Headline inflation decreased significantly from 3.9 percent in August to 1.5 percent in September 2024, breaching the lower bound of the medium-term objective range of 3 – 6 percent, and was notably lower than the 3.2 percent recorded in September 2023. The decrease in inflation between August and September 2024 was mainly due to the base effects associated with the increase in domestic fuel prices on 13 September 2023, which added 1.31 percentage points to headline inflation. Furthermore, inflation fell due to the reduction in domestic fuel prices effected on 11 September 2024, which subtracted 0.8 percentage points from headline inflation, as well as the deceleration in the rate of annual price change for most categories of goods and services. Inflation for domestic tradeables increased from 4.1 percent to 4.3 percent between August and September 2024, due to the broad-based increase in food prices. However, inflation for imported tradeables decreased sharply from 5.2 percent to -0.2 percent during the same period, mainly on account of base effects associated with the upward adjustment of domestic fuel prices in September 2023 and the downward adjustment in domestic fuel prices in September 2024. As a result, all tradeables inflation decreased from 4.9 percent to 0.9 percent between August and September 2024. Inflation for non-tradeables declined slightly from 2.5 percent to 2.4 percent in the same period.
Similarly, the 16 percent trimmed mean inflation and inflation excluding administered prices decreased from 3.7 percent and 3.2 percent to 1.5 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, between August and September 2024.
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, October 16, 2024/APO Group/ —
The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has appointed Moono Mupotola, as Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and BusinessDelivery Office, effective 16th October 2024.
Mupotola, a Zambian national, brings over 25 years of development experience across Africa to her new role. Her expertise spans infrastructure development, trade and regional integration. Since December 2020, until her appointment, she served as the Bank’s Country Manager for Zimbabwe where she has been instrumental in the Bank’s support for the country’s re-engagement with the international community and in its efforts to address outstanding debt and arrears obligations.
Mupotola’s career at the African Development Bank began in 2009, when she was appointed Division Manager for Regional Integration and Trade. She was appointed Director of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Regional Integration and Trade in 2015, and Director of Regional Integration Coordination Office in 2018.
Her oversight of the Lusophone Compact, a program supporting the private sector in six Portugues-speaking African countries, demonstrated her commitment to advancing regional integration. She also initiated several vital programs, including the Bank’s Africa Trade Fund, the Visa Openness Index, and the Regional Integration Index with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union Commission.
Mupotola managed the African Development Fund’s Regional Operations Envelope and oversaw the Bank’s regional project preparation facility. She led the Bank’s trade and regional integration agenda by supporting research, infrastructure projects, capacity-building programs and the reform of regulations and policies in regional member countries.
Before joining the African Development Bank Group, Mupotola held several senior positions. These included Regional Policy Specialist for the Food and Agriculture Organization in Zimbabwe, Trade Specialist at the Southern African Development Community Trade Hub in Botswana and Zimbabwe, and Division Head of Trade and Marketing at the Ministry of Agriculture in Namibia. She also served as a Researcher at the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit and a Banker at Zambia National Commercial Bank.
Mupotola holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Bennington College, Vermont, United States of America and an MPhil in Development and Sociology from Cambridge University, United Kingdom.
Commenting on her appointment, she said: “I am deeply honored by this opportunity and grateful to President Adesina for his trust and confidence in me. The role of Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office is challenging and exciting. I look forward to working efficiently with our teams and stakeholders to deliver on the Bank’s vision and High 5 priorities for sustainable development.”
Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, stated: “I am delighted to appoint Mrs. Moono Mupotola as Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office. Moono has extensive experience in regional operations, having served previously as Director of Regional Operations. She was subsequently assigned to Zimbabwe as Country Manager. Moono has demonstrated exceptional leadership, diplomatic acumen and strong execution capacity in working with the Government of Zimbabwe and all the development partners in advancing the structured dialogues for the arrears clearance for Zimbabwe, as well as major reforms. Her astute leadership and experience and in-depth knowledge of the countries in the Southern Africa region will significantly advance the work and partnerships with the African Development Bank Group in the region.”
The recent Tak£500+ Participatory Budgeting Project exceeded all expectations with an incredible £105,906 allocated to 108 fantastic local community projects – and an event to celebrate all of the wonderful projects took place at Seagoe Hotel, Portadown.
Over 200 people came along to hear how the Tak£500+ Project had benefited communities right across the borough and to hear more about Participatory Budgeting and how it enables local people to decide how public funds are used to address needs in their area.
Organised by the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Community Planning Partnership, an amazing 4286 people voted for the projects they wanted to see receive up to £1,000 funding, and the impact these projects left on each area was remarkable. All projects were centred around the Take 5 public health message.
“This was the third year of the Tak£500+ project and it really did exceed all expectations once again,” commented the Lord Mayor, Councillor Sarah Duffy, “and the success of this project is all down to the local communities who put forward their ideas and then made them a reality.
“Putting the decision making process in the hands of local people to tell us how public funds can be spent to address needs in their areas is vitally important and ensures that this money is spent in the best way possible, to really make a difference and a lasting impact on our residents
“We are lucky to have such a rich community life in this borough and along with the Community Planning Partnership – and in particular the PB Working Group – made this project a huge success with lasting results across the borough.”
Colette Rogers, Chair of Community Planning Strategic Partnership added, “This event was a wonderful reflection on just how meaningful and valuable the Tak£500+ Project is and demonstrated how powerful local communities can be at making decisions that leave a real and lasting impact in their areas.
“This project is something we are passionate to build upon moving forward and we would love to welcome more partners on board to contribute their expertise and resources – as this is how we can increase our funding and support even more projects, with local communities reaping the benefits.”
If you would like more information on how you can get involved as a partner, please contact Michelle Markey on 0300 0300 900.
Also, watch this space for more details on the next Tak£500+ Project and how you can apply for funding for your community!
Back row: Tracey Powell, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Stephen Harland, Ark Housing, Austin Kelly, Clanmil Housing, John Beattie, Triangle Housing. Front row: Colette Rogers, PHA, Roger Wilson, Chief Executive of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Councillor Sarah Duffy, Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.
Back Row: Michelle Markey, Donna Stewart, Vice Chair of SLCE, Jennie Dunlop, Paddy Haughian, Elaine Devlin, Helena Thornton. Front row: Colette Rogers, PHA, Roger Wilson, Chief Executive of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Councillor Sarah Duffy, Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.
Geraldine Lawless, Chair of CVSP, Roger Wilson, Chief Executive of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Donna Stewart. Front row: Colette Rogers, PHA and Councillor Sarah Duffy, Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.
Aghagallon Folk Group
New-Bridge College representatives
Aghagallon Community Centre
7th Dromore Scouts
Armagh Harps, Armagh GAA, Clan na Gael, Lurgan Swimming Club and Friends of St Francis
Appleblossom 50+, Fair Hill Primary School, Paul Russell Foundation and ABC Seniors Network
Banbridge Toy Library and Loughgall & District Improvement Association
Jim Bell and Lindasy from Road Safety Group
Arbour Housing Association and Craigavon Food Bank
Headline: Inflation, trade uncertainty and labour gaps cloud business outlook, says new global survey of chambers
The findings of the ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF) 2024 Global Economic Survey capture perspectives from businesses on key economic and sustainability issues across economies that collectively account for 90% of global GDP.
Commenting at the launch of the survey results in Istanbul, ICC Secretary General John W.H Denton AO said:
“As the voice of the real economy worldwide, ICC has leveraged its unique institutional reach to provide a comprehensive global picture of the realities of doing business in today’s increasingly complex environment. We hope this real-time data will help shape the strategic response of governments to the key challenges faced by MSMEs.”
Global business environment
Rising prices and labour costs were cited as a significant challenge in the majority of countries surveyed, with more than 80% of respondents expressing concern that cost pressures will persist into 2025 — casting doubt on recent claims from prominent economists that inflation is “no longer a thing”.
Inflation has translated into significantly higher staffing costs for businesses in some 44 countries— a trend exacerbated in several regions by skills shortages in the local workforce, most notably North America and Europe.
The economic environment and tight financial conditions have hindered access to finance where findings show that high interest rates are limiting access to credit particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (80%), Latin America and the Caribbean (63%) and South Asia (60%).
Trade uncertainty was cited as a challenge by 50% of chamber respondents — with concerns highest in East Asia and Pacific (69%) the Middle East and North Africa (60%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (50%).
Despite these challenges, the respondents in more than 50% of countries covered by the survey expressed cautious optimism for the outlook for business in their respective economies — suggesting a large degree of resilience in the face of economic and operational risk.
Mr Denton added:
“Though headline rates of inflation have generally receded in recent months, the impact of the price surge seen from 2022 is clearly having a sustained impact on the private sector in many countries. We need policymakers to be sensitive to the disconnect between macroeconomic data and the day-to-day experience of local businesses.”
Outlook on climate action
One month before the United Nations climate summit COP29, the survey also looked at the experience of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in transitioning to climate-friendly business models.
In developing economies, chambers pointed to difficulties SMEs face in accessing clean sources of energy — both from national grids or decentralised generation.
In advanced economies, SMEs are held back by a perceived lack of access to cutting-edge green technologies and limited in-house capacity to implement emissions reductions programmes.
In both developed and developing economies, access to cost-effective finance to enable investments in decarbonisation was cited as a major challenge — pointing to the need for enhanced public support to enable SMEs to adopt green technologies and upgrade existing facilities.
Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Chair of the ICC World Chambers Federation added:
“This survey highlights the crucial role chambers of commerce worldwide play as private sector champions. They are deeply in touch with the grassroots realities of doing business while maintaining a global perspective and remaining connected through our ICC World Chambers Federation.”
XSET, the revolutionary lifestyle gaming organization, and Samsung Galaxy , the internationally recognized industry leader in technology, today announced a dynamic partnership aimed at elevating the gaming experience and empowering women in the industry. The collaboration will debut at New York Comic Con (NYCC) with an immersive activation featuring special appearances by the XSET QUEENS.
This strategic alliance aims to enhance the gaming experience with a particular focus on empowering women in the industry. By combining Samsung’s advanced mobile technology with XSET’s cultural influence, the partnership creates new opportunities for female gamers to showcase their skills and creativity. The collaboration, spotlighting talents like the XSET QUEENS, will encourage broader representation and inspire the next wave of diverse gaming enthusiasts. XSET and Samsung Galaxy are taking concrete steps towards a more inclusive and innovative gaming community.
