Gisèle Benoit still gets goosebumps when she remembers the first time she saw a family of eastern wolves emerge from the forests of the Mauricie National Park, under the backdrop of a rising moon. It was 1984 and Benoit, then in her early 20s, had been using a horn to try to call a bull moose when she instead heard a long howl, followed by an adult wolf stepping out to a rocky shore accompanied by a half-grown youth and four pups. “I will never forget that,” she said of the magical moment. “It’s anchored in my heart forever.” It was only later that Benoit, an artist and documentary filmmaker, learned that the wolves she saw weren’t grey wolves but rather rare eastern wolves. The species, whose population is estimated at fewer than 1,000 mature adults, could soon be further protected by new measures that are raising hopes among conservationists that attitudes toward a once-feared and maligned animal are shifting. In July, the federal government upgraded the eastern wolf’s threat level from “status of special concern” to “threatened,” based on a 2015 report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. That report found the population count may be as low as 236 mature individuals in its central Ontario and southern Quebec habitat. The eastern wolf is described as medium-sized canid with reddish-tawny fur that lives in family groups of a breeding pair and their offspring. Also known as the Algonquin wolf, it is largely restricted to existing protected areas, including Algonquin Park in Ontario. The federal Environment Department said in an email that development of a recovery strategy is underway, adding it would be “written in collaboration with provincial governments, federal departments responsible for the federal lands where the eastern wolf is found as well as First Nations groups and Indigenous organizations.” The order triggers protection for the species on federal lands and forces Ottawa to prepare a recovery plan. However, the fight for protection could be an uphill battle in Quebec, which does not even recognize the eastern wolf as a distinct species. A spokesperson for Quebec’s Environment Department said Quebec considers the eastern wolf a “genetic group” rather than its own species. “Recent study shows that the eastern wolf is a distinct entity, even if it comes from several crosses between the grey wolf and the coyote,” Daniel Labonté wrote in an email. “However, scientific knowledge does not demonstrate that this genetic grouping constitutes a species in its own right.” Labonté added that this lack of recognition was not a barrier to protecting the animal, since the law also allows for protection of subspecies or wildlife populations. In October, Quebec launched a program to collect samples to improve knowledge on the distribution of large canines, including the eastern wolf. The government said it is currently “impossible to assert that there is an established population” in Quebec due to low numbers — amounting to three per cent of analyzed samples — and the “strong hybridization that exists among large canids.” Véronique Armstrong, co-founder of a Quebec wildlife protection association, says she’s feeling positive about both the Canadian and Quebec governments’ attitudes. While wolves were once “stigmatized, even persecuted,” she said, “we seem to be heading in the direction of more protection.” Her group, the Association québécoise pour la protection et l’observation de la faune, has submitted a proposal for a conservation area to protect southern Quebec wolves that has already received signs of support from three of the regional municipalities that would be covered, she said. While it’s far from settled, she’s hopeful that the battle to protect wolves might be easier than for some other species, such as caribou, because the wolves are adaptable and can tolerate some human activity, including forestry. John Theberge, a retired professor of ecology and conservation biology from the University of Waterloo and a wolf researcher, spent several years along with his wife studying and radio-collaring eastern wolves around Algonquin Park. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, they faced a “huge political battle” to try to expand wolf protection outside park boundaries after realizing that the far-ranging animals were being hunted and trapped in large numbers once they left the protected lands. Conservationists, he said, faced resistance from powerful hunter and trapper lobbies opposed to protecting the animals but in the end succeeded in permanently closing the zones outside the park to hunting and trapping in 2004. Theberge says people who want to save wolves today still face some of that same opposition — especially when governments including Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia kill wolves to protect endangered caribou. But he believes the public support for protecting wolves has increased from when his career began in the 1960s, when they were treated with fear and suspicion. “Nobody wore T-shirts with wolves on them back then,” he said. Over the years, there have been questions about whether the eastern wolf may be a grey wolf subspecies or a coyote-wolf hybrid. But in the order protecting the wolves, the federal government says genetic analyses have resolved that debate, showing that it is a “distinct species.” Benoit, Theberge and Armstrong all believe that while it’s important to protect the eastern wolf from a genetic diversity perspective, there is value in protecting all wolves, regardless of their DNA. Wolves, they say, are an umbrella species, meaning that protecting them helps protect a variety of other species. They kill off weak and sick animals, ensuring strong populations. They’re also “highly developed, sentient social species, with a division of labour, and strong family alliances,” Theberge said. Benoit agrees. After years spent watching wolves, she has developed great respect for how they live in close-knit families, with older offspring helping raise new pups. “It’s extraordinary to see how their way of life is a little like humans’,” she said.
ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old . The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday afternoon, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. The center said he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief" and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America's dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights , he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise" speech, even though he never used that word. After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter's diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Contributors include former AP staffer Alex Sanz in Atlanta.
Jimmy Carter, nation’s 39th president who became influential human rights advocate, diesEAM S Jaishankar To Embark On Three-Day Official Visit To Qatar
Mhow (MP), Dec 29: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday termed India a “not very lucky” nation on the security front and urged soldiers to keep a sharp eye on internal and external foes who he said are always active. He was addressing Army personnel at the more-than-two-century-old Mhow cantonment in the Indore district of Madhya Pradesh. “Taking the security scenario into account, Bharat is not a very lucky country because our northern border and western border continuously face challenges,” said Singh, who is on a two-day tour of the state. Mhow cantonment, 25 km from Indore, is home to premier training institutes Army War College (AWS), Military College of Telecommunication Engineering and Infantry School other than the Infantry Museum and Army Marksmanship Unit. Singh is visiting the facilities. “We also face challenges on the internal front. In the backdrop of this, we can’t sit quietly, unconcerned. Our enemies, whether internal or external, remain active always. In these circumstances, we must keep a close eye on their activities and take appropriate and timely effective steps against them,” he told the Armymen. To make Bharat a developed and self-reliant country by 2047, the role of the Army is very crucial, said the defence minister. “.. as the country’s defence minister, I would like to tell you that we should be alert always. This patch of time, though often referred to as peacetime, struck me deeply when I arrived and witnessed the discipline and dedication with which you are undergoing training. Your regimen is no less than that of a war,” he told the gathering. “To maintain such a level of discipline, dedication and firm conviction are needed,” he added. Singh said he was impressed by the cleanliness at the Army establishments and cantonments across the country. “Your dedication to work inspires me. I can say that the most appealing thing is your devotion towards work and sense of responsibility. It is inspiring to all of us,” Singh said. He told the Army personnel that the country and its borders are becoming increasingly secure and strong due to their hard work and commitment. The defence minister also lauded the valuable contribution of the training institutions of the Indian Army in making their personnel proficient in military strategies and warfare skills. Singh was briefed by the Officiating Commandant on the establishment of Advanced Incubation and Research Centre and the various MoUs towards enabling the absorption and transformation of technologies, a release by the Press Information Bureau said. He visited the Army Marksmanship Unit to witness their contribution towards national sports, it said. The minister also visited the Infantry Museum, where he was briefed on the history of infantry as well as the induction of modernised equipment into the infantry. Earlier, Singh along with the Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi paid floral tributes at the memorial of Dr B R Ambedkar at Mhow. The memorial of Ambedkar, the chief architect of India’s Constitution, has been built at his birthplace in the Kali Paltan area of Mhow cantonment.
Former US president Jimmy Carter has died aged 100. Mr Carter, a former peanut farmer, served one term in the White House between 1977 and 1981, taking over in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the end of the Vietnam War. After his defeat by Ronald Reagan, he spent his post-presidency years as a global humanitarian, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. His death on Sunday was announced by his family and came more than a year after he decided to enter hospice care. He was the longest-lived US president. Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia. — The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) His son, Chip Carter, said: “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights and unselfish love. “My brothers, sister and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. “The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honouring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.” World leaders have paid tribute to Mr Carter, including US President Joe Biden, who was one of the first politicians to endorse Mr Carter for president in 1976 and said the world had “lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian”. He said: “Over six decades, we had the honour of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. “With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. “He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.” Irish President Michael D Higgins said Mr Carter was “a principled man who dedicated his life to seeking to advance the cause of peace across the world”. He added: “On behalf of the people of Ireland, may I express my sympathies to President Carter’s children and extended family, to President Joe Biden, to the people of the United States, and to his wide circle of colleagues and friends across the globe.” Mr Carter is expected to receive a state funeral featuring public observances in Atlanta and Washington DC before being buried in his home town of Plains, Georgia. A moderate democrat born in Plains in October 1924, Mr Carter’s political career took him from the Georgia state senate to the state governorship and finally, the White House, where he took office as the 39th president. His presidency saw economic disruption amid volatile oil prices, along with social tensions at home and challenges abroad including the Iranian revolution that sparked a 444-day hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran. But he also brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, which led to a peace treaty between the two countries in 1979. After his defeat in the 1980 presidential election, he worked for more than four decades leading the Carter Centre, which he and his late wife Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 to “wage peace, fight disease, and build hope”. Under his leadership, the Carter Center managed to virtually eliminate Guinea Worm disease, which has gone from affecting 3.5 million people in Africa and Asia in 1986 to just 14 in 2023. Mrs Carter, who died last year aged 96, had played a more active role in her husband’s presidency than previous first ladies, with Mr Carter saying she had been “my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished”. Earlier this year, on his 100th birthday, Mr Carter received a private congratulatory message from the King, expressing admiration for his life of public service.
