#Ministry of Finance and Development Planning

[geezliberia]

Liberia’s Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan Elected Chair of African Development Bank Constituency 15

Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Hon. Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, has been elected Chair of Constituency 15 of the African Development Bank (AfDB), a key regional bloc comprising Liberia, Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan. The election was held during the 2025 Constituency Annual Meetings, taking place on the margins of the AfDB Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte…

[blogmushroomincus]

Externally Funded Projects: Successes, Challenges, and Future Recommendations

Externally funded projects play a significant role in Uganda’s development, especially in sectors like agriculture, education, health, and infrastructure. However, despite the substantial financial support from external sources, many of these projects face hurdles that limit their overall impact. A recent report by the Ministry of Finance sheds light on the performance of these projects,…

[markmcole]

A Worship Leader’s Job Description and Pay

I recently received an email from a pastor who asked me this question: I need some general insight as we start looking for a worship leader for our church plant. What price range should I ask for from my finance/leadership team as I seek to hire a worship leader? Assuming less than 5 years experience leading in a church… If the person is full time? What range of salary is the norm starting out?…

[bzjs35172]

Shutting down the Education Department, Trump really did it

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order at the White House on Monday, directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to close the Department of Education and return the administration of education to the states.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the creation and dissolution of all federal agencies usually require congressional approval through the legislative process. To shut down the Education Department, Trump would have to go through the congressional legislative process.

"Take all legal means to shut down the Ministry of Education"

In a speech at the White House on the same day, Trump said that except for core essential functions, the administration will "take all legal means to shut down the Department of Education" and will "close it as quickly as possible." Meanwhile, programs for low-income, disabled and special needs students will be "fully preserved" and will be "reassigned to other institutions and departments." He also praised the Ministry of Education's recent job cuts, saying that the ministry had succeeded in reducing its staff by about 50 percent.

After Trump signed the executive order, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Meng Zhao-wen and Education Task Force Chair Mark Takano issued a joint statement saying it was an "illegal decision" and that Congress "must not relinquish power" in the face of the order.

Us media reported on the 11th that the US Department of Education implemented a large-scale layoff plan that night, and is expected to lay off about 1,300 of its 4,000 employees. Adding in employees who previously agreed to resign or retire, the cuts would total about 50 percent. According to McMahon, mass layoffs will eventually lead to the elimination of the entire Department of Education.

Twenty-one Democratic state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Education Department's layoffs. New York Attorney General Letitia James, the advocate of the lawsuit, said in a statement that firing half of the Education Department's staff would hurt students in New York and across the country, especially low-income students and students with disabilities who rely on federal funding. She called it "outrageous," "reckless and illegal."

Many universities have imposed hiring freezes

Harvard University, Stanford University and North Carolina State University are also suspending hiring as the federal government seeks to reduce federal contracts and cut research funding.

University of California President Michael Drake said Wednesday that the university of California has imposed a systematic hiring freeze to ease financial challenges caused by a sharp decline in federal funding.

Drake said in the letter that since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly proposed or issued executive orders to cut funding for education support, patient care or major medical research. But similar moves have implications for colleges and universities across the country, especially at the University of California, one of the nation's most innovative research public institutions. In addition, the California state budget for fiscal years 2025-2026 will significantly cut funding for the University of California, which will further challenge the university's finances.

Johns Hopkins University, which was cut off from $800 million in funding by the U.S. Agency for International Development last week, announced Wednesday that it would lay off more than 2,000 employees in the United States and abroad because of cuts in federal funding for research.

Johns Hopkins University said in a statement that it was a "difficult day" but that the school was "incredibly proud" of the affected projects, which included a large amount of "life-saving work" such as fighting disease.

Scientists leave Europe to pick up the slack

According to the US Science magazine and other European and American media reports, in the face of the uncertain policy environment of the Trump administration, an increasing number of scientific researchers are considering leaving the US. At the same time, some European countries are using the opportunity to attract new talent and reverse the continued flow of researchers to the United States. Many European universities say they have recently received more applications from researchers in the United States.

France is one of the fastest "people snatching" countries. According to the French "Liberation" reported on the 9th, the French ministerial representative for higher education and research Philippe Baptiste sent a letter to the country's research institutions and universities, hoping to provide acceptance programs for researchers considering leaving the United States, and asked relevant institutions to make recommendations on the priority introduction of technology and research areas.

Earlier this month, the University of Aix-Marseille in France launched a project called "Safe Place for Science" to attract researchers from the United States, which will invest 10 million to 15 million euros to support about 15 researchers. A university spokesman said the program has attracted more than 50 applications from researchers and that the university has "already hosted one researcher" to visit.

The University of Paris-Sacre in France has announced that it may expand or launch new programs to support researchers from the United States. Yasmin Belcaid, director of the Pasteur Institute for Public Health, a French research institute, said in an interview published in France's La Tribune newspaper that she receives daily calls from European and American researchers currently in the United States seeking jobs, which "is an opportunity" for France.

[docpiplup]

Due to the anniversary, there are more articles and interviews these days, for example in this interview Javier Olivares talked about the new patrol he wanted to create for season 5.

What do you think?

