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( MENAFN - Jordan Times) LONDON - During the Irish famine in the 1840s, as more than one million Irish citizens died, vast quantities of food were exported from Ireland to Britain. For the Whig government in London, the defence of commercial interests, the dictates of laissez-faire economics and Political indifference to Irish suffering trumped any obligation to prevent mass starvation by intervening in markets. The international response to the COVID-19 pandemic bears a discomfiting resemblance to the British response to the Irish famine. Although science and industry have given us the means to immunise the world, nine months after the first arm was jabbed with a COVID-19 vaccine, rich countries are using their market power to direct doses away from poor countries, placing millions of lives at risk. Consider some recent actions by the European Union. Under a contract with Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the bloc has imported millions of vaccine doses from a company in South Africa, a country where a mere 11 per cent of the population is vaccinated and the Delta variant is fuelling a surge in cases. Yet efforts to divert vaccine exports from Europe to South Africa and its neighbours were met with a display of vaccine gunboat diplomacy, with the EU threatening to take action under a clause in the J&J contract prohibiting export restrictions. The message to the world was clear. While EU commissioners and political leaders may arrive at UN meetings waxing lyrical about the importance of international cooperation and global vaccine equity, the iron fist of vaccine nationalism is driving real-world policy. When it comes to weighing African lives against marginal gains in the health of already-protected EU citizens, Africans come in a distant second. Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently highlighted the South Africa example as a“shocking symbol” of global vaccine injustice. He was right, but the injustice is global. In a world that has delivered more than five billion doses, over 70 per cent of people in rich countries have now received at least one jab, compared to only 1.8 per cent in the poorest countries. This is an equity gap that kills. We know that vaccinations provide effective protection against COVID-19 deaths and hospitalisation. As US President Joe Biden has reminded Americans, this is a“pandemic of the unvaccinated”. The same is true globally. Nevertheless, the United States and other rich countries are now preparing to deliver vaccine booster shots to already-protected populations facing marginal health risks, effectively diverting supplies from countries where access to vaccines is, quite literally, a matter of life and death. The current distribution of vaccines is not just ethically indefensible. It is also epidemiologically short-sighted and economically ruinous. Leaving large swaths of the world unvaccinated increases the risk that vaccine-resistant viral mutations will emerge, effectively prolonging the pandemic and endangering people everywhere. Meanwhile, expanding vaccinations would boost economic recovery, adding $9 trillion to global output by 2025, according to an estimate by the International Monetary Fund, and help prevent major reversals in poverty, health and education. Basic arithmetic shows that we can vaccinate the world. Estimates by the data analytics firm Airfinity suggest that around 12 billion vaccine doseswill be produced in 2021, with output doubling in 2022. That's more than enough to achieve the international target of 40 per cent coverage by the end of this year and 60-70 per cent by mid-2022. Unfortunately, it is not enough to achieve the targets while satisfying rich countries' desire to hoard surplus stocks. With their current contracts, rich countries could achieve full vaccination coverage rates for over 80 per cent of their populations, including boosters for vulnerable people, and have a surplus of 3.5 billion doses, according to the Airfinity data, enough to cover the deficit in poor countries and still leave rich countries with a healthy contingency reserve. Instead, rich countries are actively undermining international cooperation efforts. Aid donors have invested $10 billion in the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility, the international program designed to provide vaccines to the world's poorest countries. That financing has secured contracts for around two billion doses. Additionally, the World Bank has provided $4 billion for COVAX and an African Union vaccine-purchase initiative. But COVAX and poor countries are constantly pushed to the back of the line for supplies from vaccine manufacturers for whom rich countries come first, not least because of their governments' threats to take legal action and impose penalties. The pandemic has demonstrated that the world needs a more efficient and equitable distribution of vaccine-production capabilities. Developing these capabilities will require knowledge-sharing, technology transfer, intellectual-property waivers, and long-term investment. But without immediate and decisive action to replace the trickle-down approach to vaccine provision with market redistribution, John Maynard Keynes's dictum that“in the long run we are all dead” will have a tragic resonance. There are three priorities. First, vaccine delivery must be aligned with the target of 40 per cent coverage in all countries by the end of this year. Rich countries must agree to adjust their own schedules so that vaccine manufacturers can make deliveries for COVAX and developing countries. Building surplus stocks in rich countries while allowing people to die for want of vaccines in poor countries is indefensible. Aid donors should also provide the additional $3.8 billion in grant financing needed to trigger COVAX options on an additional 760 million doses by