Tuesday, January 07, 2025 What you need to know: The more inclusive our policies and structures are, the more they promote integral and holistic integration. It is time to fully commit to educating society on supporting people with visual disabilities and to nurture what I call ‘a culture of care,’ especially among the younger generation. The question of holistic engagement is a crucial one in relation to all persons with disabilities, as those conditions in one way or another differentiate the level at which one can engage in society and societal activities. For example, while a person with mobility disabilities can equally appreciate the music being played, he or she may not manifest bodily in the same way as persons without a mobility disability who have the same musical appreciation
Author Archives: The Esbec Team
Jan
It’s generally a rare thing for the person you’re interviewing to burst out laughing. But that’s what happened to me, recently, on a call with Ernie Tedeschi, the director of economics at the Yale Budget Lab who in March wrapped up a three-year stint on the White House Council of Economic Advisers. The question that evidently tickled Tedeschi: Was the “vibecession” fake? The vibes around the economy — as in, the way consumers and businesses say they feel about it — have been changing lately, and not because the economy itself is markedly different from how it was in the recent past. Inflation is down from its peak, but it’s up a bit from where it was earlier this year. The labor market is still strong, and consumer spending is
Jan
One advantage for English speakers of seeing a movie at a film festival is that they show films with English titles, unlike the theater chains, which only offer subtitles occasionally. By HANNAH BROWN JANUARY 7, 2025 04:33 ‘THE SEED of the Sacred Fig’ (photo credit: Courtesy of Haifa International Film Festival) There are hundreds of great movies playing at the 40th Haifa International Film Festival, which runs through January 11, and although there’s no way to see everything, I did manage to catch several of the most anticipated films playing there. Most of these films will open throughout Israel in 2025 and will be shown again at Haifa during the next week. One advantage for English speakers of seeing a movie at a film festival is that the festivals show
Jan
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd L) has called nurturing US alliances a top priority. Photo: Issei Kato / POOL/AFPSource: AFP US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Japan on Tuesday for talks expected to address North Korean missile launches, but President Joe Biden’s blocking of a steel deal is straining the allies’ warm ties. Business groups say Biden’s decision could have a chilling effect on investment in the world’s largest economy, where leaders across the political divide have called for closer ties with Japan to counter a rising China. With two weeks left before president-elect Donald Trump takes over, the top US diplomat arrived in Tokyo from Seoul late Monday on what is likely his final tour. Biden has called nurturing US alliances a top priority —
Jan
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he intends to resign as Liberal Party leader and prime minister once a new party leader is determined. “I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process,” he said Monday from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa. Trudeau will serve as prime minister until March 24. He will then be replaced by a new Liberal Party leader. The Canadian Parliament was supposed to begin its new session of 2025 on Jan. 27, but Trudeau said Monday he asked the governor general to extend and not start a new session of Parliament until March 24. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6
Jan
Many of us were either still raising glasses to bid 2024 farewell or waking up with fuzzy heads when we saw the headlines about the mayhem in New Orleans . Sadly, it was difficult to muster the kind of empathy that the moment called for since violent death is a regular fixture in the US news cycle. About two weeks earlier, three people died and six others were injured in a shooting at a private school in Madison, Wisconsin. According to a CNN analysis from last month, there were more than 80 school shootings in the US, leaving 38 people dead and at least 116 others injured. After a year of shocking violence globally and a US election season marred by bloodshed , who wanted to dwell on more of
Jan
France’s trial of a man who drugged his wife so dozens of strangers could rape her while unconscious has been both ordinary and extraordinary, AFP journalists who have been covering it say. Details of the case have horrified audiences in France and abroad since the trial began on September 2, drawing renewed attention on the widespread crime of rape and the issue of consent. But it has also catapulted its main victim, 72-year-old Gisele Pelicot, into the limelight as a feminist hero demanding a patriarchal society change its attitude to sex crimes.Dominique Pelicot, 72, has admitted sedating his then wife with sleeping pills from 2011 to 2020 so that men he recruited online could rape her in her own bed, meticulously documenting the abuse in video footage. As the court
Jan
PM criticises those “spreading lies and misinformation” over grooming gangs The prime minister has attacked politicians and activists “spreading lies and misinformation” over grooming gangs. It comes after multi-billionaire Elon Musk accused Sir Keir Starmer of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” during his tenure as director of public prosecutions (DPP) for failing to tackle grooming gangs. Senior Conservatives and Reform UK MPs have also spent the week calling for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation. But Sir Keir said: “Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they’re interested in themselves.” He said the online debate had “crossed a line”, resulting in threats against MPs, including Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips. Sir Keir went on to accuse