The partnership will make its IRL debut at New York Comic Con (NYCC), October 17-20 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Samsung Galaxy is creating an immersive onsite experience that offers gaming enthusiasts hands-on interactions with cutting-edge devices. Visitors to the activation can look forward to:
XSET QUEENS Meet and Greet: Special appearance by XSET’s Aliyah Will on Saturday, October 19
PUBG MOBILE Battle Royale: An adrenaline-pumping elimination competition showcasing Galaxy Z Fold6
Lone Survivor Photo-Op: A unique opportunity for fans to capture their NYCC memories using state-of-the-art Samsung technology
Exclusive Giveaways: Chances to win premium Galaxy products, including the revolutionary Galaxy Z Fold6 and the immersive Galaxy Buds3 Pro
XSET QUEENS Meet and Greet: Special appearance by XSET’s Aliyah Will on Saturday, October 19
Olga Suvorova, Vice President, Mobile eXperience Marketing at Samsung Electronics America, commented, “Samsung Galaxy devices are designed to make a difference by breaking down barriers and empowering users to pursue their passions. Partnering with XSET affords us the opportunity to bring our innovations to the next generation of female content creators, including gamers, athletes, musicians, and many others. With its unparalleled gaming experience, and the countless ways the device seamlessly fits into users’ lives, we know Galaxy Z Fold6’s incredible hardware, software, and Galaxy AI innovations will empower these creators to reach new heights.”
“This partnership with Samsung Galaxy represents a pivotal moment for XSET and the gaming industry as a whole,” said Brynanna Goecke, Chief Revenue Officer of XSET. “Together, we’re not just advancing technological innovation; we’re redefining what it means to be a gamer in today’s world. The XSET QUEENS embody the spirit of innovation and diversity that both our brands champion.”
The NYCC activation marks just the beginning of the XSET and Samsung Galaxy partnership. Fans can look forward to a series of unboxing videos featuring XSET QUEENS, showcasing how Galaxy Z Fold 6‘s powerful performance, long-lasting battery, and immersive display will help them take their gaming to the next level. Additional collaborations, content, and events will be announced in the coming months.
For more information about the XSET and Samsung Galaxy partnership, follow @XSET and @SamsungMobileUS on social media platforms.
Today, the Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister for Families, Children and Social Development, with Anita Vandenbeld, Member of Parliament for Ottawa West—Nepean and Yasir Naqvi, Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, highlighted a property located at Baseline Road at Cedarview Road south-east corner that is now available for housing development through the Canada Public Land Bank. This property will help create up to 200 units and is one of 9 new properties in the National Capital Region that was added to the land bank last week.
October 16, 2024 Ottawa, Ontario ESDC
Everyone deserves a place to call home. However, for many across the country, home ownership and renting is out of reach due to the unprecedented housing crisis Canada is facing. We need to build more homes, faster, to get Canadians into homes that meet their needs, at prices they can afford. That’s why in Budget 2024 and Canada’s Housing Plan, the federal government announced the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history: a plan to build 4 million more homes.
As part of this plan, the Government of Canada is identifying properties within its portfolio that have the potential for housing, and is actively adding them to the Canada Public Land Bank. Wherever possible, the government will turn these properties into housing through a long-term lease, not a one-time sale, to support affordable housing and ensure public land stays public.
Today, the Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister for Families, Children and Social Development, with Anita Vandenbeld, Member of Parliament for Ottawa West—Nepean and Yasir Naqvi, Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, highlighted a property located at Baseline Road at Cedarview Road south-east corner that is now available for housing development through the Canada Public Land Bank. This property will help create up to 200 units and is one of 9 new properties in the National Capital Region that was added to the land bank last week.
Other properties in the NCR include:
Hurdman North, a parcel west of Riverside Drive and south of Highway 417, Ottawa (4,000 units)
315 Terminal Ave., Ottawa (300 units)
1460 Riverside Dr., Ottawa (500 units)
1250 Ledbury Ave., Ottawa (up to 200 units)
Southern Corridor, Woodroffe Avenue at Norice Street South, Corner to Merivale Road at Colonnade Road West Side, Ottawa (up to 1,000 units)
1730 Robertson Rd., Ottawa (up to 500 units)
1055 Aylmer, Gatineau (up to 200 units)
210 Laurier, Gatineau (up to 400 units)
A total of 70 federal properties have now been identified as being suitable to support housing. This list will continue to grow in the coming months, with further details on listed properties available soon.
As part of the initial launch of the Canada Public Land Bank in August 2024, the Canada Lands Company, in partnership with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, issued a call for proposals for 5 properties located in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Montréal. The call for proposals for the properties in Toronto and Montréal closed on October 1, 2024, and evaluations have begun. The call for proposals for the Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa properties will close on November 1, 2024.
To provide feedback on the land bank and its properties, the Government of Canada launched a call for housing solutions for communities: a secure online platform.
To date, the Government of Canada has already received interest and feedback from provinces, territories and municipalities, as well as developers, housing advocates and Indigenous groups. This information will be used to develop and bring more properties to market starting this fall.
To solve Canada’s housing crisis, the federal government is using every tool at its disposal. The Government of Canada is accelerating its real property disposal process to match the speed of builders and the urgency of getting affordable homes built for Canada.
Quotes
“Safe, accessible and affordable housing options are out of reach for far too many Canadians. The launch of the Canada Public Land Bank in August 2024 laid the foundation for our efforts to unlock public lands for housing at a pace and scale not seen in generations. We are delivering on our promise to continue to add more properties to the land bank and meet the deliverables outlined in Budget 2024 to support a new, ambitious Public Lands for Homes Plan. In doing so, we can build strong communities and more affordable housing across the country.”
The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant
“We need to build more homes in Canada, and one of the largest costs in building is land. With 14 more properties being added to the land bank, we’re growing the list of potential public lands where new homes can be built.”
The Honourable Sean Fraser,
Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
“In Ottawa, we have the land we need to build more homes, and we’re going to put it to use. By getting more homes built on federal land, we’re going to give families in our communities a place to call home at prices they can afford. This brings us one step closer to solving the housing crisis here in Ottawa and across the country.”
The Honourable Jenna Sudds
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
“Canada’s Housing Plan marks a pivotal change in how all levels of government and community partners collaborate to address the urgent affordable housing challenges in cities like Ottawa. We are eager to seize the opportunities this plan creates—transforming vacant spaces, significantly increasing affordable housing, and revitalizing our city.”
Yasir Naqvi
Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre
“Building homes on public land is a vital initiative that directly addresses the pressing needs of Ottawa residents, providing a tangible solution to the housing crisis and improving access to affordable housing for all.”
Anita Vandenbeld
Member of Parliament for Ottawa West—Nepean
Quick facts
In Budget 2024 and Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan, the federal government announced an ambitious whole-of-government approach to addressing the housing crisis by building more homes, making it easier to rent or own a home, and helping Canadians who cannot afford a home.
A key component of Canada’s Housing Plan is the new Public Lands for Homes Plan. This plan aims to partner with all levels of government, homebuilders and housing providers to build homes, faster, on surplus and underused public lands across the country.
The Public Lands for Homes Plan supports the government’s goal of unlocking 250,000 new homes by 2031.
Budget 2024 also provided $500 million, on a cash basis, to launch the new Public Lands Acquisition Fund. This fund will buy land from other orders of government to allow the federal government to acquire more land for housing to help build middle-class homes. Work on the fund is already underway, and more details will be released in the coming weeks.
In August 2024, a new tool for builders called the Canada Public Land Bank was launched with an initial 56 properties under the Public Lands for Homes Plan.
As of October 8, 2024, there are 70 properties listed in the Canada Public Land Bank, representing a total of 385 hectares of land, which is the size of approximately 2,500 hockey rinks or almost 750 Canadian Football League football fields.
Associated links
Contacts
Geneviève Lemaire Press Secretary and Communications Advisor Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Genevieve.lemaire@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
Media Relations Office Employment and Social Development Canada 819-994-5559 media@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
The federal government announces the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history: a plan to build 4 million more homes.
October 16, 2024 – Québec, Quebec – Public Services and Procurement Canada
Everyone deserves a place to call home. However, for many across the country, home ownership and renting is out of reach due to the unprecedented housing crisis Canada is facing. We need to build more homes, faster, to get Canadians into homes that meet their needs, at prices they can afford. That’s why in Budget 2024 and Canada’s Housing Plan, the federal government announced the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history: a plan to build 4 million more homes.
As part of this plan, the Government of Canada is identifying properties within its portfolio that have the potential for housing, and is actively adding them to the Canada Public Land Bank. Wherever possible, the government will turn these properties into housing through a long-term lease, not a one-time sale, to support affordable housing and ensure public land stays public.
Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant, highlighted that properties located at 94, 104 and 112 Dalhousie in Québec, Quebec, are now available for housing development through the Canada Public Land Bank. These properties are part of the list of 14 new properties added to the land bank last week.
A total of 70 federal properties have now been identified as being suitable to support housing. This list will continue to grow in the coming months, with further details on listed properties available soon.
As part of the initial launch of the Canada Public Land Bank in August 2024, the Canada Lands Company, in partnership with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, issued a call for proposals for 5 properties located in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Montréal. The call for proposals for the properties in Toronto and Montréal closed on October 1, 2024, and evaluations have begun. The call for proposals for the Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa properties will close on November 1, 2024.
To provide feedback on the land bank and its properties, the Government of Canada launched a call for housing solutions for communities: a secure online platform.
To date, the Government of Canada has already received interest and feedback from provinces, territories and municipalities, as well as developers, housing advocates and Indigenous groups. This information will be used to develop and bring more properties to market starting this fall.
To solve Canada’s housing crisis, the federal government is using every tool at its disposal. The Government of Canada is accelerating its real property disposal process to match the speed of builders and the urgency of getting affordable homes built for Canada.
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development today issued the following statement following recent events in the Middle East.
October 16, 2024 – Ottawa (Ontario) – Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development today issued the following statement following recent events in the Middle East:
“Canada is deeply disturbed by the recent events in the Middle East. The violence must stop, and a diplomatic solution must be found before further human tragedy ensues.
