Podcasts about Central government

The heat seems to be back under those trade tensions between the US and China - we'll hear why Beijing has accused the US of “seriously violating” the trade truce between the pair, and look at how it plans to respond in just a moment Also plans to boost internal trading and turbocharge the Canadian economy - that's on the agenda as the country's State leaders meet with the Central Government against perhaps the most difficult economic backdrop Canada has ever faced, in its own trade dispute with the US. And we'll hear how the city of Lagos hopes to persuade commuters out of their cars and onto the water... You can contact us on WhatsApp or send us a voicenote: +44 330 678 3033.

The end of the cruel Peace & the start of the desperate War.Based on ‘One In Ten' by FinalStand, adapted into 17 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.A frightened Mother Mouse will devour her young; similarly, a frightened culture will devour its future.Roni was still working away while the rest of us were in the man-cave once more. Flame seemed happy taking long pulls on the Wild Cherry and smacking her lips. I wasn't surprised she wasn't worrying about Silent. Her wounded comrade was a reliable pair of guns guarding her back and nothing more. Emotional bonds were contrary to her psychopathic nature.Jethro had been sitting on his 'throne' for fifteen minutes, deep in thought."I guess it is about time we got those guns," he announced as he stood up. His words captured everyone's attention yet he didn't appear to care. He started walking from the room and the rest of us followed along. The need for guns had brought us here in the first place.His path led us into his walk-in pantry. One wall of shelves rolled out and to the sides on seamless wheels. Beneath that spot was a steel door, a tad over one meter wide and three meters long. It must have been spring-loaded because once Jethro yanked on the hole that only one finger could fit into, the portal swung open and back.Stairs led down into darkness. Jethro turned around and followed them out of sight for several seconds. Then a light came on. The drop looked to be around four meters. Angel went next. A strange level of respect allowed me to go third. Flame was at my back then Kuiko, Venus and Lavender.The floor was grey-painted concrete. The room stretched out five meters in each direction. 80% of the room was covered with stacked crates with a variety of markings on them, a few even in English. Angel was incredibly tense. I didn't know why, but I had a feel for her moods. The other 20% of the room was an immaculate workbench.Considering Jethro's aversion to cleanliness, this was definitely something noteworthy."What is all this stuff?" Venus asked."Weapons," Angel preempted the old guy."This is an awful lot of weapons," Lavender muttered. No one wanted to say it, so I did."Jethro, you were in the MRA, weren't you?" I tossed out there. I'd told the nation that the MRA was dead and here I was looking at a small armory of illegal weaponry. Jethro had been walking over to the work area. He turned and looked us over."I'm going to do something I don't normally do," Jethro met each of our gazes."I'm going to explain myself. Let's pull some assault rifles out of those crates, make sure they in top shape then go upstairs 'cause I am only going to do this once," he stated."These people don't know how to use firearms," Angel cautioned angrily."They'll never learn if they don't have one and we are approaching the point where we'll need everyone to be a shooter," he countered. "Let's get to it."And that's what we did. These weapons had been top rate stuff at the start of the 21st century. Now, they weren't quite antiques, only old. The basics of using some sort of explosive substance to propel an object at your target remained the same. In the case of firearms, it was remarkably the same, or so Angel said.Kuiko went straight for the Russian-made Surface-to-Air missile, because she thought that the Cyrillic writing looked pretty. It was one of the few exotic devices. Most were clearly Federation military, or Police issue, undoubtedly stolen from some armory at some point early in Jethro's terrorist career.I was irate that Kuiko looked so cute with a bandolier of ammo packs and an automatic shotgun. Angel insisted that only she and Jethro took loaded firearms upstairs. We could carry the gun and the ammo as long as the ammo wasn't in the gun. Venus argued that this defeated the purpose of having the weapon.Angel countered that if she couldn't load it quickly, she probably shouldn't have it in the first place. I caught Flame bagging up a few boxes of ammunition, but Jethro didn't seem to care so I let it slide. It fell to Flame and me to lug extra rifles and cartridge belts up to the rest of the group, being the strongest, Angel was keeping an eye on Jethro and he was keeping an eye on her.Fifteen minutes later, we had gathered back in the spacious dwelling space of our host. Jethro, on his throne, finished off a glass of Wild Cherry and began his tale:"I was seventeen and in high school when the Gender Plague first broke out. I was quarantined for a month before the Supreme Court decided it was illegal and set us men free.I took the opportunity to enlist in the Navy, the U S Navy, because of the man shortage when I was released. Went through Basic, the Specialist School, I was a Damage Control Technician which meant I was a fireman, then a second outbreak happened. I was quarantined for three months this time.I got out and was assigned to the destroyer Michael A. Mansoor. During the Relief of Athens, we all damn near died. Of the eighteen men and women in Damage Control, only me and one other rating enlistee survived. My officer, an ensign, stayed behind to make sure the forward ammunition storage was secure. Our Chief Petty Officer had us seal the ensign in. We saved the ship long enough for the crew to be pulled off.The Mansoor exploded. We were never able to locate her body. She was some R O T C kid who was only with us four months. I never knew her first name until the ceremony after it was all over. She may have been the bravest human being I've ever known. After that, I served aboard the Little Rock working anti-piracy in the Philippines and Indonesia.Since I took part in some land action during that tour, the Navy, I hate using the term Federation, reassigned me to Shore Patrol duty. I took police training and everything. I did another tour aboard the Little Rock the following year then they dragged me off when Congress decided that men couldn't be given combat assignments.Seven months later, they discharged me and thousands of other men as part of a down-sizing program. Unfortunately, the same act of Congress that exited me from the Navy also forbid me joining the fire, or police departments. A buddy of mine was able to find me work in a machine shop where I learned the craft of welding.After that, I was a good boy. I dated, joined a motorcycle club and built up a nice life. When the Gender Inequality Act was passed I was more annoyed than angry. All that changed when I was twenty-nine. See, I had some male friends who joined up with a group called Male Awakening. They were a group devoted to the repeal of the G I A through political means.Things including publically supporting male-friendly candidates and working against G I A-supporters through boycotts and the like. I was rolled up in an FBI sting and those ladies informed me that they'd make those charges go away if I agreed to go inside and spy on Male Awakening. They knew I was friends with those guys. I told them to fuck off, fought the charges and beat their trumped up bullshit.By the time I cleared up my legal troubles, they took the M A down anyway. It seems their Treasurer took off with their funds after leaving some financial irregularities. That was a total load of crap because they never caught that guy, but they did manage to put away most of the group's leadership.A few months later, I ran across one of my buddies who had asked me to join Male Awakening. He'd heard about my troubles and over a few beers, he hinted that the fight wasn't over. This time I bought in. This incarnation didn't have a name. We weren't public. We dug up dirt on corrupt female officials by any means necessary.We destroyed the careers of the worst oppressors of men. Violence wasn't our aim yet we armed ourselves for what we knew would be a harsh crackdown. We operated in small cells, but I knew we had lawyers, judges and even a few Congresswomen on our side. Since we had bracelets by that time, we used women to communicate between cells.Our cell received word of the major Federation sweep, a day before it happened. We were able to move most of our material stashes to new locations before they fell on us. The Writs of Exclusion were abominations. No one ratted me out. For weeks I sweated bullets every time I saw a cop car, a mysterious unmarked car, or heard a siren.After a few months, I began searching for other survivors. We came together in secrecy, united in our fury. The Federation had broken every law and covenant so we agreed that waging a guerilla war was our only option. A week later I bagged my first cop. Put a bullet under her left eye at 80 meters. She was dead before she hit the ground and it felt good.They, the Federation, had murdered my country and now they were paying. Three days later, I waited for a Federation agent to walk out on her porch to see her little girl off to school. I walked up, told the little girl her mother was a whore and put nine slugs into that whore's body and I felt just fine about that too.""No," squeaked Kuiko."That is the way it was," Jethro gave Kuiko a paternal look. "Those women came at me with every dirty trick they could come up with to take away my freedom and I put them in the grave for it.""You murdered people," Angel growled."Fuck you, Cop. The Gender Inequality Act was passed by women to enslave men. No man ever voted on it," Jethro snarled. "Men tried to use the system so you cheated. Boohoo that your bosses didn't figure out our only option left was violent resistance.""I killed seventeen government officials and my only regret is I didn't kill more. Not one was a fair fight. Kuiko, I killed that bitch in front of her daughter because I wanted her buddies to come around and see the anguish on that little girl's face. I wanted them to worry about their own daughters. I wanted them to know they were at war.""You are a murdering scumbag," Roni snapped."I disagree," Flame shook her head. "You are morons if you think he should have called out every freaking target and said 'hey, I know you have all the back-up in the world and I'm alone so I'm giving you ample warning that I'm going to try and kill you.'""You are a psycho," Aniqua pointed out. "It figures you would agree with him.""He didn't have a choice," Samantha intervened. Her speaking so decisively was almost as stunning as her words themselves. "Having a gun might not have saved Israel against the Aurora Slasher, but it might have discouraged those sorority students.""The politics of payback," Flame laughed. "Jethro might sound like some sadistic bastard to the rest of you; not to me. His tactics are sound and they work. Kill enough cops and women stop joining the force. The authorities either crack down harder, bringing more over to your cause, or they concede to some of your demands.""It is how a very small force fights a much larger adversary," Flame concluded."That's still cold blooded murder," Angel reiterated. I didn't know what to think. Jethro butchered defenseless women. The President doomed millions. I admired what Zara did except it was some of the same things that Jethro did, yet she was a soldier and he was a terrorist."There is no resolution to this argument," I spoke clearly and loud. "Short of violence to silence the opposition, there is nothing we can do to rectify the past now. Jethro, why did you stop being a member of the MRA?""Spokane," Jethro answered. "I had no problem with killing cops and Feds, and intimidating their families. They were part of the problem.""Those high school girls though, that made no sense to me. We weren't at war with the female gender; we were at war with the government and their policy of enslavement. Killing random kids was wrong and I wouldn't be associated with it. I talked this over with my cell, they disagreed and I told them that if I saw any of them again, I'd kill them," Jethro clarified."I had several caches only I knew about. I waited a few months then moved up to the city, slowly bringing everything up here as I had the time. A year and a half later, my old buddy was caught up in a traffic stop, shot it out with the cops and was killed. From stuff they found on his body, he rolled up the rest of the gang, but the other members didn't know my real name.""The G E D came out and talked with me. They kept an eye on me for a few years. I behaved and grew old so they eventually went sniffing elsewhere. We wouldn't be here now if I hadn't gone drinking with Kuiko and let slip about my gun stash," Jethro smiled at my little friend. "I knew she'd never betray me, and she hasn't.""Now I've got a front row seat to the End of the World so I get one last chance to make a difference," he said. Yeah, this old guy wanted to go down in a hail of gunfire, no doubt about it."Good for you, you butcher," Roni glared. "I won't do this.""I signed on to make a difference," she continued, "not to hang out with cold-blooded killers. I'm out of here. Is anyone with me?" Aniqua stood up. Venus seriously hesitated before joining them. Venus was looking right at me. Angel's eyes were boring holes into me as well."Israel?" Angel inquired.I could go with them. I could stay. I could beg them to stay. I could stay silent and let events drag me along. My mind was playing Jinga with the vortex of intellectual input and buzz saw emotions that were boiling forth."Angel, Roni, Venus and Aniqua sit back down," I stood and stated. It took them a varying number of seconds to realize I was Not pleading."Israel, you don't get to decide that for us," Roni replied evenly. "We let you go to the Arena last night. This time, we get to choose and we are leaving. If you are the man I hope you are, you will come with us.""At the same time you're pressuring me to give more to the group despite my misgivings, Roni, you are giving less?" I countered. She started to protest. I raised my hand for a reprieve."Hear me out," I continued. "It isn't that simple. I am not questioning your moral quandary about working with people too comfortable with taking human life. It is very real and I feel it. The difference is that you would rather be right and dead than alive at any cost. You've never had to make that call before, but I have and I'm alive to tell you that you are wrong, Roni.""You are dead wrong because dead does nothing. The living can always come back and make something better. Hell, that's what my life has been about the past week and a half. The rest of you are neophytes going into this. I'm not. I know exactly what it takes morally to survive. Don't make me follow any of you out that door. I love each and every one of you.""I do love you, but am I obligated to jump off a cliff for you? I respect your choice to choose suicide. It would be wrong of me to rob you of that freedom. Please don't try to make this about affection, compassion, or loyalty though. It is a matter of life and death. Roni, you are trying to kill me, which I'm okay with. I resent you killing Angel, Aniqua and Venus," I stressed."That's fucked up reasoning," Roni fought back. "Those two get off on killing other people. They enjoy it. Why can't you see that they are just as likely to get you killed as keep you alive?""I will agree with you that Flame gets off on watching people suffer and die," I nodded. "It is the way she is. I don't know Jethro so I'm not ready to make a judgment call on him.""I do know that both of them have exquisite weapon skills and I'm pretty sure we are going to need them before we are truly free," I explained. "I would prefer an all-male super commando squad who had passed every psychological test ever made. That doesn't appear to be on the menu, so I'm willing to hold on to whatever resources are available.""So you are willing to risk all our lives for the sake of expediency," Angel glared."Absolutely," I shot right back. "In case no one is paying attention, I am not in some government facility helping working on some kind of serum to fight the new plague. In case you missed it, everyone here agreed with my decision to flee instead.""Roni, Angel, you do realize that young lady who saved me this morning is going to die, right? I could have insisted she come with us. I could have given her the cure. I didn't. None of you asked me to even after I told the whole globe of an unstoppable wave of death coming for everyone. I'm not asking you to take responsibility for my decision because it was mine.""I'm begging you; understand that it isn't the end of morality to stay. When the madness ends, you need to decide if we will still be worthy of continuing on. You'll no longer be part of that equation if you go now," I declared."Are we supposed to ignore that he was a terrorist and she is a homicidal maniac?" Aniqua said."I'm not homicidal," Flame grinned. "I'm a psychotic sociopath. I don't randomly kill people. I do it with malice of forethought." Jethro didn't show a desire to defend himself."Israel, Flame almost killed you last night," Venus pointed out. "Why would you stick around?"Why was I sticking around?"Israel, don't do this," Angel said. "You promised me you would stop running into danger.""Angel, why do you have to be right and I have to be wrong?" I sighed."Because those two are dangerous criminals," Roni answered. Didn't Roni understand that I was a far more callous killer than either of those 'criminals' and I didn't have to lift a finger, or look at a single grave?(Before the Curtain Call)Shortly after nine-thirty that night, the awaited and feared seismic event happened in China. A few minutes past sunrise over Hong Kong the rains broke and a fleet of helicopters and V T O Ls (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) were heard over the city. Helicopters were not unknown in this center of wealth and commerce. Well over a hundred all coming in at once was noteworthy.For many of the citizens of the city, it had been a restless night. After midnight, police sirens had been wailing all over the city. Some even heard gunfire. What they didn't know was that for the past four hours, private security forces working for the most prominent communities and some special police units had raided the middle class communities of the city and stolen their men.They forced the men into protective suits and hustled them back to the high-rises that sheltered the most 'important' people. This was an outrage that they could not get away with, had China still functioned normally. A new order based on brutal social cannibalism was taking place. The rich were taking their vassals and their new 'acquisitions' to their estates far from the population centers.This was supposed to be a gradual process except late yesterday afternoon the other Great Families learned that one of their own had their first reported case of this new 'flu.' They could wait no longer. They would have preferred to flee under the cover of darkness, but rain and the danger of so many helicopters and V T O Ls moving around forced them to postpone until first light.You didn't have to be a connoisseur of conspiracy theories to figure out what was going on. Men had been stolen and now the rich were bugging out of town in one big hurry. Late Friday, the 'flu' began to appear in the population in a big way. The workers in the hospital were afraid, not fearful, afraid.