The three Spains and a frustrated fifth season: the secrets of a 'Ministry' that "endures time very well"

Javier Olivares, co-creator of 'El Ministerio del Tiempo', reflects on the legacy of the TVE series and gives details of the episodes that were never filmed.

Every story has a beginning (and, in principle, an end) and that of El Ministerio del Tiempo, the adventure series that aired La 1 of TVE between 2015 and 2020, goes back twenty years when its creators, the brothers Pablo and Javier Olivares, set out – while they were drinking beers – to write a series that they would like to see as viewers, but that they knew would never be made.

In between, around 2007, they developed the Spanish adaptation of the series Life on Mars, a police officer who travels to the past, to the seventies, after a car accident. Diagonal TV was going to be in charge of its production (Amar En Tiempos Revueltos, Isabel) and they even started a conversation with British public television, the BBC, for said remake they titled it La Leyenda del Tiempo. If the English had David Bowie; the Spanish had Camarón.

In the end, Antena 3 bought the rights and commissioned it to another production company. The result was La Chica de Ayer (2009), whose title responded to a song by Nacha Pop (1980), ahead of the time on which the series was based (1977).

Anachronies aside, Javier Olivares payed off an old score in the fourth season of El Ministerio del Tiempo. The second episode, in which the patrol of civil servants and time travelers has to obtain financing for Pedro Almodóvar's second film (Laberinto de Pasiones) and for the filmmaker from La Mancha to hire Antonio Banderas as the protagonist, ends with a performance of David Bowie's song Life on Mars. Thus a circle was closed; one of many.

"I was certain that there were not going to be more seasons. I wanted to close the story of the characters. I owed it to the characters, the actors and the audience. With greater or lesser success," recalls Javier Olivares in conversation with El Independiente. This Monday, February 24, marks a decade since the premiere of the first chapter of The Ministry of Time; the first of a total of 42, which, by the way, are not available in full on RTVE Play (yes on HBO Max...)*.

A series of adventures in front of and behind the cameras, since it was not easy, the schedules, late renewals, departure of interpreters and, therefore, rewriting of bibles, that is, the skeleton of each batch of deliveries. More than two years passed between the filming of the third and fourth seasons, so they were paying for a set that finally collapsed. In fact, in the last season, due to budgetary issues, they were unable to build a set. But they found a solution: an old Spanish National Radio building on the outskirts of Madrid where they could decorate.

"When I finish a season, I always think that there won't be another one. And El Ministerio del Tiempo has shown me that. What I don't like is leaving a series unfinished. It was necessary to put an end to it so that, if suddenly there was a new season, it would already be a new patrol," he continues.

Then TVE asked Javier Olivares for a fifth season of El Ministerio del Tiempo. With Star Trek (and its sequels) and Doctor Who (and the physical regenerations of its owner) in mind, the scriptwriter planned a renewal while maintaining the essences. That fifth season was going to be the shortest, of four episodes, to turn its broadcast into an event, and it was going to feature a new protagonist patrol, made up of a female mathematician from the late 17th century, a lieutenant from the War of Independence (1808-1814) and a young ram raider from 2020.

They were going to talk about fake news, the invention of the submarine, The Beatle's performance in Las Ventas (Madrid)… and there was going to be a Christmas special with the story of La Lotería. "Tornero [the then president of RTVE] said it was very expensive and the door was closed," Olivares recalls. Like that other door that closed between the second and third seasons of The Ministry of Time when the possibility of moving to a platform arose...

"Each season is what it inherits from the previous ones. It's better not to think about what would have been and wasn't. You play with the instruments they give you and I'm delighted with how the fourth season turned out," acknowledges Olivares.

If in that fourth and final season he had to remake the bible after the departure of the actress Macarena García (Lola Mendieta) during the halfway point, in the second it already happened with its protagonist, Rodolfo Sancho (Julián). If he hadn't fallen out of the cast, perhaps the merger between Lorca and Camarón would have happened sooner...

"The character of Rodolfo [Sancho] was basic in the first season and a reflection of my brother [Pablo]," recalls the co-creator. But as soon as one goes out the window, another comes in the door, since Hugo Silva won the affection of the screenwriter ("For me, one of the great discoveries of the series is Pacino") and the public. With Julián's departure and Pacino's replacement, there was a third party in contention, Amelia (Aura Garrido).

But Olivares did not succumb to the love affair: "Already with Isabel, in the first season, I did not do a love story. I did the love story that was historically as I told it. I did not entangle it or turn it into an affair. And in El Ministerio del Tiempo, the same: I did not want to do a stable love story for anyone."**

The series itself also didn't marry anyone. Each of its three original protagonists represented one of the three Spains: Amelia (progressivism, feminism), Alonso (loyalty, Christianity, patriotism) and Julián, "who is fed up with the two Spains fighting and wants to have a beer in peace." The three, with their differences, rowed together in the same boat. "They did not fight among themselves. They fulfilled a function as patriots, as civil servants of a ministry," he adds.

Even so, he was accused of politicization and turning to the left: "It is not a political series, but everything is political. It is a series of adventures, but obviously we talk about corruption, inequality, that everyone loses wars... We can't have a party with Lorca, or do we? We also gave a comical twist to many things, like Velázquez, Lorca...".