“We urgently call for a ceasefire and the immediate release of hostages.
“Canada condemns the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) increasing attacks on civilian infrastructure in northern Gaza as well as its attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon [UNIFIL] positions along the Blue line. These are unacceptable and must immediately stop.
“The latest attacks on Al-Aqsa Hospital, the school in the Nuseirat camp and a food distribution centre have caused the deaths of dozens of civilians seeking refuge, including women and children.
“The increasingly dire humanitarian situation is unacceptable and continues to deteriorate due to a significant decrease of aid allowed into Gaza. An increase in humanitarian aid is desperately needed to end this suffering.
“The Palestinian civilian population has been displaced countless times, with nowhere safe to go and is unable to meet its most basic needs. As this conflict escalates, it is civilians who continue to bear the brunt of the violence and suffer through its lasting consequences.
“We reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire which is desperately needed to end this suffering in Gaza. We continue to strongly condemn Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel.
“Canada also condemns Hezbollah’s continued attacks on Israel. Hezbollah’s ongoing and unprovoked attacks on Israel serve only to further destabilize the region.
“Canada calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. We condemn the killing of civilians in Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. We continue to insist that civilians be protected and not be inflicted with damage.
“We call on all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under international law to ensure the safety and security of civilians, as well as the protection of first responders and UNIFIL personnel, at all times.
“Canada continues to support calls for a ceasefire and for a political solution to be found through diplomatic efforts.
“We need a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for the Israeli, Lebanese and Palestinian peoples.”
Parliamentary Secretary Sousa highlights new federal property in Mississauga available for housing development.
October 16, 2024 – Mississauga, Ontario – Public Services and Procurement Canada
Everyone deserves a place to call home. However, for many across the country, home ownership and renting is out of reach due to the unprecedented housing crisis Canada is facing. We need to build more homes, faster, to get Canadians into homes that meet their needs, at prices they can afford. That’s why in Budget 2024 and Canada’s Housing Plan, the federal government announced the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history: a plan to build 4 million more homes.
As part of this plan, the Government of Canada is identifying properties within its portfolio that have the potential for housing, and is actively adding them to the Canada Public Land Bank. Wherever possible, the government will turn these properties into housing through a long-term lease, not a one-time sale, to support affordable housing and ensure public land stays public.
Today, Charles Sousa, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, highlighted a property located at 1 Front Street East in Mississauga, Ontario, that is now available for housing development through the Canada Public Land Bank. This property is one of 14 new properties added to the land bank last week.
A total of 70 federal properties have now been identified as being suitable to support housing. This list will continue to grow in the coming months, with further details on listed properties available soon.
As part of the initial launch of the Canada Public Land Bank in August 2024, the Canada Lands Company, in partnership with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, issued a call for proposals for 5 properties located in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Montréal. The call for proposals for the properties in Toronto and Montréal closed on October 1, 2024, and evaluations have begun. The call for proposals for the Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa properties will close on November 1, 2024.
To provide feedback on the land bank and its properties, the Government of Canada launched a call for housing solutions for communities: a secure online platform.
To date, the Government of Canada has already received interest and feedback from provinces, territories and municipalities, as well as developers, housing advocates and Indigenous groups. This information will be used to develop and bring more properties to market starting this fall.
To solve Canada’s housing crisis, the federal government is using every tool at its disposal. The Government of Canada is accelerating its real property disposal process to match the speed of builders and the urgency of getting affordable homes built for Canada.
MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
On October 23, 2024, the State University of Management will host the II Don Youth Forum “Don Land – Your Future”.
The meeting will be attended by students from the Rostov region who are receiving higher education at leading universities in Moscow.
Invited guests include:
Rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev; Chairman of the Regional Public Organization “Fellowship of Rostovites “Donskaya Stanitsa” in Moscow, Major General, Hero of the Russian Federation Sergei Lipovoy; Deputy of the State Duma from the Rostov Region, Larisa Tutova; Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Bank “CENTER-INVEST” Alexander Dolgakov.
The forum program will include an introduction to the community of working youth and major employers, a discussion of key investment projects, the development of the IT industry and new enterprises in the region.
All participants will receive new contacts and opportunities to shape their career trajectory, as well as memorable eco-souvenirs.
We are waiting for everyone on October 23 at 10:00 at the Boiling Point of the State University of Management.
To participate, you must pre-register on the LEADER ID platform, which runs until October 20.
Forum organizers: ROO “Fellowship of Rostovites “Donskaya Stolitsa”, Bank “CENTER-INVEST” with the support of the State University of Management.
Don Forum Program
Subscribe to the tg channel “Our State University” Announcement date: 10/23/2024
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
CATSKILL, N.Y., Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Greene County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ-GCBC) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per share on the Company’s common stock. The dividend reflects an annual cash dividend rate of $0.36 per share, which is the same rate as the dividend declared during the previous quarter.
The cash dividend for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 will be paid to shareholders of record as of November 15, 2024, and is expected to be paid on November 29, 2024.
The Company is the majority-owned subsidiary of Greene County Bancorp, MHC (the “MHC”), a federal mutual holding company, which owns 54.1% of the Company’s outstanding common shares. The MHC has historically waived its right to receive dividends from the Company. However, for purposes of cash flow, the MHC does not intend to waive its receipts of these dividends to be paid by the Company for the quarter ended September 30, 2024.
Greene County Bancorp, Inc. is the direct and indirect holding company for The Bank of Greene County, a federally chartered savings bank, and Greene County Commercial Bank, a New York-chartered commercial bank, both headquartered in Catskill, New York. Our primary market are is the Hudson Valley Region and Capital District Region in New York State. For more information on Greene County Bancorp, Inc., visit http://www.tbogc.com.
For Further Information Contact: Donald E. Gibson President and Chief Executive Officer (518) 943-2600 donaldg@tbogc.com
End-of-Mission press releases include statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF’s Executive Board for discussion and decision.
The Serbian authorities and IMF staff reached staff-level agreement on the fourth and final review under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) and on a successor 36-month Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) request. The PCI is a non-financing instrument designed to support strong economic policies. The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board and is expected to be considered by the Board in December 2024.
Macroeconomic outcomes in Serbia remain strong. Growth and the labor market are robust, and inflation has fallen. Foreign exchange reserves are at a record high, and the public debt burden continues to decline.
Under the PCI, Serbia commits to fiscal deficits not exceeding 3.0 percent of GDP over 2025-27, to further prioritize spending in case of fiscal shocks, and to keep public wage and pension increases aligned with its fiscal rules. The PCI will balance Serbia’s public investment and social expenditure needs with continued fiscal discipline to support sustainable growth while keeping public debt on a downward path.
Washington, DC: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Donal McGettigan, met with the Serbian authorities during October 3-15, 2024, to discuss performance under Serbia’s Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) and the authorities’ request for a successor 36-month Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) that will run from December 2024 to December 2027. The PCI is a non-financing instrument designed to support strong economic policies. At the conclusion of the mission, Mr. McGettigan issued the following statement:
“I am pleased to announce that the Serbian authorities and the IMF team have reached staff-level agreement on the conclusion of the fourth and final review under the SBA and on a successor 36-month PCI.
“The two-year SBA was approved by the IMF Executive Board in December 2022. It supported Serbia in navigating a period of major economic uncertainty and energy price volatility. Under the SBA, Serbia successfully implemented macroeconomic policies that underpinned external and fiscal sustainability and that rebuilt buffers to deal with future shocks. Serbia has increased and modernized its energy tariffs and has initiated corporate restructuring at the electricity provider EPS to improve the financial sustainability and efficiency of the energy sector. Serbia also made good progress on important fiscal structural reforms and advanced efforts to improve state-owned enterprise (SOE) governance.
“Reflecting the success of the economic program supported by the SBA, and in view of Serbia’s commitment to continued strong economic policies, Serbia was awarded an investment grade credit rating for the first time, by S&P Global Ratings, in October 2024.
“Serbia’s macroeconomic outcomes in 2024 are impressive. We project growth to reach 3.9 percent in 2024 and to increase to around 4¼ percent over the coming years. Headline inflation has returned to the National Bank of Serbia’s target band, supported by tighter monetary policy and easing energy and food prices, but core inflation remains elevated.
“The fiscal deficit is set to increase to 2.7 percent of GDP in 2024, to help fund additional infrastructure, social, and defense spending needs. Based on strong fiscal revenue performance, robust economic growth, and a recent upward GDP revision, public debt is expected to fall to about 48 percent of GDP by end-2024.
“As domestic demand picks up, and Serbia’s public investment drive continues, the current account deficit is projected to widen in 2024 and to increase further over the medium term. Continued strong FDI inflows are, however, expected to more than offset the current account deficit over the coming years and to allow for ongoing reserve accumulation. The financial sector is well-capitalized and liquid.
“Key risks to Serbia’s economic outlook include: foreign demand, FDI and commodity price outlooks that are subject to uncertainty and risks, deepening geoeconomic fragmentation, and the exposure of agricultural output and economic activity to climate change and extreme weather events.
“Serbia therefore needs ample buffers against uncertainties and risks. Encouragingly, foreign exchange reserves and government deposits are high, public debt and external debt are sustainable, and the banking system is strong. Continued prudent polices provide an additional important buffer.
“Serbia’s program performance under the SBA remains strong. All relevant quantitative and standard continuous performance criteria have been met, as have most indicative targets and structural benchmarks. Thanks to progress made under the SBA, Serbia intends to continue to treat the SBA, set to expire in December 2024, as precautionary.
“To continue leveraging IMF support for Serbia’s economic policies, the Serbian authorities and IMF staff also reached an agreement on medium-term macroeconomic and financial policies under a successor 36-month Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) that will run from December 2024 to December 2027. The PCI will support Serbia in credibly maintaining fiscal discipline while making room for spending on public investment and other essential items. The PCI will also help Serbia advance its ongoing ambitious structural reform agenda, focused on fiscal, SOE, and energy reforms.
“Under the PCI, the Serbian authorities commit to keeping the annual overall fiscal deficit at no more than 3.0 percent of GDP over 2025-27. Absent large adverse shocks, this would be consistent with an ongoing decline in the public debt burden. To achieve this core macroeconomic objective, the authorities commit to adhere to their special fiscal rules on public wages and pensions which they adopted in 2022, and to review options for rationalizing and monitoring expenditure items that grew rapidly in 2024. In the event of additional fiscal spending pressures, the authorities commit to further prioritizing public spending.