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NEW DELHI: Eyeing a Euro 5 billion deal to supply six diesel-electric stealth submarines to the Indian Navy, German defence major ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) on Friday said it has plans to make India a global hub for construction of submarines and warships in view of rise in demands of naval platforms. TKMS CEO Oliver Burkhard said if his company wins the race for the mega deal, it could be the beginning of a longstanding partnership with India as there is bipartisan support in Germany to ramp up overall bilateral defence ties. In an exclusive interview to PTI Videos, Burkhard said the demands for naval platforms are going to rise significantly because of geopolitical tensions and conflict, and India is well-positioned to emerge as a hub for construction of submarines and warships. The German ship-builder has partnered with India's state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) in jointly bidding for the Rs 44,000 crore (Euro 5 billion) submarine deal, billed as one of the biggest 'Make in India' projects in recent years. The TKMS-MDL combine is competing with the venture between Spanish defence major Navantia and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. The defence ministry is in the process of finalising the winner of the Project 75 India (P75-I). "It is not only about this contract. Beyond that (contract), I think India could be a hub for submarine production. This is also part of (our) plan," Burkhard told PTI Videos. The TKMS CEO said his company is committed to share required technologies with India and help the country emerge as a hub for construction of submarines and warships for supplying to other countries. Burkhard said construction of submarines in India would be an attractive proposition as the cost will be on the lower side compared to that in any other European country. The TKMS would like to join hands with the MDL to produce submarines for supplying to other countries, he said. He suggested that deeper collaboration between India and Germany was also critical to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific in view of China's increasing assertiveness in the region. "Our boats will probably fit best to what India demands. We are the world market leader in the non-nuclear submarine sector. We have installed a lot of so-called air independent propulsion, which is one of the needs India raised," the TKMS CEO said. "Our boats are proven. Fifty-one of them are operating around the world. Several navies are running our boats," he added. Burkhard even said if India has the submarines produced by the TKMS-MDL combine, then security of the country will be enhanced significantly. On overall geo-political tensions and ways to deal with them, TKMS CEO said Europe now takes India very seriously as this region is one of the most critical in the world. "Our defence minister had said we need to have relations with India like we have with Japan and Australia," he said, emphasising that Germany is fully committed to enhance defence ties with India. In June 2021, the defence ministry cleared the mega project to procure six conventional submarines for the Indian Navy. The submarines are expected to have significant local content. The submarines are set to be built under the much-talked-about strategic partnership model that allows domestic defence manufacturers to join hands with leading foreign defence majors to produce high-end military platforms to reduce import dependence. India and Germany have had a strategic partnership since 2000, which has been strengthened through inter-governmental consultations since 2011 at the level of heads of government.