Jan
Facing arrests, bombings, and loss, Syrian women have become vital voices for truth, paving the way for change and demanding a role in Syria’s future. By RIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE JANUARY 6, 2025 14:05 Salwa Abdel Rahman (photo credit: Courtesy) Since the beginning of popular protests against the deposed Syrian regime in 2011 and the development of the conflict into armed strife, women in Syria have played a significant role in conveying the realities of events to Arab and even global communities. For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org Syrian female journalists were present in the field under highly complex security conditions in a society unaccustomed to seeing Syrian women as field reporters. They became guardians of truth, away from bias or misinformation. Speaking with The Media
Jan
A senior Hamas official has shared with the BBC a list of 34 hostages that the Palestinian group says it is willing to release in the first stage of a potential ceasefire agreement with Israel. It is unclear how many of those named remain alive. Among them are 10 women and 11 older male hostages aged between 50 and 85, as well as young children who Hamas previously said had been killed in an Israeli air strike. A number of hostages who Hamas says are sick are also included on the list. Reports from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry say Israeli air strikes killed more than 100 people there at the weekend. The Israeli prime minister’s office denied reports that Hamas had provided Israel with a list of hostages. “The
![Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak [File: Ahmad Luqman Ismail/EPA]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Malaysia-court-grants-jailed-ex-PM-Najib-access-to-house-arrest-decree.jpg)
Three-member bench rules 2-1 to grant Najib Razak’s appeal to use the decree to argue his case before the High Court. Malaysia’s appeals court has granted a bid by jailed ex-premier Najib Razak to see a document he said should allow him to serve his sentence at home, in a rare win for a disgraced former leader at the heart of the country’s biggest scandal. A three-member bench ruled 2-1 on Monday to grant Najib’s appeal to use the decree to argue his case before the High Court. “Given the fact that there is no challenge [of the existence of the decree], there is no justification that the order has not been complied with,” said Mohamad Firuz Jaffril, one of the three Court of Appeal judges. The 71-year-old Najib, who
Jan
SEOUL, TOKYO and LONDON — The South Korean military detected a projectile fired from North Korea that was suspected to be a medium-range ballistic missile, a test-launch that arrived as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea. The missile was fired from the area surrounding Pyongyang, the capital, toward the East Sea at about noon on Monday, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff. The joint chiefs said the South Korean military has heightened surveillance for additional launches and is maintaining a readiness posture for sharing ballistic-missile-related data with the U.S. and Japan. Blinken condemned the test, which he called “yet another violation of multiple Security Council resolutions.” He added that President Joe Biden’s administration has “sought to engage the DPRK and multiple efforts to sit
Jan
Security forces were searching for the terrorists. By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JANUARY 6, 2025 09:25 Updated: JANUARY 6, 2025 09:49 Security forces and emergency response teams operate at the area of the shooting terror attack in the West Bank. (photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM) Three individuals were killed and several others wounded after shots were fired at a bus and a vehicle near Kedumim in the West Bank, Israel’s emergency medical response service, Magen David Adom (MDA) said on Monday. Israeli media reported that a manhunt for the terrorists had ensued. Security forces and emergency response teams operate at the area of the shooting terror attack in the West Bank. (credit: Magen David Adom) Earlier, the IDF said it had received reports of a shooting terror attack in the area.
Jan
Italy is in advanced talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for a deal to provide secure telecommunications for the nation’s government – the largest such project in Europe, people with knowledge of the matter said Sunday. Discussions are ongoing, and a final agreement on the five-year contract has not been reached, said the people, who asked not to be identified citing confidential discussions. The project has already been approved by Italy’s Intelligence Services as well as Italy’s Defense Ministry, they said. The negotiations, which had stalled until recently, appeared to move forward after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited president-elect Donald Trump in Florida on Saturday. Italian officials have been negotiating on a €1.5 billion (US$1.6 billion) deal aimed at supplying Italy with a full range of top-level encryption for telephone
By Junior Lebese Cape Town will be pulsating with the ANC’s celebratory activity this week, particularly its annual “January 8” celebration. The celebration marks a watershed moment as the party emerges bruised from a historic “below-50” performance in the 2024 national elections. This January 8 statement isn’t going to be just another political ritual—it’s a defining moment for both the ANC and many South Africans, a make-or-break moment. The nation awaits President Ramaphosa’s Khayelitsha speech with bated breath, seeking signals of the party’s posture since its electoral setback. Back in 2015, at a five-day ‘Alliance’ summit, then-Secretary General Gwede Mantashe (now National Chairperson) diagnosed that “crass displays of wealth and arrogance are among the problems facing the ANC,” noting the “growing social distance between the leadership and the people” they