eliminating mother‑to‑child transmission of HIV, demonstrating the impact of sustained political commitment and integrated primary health care. Across the health system, key achievements include strengthening immunization, health security, and disease control programmes, while advancing reforms toward Universal Health Coverage and National Health Insurance. The country also enhanced preparedness through the Joint External Evaluation and development of a fully costed National Action Plan for Health Security. At the same time, Botswana continues to address emerging challenges, including non‑communicable diseases, health system investments, and recovery of routine services. WHO Botswana extends heartfelt appreciation to all WHO staff and to national, regional, and global stakeholders and partners for their invaluable collaboration in strengthening Botswana’s health sector. We look forward to further deepening these partnerships to advance a healthier, more resilient future for all.
THERE was more than a hint of trepidation when Donald Trump declared last week that he would not attend his firstborn son’s wedding because he was too caught up in matters of state, including the paused assault against Iran. It wouldn’t be out of character, claimed an American wit, for Trump to invade Cuba as an excuse for avoiding the matrimonial festivities. There was also speculation that the latest Gulf war might resume — which indeed partially occurred on Monday, albeit with no Iranian response until the time of writing, and despite the flurry of diplomatic activity. Nothing new happened on the Cuban front either, but Cuba’s status as the next target for trumped-up imperialism remains intact. Last week’s revelation of a facetious indictment against Raúl Castro over Cuba’s defensive action against the invasion of its airspace by a CIA-sponsored entity suggested that the Trump regime might be planning to re-establish its hegemony over the island by kidnapping its former president in an operation akin to the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. It’s more than likely that Fidel Castro would have been the primary target, had he not died 10 years ago. His birth centenary will be celebrated in August. Raúl turns 95 next week. It wouldn’t be surprising if he has no intention of being captured alive by the North American monster Cuba has been confronted with since long before its transformative 1959 revolution. In the early years of the revolution, Raúl and his comrade-in-arms Ernesto Guevara came across as more inclined towards communism than Fidel, whose youthful past lay in the student wing of a bourgeois-democratic party. The latter was briefly seen as someone the US could do business with. Once the revolutionary government shut down US-owned casinos and bordellos, and nationalised properties belonging to US MNCs, the mood changed. By the time the likes of Nikita Khrushchev, Jawaharlal Nehru and Malcolm X were embracing Fidel at his Harlem hotel in New York in September 1960, US agencies were already planning his murder. Fidel’s 4.5-hour speech at the UN — still a record — did not endear him to either the official or the criminal stalwarts of the host nation. The mafia that had lost its lucrative operations in Havana was involved. None of the 600-plus assassination plots succeeded. Cuba’s status as the next target remains intact. Fidel gave the reins of government to his younger brother in 2006. Raúl was seen as less orthodox. He introduced himself to Barack Obama at Nelson Mandela’s funeral in 2013, and three years later Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Cuba. Fidel, by then the maximum leader emeritus, was less than enthusiastic. It’s hard to fault his foresight, given the thaw didn’t last. It was back to square one with the advent of Trump, whose short-lived national security aide wrote up a plan for overrunning Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, the three thorns in America’s rear flank. Nicaragua’s 1979 Sandinista revolution overthrew the US-backed Somoza dictatorship. Washington responded with the brutal Contra rebels, whom Ronald Reagan compared to his nation’s founding fathers. The Sandinistas were overthrown via electoral means, but by the time Daniel Ortega returned to power in 2007, he had evolved from a revolutionary into a reactionary. Unlike Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, who survived a US-backed coup attempt in 2002 but eventually succumbed to cancer. He made the mistake of ordaining Maduro as his successor. Despite the errors of the latter’s ways, evidence of his predecessor’s influence can still be found in the favelas of Caracas and beyond. Who can say how Delcy Rodríguez or her sponsors will choose to crush it. The Trump regime’s rampage through Latin America includes plots against Mexico and Colombia, which are still ruled by left-leaning parties. Unsurprisingly, the Honduras-gate leaks implicate Israel in the plot to obliterate progressive tendencies across Latin America. Time will tell, but so far there is no guarantee that the ‘hege-moron’s’ mischief in America’s ‘backyard’ and beyond will cease in 2028, given that the Democratic alternative has been equally repulsive. Over the decades, the Cuban revolution has had its ups and downs. Its health and education initiatives remain unmatched. Its eagerness to share its achievements with the rest of the world, not least through deploying doctors where they are most needed, is unique. As a Cuban surgeon recently commented while acknowledging his nation’s shortcomings, “Cuba is not a failed state waiting to be rescued. Cuba is a people — brilliant, stubborn, generous and vibrant — who have refused for 65 years to become someone else’s market.” More than 65 years of US sanctions may yet succeed in strangling the remains of the revolution, but there remains a small chance the revolution will survive Marco Rubio’s worst intentions. mahir.dawn@gmail.com Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2026
In Tepic, Nayarit, Geraldine Ponce Highlights Cultural Impact of Indigenous Arts City Mayor Geraldine Ponce of Tepic has emphasized the transformative cultural significance of the Ciudad de las Artes Indígenas (City of Indigenous Arts), a project designed to preserve and promote the traditions of Nayarit’s native communities. During a recent public address, Ponce described the […] The post Geraldine Ponce Highlights Cultural Impact of Indigenous Arts City appeared first on Mexico Daily Post.