the end of 2021. Second, to meet the international targets, we need to move beyond intermittent vaccine donations to large-scale, coordinated dose-sharing. The EU, the United Kingdom, and the US should immediately share an additional 250 million doses, less than one-quarter of their collective surplus, through COVAX by the end of September, with a clear schedule for providing an additional one billion doses by early 2022. Third, beyond vaccine equity, there is an urgent need to strengthen health systems, not just through the provision of medical oxygen, which is in critically short supply, therapeutics, and diagnostic equipment, but also by investing in the health workers and infrastructure needed to get vaccines into arms. The current gap between funds pledged and funds allocated for this purpose is around $16.6 billion. Our ability to save lives, restore hope, and rebuild economies shattered by the pandemic is constrained not by a shortage of vaccines or financing, but also by a deficit of justice and international cooperation. The governments of rich countries often recite the mantra that“no one is safe until everyone is safe”. Their leaders must now act like they believe it. Kevin Watkins, a former CEO of Save the Children UK, is a visiting professor at the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at the London School of Economics. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2021. 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NoneLOS ANGELES (AP) — After struggling to run the ball consistently all season, the Los Angeles Rams finally made some progress on the ground in New Orleans. Kyren Williams and rookie Blake Corum carried the Rams (6-6) to a 21-14 win that kept them squarely in the playoff race for another week. Los Angeles racked up a season-high 156 yards rushing against the Saints, with Williams going for 104 yards and a touchdown while Corum added 42 yards on a season high-tying eight carries. The game was the inverse of most afternoons this season for the Rams, who came into the week averaging fewer than 100 yards rushing per game. The running game was sturdy and productive, while Matthew Stafford and his receivers struggled to get into a rhythm at the Superdome. Coach Sean McVay always prefers to use his run game to set up the pass, and it finally worked for once this season. “I thought Kyren ran really well," McVay said. “I thought Corum ran really well. I thought our offensive line set the line of scrimmage in the run game. We really started slow in the pass game, but I thought Matthew was excellent in the second half. We were able to get some different things off of those run actions going, and that ended up being the difference in the game.” Not coincidentally, the Rams' running game worked well on the Sunday when the offensive line finally had a starting five uncompromised by injuries or suspension for the first time all season. Right tackle Rob Havenstein returned from an ankle injury, making the group whole around rookie center Beaux Limmer, who has beaten out high-priced free agent Jonah Jackson for a starting job. The Rams still had yet another slow start in a season full of them. They ran only three plays in the entire first quarter, and they were held scoreless in the first half when their other two drives resulted in a turnover on downs and a punt. But Los Angeles rebounded with an 11-play scoring drive to open the second half featuring seven runs by Williams. He eventually moved up to fifth in the NFL with 926 yards rushing despite averaging just 4.2 yards per carry — nearly a yard less than he had last season, and the lowest average among the league's top 10 rushers this season. The Rams have thrived without a strong rushing attack before: They averaged just 99.0 yards per game on the ground, ranking 25th in the NFL, during their Super Bowl championship season in 2021-22. But McVay prefers his first option to be a strong running attack, which he had during his first three seasons in charge with Todd Gurley in the backfield and Andrew Whitworth at left tackle. “Anytime the guys up front are moving them, and (Williams) is making great reads and moves on the second level, then that is a fun feeling for the offense," Stafford said. “It’s great when you can hand the ball off and get big creases. We converted when we needed to in short-yardage stuff. I thought our guys did a really great job up front, and Kyren ran it great.” What's working The Rams have struggled in the red zone all season, but they scored touchdowns on all three trips in New Orleans. They did it by committing to the run game up the middle, setting up TD passes on the outside to Demarcus Robinson and Puka Nacua. What needs help Alvin Kamara racked up 112 yards rushing in the latest strong game by an opposing running back. Los Angeles is 28th in the league against the run, allowing 144.2 yards rushing per game — including 194 per game over the past three weeks. Stock up Rookie edge rusher Jared Verse had another outstanding game, racking up five tackles, three quarterback hits and numerous big plays that don't show up on stat sheets. He capped the performance by hitting Derek Carr from behind and forcing an incompletion from the Los Angeles 9 on New Orleans' final play. Stock down Cornerback Darious Williams gave up a touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling and the ensuing 2-point conversion pass to Dante Pettis early in the fourth quarter, capping a second straight rough week for the free-agent signee. Williams is the Rams' best cornerback, but they haven't had an above-average shutdown pass defender since trading Jalen Ramsey. Injuries Robinson injured his hand during the game. Key number 17 — Cooper Kupp's yards receiving. That's his lowest total in a game in which he didn't get injured since Oct. 18, 2020. Kupp had only six targets, few downfield routes and curiously scant chances to make big plays. Next steps The Rams are home underdogs this week against powerhouse Buffalo, followed by a Thursday night game at San Francisco. Getting even one win out of these two matchups will be difficult, but probably necessary to keep pace with Seattle and Arizona in the NFC West. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFLMUMBAI: Dutch technology investor Prosus , which has invested over $8 billion in the country, will raise its bets on India, where more people are coming online, expanding opportunities for companies and investment firms alike and giving new startups room to find their feet. India is very "heterogeneous" - people from different parts of the country vary in the way they buy and transact, allowing multiple firms to have a play in the same sectors, Ashutosh Sharma, head of growth investments (India and Asia) at Prosus, said. He cited the instance of its portfolio firm Meesho , which tapped a different market within e-commerce and built its play despite the presence of giants Amazon and Flipkart within the sector. "The India next" - the next set of 100-200 million users who are coming online - opportunity is something the firm is looking at besides scouting for more deals in the GenAI space. "What is Meesho-equivalent in other sectors and can we invest in that early is what we will explore. When we started investing in India, it was largely consumer tech... over time, we added B2B marketplaces, SaaS, crypto and now GenAI. Our excitement around India continues and you will see us be more aggressive than we have been in the past across sectors here," Sharma told TOI in an interview. Prosus counts Swiggy, PharmEasy and Urban Company among its portfolio companies. The firm - which is Swiggy's largest shareholder with over 20% stake - made over $2 billion in gains on its total investment in the startup which got listed on the bourses last month in India's second-biggest public issue of the year. Sharma said that there are quite a few other startups in its portfolio which are "ready" to get listed without sharing timelines. Even as a mix of geopolitical tensions and the election win of Donald Trump risk pose market uncertainties, strong backing from domestic investors and high appetite for new-age tech stocks should bode well for startups planning IPOs in 2025, Sharma said. "As a country, we are still in the very early stages of tech penetration across sectors. Investors believe that there is a long runway for all of these companies to perform. These are all, in that sense, growth stocks and not defensive stocks and there are a set of investors which are excited in them," Sharma said. He added that unless a black swan or a big disruptive event takes place, foreign investors - who have been net sellers in the past couple of months - should come back to India sometime next year. Prosus's investment cheques for India will range across early stage, mid-sized and late stage companies. "The overhang of rich valuation (in private markets) that was seen in 2021 and early 2022 is gone now. The India story looks pretty solid, valuations look palatable and companies are on a much stronger footing", making Prosus bullish, more so on late-stage bets going forward. The investor's failed bet in Byju's - which has gone from being a $22 billion startup to facing bankruptcy - has not deterred it from evaluating deals in the edtech space as technology is the only way to bridge the demand-supply gap of quality education in India, Sharma said. Globally, Prosus's most successful bet has been China's Tencent and the firm aims to emulate the same in India. "It's an aspiration for sure. That's like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of a hit," he added.
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Baby Gorilla Killed by Zookeeper in Freak AccidentTULSA, Okla. , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ONE Gas, Inc. OGS today announced it will participate in the Jefferies Gas Utilities Mini-Conference virtually on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024 , followed by the Mizuho Power, Energy, & Infrastructure Conference in New York City . On Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 , the ONE Gas executive management team will attend the Wells Fargo Midstream, Energy & Utilities Symposium. Robert S. McAnnally , president and chief executive officer, Christopher Sighinolfi , senior vice president and chief financial officer, and Curtis Dinan , senior vice president and chief operating officer, will be conducting a series of meetings with members of the investment community at these events. Beginning on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 , the materials utilized during the conferences will be accessible on the ONE Gas website, www.onegas.com/investors/events-and-presentations . ONE Gas, Inc. OGS is a 100-percent regulated natural gas utility, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "OGS." ONE Gas is included in the S&P MidCap 400 Index and is one of the largest natural gas utilities in the United States. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma , ONE Gas provides a reliable and affordable energy choice to more than 2.3 million customers in Kansas , Oklahoma and Texas . Its divisions include Kansas Gas Service, the largest natural gas distributor in Kansas ; Oklahoma Natural Gas, the largest in Oklahoma ; and Texas Gas Service, the third largest in Texas , in terms of customers. For more information and the latest news about ONE Gas, visit onegas.com and follow its social channels: @ONEGas , Facebook , LinkedIn and YouTube . Analyst Contact: Erin Dailey 918-947-7411 Media Contact: Leah Harper 918-947-7123 View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-gas-to-participate-in-jefferies-mizuho-and-wells-fargo-utility-conferences-302319921.html SOURCE ONE Gas, Inc. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.