Productivity in public services has never been more important. Most services are struggling to return to pre-pandemic performance levels, and the new Labour government has indicated that spending will remain tight. Improvements in performance will likely come from frontline workers finding new, innovative ways of delivering services.    So what can be done to improve productivity? By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, Productivity Pitches, a series of events hosted by the IfG, aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels.   This event was the sixth in the series and focused on central government.   Each speaker had 10 minutes to present their innovation, followed by 10 minutes of audience questions. The chair and a guest from The Productivity Institute – which is kindly supporting this event series – brought together the common themes from the pitches and discussed the lessons for improving productivity.   The speakers for this edition of Productivity Pitches were:    Brice Dassy and Dominic Lague on how the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has recently started using the Cabinet Office-developed Government Reporting Integration Platform (GRIP) to simplify and speed up the data collection and sharing process for major projects, providing ministers with more timely and relevant information than under the previous system. Neil Lloyd on The National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), the first centralised record of all assets that are buried under the ground. When fully implemented, the NUAR will save a range of government agencies time and money when carrying out vital road works and other construction projects. Freya Pinks and Laurie Thraves on the launch of The National Situation Centre (SitCen), which was established to collate up to date data and information in one place. Their dashboards allow policy makers to assess risk and respond quickly in the case of a national emergency or crisis. (This presentation is not included in the recording above) The event was chaired by Emma Norris, Deputy Director at the Institute for Government. Institute for Government. Bart van Ark, the Managing Director of The Productivity Institute, joined the discussion of common themes.   Productivity Pitches is kindly supported by The Productivity Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Productivity in public services has never been more important. Most services are struggling to return to pre-pandemic performance levels, and the new Labour government has indicated that spending will remain tight. Improvements in performance will likely come from frontline workers finding new, innovative ways of delivering services. So what can be done to improve productivity? By highlighting outstanding examples of innovation across public services, Productivity Pitches, a series of events hosted by the IfG, aims to share and support ways to improve performance levels. This event was the sixth in the series and focused on central government. Each speaker had 10 minutes to present their innovation, followed by 10 minutes of audience questions. The chair and a guest from The Productivity Institute – which is kindly supporting this event series – brought together the common themes from the pitches and discussed the lessons for improving productivity. The speakers for this edition of Productivity Pitches were: Brice Dassy and Dominic Lague on how the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has recently started using the Cabinet Office-developed Government Reporting Integration Platform (GRIP) to simplify and speed up the data collection and sharing process for major projects, providing ministers with more timely and relevant information than under the previous system. Neil Lloyd on The National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), the first centralised record of all assets that are buried under the ground. When fully implemented, the NUAR will save a range of government agencies time and money when carrying out vital road works and other construction projects. The event was chaired by Emma Norris, Deputy Director at the Institute for Government. Institute for Government. Bart van Ark, the Managing Director of The Productivity Institute, joined the discussion of common themes. Productivity Pitches is kindly supported by The Productivity Institute.