The stock market surged by more than 20% in 2024, surprising most strategists. Growth-focused mutual fund managers excelled, driven by investments in technology firms. They remain optimistic for 2025, despite concerns over valuations and tariff impacts. This year's 25% stock-market surge surprised most strategists , though a handful of fund managers seemed to know what was coming. An analysis of the top-performing mutual funds of 2024 found that, unsurprisingly, growth-minded managers fared best again this year. Artificial intelligence remained all the rage, as investors poured money into mega-cap technology companies like Nvidia and Alphabet that are at the forefront of this movement. Other Magnificent Seven stalwarts like Tesla and Meta outperformed in a friendly backdrop for stocks marked by solid economic growth, robust corporate profits, and falling inflation and interest rates. Wall Street is generally bullish about 2025 , especially since President-elect Trump has promised to cut taxes and remove regulations. But some market veterans are antsy , given Trump's tariff proposals and their potential impact on global trade, growth, and inflation. Before moving into the new year, it's worth bidding adieu to 2024 by seeing which fund managers notched the best returns and learning from the investing strategies that made them money. Below are 10 of the best-performing funds in markets and analyses of what helped them succeed, according to research and interviews done by Business Insider's investing team. The list is based on The Wall Street Journal's fund screener, excludes leveraged funds, and reflects performance as of December 17.In case you haven't been following, mysterious drones have been spotted in New Jersey for weeks now. Everyone in New Jersey trying to spot a drone pic.twitter.com/x28OjsKOTK According to USA Today , the drones first started appearing on November 18 and have been spotted ever since. In the past week, things have really heated up with major politicians and the FBI making statements about the sightings. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said we should shoot them out of the sky, saying, "We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases." New Jersey Senator Corey Booker urged the FBI to be more transparent about the whole thing, publicly releasing his letter to federal agencies saying , "There is a growing sense of uncertainty and urgency across the state — from constituents and local officials alike — despite assurances that the drones pose no known threats to public safety. I urge you to share any relevant information about these drone sightings with the public. Without transparency, I believe that rumors, fear, and misinformation will continue to spread." Yesterday, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said the drone sightings don't pose a threat: "We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus... We have not been able to...corroborate any of the reported visual sightings." The FBI and Department of Homeland Security also released a statement saying authorities have found no evidence that the drone sightings are a threat, with many of the reports being lawfully manned aircrafts. Today, the @FBI and DHS jointly issued a statement on reported drone sightings in New Jersey ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/kzbmTzjvkr And now, Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey went out with local police to document the drones himself, and his thread about the whole thing is pretty wild. The Senator saw what appeared to be unidentified devices, some solid white while others flashed red and green. Last night I went out with local police to spot drone flying over New Jersey, here’s what I saw. We drove to Round Valley Reservoir and the officer pointed to lights moving low over the tree line. Sometimes they were solid white light, others flashed of red and green.THREAD pic.twitter.com/ly7kUUDWDn He saw 5-7 lights at a time. We oriented ourselves with a flight tracker app to help us distinguish from airplanes. We often saw about 5-7 lights at a time that were low and not associated with aircraft we could see on the tracker app. Some hovered while others moved across the horizon. 2/11 pic.twitter.com/ZryJlWA97X A few appeared to be moving in clusters of 2-4. We saw a few that looked like they were moving in small clusters of 2-4. We clearly saw several that would move horizontally and then immediately switch back in the opposite direction in maneuvers that plane can’t do. 3/11 pic.twitter.com/8Bf6hI49gD The police officers he was with said they have been seeing them every night. The police officer said they see them out every night. They only seem to start when it gets dark and they disappear before dawn. They get reports that they sometimes fly low over homes, especially up in the hills. 4/11 pic.twitter.com/GdnZr7eoBs The officers said they tried to get closer with a helicopter but the lights turned off when they approached. The officer said they’ve tried to get closer with use of a helicopter but that the drones would turn off the lights and go dark if approached. 5/11 The Senator met someone who saw one the size of the hood of a car. The parking lot at the reservoir had a number of cars of people coming to take a look for themselves. Several shared with me their own stories of having seen some up close. One described them being the size of the hood of a car. 6/11 pic.twitter.com/phKY1I7WXz He said that a rural part of New Jersey has seen more activity. I went to multiple locations across Hunterdon county to get different vantage points. This is a more rural part of NJ. It’s uncertain why it’s one of the more active area for reported activity. We are seeing reports through other parts of the state. 7/11 The Senator also urged people to submit any footage of the apparent drones to the FBI. Any images or video footage people get, the police urge them to submit to the FBI, but I haven’t gotten any follow up yet from the FBI on their investigation and what they’ve compiled. 8/11 He said details remain unclear about the whole thing. Homeland Security Secretary briefed last week on new technology they were deploying but we need details on what those efforts have yielded and if more resources are needed. If they haven’t fully identified the devices yet we still should know what is being done. 9/11 He finished off the thread by saying just how strange it is that we haven't discovered what these things are, "It’s hard to understand how with the technology we have we aren’t able to track these devices to determine origin and this makes me much more concerned about our capabilities more broadly when it comes to drone detection and counter measures." This has gone on for weeks. It’s hard to understand how with the technology we have we aren’t able to track these devices to determine origin and this makes me much more concerned about our capabilities more broadly when it comes to drone detection and counter measures. 10/11 And lastly, he said he'll continue to track developments until the people of NJ get the answers they deserve. I’ll continue to track these developments and share as much as possible to the people of NJ that deserve more answers than they are getting. END I don't know about you, but, uh, yeah, this is thing starting to freak me out.