Did you know that 78% of elite athletes report using active recovery techniques as a crucial part of their training regimen? According to a 2023 comprehensive review in the Journal of Sports Sciences, while most athletes focus on the intensity of their workouts, it’s often what happens between training sessions that separates good athletes from […]
Author Archives: The Esbec Team
ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji pulled no punches when he launched a scathing attack at former president Jacob Zuma and SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila on Friday. This happened when he addressed the Peter Mokaba Memorial Lecture in Khayelitsha as part of the build-up to the ANC 113 anniversary celebrations to be held on Saturday. Malatji labelled Zuma, who is the leader of MK Party, a counter-revolutionary and an enemy. He said there were people in the country they supported for close to 30 years and they never delivered anything. “There is a man there in Nkandla who thinks we have forgotten that he stole from the poorest of the poor and moves around like a Messiah, going around collecting money like an apartheid operative to displace the ANC,”
Social media giant Meta announced Friday it is dismantling its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes across the company, marking another major shift in strategy as it aligns with politically conservative priorities. In an internal memo to employees, the company outlined sweeping changes including the elimination of its diverse slate hiring approach and the disbanding of its DEI team. The move comes amid what Meta describes as “a changing legal and policy landscape” following recent Supreme Court decisions against programmes that allowed for increased diversity priorities at US universities. The memo, first reported by Axios, landed days after Meta abruptly overhauled its content moderation policies, including ending its US fact-checking programme on Facebook and Instagram, in a major shift that conforms with the priorities of incoming US president Donald Trump.
Making working people in Britain better off will be at the “forefront” of the chancellor’s mind during her visit to China, the Treasury has said, following criticism of the trip amid trouble on the financial markets at home. Rachel Reeves will meet her opposite number in Beijing this weekend to explore trade and investment opportunities in a bid to achieve the government’s main goal of growing the UK economy to raise living standards. However, her visit has been overshadowed by UK borrowing costs hitting a 16-year high and a fall in the value of the pound. The Conservatives accused Reeves of having “fled to China”, but the government has defended the trip. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the rise in borrowing costs was “a global trend that we’ve seen affecting
![An American flag is seen through razor wire on the control tower of the Camp VI detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, on April 17, 2019 [Alex Brandon/AP Photo]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Guantanamo-at-23-Whats-next-for-the-‘lawless-detention-facility.jpg)
Washington, DC – The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, turns 23 on Saturday. For Mansoor Adayfi, a former inmate at the prison, the anniversary marks 23 years of “injustice, lawlessness, abuse of power, torture and indefinite detention”. Only 15 prisoners remain at the United States military prison, known as Gitmo, which once held about 800 Muslim men — a dwindling number that gives advocates hope that the facility will eventually be shut down, turning the page on the dark chapter of history it represents. But Adayfi, who now serves as a coordinator for the Guantanamo Project at the advocacy group CAGE International, says truly closing down Gitmo means delivering justice to its current and former detainees. “The United States must acknowledge its wrongdoing, must issue a formal, official apology to
A Hanukkah journey with Passages Israel program participants offered profound insights into Christian-Jewish solidarity while experiencing firsthand the realities of life under Hamas threats. By EVAN BERNSTEIN JANUARY 11, 2025 00:43 PASSAGES CHRISTIAN student leaders visit Kibbutz Kfar Aza. (photo credit: Evan Bernstein) Embarking on a journey with Christian student leaders from Passages Israel over the Hanukkah holiday was an eye-opening experience, reinforcing for me the profound connection between the Christian faith and the people of Israel. This trip, rich in both Christian and Jewish historical and contemporary experiences, has illuminated the pivotal role that education and direct engagement play in fostering a deep, enduring relationship between Christians and Jews. Their shared story with us is not merely a historical narrative but a living, dynamic testament to our common values
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ’s repeated rebuffs by US president-elect Donald Trump may drive him towards Beijing, analysts say, sparking concerns that closer Sino-Japanese ties might complicate Washington’s Asia-Pacific policy. When Trump declined a request to meet Ishiba in November, it was widely seen as a snub to the Japanese leader. Additionally, when Ishiba suggested visiting Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence, this was also firmly rejected, with the president-elect’s team citing the 1799 Logan Act for avoiding contact with foreign leaders before his inauguration on January 20. Critics of that explanation highlight Trump’s recent meetings with leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , French President Emmanuel Macron , and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as a private meeting with Prince William . Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba
The world’s largest gathering of humanity begins in India on January 13 with the opening of the Kumbh Mela, a six-week Hindu festival organisers expect to attract up to 400 million pilgrims. Organisers say the scale of preparations for the Kumbh Mela is akin to setting up a temporary country from scratch – in this case, one more populous than the United States and Canada combined. “Some 350 to 400 million devotees are going to visit the mela, so you can imagine the scale of preparations,” festival spokesman Vivek Chaturvedi said. Around 150,000 toilets have been built and a network of community kitchens can each feed up to 50,000 people at the same time. Construction takes place on the banks of river Ganges in the city of Prayagraj ahead of
The remains of townhomes destroyed by the Eaton Fire lie behind an advertising sign in Altadena, California. Photo: Frederic J. Brown / AFPSource: AFP The fires ravaging upmarket Los Angeles districts Pacific Palisades and Malibu will be the most expensive ever to hit California, according to experts, who expect premiums to rise in a region already abandoned by many insurers. Analysts at JPMorgan estimated that the total cost of damage and insured damage had doubled in less than 24 hours to $50 billion and $20 billion respectively. And the flames were still advancing on several fronts Friday. These record levels already far outstrip the 2017 Tubbs fire and the 2018 Camp fire, whose estimates of insured damage have climbed, according to sources, to as much as $16 billion. The value
Apple has formed a new data-processing venture in Shanghai , according to business registry information, as the US tech giant’s bid to bring artificial intelligence (AI) services to iPhones in mainland China remains in limbo. Established on Friday with a registered capital of US$35 million, Apple Technology Development (Shanghai) will focus on software development, big data services, storage services and data processing, according to Chinese business registry platform Tianyancha. Tejas Kirit Gala, who heads Apple’s multiple entities in the country, serves as the legal representative of the new firm, which is wholly owned by Apple South Asia, according to Tianyancha. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. The Cupertino, California-based company’s latest move comes amid growing challenges in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, where
The case of an Indian nurse sentenced to death in Yemen has sparked outrage over her claims of harassment and passport confiscation, placing a spotlight on the harsh realities faced by migrant workers and the rigid application of sharia law in the region. Nimisha Priya, who travelled to Yemen from Southern India’s Kerala in 2008 to look for a nursing job, was found guilty of murdering her business partner in a clinic, a Yemeni man named Talal Abdo Mahdi, in 2020. She had alleged that Mahdi had been harassing her for many years and had even confiscated her passport, forcing her to try to secure the document by giving him sedatives. Her lawyer has argued that she had tried to anaesthetise Mahdi just to retrieve her passport, but the dosage
At a tribute dinner ahead of receiving Israel’s highest civilian honor, Jewish leaders celebrated the former Conference of Presidents chairman’s decades of diplomatic achievement. By GREER FAY CASHMAN JANUARY 10, 2025 11:36 KNESSET SPEAKER Amir Ohana with Malcolm Hoenlein. (photo credit: SARAH DAVIDOVICH) Standing out against his fellow recipients of the President’s Medal of Honor this week was Malcolm Hoenlein, the former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations, a position that he held for more than three decades. Hoenlein continues to be involved with the Jewish world and Israel and is the non-resident President of the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem. The synagogue’s executive board hosted a dinner for Hoenlein on Tuesday evening, just 24 hours ahead of the presentation ceremony of the medals at the
A prominent leftist party in the Philippines has renewed calls for the removal of US troops, warning that US president-elect Donald Trump ’s aggressive foreign policy and recent threats against other nations underscore the dangers of a bigger American military presence in the Southeast Asian country. However, observers say their appeals, and those of other progressive groups, are unlikely to gain traction given overwhelming political and public support for stronger ties between Manila and Washington to counter China’s maritime aggression. “The ascendancy of Trump is a reminder that the expanded US military presence in the Philippines poses grave danger to our security and long-term stability in the region,” Bayan Muna said in a statement on Wednesday. “The Trump administration could use the Philippines as a staging ground to aggressively assert
10
Jan
Jan
Understanding Recovery Fundamentals The difference between good and great athletic performance often lies not in what happens during training, but in how effectively you recover between sessions. According to research from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, optimal recovery can improve performance by up to 30% and significantly reduce injury risk. Recovery is not just […]
Chinese enterprise software company Yonyou Network Technology has named Huang Chenhong – former global executive vice-president at German rival SAP – its new president, as the mainland’s tech sector scoops up talent from multinational firms that are scaling back operations in the country. Beijing -based Yonyou, a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and cloud services provider in China, said in a statement that Huang’s leadership would help the company “capture strategic opportunities in digital transformation, the rise of domestic technology solutions and the global expansion of Chinese enterprises”. Huang, who had also served as president of SAP Greater China, left the German firm last October after the enterprise software giant announced plans to restructure its operations in the region. That entailed a merger of SAP’s Greater China business and