“The PCI will help the authorities improve public financial management, public investment management, fiscal risk management, fiscal transparency, and public workforce and pension planning. It will also leverage extensive IMF technical assistance to resolve staffing challenges in the tax administration, an urgent and macro-critical priority. It will assist the authorities in refining and operationalizing the energy investment plan, improving the financial sustainability of energy SOEs, and preparing Serbia for the introduction of the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). Finally, the PCI will aid the authorities with important and complex SOE governance reforms, including in the energy sector.
“The IMF team would like to thank all their counterparts for the open and constructive discussions.”
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN at the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question.
Location:
United Nations, New York
Delivered on:
(Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)
President, the UK supported the call for this meeting today, to discuss the urgent steps needed to address an ever-growing humanitarian tragedy in Gaza.
The situation in northern Gaza is harrowing. Approximately 400,000 Gazans have been ordered to evacuate the north and move southwards to the IDF designated humanitarian zone. Many of these people will already have been displaced, some many times over, and are desperately searching for refuge.
But there are no safe places in Gaza. Just this week we saw horrifying images following the Israeli strike on Al-Aqsa hospital, inside the IDF designated humanitarian zone.
Those who decide to move face intimidation, active fighting zones and the threat of continued airstrikes. Those who stay face extreme hunger and appalling conditions, without access to basic services or healthcare.
In the first half of October, no food aid was delivered to northern Gaza, with Israeli authorities denying or impeding the vast majority of humanitarian movements between north and south. We expect October to see the least aid enter Gaza since the beginning of the conflict, lower even more than September.
Families in Gaza are facing a second winter with even less resilience and fewer resources. This is unconscionable.
Israel must comply fully with international humanitarian law and ensure sufficient aid reaches all parts of Gaza. We also reiterate our concern at legislative proposals seeking to undermine UNRWA, which is vital to the humanitarian response in Gaza.
Let me be clear. Northern Gaza must not be cut off from the south. Palestinian civilians, including those evacuated from northern Gaza, must be permitted to return to their communities and rebuild. There must be no forcible transfer of Gazans from or within Gaza, nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip.
We need to see an immediate ceasefire, to bring this devastating conflict to an end.
President, we must also hold in the front of our minds, the unthinkable suffering of the 101 hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza. Their ordeal has gone on for far too long. Once again, we call on Hamas to release the hostages immediately and unconditionally.
And as we know, the suffering in the region goes beyond Gaza. We reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. All parties must take measures to avoid civilian casualties, and ensure the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel.
And in the West Bank, as my Foreign Secretary has said, we urge the Israeli Government to take action to crack down on settler violence and to stop settler expansion on Palestinian land.
That is why yesterday, my Government announced further sanctions against three illegal settler outposts and four organisations in order to bring accountability to those who perpetrate such heinous human rights abuses against Palestinians.
President, the Palestinian people, the Israeli people, and the region as a whole, deserve a better reality than the daily cycle of violence and fear to which they have become accustomed. But there is a path to peace. One which would see a safe and secure Palestinian state, beside a safe and secure Israel.
We urge the parties to be courageous and to take the path towards peace and a better future for their people.
Headline: Explore what’s new for Copilot and Dynamics 365 at Oct. 29 virtual launch event
As Microsoft Copilot features continue to roll out across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and lose track of critical new capabilities. Thankfully, the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event is just around the corner.
Register today for the virtual launch event on Tuesday, October 29, 2024—a showcase of new and enhanced capabilities releasing between October 2024 and March 2025. Packed with demos and a live Q&A chat with Microsoft experts, you’ll get a sneak peek at innovation that can empower your workforce, optimize business processes, and enhance customer engagement.
Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event
Explore the future of your business.
Explore the future of business with Copilot
Microsoft product leaders and engineers will be live at the event to give you an in-depth look at the latest Copilot capabilities for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, including new ways to automate business process across your organization and scale your team. Our team will also showcase organizations across industries using new Copilot and Dynamics 365 features to drive transformation.
Top 4 reasons to attend the launch event
Twice a year, the Business Applications Launch Event gives you a sneak peek at product news, demos and insights into upcoming features and capabilities across Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power Platform, and Copilot. Here are four top reasons to attend the October 2024 event:
Get a sneak peek at highlights from the 2024 release wave 2. Discover what’s new and improved in Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. Hear from Charles Lamanna, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Business and Industry Copilot, and other leaders as they guide you through dozens of new Copilot and core platform capabilities releasing over the next six months.
Personalize sales and service experiences. Learn how to elevate customer experiences with demonstrations of new capabilities across Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. You’ll also discover how Sweden-based automotive company, Lynk & Co, is using Dynamics 365 to drive highly personalized experiences.
Transform business operations with AI-enabled enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes. Get a sneak peek at the enhancements that improve both core functionality and autonomous capabilities across ERP applications like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central through the lens of our customer Lifetime Products, as well as the latest features for Business Central.
Exploring the future of Microsoft Power Platform. Learn how Copilot is transforming how you build, what you build, how you automate, and get a first-hand look at how Applied Information Sciences is innovating business solutions using the newest capabilities for Microsoft Power Apps, Microsoft Power Automate, and Microsoft Copilot Studio.
That’s not all. You’ll also hear from other Microsoft leaders about their roadmap for the future of AI, customer service, and operations and how to use these new technologies to take on your organization’s most time-consuming tasks.
The Business Applications Launch Event streams live on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 starting at 9:00 AM Pacific Time and then available on-demand. Be sure to register for updates and reminders as the event day approaches. We’ll see you there!
Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 9:00 AM-10:00 AM Pacific Time (UTC-7)
With the holidays just around the corner, it’s time to enjoy seasonal treats, hang up festive decorations and relive childhood classics. Yet, alongside the joy, there’s the ever-growing to-do list: finding recipes for meals, managing budgets, planning holiday gatherings and so much more. The season is about togetherness and connection, and whether it’s helping to bring traditions to life or tackling tasks, so you have time to enjoy festivities, Microsoft Store is here to support you. From Surface laptops and Xbox consoles and accessories to movies, TV shows and gift cards – we make shopping simple and stress-free. For early savings on the season’s hottest tech, shop today and check out the latest deals on Microsoft Store.
Check off your to-do list with Microsoft Copilot, your AI-powered assistant this holiday season
Designed to help you get more done with ease, Microsoft Copilot can support holiday tasks like creating a budget, editing holiday photos, or even organizing and planning travel.
Celebrate the season: Not sure what events are happening in your area? Use Copilot to discover local holiday events, like light festivals and pop-ups. Simply ask Copilot to find events nearby, and you’ll get an up-to-date list of activities perfect for enjoying with your family and friends.
Get an assist with planning: Simplify planning and spend more time enjoying the festivities with Copilot. Leverage AI to help write invites, design place settings, search for food and drink recipes, and even assist with outfit inspiration, so you can spend as much time as possible with those that make the holidays special.
Celebrate the season with AI-powered experiences, available on the all-new Copilot+ PCs from Microsoft Surface
Copilot+ PCs are the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs on the market equipped with unique AI experiences, like Cocreator in Paint and Windows Studio Effects, to help you do more of what you love this holiday season.
Create with confidence: Make your holiday invitations pop or even design your own wrapping paper with Cocreator in Paint. The new-and-improved Microsoft Paint app allows anyone to create unique artwork with the help of AI. Simply enter a text prompt and start drawing on the Paint canvas, and Cocreator will generate artwork based on what’s drawn. Turn a stick figure into a snowman or first draft snowflakes into intricate designs, choosing how polished the final artwork will be.
Upgrade to picture perfect images: Have a photo that would be perfect for the holiday card but there’s too much background clutter? Use AI-powered features in the Photos app on Copilot+ PCs to effortlessly enhance the images. Remove unwanted objects, like photobombers or clutter, to keep the focus on your loved ones or add festive filters to infuse your photos with holiday cheer with Restyle Image.
Stay connected for those important moments: Whether it’s across town or on the other side of the globe, the all-new Surface Pro is the perfect device to stay connected with family and friends. With a 120-degree, ultra-wide camera and full-HD front-facing camera, the Surface Pro is great for video calls allowing for more space to move around. And with the addition of OLED, the display delivers brighter brights and darker darks for better daytime and night-time viewing. With AI-powered features in Windows Studio Effects, available on Copilot+ PCs, you can look and sound your best with features like portrait light, creative filters, voice focus and more.
With incredible performance and all-day battery life, Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are available in four stunning colors: Sapphire, Dune, Platinum and Black. Designed with productivity and creativity in mind, learn more about Copilot+ PCs from Microsoft Surface and AI-powered experiences by visiting Microsoft.com.
Level up your holidays with Xbox: Gaming for all, anytime and anywhere
Whether you’re cozying up by the fire with your favorite game or sparking some friendly competition during your holiday vacation, Xbox is making it easier than ever for everyone to play anywhere this season.
Shopping made simple with Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store makes it easy to find and purchase the perfect gift with 24/7 online support, free shipping and extended return windows, flexible payment options that start at 0% APR, and cash back for eligible used devices.
When shopping at Microsoft.com, customers can take advantage of fast, free 2-3-day shipping, and extended free returns and price protection through Jan. 31, 2025, for extra peace of mind. If we drop the price of a physical product or you find it lower at an eligible retailer, we’ll honor a one-time price adjustment. Exclusions apply*.
Microsoft Store and partners offer you simple, safe ways to pay at checkout with flexible payment options, including PayPal Pay Later, which allows you to buy now and pay later, and Citizens Pay®, which offers financing, a traditional line of credit. Microsoft Store also has an online trade-in program to make your dollars go further this holiday season.
Not sure what to gift? To help find the best laptop, this short quiz will determine which Surface device is right for your loved one.
Looking for more holiday magic? Stay tuned for savings on the season’s hottest tech with Microsoft Store’s upcoming Black Friday sale, beginning Nov. 15 on microsoft.com.