Olivares recommends that the most critical review the first season, whose last chapter, set in the Madrid Student Residence, "has the same social, but not political, burden as the rest of the series. The pilot episode, essentially written by his brother Pablo, is one of his favorites along with two others from the second season, those starring El Cid and Felipe II.

Still, the third season of El Ministerio del Tiempo was a turning point after experimenting in the second, jumping from one genre (pure comedy with Napoleon) to another (pure drama with the Spanish flu) in each episode. A painting by Goya, Duelo a garrotazos, inspired that third volume.

"The third season was the darkest. There was a very hard plot, that of the two Spains. Since the 19th century, people of different ideologies killing each other. It was the hardest in terms of sadness and also the hardest in terms of production. In the first two seasons we had a first-class technical cast. We had Goya award winners in our ranks. All those people came for a cheaper price with the condition that, if a movie came out, they would leave, but they would come back. You can use them as a favor in that moment of passion and epic because everyone knew that we were doing a different series. But It was something you couldn't stretch," Olivares admits.

There were times to which they did not travel (Al-Andalus, Roman Spain) due to budgetary and even language issues ("They did not speak Spanish") and ideas that did not prosper because they did not have a good script, such as fake news. Olivares would have liked to create a episode on the Santo Niño de La Guardia ("a myth about some Jews who martyred a Christian child, the Inquisition arrived and took charge of the culprits as a milestone of Christianity, but it had never disappeared for a year, there was no case, there were rumors that became reality because it was of interest at that time") or on the way in which the minister Esquilache was expelled from Spain at the end of the 18th century for trying to modernize the kingdom.

He would also have liked to integrate the curious filming of Dracula (1931) into the plot, during the day with an Anglo-Saxon cast and at night with a Spanish-speaking cast; What didn't change were the sets. Olivares recognizes that they should have given more scope to scientific culture (he redeemed himself with Emilio Herrera, the creator of the diving suit, to whom he dedicated an episode of the fourth season). "I would have loved to tell the story of table football. There was no time for everything," says Olivares.

But let's go back to the beginning, since fiction allows it. Pablo and Javier Olivares returned to the idea of The Ministry of Time after abandoning Isabel (2012), once the first season had been created and written, due to creative differences. Pablo, already diagnosed with ALS, asked his brother to develop that idea they had while they were drinking beers years ago. TVE bought it almost immediately, but it took them a year to find a traveling companion, producer José María Irisarri: "Before, we negotiated with four important production companies and the conditions prevented us from making our decision: they did not want a showrunner. There was total resistance to a scriptwriter being an executive producer – TVE's request –. We proposed an Anglo-Saxon model in which we carried out the creative part with the network without intermediaries. It was one of the most unpleasant moments."

"Olivares took the lead in the end and had decision-making power even in choosing the cast: "We were clear about all of them except one, proposed by TVE. We were very clear about Víctor Clavijo. It was the first one we were clear about. We had always spoken with Rodolfo [Sancho] because we needed an important name. He was part of the family [he played Fernando de Aragón in Isabel] and he signed up. A very clear one that I chose was Nacho Fresneda. And Aura Garrido. "We had doubts between Jaime Blanch and Luis Valera because we wanted an actor who represented traditional Spanish television, an icon."

Javier Olivares has never seen his own creation again. "I have occasionally seen an episode," he admits. "When they show it on television***, I stay to watch it. It strikes me that, despite its age, it holds up very well over time."

* yes, on RTVE Play season 4 is not available at this moment, but in HBO Max it is available.

** I would argue that's not exactly true, like there's some canon relationships like Alonso/Elena or Julián/Maite that have become very important for much of the series.

***at 23:00 on the TV channel Clan TVE they show an episode of El Ministerio del Tiempo almost daily, today it's episode 3x04 Tiempo de Ilustrados

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lorenzo Tondo at The Guardian:

Israel has said it will establish 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation, after a security cabinet vote held in secret last week. Israel occupied the West Bank, capturing it from Jordan, in the six-day war of 1967. Since then, successive governments have tried to permanently cement Israeli control over the land, in part by declaring swathes as “state lands”, which prevents private Palestinian ownership. The motion was said to have been put forward by the far-right defence minister, Israel Katz, and finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, which is considered illegal under international law. Katz said the settlement decision “strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria”, using the biblical term for the West Bank, “anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism”. He added it was also “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel”. The government intends to use the 22 settlements to bolster Israel’s presence around Route 443, which connects Jerusalem and Tel Aviv via Modiin and was described by Israel Ganz, the head of the Yesha council umbrella group of West Bank Jewish municipalities, as “the most important decision since 1967”. The minister said on X: “We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing the settlement of the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel.”

Last July, Israel approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in more than three decades, according to a report released by Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog. At the time, the Israeli government approved the appropriation of 12.7 sq km (nearly 5 sq miles) of land in the Jordan valley, indicating it was “the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords”, referring to the start of the peace process. In a leaked recording captured by Peace Now last year, Smotrich, during a conference for his National Religious Party-Religious Zionism, disclosed that the land confiscations in 2024 surpassed previous years’ averages by approximately tenfold. He said: “This thing is mega-strategic and we are investing a lot in it. “This is something that will change the map dramatically.” In May 2023, Smotrich, who said his “life’s mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state”, instructed Israeli government ministries to prepare for a further 500,000 Israeli settlers to move into the occupied West Bank.