An Auckland Central business group says the Government has missed a golden opportunity for growth by not funding the America's Cup. Central Government refused to give any funding to the 2027 edition of the race. Heart of the City Chief Executive Viv Beck says the bars, restaurants, tourist spots and hotels would have benefited immensely. She told Andrew Dickens the event is ripe for the picking, as we have the infrastructure already, and the economic benefits would be there. Beck says they understand the Government has other priorities, but with imagination, will, and determination, there could've been a different result. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last time we spoke about the January 28th Incident. In January of 1932, tensions escalated in Shanghai as anti-Japanese sentiments surged after Japan's invasion of Manchuria. Orchestrated by Yoshiko Kawashima, a Japanese spy, a provocation led to violence, sparking outrage among Japanese expatriates. Japan demanded apologies and compensation from China, threatening military action if their demands were unmet. As the Japanese military amassed forces in Shanghai, the Chinese 19th Route Army prepared to resist, igniting the conflict known as the January 28th Incident, marking the beginning of a fierce struggle for control. Amidst chaos, the Nanjing government struggled to respond to Japan's escalating aggression in Shanghai. Chiang Kai-Shek prioritized avoiding war, urging a diplomatic approach to protect Shanghai's economy. Despite pressure, the 19th Route Army was ordered to withdraw, but tensions flared when Japan attacked the Chinese garrison. The 19th Route Army fiercely resisted, leading to intense battles. As Japan sent reinforcements, Chiang faced mounting protests and criticism for his passive stance, questioning whether he could maintain his strategy against the encroaching enemy.   #144 The First Battle of Shanghai 1932 Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. In the last episode we covered the January 28th Incident. At 11:30 pm on January 28, Japan ordered 2,300 Japanese Marines to advance westward along every branch road on the west side of North Sichuan Road, without waiting for a response. This road, which crosses into the northern area of the International Settlement and has frequently been designated as a Japanese defense zone, includes Target Road (now known as Wujin Road in Hongkou District, Shanghai), Qiujiang Road, and Yokohama Road. Their objective was to seize the Songhu Railway defense line at Tiantong'an Station. They faced strong resistance from the 19th Route Army, further escalating the conflict. In the early hours of the 29th, Japanese aircraft launched from the Notoro seaplane carrier, which was moored on the Huangpu River, attacked the Chinese district of Zhabei. Both the Commercial Press located at No. 584 Baoshan Road and the Oriental Library, the largest private library in China with over 300,000 books, were completely destroyed. That same day the 19th Route Army sent a telegram to the entire nation concerning the situation: Do forgive me it's a rough translation “Urgent. Dear Sir and Madam, the Japanese have occupied our three northeastern provinces, changing the color of our territory and making our nation perish. Recently, they have killed and set fire in Shanghai, and vagrants are everywhere, doing the most despicable and violent things in the world. Gunboats are coming one after another, and the Marines are all landed. At 12:00 a.m. on the 28th, they openly invaded our defense line in Zhabei, Shanghai, and challenged us. Guang Nai and others are soldiers, and they only know that it is their duty to defend themselves and defend their land. They cannot give up even an inch of land or an inch of grass. They resist to save the country and protect the race. Even if they sacrifice only one person and one bullet, they will never retreat and lose the personality of the soldiers of the Republic of China. This thing and this ambition are exposed to the sun and the sun and are known to the world. The spirits of our ancestors in heaven are truly relying on it”. On the morning of January 29, Chiang Kai-shek met with He Yingqin and Zhu Peide to discuss countermeasures. Simultaneously Zhu Peide convened a meeting with He Yingqin, Gu Zhutong, Li Jishen, Deng Shizeng, Lin Wei, and others to address issues such as defense deployment, the security of Nanjing and the Yangtze River, and resistance against Japan. Chiang Kai-Shek established the principles going forward for negotiations with Japan, emphasizing the need to prepare for talks while actively resisting. He stated that negotiations must have a clear final line of defense and a maximum limit that would not compromise administrative and territorial integrity, undermine the spirit of the Nine-Power Treaty, or jeopardize national sovereignty. If these limits were exceeded and unacceptable concessions were made, a decisive battle would be fought, even at the cost of defeat and death.  The defense and military strategy for Beijing and Shanghai included the 19th Route Army defending Shanghai with full strength, while the front guard army consisting of the 87th and 88th divisions would protect Nanjing. He Yingqin would remain in Nanjing, overseeing all party, government, and military personnel left behind. Chiang, along with the Central Political Council of the Kuomintang, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Government, and Chen Mingshu, all expressed their commitment to resisting Japanese aggression. Chiang also sent a telegram to He Chengjun, director of the Hubei Province Pacification Office, and Xu Tingyao, commander of the Fourth Division, stating "Last night, the Japanese invaders attacked our 19th Route Defense Line in Zhabei, Shanghai, and the battle is ongoing. Our army is determined to fight to the death. Their naval forces in Han and Xun will likely engage in military operations. We urge you to remain vigilant and defend yourselves, never yielding to them. The Fourth Division should concentrate on strict defense in Wuhan and avoid dispersal. If military funds become scarce, local governments will need to raise them independently." The National Government Military Committee appointed Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, and Zhang Xueliang as members responsible for mobilizing the army and commanding the Shanghai War. Chiang Kai-Shek officially resumed power after resigning to prevent a surrender and committed to a prolonged resistance. On January 30, the Chinese Nationalist Government announced the relocation of the capital to Luoyang. Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram urging resistance against the Japanese and dispatched the elite Fifth Army to reinforce Shanghai. That night, Dai Ji, the commander of the Songhu Garrison, took charge of military operations in Shanghai, overseeing the 19th Route Army. The commander-in-chief was Jiang Guangnai, with Cai Tingkai as the army commander and division commanders Qu Shounian, Mao Weishou, and Shen Guanghan. Chiang Kai-Shek then issued a telegram to his troops across the nation and again I apologize for the rough translation. "Since the Northeast Incident began, the Central Government has been enduring humiliation and maintaining peace in order to avoid war and protect the lifeline of the country. It hopes to use justice and fairness to awaken the Japanese pirates. Unexpectedly, the more we tolerate, the more arrogant they become. When the Shanghai Incident occurred, we accepted their demands with great pain, but the Japanese pirates still brazenly pressed on, repeatedly attacking our Shanghai Defense Force, bombing civilian houses, throwing bombs on the streets, and our compatriots were ravaged. The country is about to perish. Anyone with blood in his veins would rather endure it. Since the 19th Route Army has risen up to defend itself bravely, our entire army In this time of national destruction and extinction, when the revolutionary soldiers are facing imminent danger, they should fight for the dignity of the country, strive for the survival of the nation, fulfill their responsibilities for the revolution, and be determined to die rather than live in disgrace, so as to deal with the brutal Japan that destroys peace and despises faith and integrity... Chiang Kai-shek and his comrades have shared hardships for a long time. Although I am now in the opposition, I am willing to swear to live and die with the soldiers and fulfill my bounden duty. I am here to inform you in advance with my blood and sincerity, and ask you to be determined and work hard, share the same hatred with the enemy, do not be arrogant, maintain the spirit of sacrifice, stay ready to fight, and save the country from danger." From that day on, the various ministries, commissions and committees of the National Government began to move to Luoyang, but the Military Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remained in Nanjing . At the same time, the frontline troops were ordered to be jointly commanded by the Minister of Military Affairs He Yingqin and the Chief of the General Staff Zhu Peide.  Typically Chinese sources breakdown what is known as the First Battle of Shanghai into three phases. In the previous episode we looked through the event up until the point of the first phase. After the initial fighting, both the 19th route army and Japanese agreed to a ceasefire so they could strengthen their positions and at least allow some form of diplomacy to occur. This went into effect on the 29th. As we mentioned, immediately afterwards the Japanese rapidly began reinforcing their position in Shanghai. They first sent the Sasebo 26th Squadron on the 30th, bearing 474 troops of the Sasebo 3rd Special Marine Corps alongside supplies. The next day the aircraft carriers Kaga and Hosho came over with 30 aircraft from the 1st air fleet. Then the cruisers Naka, Yura and Abukuma alongside 4 torpedo boats came bearing another 2000 marines. On February 1st the Terukoku Maru brought over the Yokosuka 1st Special Marine corps, roughly 525 men who landed at Huishan Wharf. With all that said and done, roughly 7000 Japanese troops had been brought over. On February 1st, the IJN warships began bombarding Nanjing from the Yangtze River, prompting Yu Jishi to frantically demand Chiang Kai-Shek transfer more troops to Shanghai. That night the Japanese light cruiser Tenryu, the protected cruisers Hirado and Taima, and the seven ships of the Navy's 23rd Destroyer Squadron fired upon Nanjing using four 140mm guns, 12 152mm single-mounted rapid-fire guns, 12 120mm single-mounted guns, and 20 76mm single-mounted rapid-fire guns. The rich and officials fled the city for refuge, but the Japanese army did not land any men to follow up the attack. Simultaneously 40,000 Shanghai workers from over 20 Japanese owned cotton mills began an anti-Japanese strike, being heavily backed by Communists. The workers began aiding the 19th route army to blockade the Japanese in the factories and streets and sabotage what they could.  On February 2nd, the Japanese army attacked Wusong several times, but was repelled each time. On the 3rd the Japanese expanded their attacks against Zhabei, Baziqiao and other locations, but the Chinese defenders successfully repelled these assaults as well. On the 4th, the Japanese launched their first major offensive, which extended the conflict to Jiangwan and Wusong. Following a day of intense fighting, the Wusong fort was destroyed by enemy bombardment; however, the Japanese army was unable to land due to the determined resistance of the Chinese defenders. The anti-aircraft artillery company from the 88th Division, reassigned to the 4th Regiment of the 156th Brigade of the 19th Route Army, managed to shoot down a Japanese aircraft. After the failure of the general offensive, Yukiichi Shiozawa was dismissed and sent back to Japan. Vice Admiral Yoshisaburo Nomura, the newly appointed commander of the Third Fleet, succeeded Shiozawa. After Nomura assumed his role, the Japanese army began to bolster its forces. Japan had initially planned to deploy troops when tensions escalated in Shanghai, but the navy had opposed this move. However, as the situation deteriorated, the navy was compelled to seek assistance from the army. On February 2, the Japanese cabinet officially decided to send troops. In response to the urgent circumstances in Shanghai, they resolved to dispatch the Shanghai Dispatch Mixed Brigade, led by Brigade Commander Major General Shimomoto Kuma, along with the 9th Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Ueda Kenkichi. The Shanghai Dispatch Mixed Brigade and the Second Independent Tank Squadron were prioritized for transport. Concurrently, the Japanese Navy also sent the Yokosuka 2nd Special Marine Corps to Shanghai. The 24th Mixed Brigade landed in Wusong on the afternoon of February 7. By this time, the combined forces of the Japanese navy, army, and air force had exceeded 10,000 personnel. At dawn on February 8, the Japanese Army's 24th Mixed Brigade launched an attack on Zhanghuabang, Yunzaobang, and Wusong Town along three routes, but they were repelled by our forces. Meanwhile on February 4, the National Government Military Commission sent out a telegram that divided the country into four defense zones. The first zone, which includes the area north of the Yellow River, was assigned to Zhang Xueliang as the commander-in-chief. The second zone, covering the area south of the Yellow River, was placed under the command of Chiang Kai-shek. The third zone, encompassing the area south of the Yangtze River as well as Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, was led by He Yingqin. The fourth zone, which includes Guangdong and Guangxi, was commanded by Chen Jitang. The telegram also stated that, aside from maintaining troops for local stability, all commanders were to concentrate their forces within their respective defense zones to confront the aggressive Japanese. Additionally, a directive was issued for the provinces of Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Henan to send troops to serve as a general reserve. On February 5, upon learning that the Japanese army had been redeployed from mainland China to Shanghai, Chairman of the Military Commission Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram from Luoyang to He Yingqin. He instructed that if the Japanese forces landed, the Chinese Air Force would engage in combat. Additionally, Chiang sent a message of condolence to Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai, and Dai Ji of the 19th Route Army, stating "Brothers, you have been fighting valiantly for a week. Each time I reflect on the tremendous sacrifices made by the soldiers and their dedication, I feel a deep sadness... If necessary, Zhong (Zheng) can come to lead in person. When the Air Force enters the fray, the Army must establish various signals in advance to communicate with it and ensure coordinated efforts..." On the same day, the 88th Division arrived in Suzhou. On February 6, Chiang ordered the 261st Brigade of the 87th Division to move from Nanjing to reinforce Kunshan. The troops reached Kunshan on February 7. On February 8, Chiang directed He Yingqin to transfer an artillery battalion to support the 19th Route Army. Then, on February 9, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized the First Division, led by Commander Hu Zongnan, and the Seventh Division, commanded by Wang Jun, to prepare for reinforcement of the 19th Route Army in Shanghai. February 8th marks the second phase of the battle. On the 10th, to ensure that the 88th Division of the Central Army complied with the orders from the 19th Route Army of the Guangdong Army, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Yu Jishi insisting that "your troops must strictly follow the commands of Commander-in-Chief Chiang and coordinate their movements with allied forces." The Japanese Marine Corps, under Yukio Shiozawa, initiated a three-pronged encirclement attack from Hongkou. The National Army mounted a determined defense and ultimately repelled the Japanese forces, pursuing and destroying them, which significantly lowered their morale. On February 11, Chen Cheng, commander of the Central Army's 18th Army, sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek from Ji'an, Jiangxi, reporting that the troops had not been paid for nearly two months and were lacking food. At that time, the National Government was planning to redeploy the National Army that had been engaged in suppressing the Communists in Jiangxi to Zhejiang and Shanghai and to relocate the capital to Luoyang.  On February 12, following a battle at Caojiaqiao, the Japanese army's strategy to consolidate their forces was entirely disrupted. The next morning, February 13, the Japanese 24th Mixed Brigade crossed the Caojiaqiao Bridge in Zhuozaobang and engaged with the Nationalist army. Seizing the moment, the 19th Route Army Headquarters aimed to annihilate the Japanese forces. The Nationalist army surrounded the Japanese troops near the Yong'an Cotton Mill. Additionally, 60 members of a suicide squad launched a suicide attack, resulting in the complete destruction of 1,600 Japanese soldiers. The Japanese army faced significant losses, thwarting their attempt to swiftly capture Wusong. On February 14, Chiang ordered the 88th and 87th Divisions, which were already stationed in Nanxiang and Kunshan near Shanghai, to be reorganized into the Fifth Army. He appointed Zhang Zhizhong, a volunteer eager to fight against the Japanese, as the commander of the Fifth Army. This new army was placed under the unified command of the 19th Route Army and took over the defense line stretching from the northern end of Jiangwan through Miaoxing to the western end of Wusong. It served as the left-wing army, while the 19th Route Army acted as the right-wing, tasked with defending Jiangwan, the area south of Dachang, and the urban region of Shanghai. To replenish the 19th Route Army's losses, Chiang repeatedly ordered reinforcements from various locations. For instance, on February 15, Shangguan Yunxiang dispatched 500 active soldiers from Bengbu to the 19th Route Army; on February 17, Liang Guanying sent 500 unarmed soldiers from Qingjiangpu; and on February 19, Liu Zhi contributed 1,000 active unarmed soldiers from Henan. On February 16, Chiang Kai-shek communicated with Finance Minister Song Ziwen via telegram, stating, "Since the Japanese refuse to withdraw their troops from Shanghai, we must resist until the end. ... Food supplies in Jiangxi and Henan will dwindle, and assistance will be completely halted. Please arrange to deposit 10 million yuan in central banknotes in Nanchang and 20 million yuan in Zhengzhou. This will allow the government to continue functioning, the army to be sustained, and perhaps we can navigate this crisis and avert collapse. This is my final request. I hope you can find a way to assist." To prevent any friction between the Fifth Army and the Nineteenth Route Army over competing for military accolades, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Zhang Zhizhong and Yu Jishi on February 18. "The fight against Japan is a matter of national survival and is not a matter of honor for an individual or a certain unit. Our frontline officers and men should fully understand this. Therefore, the honor of the 19th Route Army is the honor of our entire National Revolutionary Army. There is absolutely no distinction between honor and disgrace. The Fifth Army's joining the front line is feared by the enemy and will also be slandered by the reactionaries (those who oppose the Nanjing Central Government). If we can continue to fight in the name of the 19th Route Army, it will be enough to demonstrate the strength of our National Revolutionary Army. We will share life and death, let alone honor and disgrace. I hope that this will be conveyed to the officers and men of the Fifth Army. They must unite and fight with our 19th Route Army and make no sacrifices to complete the revolutionary mission." Over on the other side, following reports of significant losses suffered by the Japanese army in Wusong, Tokyo received an imperial decree from Emperor Hirohito demanding the Shanghai incident get settled quick. In response, Chief of Staff Zairen urgently ordered the 9th Army Division, commanded by Ueda Kenkichi, to swiftly reinforce Shanghai. By the afternoon of February 13, the main contingent of the 9th Division had arrived at Shanghai Port, and by February 16, all personnel had disembarked in Wusong. Consequently, Lieutenant General Ueda took over command from Nomura. At this point, the Japanese invading forces comprised over 30,000 troops from naval, land, and air units, along with 60 to 70 field artillery pieces, more than 60 aircraft, and dozens of ships concentrated at the Wusong mouth. Ueda issued a statement late on the night of the 13th, asserting, "If anyone obstructs our division from fulfilling its mission, we will take decisive action without hesitation." On the 18th, he sent an ultimatum to Cai Tingkai, demanding, "Your army must immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from the following areas by 5:00 p.m. on February 20: on the west bank of the Huangpu River, retreat from areas connecting the western end of the concession, Caojiadu Town, Zhoujiaqiao Town, and Pushong Town to the north; on the east bank, withdraw from areas connecting Lannidu and Zhangjialou Town to the north, and retreat to a zone 20 kilometers away from the border of each concession Additionally, all military installations in the specified areas must be dismantled and no new ones established. If these demands are not met, the Japanese army will have no choice but to act freely against your forces, and your army will bear all resulting consequences." In response to Ueda's ultimatum, Tsai and Chiang ordered their front-line troops to fire heavily at Japanese positions as a warning. On the morning of February 20, Ueda commanded a full-scale attack across the front, employing tactics to break through the center while flanking from both sides. The 9th Division led the assault on the junction of Jiangwan and Miaohang, aiming to encircle Wusong from the north with the Kurume Brigade and Zhabei with the Marine Corps from the south. The Japanese began with artillery bombardments, followed by infantry and tank assaults on the Zhanghuabang and Yangshupu lines, both of which were successfully repelled by Chinese defenders. Over a thousand Japanese soldiers and several tanks in Zhabei were killed or wounded due to landmines. On February 21, Ueda personally directed thousands of infantry, supported by aircraft and artillery, to attack the Chinese defensive positions. Both sides incurred heavy casualties, and the battle continued until dawn on the 23rd. The Japanese forces attempted to encircle Jiangwan Town from Jiangwan Station, but the Chinese defenders fought valiantly, launching multiple charges and capturing Japanese Major Kong Sheng along with hundreds of soldiers. Ultimately, the Japanese army was unable to withstand the resistance and began to retreat. After the Japanese 9th Division arrived in Shanghai, it prepared to initiate a second major assault on the defenders of the city. The strategy involved a comprehensive attack stretching from Zhabei to Wusong to contain the Chinese army's strength, with primary forces concentrated on Jiangwan and Miaohang. The goal was to seize these two strategic points, achieve a breakthrough in the center, sever the link between the 5th Army and the 19th Route Army, and then defeat them individually. At dawn on February 20, the Japanese dispatched over ten aircraft for reconnaissance and bombing missions over the Miaohang area. Naval artillery and heavy army cannons heavily shelled the Miaohang positions. Simultaneously, Japanese artillery bombarded the Yunzaobang area in an effort to force a crossing and facilitate the Miaohang offensive.   By 9 am, part of the Japanese forces advanced towards the Xiaochang Temple and the Maijiazhai position, immediately conducting a fire search on our troops' positions. At noon, 3,000 Japanese soldiers launched an attack against our forces. The officers and soldiers of the 527th Regiment, defending the Maijiazhai and Zhuyuandun positions, mounted a counterattack, marking the beginning of the Battle of Miaohang. After three hours of intense fighting, the Japanese suffered significant casualties and were unable to continue, retreating to their original positions. Following this, over 2,000 Japanese troops attacked the Xiaochang Temple and Jinjiatang positions. The officers and soldiers of the 523rd Regiment, taking cover in the trenches, launched counterattacks and successfully repelled the Japanese forces. As dusk fell, the Japanese infantry halted their assaults, but naval and land artillery continued to bombard our positions in an attempt to weaken our defenses and personnel for a renewed attack the following day. On February 21, Japanese artillery relentlessly shelled the positions of the 88th Division of the Fifth Army in Miaohang. Following this, thousands of Japanese infantry launched an assault on the Yanjiazhai and Miaohang Town front. As the Japanese forces advanced, the officers and soldiers of the 523rd and 524th Regiments bravely counterattacked and successfully repelled them. However, a significant number of enemy troops coordinated a comprehensive assault on the Maijiazhai, Zhuyuandun, Xiaochangmiao, and Yanjiazhai lines south of Miaohang. Our 523rd, 524th, and 527th Regiments engaged in intense combat with the enemy, particularly at the Zhuyuandun front near Maijiazhai and Xu Xu, where the fighting was especially fierce. After a day of conflict, the enemy was temporarily pushed back. On February 22, the Japanese 9th Division launched a full-scale attack on the Miaohang position held by the 88th Division of the Fifth Army. Throughout the day, aircraft bombed the Chinese defenders, and thousands of artillery shells were fired at them. However, under the direct command of Zhang Zhizhong, the enemy faced a devastating defeat due to the coordinated three-pronged assault by the Sun Yuanliang Brigade, the Song Xilian Brigade, and the 61st Division of the 19th Route Army. The Miaohang position was ultimately saved from peril, inflicting heavy casualties on the elite forces of the Japanese 9th Division and the Kurume Mixed Brigade. This victory became known as the "Miaohang Victory." In the days that followed, the enemy continued their bombardment and attacks but were consistently repelled by the defenders. The Japanese army suffered significant losses, shifting from an all-out offensive to a more focused approach before ultimately halting their attacks. By the 25th, Ueda's overall offensive strategy had also failed. On February 24, the Japanese army decided to escalate the conflict once more, transferring the 11th and 14th divisions from Japan to join the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, which included troops already engaged in the war. At that time, the flagship of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, the Izumo, sustained damage from a bombing raid carried out by the suicide squad of the 19th Route Army, which sent shockwaves through Japan. Additionally, the large troop presence made a quick resolution to the war impossible. Consequently, on the 23rd, the Japanese cabinet decided to promptly reinforce the army. The General Staff then established the Shanghai Expeditionary Army Command, appointing General Shirakawa Yoshinori, the former Minister of War in the Tanaka Cabinet, to replace Ueda. They dispatched the 11th Division (led by Lieutenant General Atsutarou Atsuto), the 14th Division (led by Lieutenant General Naoaki Matsuki), and over 100 aircraft to China to initiate a larger-scale offensive in Shanghai. After several reinforcements, the Japanese forces in Shanghai, under Shirakawa's command, grew to over 90,000 troops, supported by 80 warships and 300 aircraft, significantly enhancing their combat effectiveness. In contrast, the total strength of the Chinese defenders was less than 50,000, with inadequate equipment. After a month of intense fighting, the Chinese forces had suffered heavy losses, leaving their river defenses in the Taicang Liuhe area vulnerable. Learning from the failures of the previous three commanders' frontal assaults, Shirakawa opted to land at Liuhe and flank the Songhu defenders. He directed the 9th Division and other units to launch a direct attack on Songhu and Shanghai while using the 3rd Fleet to escort the 11th Division into the Yangtze River estuary. They executed surprise landings at Liuhekou, Yanglinkou, and Qiyakou, quickly outflanking the defenders. On March 1, the Japanese forces initiated attacks in Naobei, Jiangwan, and Miaohang, employing heavy artillery, field guns, and aircraft for continuous bombardment. The infantry capitalized on this to engage in close-quarters combat, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Meanwhile, Shirakawa secretly instructed the 11th Division to exploit the weakness of the Chinese troops in Liuhe, forcibly landing at Qiyakou, Yanglinkou, and Liubinkou, ultimately capturing Liuhe. The fall of Liuhe posed a significant threat to the flank and rear of the Chinese army, compelling the entire force to retreat to the second line of defense (the Jiading-Huangdu line) by the evening of March 1.  After 34 days of intense fighting, they were forced to retreat to their second line of defense. At this point, the war had entered its final phase, resulting in a stalemate between the two sides. On the 2nd, the Japanese army seized Shanghai, and by March 3, they occupied Zhenru and Nanxiang, subsequently announcing a ceasefire. Now while we have been focused on the Japanese and Chinese perspectives in this, the international community was also heavily involved in the background. After the outbreak of hostilities, the British and American consuls in Shanghai offered to mediate. However despite a ceasefire being implemented the hostilities continued. So on February 2nd, Britain, America, France, Italy and Germany sent a notice to China and Japan "proposing to stop the conflict; (1) both sides immediately stop all violent acts according to the following conditions; (2) there will be no mobilization or preparation for any hostile acts between the two countries; (3) the Chinese and Japanese combatants in Shanghai will withdraw from the contact points; (4) a neutral zone will be established to separate the combatants of both sides to protect the public concession. The area will be garrisoned by neutral military and police, and various methods will be formulated by the consular corps; (5) once the two countries accept the treaty, they will not make any demands or reservations in advance, but will quickly negotiate with the assistance of neutral observers or participants in accordance with the spirit of the Kellogg-War Pact and the December 9th League of Nations resolution to resolve all outstanding issues..." Nanjing generally accepted the terms, but Japan instead proposed non-military zones be established 20 miles around the major ports of Shanghai, Hankou, Tianjin, Qingdao and Guangzhou as a sort of counter proposal. Meanwhile at the League of Nations, Yan Huiqing was drawing attention to the Shanghai incident, obviously linking it to the Manchuria incident and advocated for Article 10 of the League of Nations Charter, which was in regards to respecting territorial integrity and political independence of league nations. The League of Nations agreed and organized a committee to investigate the Shanghai incident. On February 4th Chiang Kai-Shek would write in his diary "As long as we do not lose our national sovereignty and territory, and the Japanese invaders do not put forward unacceptable conditions, we can take advantage of the opportunity of British and American intervention to negotiate with them; we cannot take a tough stance when other countries intervene, which will lead to adverse effects." By late February US Secretary of State Henry Stimson warned Japan for the second time, that the Nine Power Treaty and other treaties had to be maintained. Then on the 23rd he sent a letter reiterating the nine-power treaty and Kellogg War Pact to the League of Nations in regards to the Shanghai situation. On the 29th, a four-point plan for mediating the Shanghai incident was adopted at the League of Nations. The objective was to swiftly establish a local ceasefire agreement with the assistance of civil and military officials from various countries present in Shanghai. Following this, a round-table meeting was to be convened with representatives from nations with vested interests in Shanghai to discuss security measures for the International Settlement, the French Concession, and the local residents, as well as to address other issues. Subsequently, representatives from Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and other nations unanimously supported the plan, with Chinese representative Yan Huiqing and Japanese representative Sato Naotake also indicating their general agreement in principle. However, on March 2, the situation escalated when the Japanese army compelled the Chinese forces to retreat to their second line of defense. The Japanese side adopted a more aggressive stance, presenting four stringent conditions and insisting that the Chinese army withdraw first before halting their attacks. The Japanese forces were only willing to withdraw to the Shanghai and Wusong areas and refused to do so under the supervision of neutral countries, which the Chinese government firmly rejected. On March 3, the Japanese army launched another offensive. On that same day, U.S. Secretary of State Stimson summoned Japanese Ambassador to the United States Idebuchi, condemning Japan for accepting the League of Nations resolution on February 29 while simultaneously escalating military operations. On March 3rd a ceasefire came into effect as a formal meeting was held at the British consulate. The Chinese delegation was led by Guo Taiqi, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, along with military representatives Dai Ji, Huang Qiang, and seven others. The Japanese delegation included Shigemitsu Mamoru, Minister to China, and military representatives Ueda, Tashiro, and nine others. Officials from Britain, the United States, France, and other nations also participated in the meeting. During the negotiations, numerous contentious issues arose, particularly regarding the timing and location of the Japanese army's withdrawal. It would take until May 5th for a armistice agreement to be signed. The agreement designated Shanghai as a demilitarized zone, prohibiting China from stationing troops in the areas around Shanghai, Suzhou, and Kunshan, while permitting a limited number of Japanese units to remain in the city. China was permitted to maintain only a small police force within Shanghai. According to Chinese war reports, a total of 10,254 Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded in the Battle of Shanghai on January 28. According to Japanese data, a total of 3,091 Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded in the invasion of Shanghai: 620 Japanese soldiers were killed and 1,622 were wounded in the army; 149 Japanese soldiers were killed and 700 were wounded in the navy. Another Chinese report, stated the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army suffered a total of 14,104 casualties 4,274 killed and 9,830 wounded. Among them, the 19th Route Army suffered 8,792 casualties, while the Fifth Army suffered 5,312 casualties. Shanghai residents faced bombardments from Japanese aircraft and artillery, resulting in over 6,080 fatalities, more than 2,000 injuries, 10,400 missing persons, and property losses totaling 1.6 billion yuan. At the onset of the war, the Japanese military intentionally targeted cultural institutions in Shanghai, such as the Commercial Press and the Oriental Library, leading to the total destruction of the Commercial Press, the oldest and largest publishing house in China. The Oriental Library, which housed millions of volumes, including over 100,000 rare ancient texts from the Song and Yuan dynasties and the Sikuquanshu compiled during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, was first devastated by artillery fire and then looted by Japanese forces. Reports from that time indicated that the Japanese army used trucks to transport the remaining books for seven consecutive days. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Thus what became known as the first battle of Shanghai had come to a not so swift end. Was its resolvement a victory for the League of Nations? Or was it just another indicator that the League of Nations was nothing but promises and pieces of paper? One man took notice of the Manchuria and Shanghai incidents, and he would soon bring Europe into a global war.  