*Holiday extended return policy available with eligible physical products purchased between Oct. 15, 2024 – Dec. 2, 2024 from Microsoft Store online and Microsoft Experience Centers in select markets. Purchases can be returned through Jan. 31, 2025. Limit five product returns per eligible customer purchase. Excludes Surface Hub, HoloLens and Windows DevKit. Applicable return policy applies. For purchases made at Microsoft Store, see applicableMicrosoft Terms of Salefor more information. For purchases made at Microsoft Experience Center, see receipt for more information. Microsoft reserves the right to modify or discontinue offers at any time.
On the Auction Date, between 10:30 am and 11:00 am, the Government Debt Management will auction Treasury bonds in the Series, with the ISIN numbers and with the Maturity Dates according to the table above. Payments for the Treasury bonds must be received by the Central Bank before 14:00 on the Settlement Date, and the Bonds will be delivered in electronic form on the same day. Article 6 of the General Terms of Auction for Treasury bonds applies for the right to purchase an additional 10%.
EVANSVILLE, Ind., Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Honoring National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, the National Organization on Disability (NOD) named Old National Bank as one of only 59 Leading Disability Employers for 2024. This recognition formally acknowledges companies with the highest performance in disability inclusion practices and policies, benchmarked against more than 200 participating organizations.
In its 10th year, the NOD Leading Disability Employer Seal spotlights the transformative contributions made by business leaders in promoting employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. It also honors those organizations that prioritize diversity, equity and importantly, accessibility — setting a high standard for others to follow.
“We’re incredibly grateful to this group of exceptional companies for their unwavering commitment to disability inclusion,” said Beth Sirull, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Organization on Disability. “We believe that diversity fuels innovation and growth, and inclusive workplaces reduce costly employee turnover. These employers embody that vision in action. We applaud their efforts and investments to provide pathways to fulfilling careers for Americans with disabilities.”
Leading Disability Employer Seal recipients are determined based on data provided by companies on the NOD Employment Tracker™. The Tracker is the only free assessment tool that helps companies understand which employment practices correlate to improved talent outcomes related to hiring, retention and advancement of people with disabilities.
“Inviting diversity and activating our core value of inclusion are critical to our success. We are thrilled to be recognized for what we believe is a differentiator for our team members, clients and the communities we serve,” says Corliss Garner, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Old National Bank. “Our commitment to uplifting people with apparent and non-apparent disabilities promote an inclusive work environment that attracts talent and makes us stronger as an organization.”
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION ON DISABILITY (NOD) The National Organization on Disability (NOD) is a private, non-profit organization that seeks to increase employment opportunities for the 60% of working-age Americans with disabilities who are not employed. To achieve this goal, NOD offers a suite of employment solutions, tailored to anticipate and meet leading companies’ workforce needs. NOD has helped some of the world’s most recognized brands be more competitive in today’s global economy by building or enriching their disability inclusion programs. For more information about NOD and how its portfolio of professional services, Leadership Council and Employment Tracker™ can help your business, visit http://www.NOD.org.
ABOUT OLD NATIONAL Old National Bancorp (NASDAQ: ONB) is the holding company of Old National Bank. As the sixth largest commercial bank headquartered in the Midwest, Old National proudly serves clients primarily in the Midwest and Southeast. With approximately $53 billion of assets and $30 billion of assets under management, Old National ranks among the top 30 banking companies headquartered in the United States. Tracing our roots to 1834, Old National focuses on building long-term, highly valued partnerships with clients while also strengthening and supporting the communities we serve. In addition to providing extensive services in consumer and commercial banking, Old National offers comprehensive wealth management and capital markets services. For more information and financial data, please visit Investor Relations at oldnational.com. In 2024, Points of Light named Old National one of “The Civic 50” — an honor reserved for the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States.
About Fannie Mae Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit: fanniemae.com | X (formerly Twitter) | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities of Fannie Mae. Nothing in this press release constitutes advice on the merits of buying or selling a particular investment. Any investment decision as to any purchase of securities referred to herein must be made solely on the basis of information contained in Fannie Mae’s applicable Offering Circular, and no reliance may be placed on the completeness or accuracy of the information contained in this press release.
You should not deal in securities unless you understand their nature and the extent of your exposure to risk. You should be satisfied that they are suitable for you in light of your circumstances and financial position. If you are in any doubt you should consult an appropriately qualified financial advisor.
Benchmark Notes and Benchmark Securities are registered trademarks of Fannie Mae. Unauthorized use of these trademarks is prohibited.
Google Flights adds new “Cheapest” tab for budget flights<meta name="optimize_experiments" content="[]"><meta name="description" content="We’re adding a new “Cheapest” tab on Google Flights that shows more options with lower prices."><meta name="keywords" content="None"><meta name="article-author" content="Wishy Arora"><meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:large"><meta property="og:type" content="article"><meta property="og:title" content="Find cheaper airfare with this new Google Flights feature"><meta property="og:description" content="We’re adding a new “Cheapest” tab on Google Flights that shows more options with lower prices."><meta property="og:image" content="https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/images/Ink_GoogleFlightFeatureCheapestAirfare.width-1300.png"><meta property="og:site_name" content="Google"><meta property="og:url" content="https://blog.google/products/search/google-flights-cheapest-tab/"><meta property="article:publisher" content="https://www.facebook.com/Google/"><meta property="article:published_time" content="2024-10-16"><meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"><meta name="twitter:url" content="https://blog.google/products/search/google-flights-cheapest-tab/"><meta name="twitter:title" content="Find cheaper airfare with this new Google Flights feature"><meta name="twitter:description" content="We’re adding a new “Cheapest” tab on Google Flights that shows more options with lower prices."><meta name="twitter:image:src" content="https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/images/Ink_GoogleFlightFeatureCheapestAirfare.width-1300.png"><meta name="twitter:site" content="@google"><link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com"><link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin=""><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/static/keyword/css/blog/index.min.css?version=pr20241003-1647"><link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Google+Sans:400,500,600,700%7CProduct+Sans:400&display=swap&lang=en"><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Noto+Color+Emoji&display=swap" rel="stylesheet"><link href="https://www.gstatic.com/glue/cookienotificationbar/cookienotificationbar.min.css" rel="stylesheet"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/static/keyword/css/print/index.min.css?version=pr20241003-1647" media="print"><link rel="canonical" href="https://blog.google/products/search/google-flights-cheapest-tab/"><link href="/favicon.ico" rel="icon"><link href="/static/blogv2/images/apple-touch-icon.png" rel="apple-touch-icon"><meta property="gtm-tag" content="GTM-TRV24V"></p>
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It shows you the lowest airfare options, even if they’re not the most convenient.<br />You might have to make some trade-offs, like longer layovers or flying to a different airport.<br />Book your holiday flights in October to get the best deals.Cheapest fares revealed<br />For those who dare to saveCreative itineraries<br />Lowest prices await</p>
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In accordance with the Monetary Policy Committee Rules of Procedure, the minutes of the Committee’s most recent meeting have been published on the Bank’s website. The minutes are published two weeks after the announcement of the Committee‘s decision.
MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Dmitry Grigorenko took part in the forum of innovative financial technologies Finopolis 2024 in Sochi
Deputy Prime Minister – Chief of the Government Staff Dmitry Grigorenko took part in the session “Digital technologies serving society: a new look at fintech and government services” as part of the Finopolis 2024 forum of innovative financial technologies in Sochi.
He noted that Russia is currently integrated into the global IT space. This is proven by the fact that our country faces the same digitalization challenges as all other countries. The key tasks remain the development of data transmission and processing infrastructure, the introduction of artificial intelligence, information protection, overcoming regulatory barriers and adaptation to changes in consumer expectations.
The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that these challenges concern both public and private institutions, including the banking sector.
“We have designed a national project, “Data Economy”. This is the basis for work. But it is important to remember that plans alone will not lead to results. Therefore, the main challenge in digitalization is to implement everything planned,” said Dmitry Grigorenko.
Today, the financial sector is helping to implement measures aimed at creating a safe digital space for citizens and businesses. In particular, together with the Bank of Russia, the Government is developing the architecture of a single anti-fraud platform. It is expected that it will ensure online interaction between government agencies, banks, telecom operators and digital platforms to combat telephone fraud. In addition, the platform will allow for the prompt identification and blocking of phishing sites, fraudsters’ phone numbers, as well as their accounts and cards, stolen accounts and suspicious transactions.
Currently, the development of a legislative initiative to combat cyber fraud is also being discussed together with the banking sector. It is aimed at eliminating the current problem of fraud, when criminals issue microloans to third-party accounts or anonymous electronic wallets.
It is assumed that the initiative will establish a ban on issuing microloans to third parties and will establish a requirement for the loan amount to be transferred exclusively to the borrower’s bank account. To open an account, the borrower will have to undergo an identification procedure – this can be done using biometrics or in person at the bank.
Earlier, as part of the work to combat cyber fraud, the Government approved a procedure for self-prohibition on the issuance of consumer loans and microloans. The corresponding resolution has been signed.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis (“FHLBank Indianapolis” or the “Bank”) announced today that pre-development affordable housing grants are now available to the 12 federally recognized tribal nations located in Michigan through the Tribal Nations Housing Development Assistance Program (TNHDAP).
Announced earlier this year, the TNHDAP is a unique and innovative capacity-building housing development grant program in partnership with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). The TNHDAP provides dedicated training and technical assistance coupled with grant funding opportunities to support tribal nations in creating innovative housing solutions tailored to the unique needs of each nation. The Bank’s program grant of up to $3 million marks the largest investment to a single organization in FHLBank Indianapolis history.
FHLBank Indianapolis is making $800,000 available for project-specific pre-development grants with up to $75,000 available per project. Pre-development dollar grants may support either rental or homeownership projects, dependent upon individual tribal priorities.
“Pre-development grants are often the hardest type of funding to find, and one of the most impactful tools to help kickstart projects,” said Anna Shires, VP, Community Investment Outreach Partner at the Bank. “We’re excited to complement all of the technical assistance underway, and help tribes get one major step closer to providing safe and affordable housing for their communities.”
Through the program, the Bank also will be providing project-specific gap funding subsidies as well as supporting additional capacity building needs identified by tribal nations in Michigan. Through next year, each tribe also will receive dedicated technical assistance to identify their unique housing needs, support for overall housing initiatives and project-specific guidance.