Israel Apartheid State plans to construct 22 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

[anomalyaly]

Secrets of the Silent Stars

SotSS Part 2 is underway!

I'm about 2/3 of the way through chapter 1, so it'll be coming soon! In the meantime, Part 1 is complete if you would like to read it or catch up <3 It can be found here [AO3/Wattpad]. Kudos/Votes/Comments are appreciated ALWAYS.

Anyways, here's the prologue of my story to celebrate part 1 being complete!

Tags: Mature themes (violence, death, abuse, trauma, etc), Sebastian Sallow x F!MC, Ravenclaw OC, Slow burn, Fifth year (part 1), check each chapter for tags

"What in God's name is a 'Hogwarts'?"

Sixteen year old Elsie Corvin sat at the top of the stairs of her parents' home in London listening to her father speak sternly to an elderly man in odd clothing. She scooted down a step as she tried to remain out of sight but still able to observe their discussion, her curious dark eyes peeking out from behind the banister.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the interesting man said. "Your daughter has a gift. We'd like for her to be able to hone her talents. She would be studying at one of the most prestigious wizarding schools in the world."

Her father raised an eyebrow at that. "Prestigious?"

Elsie had to hold back a scoff. Of course that would get her father's attention.

Ever since she was born, Elsie's entire life was planned out for her. Her father was a man who strived to be a part of high society. He had a steady job in finance which gave him the upper hand in social circles. They weren't exactly the top tier of the upper class, at least not in the sense that they lived in a manor and had many servants. But her father's name was definitely one that was highly regarded by the locals.

Her parents fully intended on sustaining and growing that wealth - what better way to do that than to arrange a marriage with the eldest son of a family from one of the higher social circles? She was their eldest daughter, and she was expected to set an example of being a proper young woman.

Their plans had all but fallen through the floor when Elsie's magic came to fruition. At a dinner party, no less, when she had unintentionally sent cutlery flying in the direction of the father of her future betrothed.

He had managed to duck out of the way just in time, but not before he and everyone else in the room witnessed the cutlery that had taken off seemingly of its own accord. Elsie hadn't felt sorry about it - his sexist comment was deserving of more than some sharp eating utensils aimed at his head. But she was surprised to find out that she had been the cause of it without lifting a finger.

For so long, she had found herself going along with whatever her parents asked of her. She had become complacent in normalcy after she grew tired of arguing with her parents over it. When she found out that magic existed, it was like all the stories she read, the fairytales that she had used as her own personal form of escapism, came true all at once.

A group of magical people who stated that they worked for something called the 'Ministry of Magic' showed up later explaining that they would have to 'obliviate the muggles.' Elsie didn't know what they had meant at the time, but a few days later, it seemed that the Fairfaxes had forgotten about the incident.

She received a letter soon after - by owl, to her intrigue - inviting her to Hogwarts as a fifth-year student.

While, according to the letter, students were forbidden from using magic outside of school if they were under seventeen, her 'special circumstances' allowed for a man called Eleazar Fig to help her develop a basis for spell-casting before the start of term, when he would also be accompanying her to school. Elsie presumed that the strange man speaking with her father must be this 'Fig' person.

"I assure you, your daughter will be well taken care of," Fig said again to her father.

Her mother chimed in. "I don't understand. How can our daughter have magic?"

"Your daughter appears to be a bit of a 'late bloomer.' It is quite unusual, but we will do what we can to ensure that she catches up with the rest of her classmates."

Her parents exchanged concerned glances. Elsie was surprised they weren't arguing with him and insisting that she stays here - though the fact that Fig was most likely a powerful wizard, it was probably intimidating to her non-magical parents. Muggles, she had heard him say.

"In the meantime," Fig continued, "I would like to provide your daughter with a baseline of what is studied, particularly with spell-casting, so that she has a sense of control over her magic before term begins."

"Like a tutor?" her mother inquired.

"Precisely."

Her father made a face, clearly displeased about the idea of magic being practiced in his house. The fact that she would be attending a school, getting an education outside of learning to be a proper wife, and with mixed company - it probably made him extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm not certain I'm willing to allow it," he said coldly. Elsie recognized the tone as one he used to gain the upper hand in negotiations. It gave her chills.

"I understand it's a lot to take in, especially with your daughter's circumstances. If you would feel more comfortable, we can practice elsewhere. But I would like to see her a few times a week until the school year, as she is already four years behind," Fig said, unphased.

Elsie found herself impressed by the man's calm demeanor. Many people found her father's gruff attitude intimidating - it was refreshing to see someone who didn't shy away from him.

"This is nonsense!" her father exclaimed, and Elsie jumped as he slammed his fist against the wall. Her mother put a hand on his shoulder as if to say don't anger the powerful wizard, darling.

Fig sighed, and Elsie could see him trying to hide his exasperation from where she sat.