This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Ichha SharmaToday is the 20th of March and here are the headlines.Both Houses of Parliament were marred by protests staged by the DMK over the delimitation issue, with the presiding officers calling their behaviour unbecoming of the dignity of Parliament. Lok Sabha was adjourned within two minuates after it met at 11 am, as DMK MPs came wearing identical T-shirts as a mark of protest against the proposed delimitation. Speaker Om Birla said they cannot come to the House wearing T-shirts and protest in ways that lower the dignity of the House, and adjourned Lok Sabha till noon. The delimitation is expected after 2026 following the decennial census unless the Parliament extends the freeze yet again by amending the Constitution.The Cyberabad police in Telangana booked 25 people on Sunday, including Tollywood actors and social media influencers, for allegedly promoting illegal betting, gambling and casino apps, causing financial losses to the public. Among the 25 named in the FIR are actors Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, Manchu Lakshmi, Praneetha and Nidhi Agarwal. Named accused 1 and accused 2, Rana Daggubati and Prakash Raj are alleged to have promoted Junglee Rummy through pop-up ads. Vijay Devarakonda is accused of promoting A23 Rummy, Manchu Lakshmi Yolo247, Praneetha Fairplay Live, and Nidhi Agarwal Jeet Win, all by way of pop-up ads, the police said.Billionaire Elon Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has filed a lawsuit against the Central Government, challenging the creation of a “parallel” and “unlawful” content censorship regime through a provision under the Information Technology Act. In its petition filed in the Karnataka High Court earlier this month, the company has contended that through the use of Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, multiple government departments and agencies are now issuing content takedown notices to social media companies like X, “attempting to bypass the multiple procedural safeguards” prescribed under Section 69A of the IT Act, which also allows for content blocking.A jawan and 22 Maoists were killed in two encounters in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region today. One encounter broke out at 7 am while security forces were undertaking an operation based on intelligence indicating the presence of Maoists in the jungles under the jurisdiction of Gangaloor police station in Bijapur district near the Dantewada border. The encounter involved intermittent firing for hours, said Sundarraj P, Inspector General of Police for Bastar Range. A jawan from the Bijapur District Reserves Guard (DRG) and 18 Maoists were killed in the firing. “We have recovered explosives and weapons. Search operations are going on,” the officer said.An Indian researcher at Georgetown University, Badar Khan Suri, has been detained by US immigration authorities days after another Indian national's student visa was cancelled over accusations of supporting Hamas. According to a report in Politico that cited court documents, the US government has accused Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow, of allegedly having connections with Hamas — a Palestinian group that the US and several other Western countries have designated as a terrorist organisation. This comes just days after the student visa of Columbia University student Ranjani Srinivasan was revoked by the Donald Trump administration.This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by the Indian Express.

