Author: i2wtc

The agreement comes amid shared concern by Manila and Tokyo over Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region.Japan and the Philippines have signed a defense pact allowing them to station troops on each other’s territory amid shared concerns about China’s growing military power. Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro signed the reciprocal access agreement at a ceremony in Manila on Monday. The agreement will allow Japanese troops to be deployed to the Philippines for joint military exercises and for Philippine troops to conduct combat training in Japan. The agreement needs to be ratified by the parliaments of…

Wire image Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins said they would continue with their restructuring plan, which includes job cuts and asset sales. After months of discussions, Paramount Global and Skydance Media formalized their merger agreement on Sunday night. Shari Redstone, non-executive chairwoman of Paramount Global and controlling shareholder through National Amusements Co., mentioned the agreement in a memo to employees, as did the three co-CEOs currently running the company: CBS president and CEO George Cheeks, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president and CEO Chris McCarthy and Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon president and CEO Brian Robbins.Please read the notes below.)…

Richie Marchandise said he would be happy to take a small loss on each transaction if it meant less reliance on digital payment systems. (Source: Provided)Australian cafe owners have jumped on the anti-cashless trend after facing so many issues with digital payments: Richie Marchandise, owner of Mimolette Cafe in Melbourne, introduced a 10 percent discount for customers who want to pay with cash.The French chef, who has worked in the hospitality industry for 20 years, said the cost-of-living crisis is worse than ever before as raw material prices soar, but he is willing to offer discounts to customers if they…

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, after meeting with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in Moscow last week, met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday, courting another authoritarian partner.Announcing Orban’s visit to Beijing, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said only that Xi would “have in-depth discussions with Orban on issues of mutual interest.” The two leaders last met two months ago, when Xi visited Budapest as part of China’s efforts to restore influence in Europe.China state television reported that Xi and Orban met at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, but gave no other details.The meeting offers Mr. Orban and…

Boeing agreed Sunday to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to defraud the federal government over two fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019, late-night court documents revealed.Under the settlement with the department, described in part in court documents, Boeing also agreed to pay a $487.2 million fine, the maximum allowed by law, and to invest at least $455 million over the next three years to strengthen its compliance and safety programs.The company will be placed on three years of probation supervised by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. As part of the…

The departure of Senator Fatima Peyman from Labor over Labor’s policy on Palestinian statehood has sparked a wider debate about the written and unspoken rules of Australian politics, one of which is the thorny issue of the role of religious belief. This issue inevitably came up during Scott Morrison’s term as prime minister. Morrison made no secret of his evangelical Christianity. His bizarre memoir raised the issue again because it showed that Morrison’s faith was not incidental to his politics. It was, at least by Morrison’s own account, a fundamental principle of his politics. As far as I can tell,…

WASHINGTON — Deeply conflicted about Joe Biden’s candidacy for president, Democratic lawmakers are back in Washington at a pivotal moment deciding whether to work to rebuild Biden’s campaign or push past party leaders — a make-or-break moment for Biden’s reelection and their own political futures.Biden’s dismal performance in the debates and his defiant response to the turmoil have sparked fears as leading Democrats have joined calls for him to resign. At the same time, some of the president’s most ardent supporters have doubled down on their fight against Biden’s inauguration, arguing that no candidate can beat Republican Donald Trump in…

Sports News (Photos and illustrations/MetroCreative) Jackson Middle School Cross Country Summer Run The Jackson Middle School Cross Country Summer Meet will be held every Monday and Wednesday from 1-2:30pm starting this Monday. Please meet in the parking lot near the football field. All boys and girls in grades 6-8 are welcome to participate. For more information, contact Sharon Marks at 304-481-1741. *** Wort Volleyball Golf Scramble The Wirt County High School volleyball team will host the Scramble on Saturday, July 27th at Mingo Bottom Golf Club. Entry is $200 per group of four, with first and…

The advertising technology world may be getting a surprising new entrant: Electronic Arts.Electronic Arts is hiring a key ad tech executive to streamline the company’s ad offerings. The move is the latest development in EA’s ad push, with CEO Andrew Wilson saying during the company’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call on May 8 that advertising is a “significant growth driver” for the company. EA currently has four job openings for advertising technology roles, which were posted on various job sites between late May and the past few weeks. The positions are being filled at various EA offices, with the majority at…

Philadelphia radio station WURD parted ways with its host who interviewed President Biden on Wednesday using questions provided by the Biden campaign, claiming the interview violated its journalistic independence.”Agreeing to a pre-determined set of questions puts listeners’ trust at risk,” WURD said in a statement Sunday. Host Andrea Lawfull-Sanders resigned by mutual consent, according to WURD.Sanders posed a simple question to Biden in his first interview with a reporter since his uneasy performance at the debate last week. Many viewers tuned in to the show, which has a large black following, to hear how Biden would respond to questions about…