"This will be an excellent opportunity for your daughter to have an astounding education," he tried once more. "Think of it as a...magical boarding school."

Elsie's mother brightened at that.

"Oh, a boarding school?" she said excitedly. "Arthur, this could be good for her. Perhaps she'll finally be able to make some proper friends."

Her father, while strict and set in his ways, always tended to melt whenever Elsie's mother used that tone on him. While boarding schools were seen as 'lower' than being taught by a governess or finishing school as Elsie had received, her mother was much more progressive as she hadn't been born and raised in Britain.

Generally, Elsie had a difficult time making friends. She loved to read and learn (courtesy of her mother), but sharing intellect was considered a faux pas amongst women in her social circle. In addition, her father's intimidating status and the fact that things seemed to go wrong around her, she was never truly able to fit in with her peers - it was as if people could sense something was different about her. Now she understood why.

Her mother, although she still hoped the best for Elsie, wasn't as opposed to boarding schools if it meant Elsie had a social life. It seemed that her mother had faith that this school would have students that matched her "caliber." Though, based on what Elsie read in her acceptance letter and what Fig was saying, starting as a fifth year was considered unusual. She would already stand out awkwardly amongst her peers.

Elsie sighed and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She waited with baited breath for her father's answer.

After a few tense minutes, he finally nodded.

"Very well. I will go upstairs and discuss this with her."

"There's no need," Fig said, holding up a hand. "I believe she's got the idea."

His gaze flicked upwards to her spot on the stairs and Elsie froze. She hadn't expected Fig to know that she had been listening in the entire time.

Fantastic, she thought, he probably assumes I'm a busybody now.

Her parents turned to look at her.

"Miss Corvin." Fig gestured for her to come down the stairs. She pulled herself up using the banister and walked down. Maybe she could salvage his first impression of her.

"Sir?"

"We haven't been properly introduced," he said, and there was a kind smile on his face as he spoke. "Professor Eleazar Fig."

Elsie nodded politely, her guard still up. If he was a professor of a prestigious school, Elsie would have to make sure he was impressed by her. "Elsie Corvin. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." She bowed her head humbly.

She could feel her parents' eyes on them. Always judging.

Professor Fig seemed to appraise her. She wondered what he was thinking, and she hoped that it was positive. He didn't seem stern or intimidating.

"I've spoken with your parents about teaching you the basics of magic and wizarding culture before you begin your fifth year at Hogwarts. I trust you read your letter?"

Elsie nodded. "I did, sir. I'm also to get...supplies?"

"Indeed. There's a place not too far from here that I will accompany you to in order to ensure you have everything you need. We will also meet twice a week, so that I may help you get acquainted with using a wand and controlling your magic."

Her parents seemed to fade into the background as Professor Fig pulled out a wand out of thin air and handed it to her. She eyed it curiously. My own wand. Just like the stories.

"Unfortunately, you will have to use a second hand wand for now. We will get you a proper wand once the term begins, but you can use this to practice the spells that we learn."

Elsie turned the wand over in her hands. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it was just a brown stick, aside from the fact that it had a handle. But as she held it, she could feel the power in her flowing through it, as if it was an extension of her. If she had only known how, she would have started casting every spell immediately.

Fig smiled at her awed expression. After she felt satisfied at her inspection of the wand, she looked back up at him.

"Are we to begin practicing now?"

Fig looked amused. "Would you like to begin practicing now?" he asked.

Elsie was desperate to learn. This magic in her was something new, something different from anything her parents could have planned for her. She wanted to explore every avenue of it as soon as possible.

"I would, sir, if that would be alright with you."

Professor Fig's face broke out into a wide grin.

"Then I suggest we get started."

[odinsblog]

24JAN2024: On Sunday, Israel approved a plan to send taxes earmarked for Gaza to Norway instead of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Since November, taxes that would ordinarily be sent to Gaza have been frozen by the Israeli government.

Under the terms of a deal reached in the 1990s, Israel collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA pending the approval of the Ministry of Finance.

While the PA was ousted from the Gaza Strip in 2007, many of its public sector employees in the enclave kept their jobs and continued to be paid with transferred tax revenues.

Weeks after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, Israel took the decision to withhold payments earmarked for those employees in the Gaza Strip on the grounds that they could fall into the hands of Hamas.

Now, Israel says it will instead send the frozen funds to Norway. “The frozen funds will not be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, but will remain in the hands of a third country,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement released on Sunday.

Why does Israel control Palestinian tax revenue?

The system by which taxes and customs duties are collected by Israel on behalf of the PA and transferred to the authority on a monthly basis was agreed in a 1994 accord.

Known as the Paris Protocol, the accord was meant to manage the economic relationship between Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupied until a final peace settlement was reached between the two states.

Approved in the wake of the optimism generated by the Oslo Accords, which were publicly ratified by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the White House in September 1993, this protocol was supposed to end within five years.

However, 30 years later, the financial settlement continues to give the Israeli state what the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called “a disproportionate influence on the collection of Palestinian fiscal revenue, leading to deficiencies in the structure and collection of customs duties resulting from direct and indirect importing into Palestine”.