Join Jay Scott as he uncovers the Anti-Federalist group that stood against George Washington, the Federalist, and the Constitution in the 1780's!  Natural Freedom, Equal Treatment, Right to Bear Arms, Accountability, and Limits to Power were some of the key points the Anti-Federalist group rallied for. They saw similarities of an Aristocracy rule in the first Constitution. VERY DANGEROUS!  Also important, no clear declarations of individual human rights were written. (Thank these guys for The Bill of Rights we have now.) Learn how these Hero's put their neck on the line for true freedom at a delicate moment in the beginning stages of the USA. You will never think of our origins the same again! Disclaimer: For legal reasons... !!! This show is for entertainment purposes only !!! ~ ENJOY! ____________________________________________________ ❤️Help -keeping it REAL- by being a supporter of the podcast! Support is as simple as giving whatever you feel the show is worth to you. I will always be dedicated to bringing you value. Please consider returning some value in return! Even a like, comment, or share helps. You have my gratitude.

Last week, the Supreme Court recalled its judgement of August 23, 2022, wherein it had struck down certain provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act of 2016. Through the 2016 Act, the government had amended the original legislation, the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988. The 2016 law had expanded the original law from nine sections to 72 sections. In 2016, a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana had declared as unconstitutional Sections 3 (2) and 5 of the 2016 Act. Section 3(2) mandates three years of imprisonment for those who had entered into benami transactions between September 5, 1988, and October 25, 2016—that is, a person could be jailed for a benami transaction done 28 years before the Section even came into existence. The other provision that was struck down, Section 5, states that “any property, which is subject matter of benami transaction, shall be liable to be confiscated by the Central Government.” What was the Supreme Court's reasoning in its 2022 judgement when it struck down these provisions? What is the rationale for the Review Bench to recall the earlier order and refer the case for fresh adjudication? What is at stake for the general public in this case? Guest: Amit Pai, Advocate on Record at the Supreme Court of India. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.

Last week, we reported on the issues at Wellington City Council after councillors voted against selling airport shares, forcing a rethink of the council's long term plan. The Coalition Government labelled the council a ‘shambles', and threatened to send in a Crown Observer. Well, they've now delivered on that threat, with Local Government Minister Simeon Brown confirming that appointment will be coming. The move puts more pressure on Mayor Tory Whanau and her councillors to sort out their issues – but it has also sparked debate around if the bar is too low for the Government to intervene. Today on The Front Page, Jim Palmer, a consultant who chaired the Review into the Future for Local Government, is with us to discuss the issues at our council tables. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer: Paddy FoxProducer: Ethan SillsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stalin was a master of mass psychology and thoroughly understood the methods of controlling large groups of people. For instance, Stalin instinctively recognized that the State was uniquely positioned to present “news and information.” The average citizen would see any information disseminated by the Central Government as authoritative and reliable.

Stalin was a master of mass psychology and thoroughly understood the methods of controlling large groups of people. For instance, Stalin instinctively recognized that the State was uniquely positioned to present “news and information.” The average citizen would see any information disseminated by the Central Government as authoritative and reliable.

Stalin was a master of mass psychology and thoroughly understood the methods of controlling large groups of people. For instance, Stalin instinctively recognized that the State was uniquely positioned to present “news and information.” The average citizen would see any information disseminated by the Central Government as authoritative and reliable.

Stalin was a master of mass psychology and thoroughly understood the methods of controlling large groups of people. For instance, Stalin instinctively recognized that the State was uniquely positioned to present “news and information.” The average citizen would see any information disseminated by the Central Government as authoritative and reliable.

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.

The usual cut and thrust of politics took a backseat this as the Grenfell Inquiry's final report blamed “decades of failure by central government” and the “systematic dishonesty” of multimillion-dollar companies for a fire which killed 72 people. Sam Coates of Sky News joins the podcast team to discuss the inquiry's findings – and what happens next.   Elsewhere in Westminster the focus a row featuring cabinet secretary Simon Case and the up and downs of the Conservative leadership contenders – so who has had a good week?   PLUS: Who has served as a minister? Which roles have they held? What dates were they in office? All the answers can be found in the fantastic IfG Ministers Database, which launched this week.   Hannah White presents.   With Jill Rutter, Emma Norris and Philip Nye.   Produced by Candice McKenzie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on Politics Friday John was joined by National's Vanessa Weenink and Labour's Duncan Webb in studio. Is New Zealand in an energy crisis, and will the RMA changes help get more power into our grid at a better price? Why is National supporting the treaty bill to a certain point, even though they have no plans at all to support it past the first reading? And does central government really have a right to tell local councils what to spend their money on? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Council leaders from around the country have met in a convention centre that the Prime Minister thinks is an example of wasteful spending and is just down the road from a burst water main that has turned a street into a paddling pool. The Local Government New Zealand conference was held in Wellington this week at the city's new $180 million convention centre Takina, and Georgina this week takes us through the highlights - most notably, Christopher Luxon's sharply worded speech about council spending. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the CatchUp on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.Today is the 20th of August and here are the headlines.After a UPSC advertisement for filling up 45 posts through “lateral entry” triggered a political controversy, the Central Government today asked the UPSC to cancel it.In a letter to UPSC Chairperson Minister for Department of Personnel and Training Jitendra Singh said that it is important that the constitutional mandate towards social justice is upheld so that deserving candidates from marginalized communities get their rightful representation in the government services.” On August 17, the UPSC issued an advertisement seeking applications for “talented and motivated Indian nationals for Lateral Recruitment” to the posts of joint secretary, director, and deputy secretary in 24 central ministries.A series of protests broke out at Badlapur in Maharashtra's Thane today over the alleged sexual assault of two four-year-old school children by a cleaning staff member and the “delay” in police action. This brought Mumbai local train services on the Central Line to a complete halt. Public Relations Officer, Central Railway, said the “rail-roko” protest at the Badlapur railway station affected Mumbai local train services, with no signs of immediate resumption. The protesters also took their demonstration to the streets of Badlapur, obstructing major roads and highways. It intensified as some protesters started throwing stones at the police and the school premises where the alleged sexual assault occurred.Saying that it was “deeply concerned” about the “virtual absence of safe conditions of work for young doctors across the country”, the Supreme Court today pulled up the West Bengal government over the August 9 rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata, questioned the role of the state police and the former principal of the institution, and put in place a nine-member panel to recommend solutions to issues related to the safety and well-being of medical professionals. Terming the rape and murder “horrific given the nature of the crime”, a three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud asked the CBI to furnish a status report on the investigation by August 22.On Independence Day, a pregnant elephant died after a burning iron spear was thrown at her during attempts to drive a herd out of West Bengal's Jhargram town.Three elephants with two calves took shelter on abandoned government land. Soon, a crowd of people gathered, and as per standard practice, the state forest department called upon the “Hula party”, a team of villagers using small spears lit on the sharp ends, to drive away the herd. Now, over the pregnant elephant's death on August 15, the state forest department has lodged a police complaint, promising “strict action”.The Israeli military said today that it recovered the bodies of six hostages taken in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that started the war in Gaza, as US and Arab mediators tried to advance an agreement to halt the fighting and release scores of other militant-held captives. The military said its forces recovered the bodies in an overnight operation in southern Gaza, without saying when or how the six died. A forum for hostage families said they were kidnapped alive. Hamas says some captives have been killed and wounded in Israeli airstrikes. The recovery is a blow to Hamas, which hopes to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting cease-fire.This was the CatchUp on 3 Things by The Indian Express.