In keeping with the knowledge and capacity-building focus of the program, the National American Indian Housing Council and its partners facilitated a series of training sessions earlier this year focusing on the wide range of available affordable housing solutions. Sessions focused on multi-unit development, Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LITHC) and other funding sources, housing development for special needs populations, and homeownership development opportunities. Sessions included presentations and discussions between the tribes and FHLBank Indianapolis, MSHDA, HUD leadership, the Michigan Balance of State Continuum of Care, and local and national housing and finance industry leaders.
“The completion of this training series represents a significant commitment of time and effort, and we commend everyone involved for their dedication to this critical work,” said Karen Gagnon, Tribal Liaison for MSHDA. “It’s truly exciting to see the program entering its next phase. This support will play a pivotal role in advancing essential housing projects for these communities, and we look forward to the far-reaching impact of these new investments and partnerships.”
Media contact information: For more information, contact Katherine Marshall, Corporate Communications Specialist, at kmarshall@fhlbi.com.
Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis: Building Partnerships. Serving Communities FHLBank Indianapolis is a regional bank in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. FHLBanks are government-sponsored enterprises created by Congress to provide access to low-cost funding for their member financial institutions, with particular attention paid to providing solutions that support the housing and small business needs of members’ customers. FHLBanks are privately capitalized and funded, and they receive no Congressional appropriations. One of 11 independent regional cooperative banks across the U.S., FHLBank Indianapolis is owned by its Indiana and Michigan financial institution members, including commercial banks, credit unions, insurance companies, savings institutions and community development financial institutions. For more information about FHLBank Indianapolis, visit http://www.fhlbi.com and follow the Bank on LinkedIn, and Instagram and X at @FHLBankIndy.
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, October 16, 2024/APO Group/ —
The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) and Mastercard are co-chairing a new initiative called Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance Africa, which aims to provide digital access to critical services for 100 million people and businesses in Africa over the next 10 years. In the first phase of its $300 million commitment to the Alliance’s initial five years of programming, the African Development Bank aims to bring 3 million farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria into the digital economy via Mastercard Community Pass. Community Pass gives farmers a digital credential to access a network of digital agricultural agents.
Alliance members include Equity Bank Group, Microsoft, Heifer International, Sustainable Agriculture Foundation, Unconnected.org, Yara, Kenya National Farmers’ Federation, Shell Foundation, and CRDB Bank. The Alliance also utilizes financial support from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
For World Food Day, we asked African Development Bank Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Dr. Beth Dunford, about the possibilities digitalization brings to Africa’s farmers and food systems.
Why did MADE Alliance Africa choose to focus on the digitization of agriculture for smallholder farmers and women as its first initiative, and why do you think the African agriculture sector holds so much potential?
Dunford: Africa is home to 65% of the planet’s remaining uncultivated, arable land, and we believe that agriculture is a critical sector to drive Africa’s development. Agriculture accounts for nearly 60% of total employment in Africa and accounts for more than 25% of GDP in its low-income countries. Across the continent, there’s no agriculture without women. They provide an estimated 60% to 80% of labor input to the sector. Growth in agriculture is terribly effective compared to many other sectors in lifting people out of poverty, providing degrees of agency to women, feeding Africa’s people, and positioning the continent as a breadbasket to the world.
Our challenge is that the majority of Africa’s food systems producers are smallholder farmers who, simply put, struggle from season to season due to a lack of access to quality inputs like seeds and fertilizer, or access to affordable financing to purchase farming necessities. Africa’s smallholder farmers have various needs that the MADE Alliance Africa can solve by boosting sustainable digital access to critical services. Through the MADE Alliance, Mastercard Community Pass works with local banks to provide digital credentials to millions of smallholder farmers and women. Digital identities are the gateway to accessing digital services and to high-quality inputs. Digitalizing agriculture and the distribution of goods will bring enormous efficiencies to the marketplace, as well as reduce waste and fraud across the ecosystem.
Mastercard’s Community Pass can help establish digital credentials for millions of farmers, bring more transparency to pricing and help them access agricultural inputs. What are the challenges involved in bringing this solution to market, and how can they be overcome?
Dunford: Community Pass is designed to operate in remote and rural communities — often with limited connectivity and energy access. This technology, to adapt a popular phrase, “meets farmers where they are.” However, there are challenges involved in delivering these solutions and connecting smallholder farmers and women to financial institutions — challenges that we believe can be overcome or mitigated through capacity building, infrastructure and new models for governments and the private sector to work together.
To scale these technologies to more farmers in a timely manner, we need to work with farmer cooperatives and networks of member farmers who reap many benefits of doing business as a unit. The challenge is that the majority of farmer cooperatives in Africa are not as operationally efficient as they are in other regions, and the prevalence of digital literacy is relatively low. Africa needs significant investment to educate farmers on how they can benefit from digital technologies to access resources.
MADE Alliance’s digital services can connect farmers to new buyers and suppliers who are physically far away, but costs to transport goods to market remain a barrier. Critically, farmers and women need digital devices and reliable connectivity to take advantage of the digital economy.
Can you talk a little more about how the MADE Alliance will benefit women?
Dunford: Roughly half of Africa’s smallholder farmers are women, with the majority of agriculture sector labor carried out by women. However, compared to their male counterparts, female farmers struggle to create a sustainable livelihood in agriculture because they are less likely to own property titles or other assets often needed to access financial services. Women farmers have less access to information and extension services, and they lack access to inputs such as seeds and fertilizers. They are disproportionately impacted by climate risks. Collectively, these challenges result in women farmers typically producing up to 20% to 30% less output than male farmers.
Community Pass helps women make farming a sustainable livelihood by enabling access to critical service providers like banks and agricultural buyers, as well as creating transparency.
Women are the backbone of African economies, and investing in women entrepreneurs fosters women’s empowerment and agency over decisions around business, family and community. Investing in Africa’s women entrepreneurs is smart economics. Investing in Africa’s women has been a cornerstone of the Bank’s work. In fact, no Bank project or program will receive Bank financing unless it details how it will benefit women.
Headline: Azure Cobalt 100-based Virtual Machines are now generally available
We are excited to announce the general availability of the new Azure Cobalt 100 Virtual Machines (VMs). These VMs run on Microsoft’s first fully custom Arm-based Cobalt 100 CPU and represent a significant milestone in our end-to-end approach to building cloud infrastructure.
Today we are announcing the general availability of the new Azure Cobalt 100-based Virtual Machines (VMs). These VMs run on Microsoft’s first 64-bit Arm-based Azure Cobalt 100 CPU, which has been fully designed in-house. They represent a significant milestone in our journey in designing and building out our cloud infrastructure, with optimization and customization across every layer of the infrastructure stack—from silicon, to servers, to services. Through vertical integration across hardware and software, Azure Cobalt 100-based VMs are one of Microsoft’s latest examples of innovating to enhance and optimize our cloud infrastructure with an end-to-end systems approach, to deliver the right mix of performance, power efficiency, and scale for our customers.
The Cobalt 100-based VMs consist of our new general purpose Dpsv6-series and Dplsv6-series and our memory-optimized Epsv6-series VM series. They offer up to 50% better price performance than our previous generation Arm-based VMs, making them an attractive option for a wide range of scale-out and cloud-native Linux-based workloads, including data analytics, web and application servers, open source databases, caches, and more.
The new Azure Cobalt 100-based VMs deliver leading performance across various workloads compared to previous generations of Azure Arm-based VMs: up to 1.4x CPU performance, up to 1.5x performance on Java-based workloads, and up to 2x performance on web servers, .NET applications, and in-memory cache applications compared to the previous generation Azure Arm-based VMs. These VMs also support 4x local storage IOPS (with NVMe) and up to 1.5x network bandwidth compared to the previous generation Azure Arm-based VMs.
The new VMs are broadly available in Canada Central, Central US, East US 2, East US, Germany West Central, Japan East, Mexico Central, North Europe, Southeast Asia, Sweden Central, Switzerland North, UAE North, West Europe, and West US 2. The number of regions will continue to expand in 2024 and beyond with Australia East, Brazil South, France Central, India Central, South Central US, UK South, West US 3, and West US coming soon.
Customer adoption and scenarios
We have been working with several internal and external customers during the preview period. For example, IC3, the platform that powers billions of customer conversations in Microsoft Teams, is serving its growing customer base more efficiently, achieving up to 45% better performance on Cobalt 100-based VMs.
We’re also delivering Cobalt 100-based VMs to many of our independent software vendor (ISV) partners offering platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) solutions on Microsoft Azure.
“The Cobalt 100, Microsoft Azure’s new Arm-based processor, represents a huge step forward for optimizing performance and productivity. Cadence and Microsoft’s collaboration helps our mutual customers tackle the demands of giga-scale compute that advanced-node silicon design demands. The Cobalt 100 helps our thousands of electronic design automation (EDA) and systems customers meet their ever-increasing demands for throughput to speed time-to-market.” —Mahesh Turaga, Vice President (VP) of Cloud Business Development, Cadence
“We are really excited about the new Cobalt 100 VMs. We are making them the primary platform for our Databricks SQL Serverless offering on Azure, as they offer outstanding efficiency and allow us to deliver significant price-performance improvements to our customers. Customers using our Azure Databricks classic Jobs offering will also greatly benefit from Cobalt VMs by selecting them for their Jobs cluster nodes, achieving noticeable performance improvements while keeping operating costs down.” —Michael Kiermaier, VP of Business Strategy and Operations, Databricks
“At Elastic, we are driving innovation and cost-efficiency by enabling customers to leverage our Search AI-powered observability, security, and search solutions on Arm-based architecture. Azure Virtual Machines with Cobalt 100 Arm CPUs enables Elastic to deliver better throughput and up to 37% improved performance compared to Azure’ previous generation Arm based VMs.” —Uri Cohen, Vice President, Product Management, Elastic
“At Rescale, our mission is to elevate innovation by providing the best tools in high performance computing, data, and AI to organizations of every size to deliver engineering and scientific breakthroughs that enrich humanity. We have tested the Azure Cobalt 100 VMs to power our high-performance computing platform and found it to deliver about a 40% improvement in performance compared to Azure’s previous generation Arm-based VMs. We look forward to upgrading our Azure infrastructure to these new VMs and offer comparable performance improvements to our customers so they can tackle complex challenges with greater speed and efficiency.” —Adam McKenzie, Chief Technology Officer, Rescale
“Siemens EDA continues to expand its partnership with Microsoft to develop innovative solutions for our mutual silicon and electronic systems customers. Our collaboration around Microsoft Azure Cobalt 100 Arm-based VMs running analog, standard-cell, memory, and digital verification workloads has demonstrated compelling performance and economic benefits. The general availability of these new VMs marks an important milestone for the industry, highlighting its fast-growing reliance on continuously advancing hardware and software platforms optimized for high throughput and efficiency.” —Craig Johnson, Vice President, Siemens EDA Strategy
“We have extensively tested Azure’s new Cobalt 100 VMs and compared them to the previous generation Arm VMs on Azure using Snowflake workloads. We’re thrilled with the significant improvements in performance. And now, we’re excited to adopt these latest Cobalt 100 VMs and share that performance improvement with our customers!” —Gabe Bryant, Senior Manager, Snowflake
“In the face of unprecedented compute and memory demands driven by increasingly sophisticated systems, designers are leveraging the cloud to scale their computing resources. Our close collaboration with Microsoft Azure facilitates the adoption of Arm architecture-based compute resources by providing customers with industry-leading, AI-driven EDA tools enabled on the Azure cloud to help them address the escalating workload demands.” —Sanjay Bali, senior vice president of EDA strategy and product management at Synopsys
“Templafy relies on the stability and scalability of Microsoft Azure to run our document generation platform for enterprises worldwide, and we’re excited about the new Azure Cobalt 100 VMs. After evaluation we’ve observed significant performance improvements, including approximately 25% higher throughput and 35% lower CPU usage compared to Azure’s previous generation Arm-based VMs. We look forward to harnessing these advancements to enhance our platform’s performance and deliver even better experiences for our customers when it comes to their critical business documents.” —Marco van Kimmenade, Director of Engineering, Templafy
Synergy with our technology partners
We value the collaboration with our technology partners.