How much money is Israel withholding?

The tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA amount to around $188m each month, and account for 64 percent of the authority’s total revenue.

A large portion of this is used to pay the salaries of the estimated 150,000 PA employees working in the West Bank and Gaza, despite it having no jurisdiction over the Strip.

On November 3, the Israel security cabinet voted to withhold a total of $275m in Palestinian tax revenues, including cash collected for prior months that was still with Tel Aviv.

“The PA is not clear about how much of the tax revenues go to Gaza – it’s a black box,” Rabeh Morrar, director of research at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute-MAS, told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes they say 30 percent, sometimes 40, sometimes 50.”

Under terms set by Israel’s cabinet on Sunday, the monthly tax revenue previously allocated to PA staff in Gaza will instead be transferred to a Norwegian-based trust account. However, that money cannot be released by the fund to pay workers in Gaza without permission from Israel.

How does Israel exercise ‘disproportionate influence’ over the PA?

The Israeli state has often used its control of the PA’s tax revenues as a means to blackmail and punish the authority.

In January 2023, for instance, the newly-formed Israeli government – seen as the most far-right coalition government in the country’s history – decided to withhold $39m in tax revenues from the PA following the authority’s decision to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the legality of Israel’s decades-long occupation.

“Israeli blackmailing of our tax revenues will not stop us from continuing our political and diplomatic struggle,” said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh at the time after Israel’s security cabinet had earlier described the PA’s ICJ move as a “decision to wage political and legal war against the State of Israel”.

What effect has Israel’s withdrawal of public money had on Palestine?

“The PA owes billions in internal debt to local banks, hospitals, medical companies and the private sector,” said Morrar. “There are also debts [owed], for example, for privately owned buildings rented out by the government. They have not been able to pay those back.”

In 2021, the PA’s financial crisis, exacerbated by Israel’s periodic refusal to pay the PA its total tax revenue share pre-October 7, prompted it to reduce all salaries by 25 percent.

(continue reading)

[beneaththetangles]

Beneath the Tangles Prayer Group | May 22 - 28 Prayer Requests

Here are our prayer items for the week:

22 - Pray for Mike and Dennis as they produce The Power of God and Anime. May this podcast engage listeners and encourage them to seek out and form relationships with Christ.

23 - Pray for Luke’s creativity and discernment as he plans for and creates videos, and for us to reach new audiences for Christ through TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@animetangles.

24 - Pray that God will provide financially for Beneath the Tangles and that we’ll use our finances raised through Patreon (http://patreon.com/thetangles), Ko-Fi (http://ko-fi.com/beneaththetangles), Throne (https://throne.com/beneaththetangles), and other platforms in a faithful manner.

25 - Our small group meet on Sundays. Pray that our members draw nearer to God, that those who aren’t saved do meet Christ and accept him as Lord and Savior, and that our members all find good local Christian communities to join.

26 - Pray that our partner ministries, including Gaming and God, Geek Devotions, and Jesus Otaku, will continue to carry out Christ’s mission with obedient and faithful hearts.

27 - Pray that our social media platforms reflect Christ and for our staff as they develop content and interact with followers. May we model Christ every step of the way.

28 - Many Christians find our site as they seek resources about anime. Pray that we’ll be able to support and encourage them to seek God more fully on their Christian walks.

Prayer Warriors: @moezy-chan​ @bearypangolinelephants​ @gasexplosionatthescalpelfactory @christian-otaku @tomodachi-to-koibito @wondergirl-34127 @villainouscloaksarecool

If you’re interested in participating, please do the following:

1. Follow @beneaththetangles 2. Message me, reply to this post, in some other way let me know that you want in

[cognitivejustice]

China has led the world in promoting the recirculation of waste materials.

Objectives included reusing 72% of industrial solid waste by 2015 and raising resource productivity (economic output per unit resources used) by 15%. The plan laid out a three-pronged '10–100–1,000' strategy: 10 major programmes focusing on recycling industrial wastes, conversion of industrial parks, remanufacturing, urban mining, and the development of waste-collection and recycling systems; 100 demonstration cities such as Suzhou and Guangzhou; and 1,000 demonstration enterprises or industrial parks nationwide. In 2012, the NDRC and the finance ministry called for 50% of national industrial parks and 30% of provincial ones to complete circular-economy transformation initiatives by 2015, with an aim of achieving close to zero discharge of pollutants.

[geezliberia]

World Bank Pledges $490 Million to Boost Liberia’s Development Agenda

In a major financial commitment to Liberia’s economic and social transformation, the World Bank has announced a $490 million funding package to support President Joseph Boakai’s ambitious ARREST Agenda, a five-year national development plan aimed at revitalizing key sectors of the country. The ARREST Agenda, launched in January 2025, stands for Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education,…

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil bets on attracting green investment in new Trump government

Government anticipates shift in resources with end of Joe Biden policies

The Brazilian federal government has begun formulating a strategy to attract green investments that may no longer be made in the United States following President Donald Trump’s cancellation of several policies implemented by his predecessor, Joe Biden. Discussions involve entities such as the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), which manages the Climate Fund, and the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

According to information obtained by Valor, investors and fund representatives have already informed the Palácio do Planalto that, given the prospect of fewer subsidies and lower interest rates for green programs in the United States, Brazil could draw resources in this sector. Some of these messages were conveyed in the context of the enactment of the law establishing the Energy Transition Acceleration Program (Paten), which took place on Wednesday (22).