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.It's the 5th of August and here are today's headlines.In the backdrop of fresh violence in Bangladesh that killed at least 300 people, Awami League supremo Sheikh Hasina resigned as the Prime Minister of the country today, according to Bangladesh High Commission officials in Delhi. Around 6 pm, she landed at the Hindon Indian Air Force base, near national capital Delhi. In a televised address to the nation, Army chief Waker-uz-Zaman said the military will form the interim government. The streets of Bangladesh saw fierce clashes on Sunday, with the death toll mounting to at least 300, an AFP report said.  However, no official statement was issued in this regard.Movement of goods through the Petrapole land port on the India-Bangladesh border has stopped today, and the train service between Kolkata and Dhaka remained suspended, as the latest spurt of violence in Bangladesh claimed at least 300 lives and forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee the country. There are 250-300 Indian trucks stuck on the Bangladesh side, said Kartik Chakraborty, secretary, Clearing Agents Staff Welfare Association of Petrapole – the land port on the Indian side of the border with Bangladesh.The Supreme Court today took suo motu cognisance of the deaths of three UPSC aspirants due to flooding in the basement of a coaching centre in New Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar to examine if safety norms are being followed. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing an appeal by the Coaching Federation of India challenging directions of the Delhi High Court regarding the proliferation of coaching institutes in Mukherjee Nagar. The bench said it was not sure as to what effective steps regarding safety had been taken by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi or the Central Government.The Supreme Court today ruled that the Delhi Lieutenant Governor can nominate persons with expert knowledge to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and no aid and advice of the Council of Ministers is needed for this. The judgement came on the plea of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government challenging Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena's move to nominate 10 aldermen in MCD without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.The death toll in Tuesday's landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district rose to 221 on Sunday, a day on which eight unidentified bodies were buried at a plantation in Meppadi panchayat after an all-religion prayer. About 1,300 uniformed personnel and 1,700 volunteers conducted extensive searches for bodies in the affected areas with the help of excavators and other equipment. They recovered two bodies on Sunday. Eight unidentified bodies were buried Sunday after DNA samples were taken from them. These would be matched with the DNA samples collected from close relatives of missing persons – a process which began on Sunday after a counselling session.This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

Kerala's Wayanad was hit with a landslide on Tuesday killing close to 170 people. This is not the state's first time facing a crisis related to monsoons. In this businessline podcast, Anjana PV talks to Vinson Kurian, Consultant,businessline, about the recurring issues of landslides and extreme weather events in Kerala.   The podcast highlights the frequency and severity of these natural disasters, attributing them largely to the monsoon season. Kurian explains that while the north of Kerala is severely affected, the threat extends to other districts such as Idukki, which are part of the Western Ghats and thus prone to landslides and flooding due to heavy rainfall.   He discusses the critical role of the monsoon, noting that July and August are the wettest months, often leading to extreme rainfall events. These events cause the hillsides to become unstable, resulting in landslides. Kurian recounts significant past incidents, such as the 2018 landslide in Wayanad that killed nine people and destroyed 15 houses, and the 2019 event in Puthumala, which resulted in 17 deaths and significant destruction.  Kurian explains that the state and central governments are responsible for inadequate preparation and response. He points out that the Kerala Government has not declared ecologically sensitive areas as required, allowing construction and development in vulnerable regions. Despite repeated warnings, the state government has not taken sufficient proactive measures, leading to a cycle of unpreparedness and reactive responses.  He also addresses the central government's role, noting that while funds are allocated for disaster management, they are insufficient and often underutilised by the state government. For instance, in 2021, out of the 59 crores allocated, only 40 crores were used. Kurian emphasises the need for better fund utilisation and more comprehensive preparedness measures, including increasing the number of rain gauges and improving flood management strategies.  The podcast stresses the importance of the Kerala Government setting its house in order before seeking assistance from the Central Government. He suggests halting illegal construction and quarrying activities in floodplains and vulnerable areas, as these increase the impact of natural disasters. He also highlights the need for proactive measures rather than reactive responses, ensuring the state is better prepared for future monsoon seasons.  Listen in to the podcast to know more.  

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Shashank BhargavaIt's the 30th of July and here are today's headlines.After massive landslides struck the hilly areas of Kerala's Wayanad district this morning, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that 93 bodies had been recovered so far and 128 people were injured. The Kerala government declared a two-day state of mourning following the disaster. Rescue efforts are underway, with the army deploying 200 soldiers from the Defence Security Corps and a medical team to assist with the operations.Earlier in the day Manu Bhaker made history by winning her 2nd medal at the Olympic Games, as she clinched a bronze medal in the 10m mixed team pistol event, partnering with Sarabjot Singh. Manu had earlier won the 10m individual bronze as well. For Sarabjot, this is his first medal, after agonizingly missing out in the final in the individual event.After 22 coaches of the Mumbai-Howrah Mail derailed early on Tuesday in Jharkhand, killing two people and injuring a few others, leaders from INDIA bloc criticized Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Central Government over such accidents that have claimed several lives in the last few months. The incident occurred at 3.45 am in Patobera village, around 40 km from the Saraikela-Kharsawan district headquarters, when one of the coaches collided with another.The Odisha government on Tuesday suspended IPS officer Pandit Rajesh Uttamrao on the grounds of “grave misconduct” after allegations emerged that he had forcibly entered the home of a married woman inspector and misbehaved with her. The alleged incident took place on the night of the 27th of July. Official sources told the Indian Express that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who returned from New Delhi on Monday evening, was apprised about the incident and he directed action in the matter.President Droupadi Murmu will preside over the Conference of Governors on the 2nd and 3rd of August at Rashtrapati Bhavan. This is the first Conference of Governors to be presided over by President Murmu. Besides governors from all states who have been invited for the conference, it will be attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar; Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers of Home Affairs, among several others. This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

At the time of demonetisation, the country was desperately seeking an alternative to cash. And a payments regulator called NPCI or the National Payments Corporation of India, was our unexpected knight in shining armour. The NPCI managed to launch UPI at just the right time. This was a revolutionary, once in a generation product that really put the NPCI on the map. Over the years, UPI also became a huge political asset for the Central Government. That's evident from the fact that political leaders, including the PM, have made it a point to repeatedly endorse UPI. But nearly two general elections later, the pressure is on for the NPCI to come up with a new product, the next UPI. And the NPCI is really feeling the pressure. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India's first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

When Hong Kong was handed over to China by the United Kingdom 1997, the city was given a mini-Constitution called the “Basic Law.” Article 23 of the Basic Law states that Hong Kong shall enact laws of its own to prohibit various national security offenses. The law did not pass, however, and was scrapped after mass protests in 2003. And in 2020, the Central Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) imposed a separate national security law on Hong Kong, citing the city's delay in acting on Article 23. This year on March 19th, Article 23 was passed unanimously by the city's parliament and it came into effect just days later. The law covers five types of crime: treason, insurrection and incitement to mutiny, theft of state secrets, and espionage, sabotage, and external interference. Critics say that Article 23 could lead to even further erosions of civil liberties in Hong Kong.To discuss Article 23 and its implications, host Bonnie Glaser is joined by Dr. Eric Yan-ho Lai. Dr. Lai is a Research Fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, an Associate Fellow at the Hong Kong Studies Hub of the University of Surrey, and a member of the Asian Civil Society Research Network.  Timestamps[01:47] Understanding PRC Definitions Used in Article 23[03:37] Why was Article 23 passed now?[05:23] Compressed Timeline for Unanimous Approval[09:05] Shift in Risk Assessment for Multinational Corporations[12:03] Precedents for Targeting Diaspora Communities[14:17] Reactions to Article 23 from the International Community[15:54] What are some concrete actions that could be taken to signal concern?[17:55] Do the PRC and Hong Kong care about international perceptions?[19:36] Implementation of Article 23 Moving Forward[21:28] Passage of Additional Security Legislature[22:57] Forecast for the Future of Hong Kong     

SummaryPaul Griffiths shares his journey from a technology recruiter to Microsoft's UK public sector skills lead, emphasizing the value of learning and growth in one's career. We discuss Microsoft's Copilot, an AI-powered assistant across various Microsoft applications, designed to streamline tasks like meeting summaries, email drafting, and data analysis, fundamentally altering how users engage with digital tools. 00:00 Exploring Microsoft CoPilot: A New Era of Productivity01:01 The Power of Learning and Skilling in Today's World01:40 Paul's Journey: From Recruitment to Microsoft's UK Public Sector Skills Lead03:32 The Accelerating Pace of Innovation and Digital Transformation06:23 The Future of Work: AI, New Jobs, and the Importance of Learning12:04 Building a Learning Culture: Strategies for Individuals and Organizations17:09 Deep Dive into Microsoft CoPilot: Features and Real-World Applications23:34 Unlocking the Full Potential of Microsoft 365 with CoPilot25:22 Embracing the Future: Learning Resources and the Power of Experimentation27:41 A Superpower Wish: Abolishing the Word 'No' for More Innovation29:19 Wrapping Up: The Importance of Continuous Learning and ConnectionThanks for reading Superpowers School! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Deeper DiveIn today's fast-paced tech world, staying ahead means embracing tools that optimize efficiency and innovation. Microsoft 365 Copilot is one such tool, revolutionizing how tech professionals work. In this episode with Paul Griffiths from Microsoft's UK Public Sector Skills team, he sheds light on the powerful features and benefits of this AI assistant.Let's dive deep into Microsoft 365 Copilot, exploring how it can:* Supercharge Team Efficiency* Fuel Continuous Learning and Collaboration* Prepare Tech Professionals for the AI-Enhanced FutureDemystifying Microsoft 365 CopilotPaul explains that Copilot stands out as a deeply integrated AI assistant within your existing Microsoft 365 workspace. Key Benefits for Tech ProfessionalsLet's see how Copilot enhances the experience of tech teams:* Overcoming Workflow Obstacles: Say goodbye to writer's block in Microsoft 365 apps! Copilot aids content creation (think documents, presentations, and emails). It summarizes meetings for quick updates and frees you from tedious administrative tasks.* Unlock Data Power with Copilot in Excel: Analyze complex data effortlessly, turning spreadsheets into actionable insights. Copilot empowers you without the need for formula mastery.* Tap into AI Creativity: Get those innovative juices flowing! Microsoft Copilot helps brainstorm fresh ideas and approaches when you hit a roadblock within a project.Continuous Learning with Microsoft 365 CopilotIn tech, continuous learning is paramount. Paul emphasizes how Copilot supports individuals and teams as an intelligent learning tool:* AI-Powered Knowledge Base: Easily surface relevant information or training materials with Copilot as your search companion within your organization's vast data stores.* Enhanced Team Collaboration: Copilot facilitates seamless knowledge sharing through meeting summaries, content creation support, and accessible insights, keeping your teams aligned and efficient.Embracing AI-Enhanced ProductivityBy understanding and proactively using Microsoft 365 Copilot, tech professionals can:* Maximize Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Leverage AI-powered summaries, project updates, and insights for seamless teamwork.* Level Up Technical Skills: Copilot eases data analysis and unlocks new ways to use familiar Microsoft 365 applications.* Stay Ahead of the Curve: Be an early adopter of AI-powered workflows, positioning yourself at the forefront of ever-evolving technology.Microsoft Copilot FAQHow does Copilot work within Microsoft 365?Copilot for Microsoft 365 utilizes AI technology to provide suggestions, code snippets, and other assistance to users while working in Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.What are the key features of Copilot Pro?Copilot Pro offers advanced AI capabilities, enhanced collaboration tools, and additional customization options for users within Microsoft 365 Business Standard.Can Copilot be used in Microsoft Teams?Copilot is not currently available within Microsoft Teams directly, but users can leverage its features while working on individual files or tasks within Teams.How can I access Copilot in Word?Copilot in Word can be accessed through the "Ideas" feature in Microsoft Word, which provides suggestions and assistance based on the content you are working on.Is Copilot available for purchase separately?Copilot is not available for separate purchase; it comes integrated with Microsoft 365 subscriptions for enhanced productivity and assistance.What is the advantage of using Copilot for Sales?Copilot for Sales provides tailored assistance and insights for sales professionals, helping them streamline their processes and improve customer interactions within Microsoft 365 applications.Does Copilot offer support in multiple languages?Copilot supports multiple languages and can provide assistance and suggestions in various languages based on user preferences and settings within Microsoft 365.How is Copilot integrated into Microsoft 365?Copilot is seamlessly integrated into Microsoft 365 applications, offering real-time suggestions and tools to enhance user productivity and efficiency across different tasks and projects.Paul Griffiths (Microsoft UK Public Sector Skills Lead)Paul is the Microsoft UK Public Sector Skills Lead with over 20 years of experience in the IT industry. He is passionate about cloud computing, and how learning can power digital innovation and transform careers. Paul is currently leading the development of training programmes for Microsoft's public sector customers across Central Government, Local Government and Policing, helping individuals and organisations realize the benefits of their investment in Microsoft solutions.⚡️ In each episode, Paddy Dhanda deep dives into a new human Superpower to help you thrive in the age of AI.

In today's episode for 7th March 2024, we tell you why the Supreme Court has pulled up the Central Government for price disparities at hospitals and how it has put the healthcare industry in a tight spot.

In today's episode for 15th February 2024, we tell you how the central government shares taxes with the states. If you're a person who is great at communicating and are enthusiastic to join our team, Ditto is looking to recruit new Insurance advisors. You don't even have to know about Insurance, we'll train you from scratch and you can enjoy working remotely with a great team. If you're interested in this or know someone who is please click this link. https://bit.ly/48WX5za

Over the past decade, Governors have often acted as ideological foot soldiers of the Central Government, sullying the office, threatening the country's federal structure and sparking off a debate on whether they are required at all. Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter.  