“The Cobalt 100 processor is a fantastic example of how Arm-based silicon, supported by a robust software ecosystem, is addressing the growing compute complexity of modern infrastructure,” said Mohamed Awad, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Infrastructure Business, Arm. “Following years of collaboration with Microsoft to bring Arm-based VMs to market, the general availability of Cobalt 100 marks an important milestone in our partnership, and demonstrates the power, efficiency and flexibility of Arm Compute Subsystems in driving the workloads of the future.”
The journey to Arm: Embracing innovation and customer benefits
Microsoft has a longstanding history of contributing to Arm architecture and integrating Arm technology. This experience has enabled us to develop important industry standards that prepared the Arm architecture for datacenter-scale computing. We have also been working closely with Arm on industry initiatives such as ServerReady and SystemReady and received industry recognition for both initiatives. Our journey into Arm-based VMs is based on a vision to deliver superior price-performance and power efficiency. The Cobalt 100-based VMs embody this vision by offering these benefits. By embracing Arm-based VMs, we have been able to offer our customers a unique combination of performance and cost effectiveness.
Developer ecosystem
The developer ecosystem for Arm continues to thrive and has seen tremendous progress in the last couple of years. Major developer platforms and languages such as C++, .NET, and Java provide Arm-native versions. We have invested in Arm-specific optimizations for each of these platforms and languages so we’re fully leveraging the capabilities of the Arm architecture.
The larger ecosystem has embraced Arm with many popular infrastructure and deployment solutions now available with native Arm support. GitHub Actions, GitHub’s continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) workflow engine, is an integral part of many developers’ workflows and used to continuously build, test, and deploy apps. This is now available for Arm in two flavors—self-hosted runners that can be hosted on an Arm VM or on local Arm hardware, and GitHub-hosted runners.
Containers are a popular deployment target for many reasons: a streamlined development workflow, isolation and security, efficient resource utilization, portability, and reproducibility. Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) now supports the creation of Arm agent nodes as well as mixing x86 and Arm architecture nodes within a cluster.
Specifications
You can select from a range of Azure Virtual Machines of three memory ratios for a given vCPU size, giving you the flexibility to choose the configuration that works best for your workloads in terms of CPU performance and memory needs. All these VM series are available with and without local disks so that you can deploy the option that best fits your workload.
The new Dpsv6-series and Dpdsv6-series general-purpose VMs offer up to 96 vCPUs and 384 GiB of RAM (4:1 memory-to-vCPU ratio). They are ideal for scale-out workloads, cloud-native solutions like AKS, small to medium open-source databases, application servers, and web servers. Arm developers can use these VMs in CI/CD pipelines, development, and test scenarios.
The new Dplsv6-series and Dpldsv6-series VMs provide up to 96 vCPUs and 192 GiB of RAM (2:1 memory-to-vCPU ratio). They are perfect for media encoding, small databases, gaming servers, microservices, and workloads that don’t need high RAM per vCPU.
The new Epsv6-series and Epdsv6-series memory-optimized VMs offer up to 96 vCPUs and 672 GiB of RAM (up to 8:1 memory-to-vCPU ratio). These VMs are designed for memory-intensive workloads such as large databases, in-memory caching applications, and data analytics.
The new virtual machines support all remote disk types such as Standard SSD, Standard HDD, Premium SSD and Ultra Disk storage. To learn more about various disk types and their regional availability, please refer to Azure managed disk type. Disk storage is billed separately from virtual machines. You can deploy these new VMs using existing methods including the Azure portal, SDKs, APIs, PowerShell, and the command-line interface (CLI).
You can learn more about the new Azure Cobalt 100-based VMs by visiting the specification pages: Dpsv6-series, Dpdsv6-series, Dplsv6-series, Dpldsv6-series, Epsv6-series, Epdsv6-series.
Pricing
To learn more about the pricing of Azure Cobalt 100-based VMs, please visit the Azure Virtual Machines pricing and Pricing calculator pages.
You can also take advantage of Reserved Instances, Azure savings plan for compute, and Spot Virtual Machines to lower your costs. Reserved VM Instances can reduce costs and improve your budget forecasting through upfront one-year or three-year commitments. For a limited time, you can save up to 15% more when you purchase one-year Azure Reserved Virtual Machine (VM) Instances for select Linux VMs. This offer is available between from October 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025. See here for more details. The Azure savings plan for compute gives you the flexibility to save across multiple Azure services, including Azure VMs. Spot Virtual Machines can significantly reduce the cost of running in Azure and further optimize your cloud spend for workloads that can tolerate interruptions and have flexible execution time.
A new era of price performance and power efficiency
The general availability of Azure Cobalt 100-based VMs marks the beginning of a new era in Azure’s infrastructure. With our custom silicon program, we are delivering exceptional price performance and power efficiency to our customers. We are excited to see the impact of these innovations on our customers’ businesses and we look forward to bringing even better solutions to our customers in the future.
Thank you for joining us on this exciting journey.
For questions, please go to Azure Support and our experts will be there to help you.
Released by: The Premier, Minister for Jobs, Minister for Sport, Minister for Tourism
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will return to Sydney, attracting tens of thousands of fans, millions of dollars in spending, and millions of global television viewers, as the Minns Labor Government delivers on another election commitment.
The UFC 312 event will be held in The Octagon at Qudos Bank Arena on 9 February 2025. This event is the second of three mega events the Minns Government secured as part of a four year deal with the world’s premier mixed martial arts organisation.
The first event in the Sydney series (UFC 293) in September 2023 sold out in 13 minutes with 18,168 people attending. 9,500 (52%) were from overseas or interstate, injecting more than $15.3 million into the NSW visitor economy.
The highly anticipated UFC 312 is also expected to sell-out and deliver another significant boost to the NSW visitor economy. It will also generate valuable global exposure for Sydney as the nation’s premier city for major sporting events through the UFC’s huge pay-per-view television audience and online following.
There are now more than 700 million UFC fans across the globe, including a combined 233 million followers across UFC’s social media channels. In Australia and New Zealand combined, UFC has more than 4.3 million fans and 6 million social media followers.
The UFC’s contribution to NSW goes beyond the Octagon, earlier this year the UFC signed a three-year partnership with PCYC NSW Fit for Life program to establish the UFC’s first youth mentoring initiative in the country.
Today the NSW Premier Chris Minns, the Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham and the Minister for Sport Steve Kamper will join UFC Vice President for Australia/NZ Pete Kloczko and No.1 UFC featherweight and former champion Alex Volkanovski, to announce the global juggernaut will again light up the NSW sporting calendar.
Ticket sales and the fight card for UFC 312 will be announced later this year. For all the latest information head to ufc.com/Sydney.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said:
“UFC’s return to Sydney is another step in us delivering on this election commitment.
“Last years event was a huge success and we expect next years event will match that, showcasing Sydney on the global stage as a top destination for sporting events.
“We are continuing to secure a calendar of unmissable events that help local businesses and create jobs, and that’s exactly what these UFC events do.”
Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham said:
“Hosting the UFC cage puts Sydney on the world stage, demonstrating that we punch above our weight when it comes to hosting blockbuster events.
“When the Octagon comes to town, so do thousands of visitors who stay in our hotels, eat in our cafes and restaurants and visit other attractions.
“Hosting the UFC alongside our calendar of incredible arts and cultural events like Vivid or SXSW Sydney, shows NSW has a diverse world class offering that will continue driving our visitor economy to new heights.”
Minister for Sport Steve Kamper said:
“The Minns Labor Government is focused on securing Sydney’s place as the premier destination of the Asia Pacific, and we are once again ready to showcase Sydney to millions around the world with UFC 312.
“This partnership is delivering more than just a boost to our economy, with PCYC NSW and UFC partnering together to deliver a life changing program which will promote a healthy lifestyle and positive decision making.”
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Oct. 16 — China’s central bank on Wednesday said that it has renewed a bilateral currency swap agreement with the State Bank of Pakistan.
The total value of the agreement is 30 billion yuan (about 4.21 billion U.S. dollars), or 1.18 trillion Pakistani rupees, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website.
The agreement is valid for three years and can be renewed upon mutual consent, according to the statement.
The currency swap arrangement will strengthen financial cooperation between China and Pakistan, expand the use of the two currencies, and promote and facilitate bilateral trade and investment, the statement said.
Select committee hearings on banking inquiry to start next week
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has released its plans for the parliamentary inquiry into banking competition, along with the written submissions received on the inquiry so far.
Public hearings on the inquiry are set to kick off next week on Wednesday, 23 October.