Another strategy is the rapid establishment of the carbon credit market. The law instituting this system was signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the end of 2024, but several administrative regulations, which do not require Congressional approval, are still pending.

The government is considering creating a specific secretariat to address the carbon market, which, according to sources consulted by Valor, could accelerate these procedures. One potential plan is to initially place this secretariat within the Ministry of Finance.

Continue reading.

[lboogie1906]

Barack Obama Sr. (June 18, 1936 - November 24, 1982) father of President Barach Hussein Obama, Jr. was born in Kenya to Onyango Obama and Habiba Akumu Nyanjango. He was raised in the Nyang’oma Kogelo village, Siaya District of the Nyanza Province. He converted from Islam to Anglicanism while attending a Christian missionary school and changed his name from Baraka to Barak. His parents separated when he was nine years old, and he was raised by his stepmother.

He married Kezia Aoko (1954) and the couple had two children. In 1959 he was selected for a special academic program and traveled to the US to enroll as the first African foreign student to study at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He graduated in 1963 with a BA in Economics, he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. He married Stanley Ann Dunham (1961-64). The couple had one child.

He graduated from Harvard University, He married Ruth Beatrice Baker (1964-73). The couple had two sons.

He worked for an oil company as an economist in Kenya. He was promoted to the economist for the Kenyan Ministry of Transport, and senior economist in the Kenyan Ministry of Finance. He reunited with Kezia and had two children. He wrote an entry for the East Africa Journal titled “Problems Facing Our Socialism,” which set him at odds with Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta and much of the nation’s political establishment. When Tom Mboya, Minister of Economic Planning and Development, was assassinated, he came under suspicion. He believed he was now a target of the government. He was fired and blacklisted and found it difficult to find and hold down a job.

He was hit by a car in 1970, an incident that left him in the hospital for almost a year. He traveled back to Hawaii. He visited Barack, Jr. giving him a basketball and taking him to a jazz concert.

He was involved in a second car accident that claimed both of his legs. He met Jael Otinyo, with who he had a son named George. The couple never married but just six months after the child’s birth, he died in a third car accident. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #phibetakappa

[beardedmrbean]

The papers all cover the government's framework budget settlement, which was announced late on Wednesday evening.

MTV has a list of the decisions. They include cuts to higher education funding, development aid and municipalities. There are also big income tax breaks targeted at higher earning taxpayers, a higher threshold for paying inheritance tax, and corporate tax reductions to benefit Finland's companies.

The tax cuts are an expensive measure, and to stay compliant with the government's goal of stabilising the state budget by 2027 ministers agreed to take a billion euros out of the state pension fund to cover a likely shortfall in the 2027 state budget.

Iltalehti carries criticism of that plan from an economist at the VATT Institute for Economic Research who likens the move to taking out a payday loan.

What changed?

Helsingin Sanomat has analysis of the budget and in particular the shift in government rhetoric around state debt.

Last November Finance Minister Riikka Purra (Finns) had said that there was no room for tax cuts, as the state finances and the wider economy were in such poor shape.

Now the tune has changed, and the so-called dynamic feedback created when you cut taxes for high earners is expected to boost the economy.

That is contested, with many economists and opposition politicians arguing that the research does not support such reliance on growth to finance future outgoings.

And even in the optimistic scenarios published by the Finance Ministry, there is a time lag between the tax reductions going into force and the economic benefits being felt.

The prime reason for the decisions, according to HS, is political. Government parties had agreed that they would make difficult decisions and cuts in the first two years of the government, and then have a chance to give tax cuts once the economy had revived.

That revival is yet to be seen, but the government is sticking to the plan anyway. One reason could be that the plan to stabilise the finances is now delayed until the end of the decade anyway, thanks in part to increased defence spending.

Former Finns Party operative in Murmansk

Iltalehti reports on Sakari Linden, a former Finns Party official who was recently in Murmansk for Russia's International Arctic Forum, where he gave a speech in English that was broadcast on Russia Today.

He was also interviewed by a Finnish Putin propagandist, Janus Putkonen, who posted pictures of the meeting on his social media channels.

Putkonen has spent time in the occupied Donbas region in Ukraine, publishing content in Finnish from the Russian perspective.

The Murmansk conference was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke of his plans for the militarisation of the Arctic, and increasing Russian military capabilities in the region.

The Lithuanian intelligence agency has stated that attendees in Murmansk are often targeted for recruitment by Russian security services. Linden denied that he had been approached in Russia.

Linden has served as Laura Huhtasaari's (Finns) special advisor when she was an MEP, and written on EU policy for the Finns Party's think tank. He currently says he is a "geopolitical analyst" and consultant living in Brussels.

Linden told IL that he is an "independent thinker" and went to Murmansk in that spirit.