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain, wishing all our listeners a very happy new year!It's the 1st of January and here are the headlines.Tsunami waves hit several parts of Japan's coastal areas and urgent evacuation warnings have been issued after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit north-central Japan today. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in a televised address, asked citizens to follow evacuation orders closely and warned that more powerful quakes and tsunami waves might follow the initial ones. As per local media reports several coastal roads have been closed and bullet trains in the region have been suspended.With the new year chiming in, several leaders from the Centre, states, and the Opposition conveyed their greetings on social media platforms early this morning. President Droupadi Murmu wished her countrymen and laid emphasis on committing the coming year to sustainable growth and development. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar met out his wishes with a renewed enthusiasm to build a better Bharat. Prime Minister Modi, also wished everyone a happy new year.Indian Space Research Organisation began the New Year "in style" with its popular launch vehicle PSLV-C58 putting its first polarimetry mission XPoSat in a precise circular orbit this morning. ISRO Chairman S Somanath said, quote, "2024 is going to be the year of Gaganyaan. The TV-D1 mission happened last year and this year we are expecting two more such test flights of the Test Vehicle followed by the unmanned mission of Gaganyaan programme." Unquote.Over 25,000 fair price shop dealers from Jharkhand today joined the nation-wide indefinite ‘Ration Bandh' call given by All India Fair Price Shop Dealers' Federation. The strike might impact over 65 lakh beneficiaries covered under national and state food security schemes in Jharkhand, if it goes long. As per reports, the ‘Ration Bandh' call has been given in protest against the Central Government's failure to ensure a minimum monthly income guarantee for the dealers and some other issues.A 36-year-old lawyer was allegedly shot dead by a security manager in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi following a heated argument fueled by a purported casteist remark during a New Year's Eve party on Sunday. Assistant Commissioner of Police of Varanasi Vidush Saxena said, quote, "We have arrested security officer Hadendu Shekhar Tripathi in the case. The security officer claims he was intoxicated at the time and reacted impulsively to the victim's remark." Unquote.This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

The Government Wellington City Council and the Greater Wellington Regional Council have agreed in principle to dump the $7.4 billion Let's Get Wellington Moving project. Some things will stay, others added. Central Government will build and fund the Basin Reserve upgrade and a second Mt Victoria tunnel, and Wellington City Council will bring the Golden Mile project in-house. Cycling groups, businesses and city councillors have reacted to the decision.

The Illusion of Consensus is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber:https://www.illusionconsensus.com/The conversation with Molly and Ben Kingsley focuses on the government's mishandling of the pandemic and its impact on children. They discuss the government's failure to prioritize children's needs in policy-making, the systematic attacks on advocacy groups, and the unethical treatment of children during school closures. The role of local districts and central government in school closure decisions is examined, as well as the influence of unions and the media blackout on dissenting voices. The conversation also delves into the role of Pharma funding and the spread of smears and misinformation. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the rollout of child vaccines and the ethical issues surrounding it. The conversation explores the themes of regulatory capture, ethics, and media suppression in the context of pandemic policies.Buy Molly Kingsley, Arabella Skinner and Ben Kingsley's new book:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Accountability-Deficit-ministers-officials-accountability-ebook/dp/B0CNPWS79PChapters00:00 Introduction and Background01:52 Government Malfeasance and Attacks on Advocacy Groups04:05 School Closures and the Treatment of Children07:48 Role of Local Districts and Central Government in School Closure Decisions13:00 Role of Unions and Smearing Campaigns17:27 Government's Role in Censorship and Media Blackout22:12 Pharma Funding and Influence on Media28:57 Smears and Attacks on Advocates39:46 Rollout of Child Vaccines in the UK50:44 Ethical Issues and Treatment of Children52:53 Regulatory Capture58:17 Ethics and Advisory Group01:06:07 Suppression of Ethical Advice01:09:46 Media Suppression This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.illusionconsensus.com/subscribe

Rothbard on the American Revolution: "There was no particular need for the formal trappings and permanent investing of a centralized government, even for victory in war." Original Article: "The American Revolutionaries Didn't Need a Central Government. Neither Do We."

Rothbard on the American Revolution: "There was no particular need for the formal trappings and permanent investing of a centralized government, even for victory in war." Original Article: "The American Revolutionaries Didn't Need a Central Government. Neither Do We."

Tension was high at a fiery community meeting last night about the hundreds of homes still uninhabitable after the city's anniversary weekend floods. It was standing room only as residents clashed with Council representatives who tried to assure them Central Government is to blame for the delays. But as Louise Ternouth reports, six months on, some of those present were having absolutely none of it with one man vowing to sue the council if residents don't have clarity soon. And just a warning, this story contans some ripe language.

Manipur is burning from May 2023. Manipur has seen some brutal violence in the recent past. Especially, Christians were targeted and they bore the brunt. Though it seems like a battle between two tribes - the Meitei and the Kuki but it is a fight of the majority against the minority! Meitei is a hindu majority fighting against the Kuki Christian minority! Churches were burnt and damaged. Men and women were killed, women were paraded naked and some of them were gang raped. Young people were killed. Horrible crimes have happened in the last 3 months and yet the State or the Central Government has kept silent! As some say, it is an agenda to eliminate the Kukis from Manipur. As Christians we must share the burden of our Christian brothers and sisters and pray for them and help them in whatever way we can. May the Lord enable all right thinking Christians to do so. Amen. SDG.  

There has been no shortage of central government attempts to support regional development over past decades, but these have been insufficient to close the widening gaps in geographical disparities, with efforts lacking scale, coordination, data and effective oversight, and policies ultimately proving short lived. So what can be done to fix the problem? The Levelling Up White Paper proposed several reforms to 'rewire Whitehall' to ensure the government delivered more effective regional policy, including the creation of a Levelling Up Advisory Council (LUAC) – an expert group reporting to the levelling up secretary of state – to provide insight, challenge, and advice to the government on its design and delivery of the levelling up policy agenda. This event will also consider how central government can best be organised to deliver effective long-term regional policy, whether the white paper's reforms are the right ones, what difference structures like the Advisory Council make, and what else is needed. So what progress has the government made on implementing the white paper proposals? What difference have the structures set out in the white paper made already and is the LUAC fulfilling the purpose it was set up for? What are the key challenges for a government when trying to deliver cross-cutting policy? And are the structures in place for cross-government working, between central and devolved governments, adequate to deliver regional policy effectively? To discuss these questions and more, the Institute for Government brought together an expert panel. Andy Haldane, Chair of the Levelling Up Advisory Council and Chief Executive of the RSA Rebecca McKee, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering and member of the Levelling Up Advisory Council The event was chaired by Emma Norris, Deputy Director at the Institute for Government

1. Who cares for development!? Is the decision of Chief ministers of eight states — Punjab, Delhi, Telangana, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Rajasthan (all of them ruled by non-BJP parties) — to skip the 8th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog (which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday) augur well for development? Will these Opposition leaders stay away from all meetings with Modi due to the Lok Sabha polls in 2024? What happens to governance? NITI Aayog meet was to deliberate on several issues including, health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with an aim to make India a developed nation by 2047. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal boycotted the NITI Aayog in a protest against the ‘ordinance' passed by the Central Government which overturned the Supreme Court's order on control over services. He also wrote a letter to Modi about his decision, saying that , “What is the use of attending this meeting, when the Centre is openly making fun of cooperative federalism.” 2. If May 28's new Parliament inauguration is a once-in-a-history moment, why Congress and 19 other Opposition parties are making a blunder? This is Parliament built in independent India to replace the one built during colonial rule — imagine the message for all generations to come. That's not to be 3. Changing persona of Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, who is one of the favourite ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is undergoing a transformation! As advised by Modi, Jaishankar is changing into a more serious political leader --rather than being in the mould of a retired Indian Foreign Service Officer who cannot get out of being a diplomat all his life. Jaishankar is increasingly being asked to address BJP meetings in different states. Modi wants him now to take charge of supervising BJP work in Delhi, which has seven Lok Sabha seats. In 2019, BJP won all the seven seats. In 2024, it will be a tough task for BJP winning all seats. So, Jaishankar, along with former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, will lead the Delhi leg of a month-long, nationwide outreach campaign by BJP aimed at spreading awareness regarding tModi-led central government's achievements over the last nine years. As part of the programme set to kick off next week, a senior party leader said, Delhi will be divided into two segments – which will include both big and small public meetings – with Jaishankar at the helm at four and Rupani at three of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the city. The outreach will take place between May 30 and June 30. Earlier, Modi had asked Jaishankar to travel to different BJP state offices in the country to explain India's foreign policies, in the light of confrontation with China. Jaishankar is a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat. #NitiAayog #GoverningCouncil #BJP #Congress #Modi #CPIM #BRS #AAP #TMC #SoniaGandhi #Politics #NewParliament #CentralVista #SJaishankar

As Auckland and Northland brace for more atrocious weather, city leaders are calling for funding to repair the city's broken infrastructure to be along the lines of the help given to Christchurch after the quakes. Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson says that the damage so far is equivalent to the biggest non earthquake event the country has ever had and should be treated accordingly. The Opportunities Party says the "alliance" model established after the earthquakes, was effective and would work for Auckland's rebuild, because it provides a structure that the Central Government can fund directly. ToP leader Raf Manji was a Christchurch councillor after the quakes and closely involved in the rebuild. He tells Kathryn Ryan it is vital to ensure water and transport infrastructure is repaired quickly and efficiently, especially with a view to future extreme weather events - and there is much to learn from the post-quake rebuild.

This week our host Brandi Starr is joined by David Meyer, Managing Director SD Services / Chief Revenue Officer at Clarify. As a co-founder of Clarify, David has been intimately involved in every aspect of growing the business from 6 people in a living room to the 180 people they are today. Clarify services global and scale-up technology companies to help create sustainable revenue growth through the provision of Sales, Marketing and Talent consulting and services. David's experience in selling and leading sales teams working with high value technology ($100,000s to $10s of millions) into Enterprise Commercial, Central Government as well as SMB has translated into a breadth of sales experience that could not have been gained anywhere else. As a huge believer in the power of helping others, David is immensely proud to serve in his role as a Trustee for the Clarify Foundation. Since its formation the Foundation has raised over £150,000, every penny of which has been spent directly on projects in Uganda supporting the local community. In this week's episode, the third installment of Revenue Rehab's My Journey series, on the couch Brandi and David discuss his path to co-founding Clarify in My Journey with David Meyer: Starting from 6 people in a Livingroom. Links: Get in touch with David Meyer on: LinkedIn Clarify Subscribe, listen, and rate/review Revenue Rehab Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts , Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio and find more episodes on our website RevenueRehab.live