The committee has hearings scheduled with all the major banks—including the Australian-owned “Big 4” and the main New Zealand-owned banks—over the remainder of 2024. The schedule of hearings is appended to this media release as Appendix 1. Please note that the schedule is subject to change at short notice, particularly if the House of Representatives sits under urgency. Up to date information for the week ahead can be found on the Parliament website (see links at end).
The committee received over 140 written submissions in response to its call for public submissions. Written submissions have been published online and are available on the Parliament website (see links at end). Over 60 submitters have asked to speak to the committee at public hearings.
The committee intends to progress hearings with all submitters—including organisations and individual members of the public—in 2024. Submitters will be contacted in the coming weeks to schedule their time with the committee. We intend to organise one hearing focused particularly on rural communities and agricultural lending. Once the schedule of hearings has been finalised, we intend to publish the schedule via a further media release.
The committee has invited members of the Primary Production Committee to attend all hearings. The Primary Production Committee has a particular interest in the relationship between rural bank lending and banking competition. We look forward to working with our colleagues from that committee over the course of our inquiry.
The committee intends to consider the overall timetable for completing the inquiry once hearings have been completed. The committee also intends to consider whether it is necessary to invite targeted written cross-submissions once hearings have been completed.
Allens has advised the lenders on the successful financial close of BCI Minerals’ $981 million financing for the Mardie Salt Project (the Mardie Project), marking a significant milestone in the development of Australia’s first large-scale salt project in decades.
The syndicate of lenders includes Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, Export Finance Australia, Export Development Canada, Westpac Banking Corporation, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited.
The financing package comprises $830 million for construction loans, $70 million for bank guarantees, and $81 million for potential cost overruns. The Mardie Project has been accredited as a Green Loan aligned with the Green Financing Framework.
‘We are proud to have played a key role in this significant financing deal for the Mardie Project,’ said lead Partner Ben Farnsworth.
‘This not only represents a major investment but also highlights the growing importance of sustainable financing in the global market. The Green Loan accreditation underscores the project’s commitment to environmental sustainability and economic growth.’
Financial close was reached on 4 October. Allens continues to work with Lenders and BCI on satisfying the further conditions to the first drawdown of the construction loan facilities.
Allens legal team
Banking & Finance
Ben Farnsworth (Partner), Louise Barbato (Senior Associate), Madeleine Ninkov (Associate), Megan Lee (Associate), Mariella Panegyres (Lawyer)
All savings generated by the transaction will be applied over time to support conservation, water security, and ecosystem restoration in the Lempa River (Rio Lempa) watershed. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. acted as sole arranger and lender for the loan and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as dealer manager in the tender offer for El Salvador’s bonds.
DFC, the U.S. Government’s international development bank, is providing $1 billion in political risk insurance (PRI) while CAF is providing a $200 million standby letter of credit (SBLC). The combination of the DFC PRI and the CAF SBLC will provide integral credit enhancements that support the transaction, which in turn catalyzes the additional investment in El Salvador’s conservation and ecosystem restoration efforts in the Rio Lempa watershed. ArtCap Strategies acted as financial advisor and global coordinator for the transaction.
The Rio Lempa watershed is one of the longest rivers in Central America and plays an important role in the well-being of cities, communities and the economy in El Salvador by providing drinking water, as well as supporting industry and hydropower generation, and irrigation. It also supports diverse ecosystems that represent a large portion of the country’s environmental heritage. Projects funded by the savings from the transaction are expected to enhance water quality, quantity, and reliability; strengthen climate resilience; protect the watershed’s natural ecosystem; and mitigate water security risk in the region.
Through this transaction, the Government of El Salvador will realize more than $352 million in lifetime savings through a combination of immediate notional debt savings and material reductions in debt service costs. $350 million of these savings will be applied to the Rio Lempa Conservation and Restoration Program (the “Program”) over the next 20 years in support of the country’s commitment to watershed conservation in the Rio Lempa basin. Specifically, $200 million, or an average of $9.75 million annually over 20 years, will fund the Program directly, while $150 million, or approximately $7 million per year, will fund an endowment. The funds in the endowment will be invested and are intended to become a source of ongoing funding for the Program beyond 2044. This $350 million allocation represents the largest funding commitment a country has ever made for conservation in a debt conversion transaction.
CRS and FIAES will jointly manage the Program and will collaborate with key government water and environmental agencies to enhance water security and watershed health, promote biodiversity, stimulate economic development through regenerative agriculture, and strengthen planning and management capacities in the Rio Lempa watershed. The Program will make grants to non-governmental organizations operating in El Salvador in support of these goals, with initial grants set to disburse in 2025.The Program will be governed by a seven-member Board of Directors that includes one representative from the Government of El Salvador, one representative from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and five non-governmental representatives.
In addition, the Government of El Salvador has committed to: (i) establish a zonal organization to oversee conservation and restoration of the Rio Lempa watershed; (ii) approve a National Integrated Water Resources Plan; (iii) establish a water resources data monitoring system for the Rio Lempa watershed; (iv) develop protocols for issuing water use permits; (v) establish a public feedback and complaint mechanism for violations of the National Water Resources Law and Environmental Law; (vi) contribute to the decision-making process by developing standards for calculating costs related to drinking water and sanitation services; and (vii) declare 75,000 hectares of protected aquifer recharge zones throughout the watershed by 2044.
White & Case LLP acted as legal adviser to the Republic.
“This debt conversion represents the most ambitious and impactful environmental action in El Salvador’s history. It not only reaffirms this government’s commitment to economic growth, it also enables us to achieve this growth while preserving one of our most precious natural resources: the Lempa River watershed. With support from international parties, we are executing the largest debt conversion transaction of its kind to date. This debt conversion project promotes sustainable development for our communities, strengthens our water security, and protects our ecosystems to secure the well-being of this generation and those to come. With this debt conversion, we aim to transform the environmental and economic future of El Salvador,” said Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador.
“Since its inception, DFC has been a pioneer in the field of debt conversions. Today’s announcement presents the world’s first-ever debt conversion for watershed conservation and water security. This transaction will protect critical resources while helping unburden the Salvadoran economy and promoting the growth of a vibrant private sector that will create more opportunities for Salvadoreans to find employment in their communities. DFC is committed to continuing to leverage our unique financial tools in innovative ways in pursuit of our developmental priorities around the world,” said DFC CEO Scott Nathan.
“At CAF, we are committed to becoming the green bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. Therefore, we are investing $25 billion by 2026 to finance environmental, climate change, and biodiversity initiatives, such as the one we are announcing today in partnership with the Government of El Salvador, DFC, CRS, and FIAES. This historic financing demonstrates that, through joint efforts, we can advance innovative financial mechanisms that accelerate sustainable development,” said Sergio Díaz-Granados, Executive President of CAF.
“CRS is excited to be part of this transformative program in El Salvador, which sets a new standard for the scale and long-term funding needed to restore and protect critical water resources for current and future generations. This program came together because of bold leadership and collective action by a dynamic and diverse team,” said Carla Fajardo, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Catholic Relief Services.
“FIAES is pleased to participate in the Rio Lempa Conservation and Restoration Program, acting as a strategic partner of the Government of El Salvador and the Government of the United States of America, as a fund administrator and program co-manager. The Río Lempa watershed is a valuable natural resource for our country since it covers 49 percent of the territory and supplies 68 percent of the national water needs; therefore, its preservation is essential to guarantee the sustainability of its ecosystem services”, said Jorge Oviedo, Executive Director of FIAES.
“ArtCap is proud to have spearheaded the coordination of this landmark transaction, uniting public and private stakeholders to help develop a comprehensive financial and conservation strategy. This program will deliver an important source of long-term funding for projects focused on the Rio Lempa watershed. By acting as a private sector catalyst, ArtCap was able to set a new precedent for collaboration among public and private stakeholders that helped to achieve a program with an impressive scale. We hope the success of this transaction will encourage further innovation in conservation finance,” said Antonio Navarro, Managing Partner, ArtCap Strategies.
About DFC:
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world today. We invest across sectors including energy, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, and small business and financial services. DFC investments adhere to high standards and respect the environment, human rights, and worker rights.
About CAF:
CAF – Development Bank of Latin American and Caribbean– has the mission to promote sustainable development and regional integration by financing public and private sector projects, providing technical cooperation, and offering other specialized services. Established in 1970 and currently composed of 21 countries – 19 from Latin America and the Caribbean, along with Spain and Portugal – and 13 private banks, it is one of the main sources of multilateral financing and a significant knowledge generator for the region.
AboutCatholic Relief Services:
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS works at the nexus of sustainable agriculture, watershed management, and water supply to support governments, partners, communities, and all stakeholders to provide truly sustainable solutions that increase crop production, improve water for human health, and mitigate climate change. CRS has worked in El Salvador for over 50 years, supporting a network of local partners.
AboutFIAES:
FIAES was launched in 1993 as a Conservation Trust Fund as a result of a debt-for-nature swap between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of El Salvador to support the restoration and conservation of natural resources in El Salvador. FIAES manages multiple funds including several debt-for-nature swaps, environmental compensation funds from the Government of El Salvador, and several conservation grants from international organizations. Over the past 31 years, FIAES has invested more than $90 million in conservation and restoration of coastal marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
About ArtCap Strategies:
ArtCap Strategies is a private credit fund and a leading financial advisory firm specializing in innovative, sustainable financing solutions for public and private sector clients (among other strategies). With a focus on structuring and investing in deals that address global challenges such as climate resilience, water security, and sustainable development, ArtCap works closely with governments, multilateral institutions, and private investors to create impactful financial strategies. ArtCap’s expertise lies in coordinating complex transactions that not only generate economic value, but also drive environmental and social progress, setting new standards in responsible finance.
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements are based on El Salvador’s current plans, estimates, assumptions, and projections. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and El Salvador undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events. This announcement is not an offer to purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution in or into, or to any person located or resident in, any jurisdiction where it is unlawful to release, publish or distribute such announcement.
The report details how mining and metals made up over 80% of Kazakhstan’s gross exports in 2021 and explains the need for the country to develop secondary and tertiary sectors. It outlines the steps Kazakhstan could take to invest in infrastructure and human capital, reform its financial systems, and finetune trade agreements to help boost its global competitiveness and reduce its exposure to external shocks.