"Finns are in the midst of a powerful Russia hysteria, and they are subject to huge social pressure," said Linden. "I'm not interested in pressure from fanatics. I would like to say that Finland should have its own view and connections to all power centres, including Russia."

Linden has criticised the Finns Party leadership as "globalist", and told IL that he currently has no connection with the party.

[darkmaga-returns]

End Times Headline News. February 4 2025

Trudeau Bends The Knee. China announces counter-tariffs. EU warns against trade war. USAID Funneled MILLIONS to the Clinton Foundation? NATO plans to oust Zelensky. Stargate

Lioness of Judah Ministry

Feb 04, 2025

Trudeau Bends The Knee: Canada Will Send 10,000 Troops To Border, Name Fentanyl Czar To Delay Trump Tariffs

Update (4:40pm ET): In what is a carbon copy of Trump's tariff-delaying deal with Mexico, moments ago Canada's outgoing PM, Justin Trudeau, said that he too had bent the knee, i.e. had a "good call" with Trump, and that US tariffs on Canada would be paused for 30 days after Canada - just like Mexico - agreed to send 10,000 troops to the border as part of a $1.3 billion border plan which "reinforces the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl".

Trudeau also said that Canada will appoint a Fentanyl Czar, list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, and launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering. Finally, the Canadian PM also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million. As a result of not only bending the knee but bending over fully for the US president, Trump's proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days

China's finance ministry announces tariffs to counter Trump trade moves

China's finance ministry on Tuesday announced a package of tariffs on a range of US products in an immediate response to a 10% tariff on Chinese imports announced by US President Donald Trump that went into effect at 0501 GMT.

USAID Absorbed Into State Department Under Rubio After DOGE Crusade

"Trump admin expected to announce the moves in coming days. Discussions..."

"USAID will be merged into the State Department with cuts in the workforce, but it will remain a humanitarian aid entity, sources told @saraecook and me. Trump admin expected to announce the moves in coming days. Discussions of reductions in funding were still fluid today," CBS News senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs wrote on X. Over the last several days, the Trump administration's move to strip USAID of its independence and be rolled into the State Department has been well-telegraphed with leaks and reports via media outlets.

DEI Musicals, Transgender Operas, and Meals for al-Qaeda: A Catalog of USAID Waste

President Donald J. Trump’s Rapid Response team has cataloged some of the wasteful spending disbursed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which looks set to be abolished as an independent entity and absorbed into the U.S. State Department after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) concluded it was beyond saving.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, the Rapid Response team noted that USAID has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and promoting transgenderism. For instance, $1.5 million was spent to promote DEI in Serbian workplaces, and $70,000 was spent on a “DEI musical” in Ireland.

Hang on! USAID Funneled MILLIONS to the Clinton Foundation?!?!

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) which is a front for the CIA has been effectively shut down following an announcement by Elon Musk that President Donald Trump agreed to close the agency.

[mariacallous]

Serbia’s Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesic, has signed a contract with Affinity Global Development’s director Asher Abehsera on revitalizing the former Army General Headquarters in Belgrade, demolished by the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.

Affinity Partners is Jared Kushner, former US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law’s, investment firm. It has $2 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, among other foreign investors, media have reported.

“We are very excited,” the New York Times reported Kushner as saying in an interview in March about planned projects in Belgrade and Albania. “We have not finalized these deals, so they might not happen, but we have been working hard and are pretty close.”

The former military HQ is in the Belgrade city centre, right across from the gvernment building.

According to the ministry press release, Vesic said the government had leased the premises for 99 years but did not specify at what price.

“The investor has assumed the obligation that, if he does not complete the investment within the period specified in the contract, he will return the land and what will be built until then to the Republic of Serbia without compensation,” Vesic said after signing the deal on Wednesday*.

The press release said the investor will also be obliged to build a memorial complex “dedicated to all the victims of NATO aggression” from 1999 on the plot.

“The memorial complex will be financed by investors and will be owned by the Republic of Serbia, which will decide on the program content of the complex and will manage it,” Vesic said.

The design of the memorial complex will be determined at an international architectural competition.

Abehsera said the project includes a unique aspect of cooperation in which Serbian architects and designers will be invited to submit their ideas for the Memorial Centre.

Kushner previously confirmed plans on X (former Twitter) to invest in this complex as well as in two locations on the Albanian coast. The samer New York Times report in March said that Kushner been working on the Balkan deals with Richard Grenell, who served briefly as acting director of national intelligence under Trump and also ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the Balkans.

According to the NYT, the investment in Belgrade will be a luxury hotel and 1,500 residential units and a museum. It also reported that Trump himself had showed interest in working with this complex in 2013, but Kushner claimed he did not know about this.

The former Yugoslav army HQ was severely damaged in two 1999 NATO air attacks, beween April 29 and 30 and between May 7 and 8. Part of the premises were demolished between 2014 and 2017 for security reasons.

Information that a US company will take over the demolished HQ was first revealed by the Serbian opposition in March, drawing criticism because of suspicions of corruption but also because of the damaged HQ’s architectural and cultural value. It was claimed that the land on which the HQ lies was being leased free of charge.

The building was constructed in 1965 and designed by the famous Serbian architect Nikola Dobrovic.