In this series titled "Principles of Bitcoin" I will be doing a deep dive on my written work "An Open Letter To Ray Dalio re: Bitcoin" which explores money, economics, and Bitcoin through the lens of Ray Dalio's stated principles on life and work.GUEST:"An Open Letter to Ray Dalio Regarding Bitcoin": https://breedlove22.medium.com/an-ope...Ray Dalio's book "Principles": https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Lif...Robert's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Breedlove22Robert's Website: https://vida.page/breedlove22PODCAST: Podcast Website: https://whatismoneypodcast.com/Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/25LPvm8...RSS Feed: https://feeds.simplecast.com/MLdpYXYIOutline: 00:00:00 “What is Money?” Intro Music 00:00:08 “What is Money?” Intro Message 00:00:54 Do More with Your Digital Assets with Ledn 00:01:39 The Principle of Meaningful Relationships 00:02:05 The Connection Between Central Banking, War, and Violence 00:11:41 Putting an End to the Fiat Currency-Funded Overgrowth of Central Government 00:16:22 Negative Consequences of Monopolization 00:17:43 How Bitcoin Could Stop World War III and Create Meaningful Relationships 00:19:36 The Principle of Facing Reality 00:20:08 Take Control of Your Healthcare with CrowdHealth 00:21:10 A Bitcoin Wallet with Privacy Built-In: Wasabi Wallet 00:21:45 Hold Bitcoin is the Most Secure Custody Model with Casa 00:22:34 How National Economies Become Dependent on Central Banking Manipulation 00:25:03 Corporations Have the Fiat Disease 00:28:09 Widening of The Gap Between Rich And Poor to Feed Self-Analiating System 00:33:08 Bitcoin is Properly Channelling Self-Interest of Humans 00:36:27 Similarities Between Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates and Bitcoin 00:38:50 Why Bitcoin Might Be The Most Significant Invention in Humanity 00:42:28 "What is Money?" OutroSOCIAL: Breedlove Twitter: https://twitter.com/Breedlove22WiM? Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhatisMoneyShowLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breedlove22/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breedlove_22/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@breedlove22?l...All My Current Work: https://linktr.ee/breedlove22WRITTEN WORK: Medium: https://breedlove22.medium.com/Substack: https://breedlove22.substack.com/WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE: Bitcoin: 3D1gfxKZKMtfWaD1bkwiR6JsDzu6e9bZQ7 Sats via Strike: https://strike.me/breedlove22Sats via Tippin.me: https://tippin.me/@Breedlove22Dollars via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/RBree...Dollars via Venmo: https://venmo.com/code?user_id=178435...The "What is Money?" Show Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=328431...RECOMMENDED BUSINESSES: Ledn lets you do more with your digital assets: https://www.ledn.io/CrowdHealth offers an innovative health insurance model based on Bitcoin and community: https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/breed...Wasabi Wallet is a Bitcoin wallet with privacy built-in by default: https://wasabiwallet.io/Casa is the most secure way to custody your Bitcoin (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://keys.casa/Buy High Quality Bitcoin Apparel Here (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://thebitcoinclothingcompany.com...Try Feel Free Tonics, a Great Alternative to Alcohol and Caffeine (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://botanictonics.com

대학 규제 완화Guest: Prof. Park Soon Yong from Yonsei University's Department of EducationSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special edition on China's new face in the fight against COVID-19, Liu Xin had an exclusive dissection of the details with Dr. Shao Yiming, former Chief Expert on AIDS at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Management, and a current member of the Vaccine Task Force of the Central Government's COVID Control Mechanism; Dr. Kate Tulenko, CEO of the health workforce company Corvus Health, and Former Vice President of Health Systems Innovation; and from Singapore Prof. Wang Linfa, Emerging Infectious Disease at the Duke-NUS Medical School.

Police in the Waikato District are armed this morning after officers were shot at, following a spate of crimes across Hamilton, Cambridge and Te Awamutu yesterday. Waikato District Commander Superintendent Bruce Bird says there were three burglaries across the district, and then a group broke into a house in Te Awamutu, assaulting the people inside and stealing a car. He says four teenagers were arrested after the car theft, and while arresting the four teenagers another car drove past, and shots were fired at police. Officers didn't return fire because they weren't armed. Bird says police are looking for six more young people regarding the shooting and other offending. Susan O'Regan is the mayor of Waipā, which includes Cambridge and Te Awamutu. She says there is growing concern across the district, and a sense central government isn't doing enough. O'Regan spoke to Gyles Beckford.

On this week's podcast: The Social Compact is an implicit understanding between the government and the people.Statistician and author Guy Hatchard suggests that the Social Compact has been broken. We discuss the distortion of public information, increasing control or influence over the media, the age of social engineering, and the lessons to be absorbed from poorly-scienced public health ideas.And is the next pandemic “Anxiety over Life Itself?”We comment on the Government versus farmers and farming in NZ, and we visit The Mailroom with Mrs Producer. File your comments and complaints at Leighton@newstalkzb.co.nz Haven't listened to a podcast before? Check out our simple how-to guide. Listen here on iHeartRadio Leighton Smith's podcast also available on iTunes:To subscribe via iTunes click here See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does China want with Xinjiang? Its systematic repression of the Uyghur people and other regional minorities has shocked the world, eliciting accusations of genocide from politicians and activists across the West. The Chinese Communist Party claims that its re-education camps are an anti-terrorism measure, but surely if anything is going to radicalise vast swathes of a non-Han population, it's their forced internment and (for many) subsequent incarceration. So what is the CCP's long term aim? According to Raffaello Pantucci, senior associate fellow at the think tank Rusi, ‘the Central Government recognises that a very strong security crackdown is not necessarily going to deal with these problems in perpetuity'. Instead, ‘long-term stability for Xinjiang is going to come from economic prosperity'. That's where Central Asia comes in. On this episode, I talk to Raffaello about China's relations with the five ‘Stans that sit cushioned between China (to their east) and Russia (to their north). As with China's relationship with any developing region, Beijing is motivated by access to its significant oil and mineral resources. But there's something special about Central Asia - Raffaello argues that it's an extension of Beijing's Xinjiang strategy: ‘It's really about trying to improve the prosperity in this border region around Xinjiang to help improve its prosperity and stability… If you're going to make Xinjiang economically prosperous, you're going to have to find a way of connecting it to the world.'    Raffaello's new book is Sinostan: China's Inadvertent Empire, based on a decade of travel in and around the region (there were two when they started, but Raffaello's co-author, Alexandros Petersen, died in a Taliban attack in Kabul eight years ago). As well as the Xinjiang implications, Sinostan looks at China's oil and gas trade with these resource-rich countries, the cultural exchanges (or lack thereof, and often promoted by Confucius Institutes) and the difference in approach between Moscow and Beijing, all of which we discuss on the episode. On China's usurpation of Russia in the region, it's striking that some public opinion is deeply suspicious of the new power in the region, a general Sinophobia that crystallises in numerous conspiracy theories (for example that roads built by Chinese companies are specifically designed to the weight of Chinese tanks). Welcomed by governments keen to benefit from the economic clout of their neighbour, some Chinese companies end up trying to hide their presence to avoid the ire of the locals. Raffaello recounts that ‘there are some cities in Kazakhstan, particularly in the oil regions, where we know CNPC [China National Petroleum Corporation] is a big player, but we just couldn't find evidence of them. You'd ask the locals “where are the CNPC guys” and they'd say “we don't know what you're talking about”'. But China's influence is very much there. It remains a ‘huge lacuna in Western strategic thinking' that cannot be ignored, Raffaello says. Tune in to get ahead on this next geopolitical hot topic.

What does China want with Xinjiang? Its systematic repression of the Uyghur people and other regional minorities has shocked the world, eliciting accusations of genocide from politicians and activists across the West. The Chinese Communist Party claims that its re-education camps are an anti-terrorism measure, but surely if anything is going to radicalise vast swathes of a non-Han population, it's their forced internment and (for many) subsequent incarceration. So what is the CCP's long term aim? According to Raffaello Pantucci, senior associate fellow at the think tank Rusi, ‘the Central Government recognises that a very strong security crackdown is not necessarily going to deal with these problems in perpetuity'. Instead, ‘long-term stability for Xinjiang is going to come from economic prosperity'. That's where Central Asia comes in. On this episode, I talk to Raffaello about China's relations with the five ‘Stans that sit cushioned between China (to their east) and Russia (to their north). As with China's relationship with any developing region, Beijing is motivated by access to its significant oil and mineral resources. But there's something special about Central Asia - Raffaello argues that it's an extension of Beijing's Xinjiang strategy: ‘It's really about trying to improve the prosperity in this border region around Xinjiang to help improve its prosperity and stability… If you're going to make Xinjiang economically prosperous, you're going to have to find a way of connecting it to the world.'    Raffaello's new book is Sinostan: China's Inadvertent Empire, based on a decade of travel in and around the region (there were two when they started, but Raffaello's co-author, Alexandros Petersen, died in a Taliban attack in Kabul eight years ago). As well as the Xinjiang implications, Sinostan looks at China's oil and gas trade with these resource-rich countries, the cultural exchanges (or lack thereof, and often promoted by Confucius Institutes) and the difference in approach between Moscow and Beijing, all of which we discuss on the episode. On China's usurpation of Russia in the region, it's striking that some public opinion is deeply suspicious of the new power in the region, a general Sinophobia that crystallises in numerous conspiracy theories (for example that roads built by Chinese companies are specifically designed to the weight of Chinese tanks). Welcomed by governments keen to benefit from the economic clout of their neighbour, some Chinese companies end up trying to hide their presence to avoid the ire of the locals. Raffaello recounts that ‘there are some cities in Kazakhstan, particularly in the oil regions, where we know CNPC [China National Petroleum Corporation] is a big player, but we just couldn't find evidence of them. You'd ask the locals “where are the CNPC guys” and they'd say “we don't know what you're talking about”'. But China's influence is very much there. It remains a ‘huge lacuna in Western strategic thinking' that cannot be ignored, Raffaello says. Tune in to get ahead on this next geopolitical hot topic.

BIO: Toni McLelland MSc resides in London, England, UK, and spends time in Wales. She is a critical friend, business mentor, and founder of The Compassionate Business Model. STORY: Toni hired someone on social media she thought would help her in an area she was interested in. The individual was an influencer and not an expert in the area. LEARNING: Do your homework and due diligence. Excellent professionals should have no problem providing you with recommendations.   “Watch for commitment and consistency from professional service providers.”Toni McLelland  Guest profilehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/toni-mclelland-msc-criticalfriend-tonisfairydust/ (Toni McLelland) MSc resides in London, England, UK, and spends time in Wales. She is a critical friend, business mentor, and founder of https://1stlifegroup.com/services/the-compassionate-business/ (The Compassionate Business Model). Toni is an inspirational people leader who is passionate about navigating C Suite and board members through the world of business, crisis, and change management in her work around organizational culture. Specializing in Social Impact, Social Justice, and Social Mobility business, she works with leading established organizations and brings the learning back to start-ups serving vulnerable groups. A previous Central Government employee, she brings a wealth of experience. She is adept at contingency, regulation safeguarding, and compliance in business while showing business leaders how to be compassionate and profitable. Toni holds weekly LinkedIn live shows - Mondays at 1.30 pm BST, Audio rooms -Wednesdays at 6.30 pm BST & Fridays at 1.30 pm BST. Lastly, she sprinkles around her own much-needed #TonisFairyDust. Get her Complimentary consultation book https://1stlifegroup.com/contact/ (here). Worst investment everToni was on a social media platform and had been watching this person for a very long time. They had a vast following and a lot of engagement. Toni thought that they knew what they were talking about. She needed some help in that area, so she reached out to the person and invested in her services. Toni was sure that she would get specialist help. In reality, she found herself working with an influencer who had no expertise in the industry she worked in. Lessons learnedDo your homework and due diligence. When engaging someone online for professional help, ensure that they understand what you need and not just spend their time as an influencer. Always get a recommendation and check out testimonials about the professional whose services you're interested in hiring to confirm there are any guarantees with what they're saying they're capable of delivering. Andrew's takeawaysExcellent professionals should have no problem providing you with recommendations. Actionable adviceListen to that inner voice telling you something's not right. No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsToni's goal for the next 12 months is to touch as many people as possible with her learning. Parting words  “When you stop learning, you stop growing.”Toni McLelland  [spp-transcript]   Connect with Toni McLellandhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/toni-mclelland-msc-criticalfriend-tonisfairydust/ (LinkedIn) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078228044879 (Facebook) https://twitter.com/1stLifeGroup (Twitter) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmAdMP6qCjYo4gyDTCOutfA (YouTube) https://1stlifegroup.com/services/the-compassionate-business/ (Website) Andrew's bookshttps://amzn.to/3qrfHjX (How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market) https://amzn.to/2PDApAo (My Worst Investment Ever) https://amzn.to/3v6ip1Y (9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them) https://amzn.to/3emBO8M (Transform Your Business with Dr.Deming's 14 Points) Andrew's online programshttps://valuationmasterclass.com/ (Valuation Master Class) https://academy.astotz.com/courses/how-to-start-building-your-wealth-investing-in-the-stock-market (How

The Chinese central government reportedly ordered all agencies and state-backed companies to replace all foreign PCs within the next two years, the UK Digital Market Unit will be able to fine tech companies up to 10% of annual turnover, and the Backup Ukraine project looks to digitally preserve the country’s cultural heritage. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBEContinue reading "Chinese Central Government to Replace All Foreign PCs – DTH"