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Germany Embraces Balkonkraftwerke — Balcony Solar For ApartmentsThe following takes place between March 1980 and June 1981. Part One: a seventh-floor hotel room in Knightsbridge. Tom Petty is sitting at a table drinking Coke and wishing it was Jack Daniel’s. He’s wearing an American Confederate jacket with one white star on the epaulette. He’s got a bone structure, straw-blond hair and a smile like a Gainesville gator. He looks androgynous and he can be ruthless. Like he was on March 7 and 8 at the Hammersmith Odeon when he berated the audience after an hour of polite British reserve with the taunt: “Are you all on fucking Mandrax?” And then slays them with . It’s a riot now. His most recent album, is at No.2 in the US chart but he can’t shift Pink Floyd off that pesky Wall. He also has two singles in the Top 30: , written for J Geils Band – producer Jimmy Iovine would nix that – and , possibly his greatest song to that date. A third, , is in waiting, buoyed by the line So, damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead, as Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut ordered at the battle of Mobile Bay before scuppering the CSS Tennessee. In showbiz parlance, Tom Petty has arrived, with all that entails: the cover of , features in and what is euphemistically termed ‘heavy’ management. It wasn’t always like this. Petty and his boys languished at Shelter Records from 1974 to 1977 when they were critical darlings, especially in the UK. The label, co-owned by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell, incorrigible rogues both, had a funky backwoods image, a small roster of idiosyncratic artists and homely promotional values that suited but sank Dwight Twilley without trace. Petty liked the ambience but not the lack of ambition. He didn’t want shelter. He wanted the great wide open. The Heartbreakers tour their debut album in Britain during the height of the new wave and find themselves labelled in a similar category, with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe singing their praises. It’s a backhanded compliment that recognises Petty’s talents for offering something new by bracketing him with the punks like he’s spent his formative years in a mythical American garage, when his tastes are for classic LA rock, , Neil Young, Atlantic soul and Stax R&B. But hey, anything that’s rock’n’roll’s fine. The second album, , isn’t understood by the critics. More of the same, they moan. Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Throughout 1979, Petty is involved in a career-threatening lawsuit when Shelter sell their distribution to ABC, who promptly leap into MCA’s bed. Petty goes on strike. “I wasn’t consulted: no one asked me.” There are no tours and – an album recorded at a cost of $500,000 with Jimmy Iovine, ’s favourite engineer – is put on ice by the American High Courts when the singer declares himself bankrupt. Prior to its release, Petty’s artistic life was shrouded in compromise. “Our first album didn’t break for a year. We’d renegotiated a contract that said if Shelter was sold, we’d the right to leave. That happened. ABC sold Shelter to MCA in one of those huge mergers that happen every day. We assumed we were free. MCA said, ‘You ain’t.’ [This overlooks the fact that MCA already owned Shelter; they were simply in re-acquisition.] “Well, being kinda stubborn, I agreed to deliver an album but wouldn’t take any money from them. I spent my own money making it and it was a very expensive record to make. Partly because of the lawsuits, it took ten months. Then in the middle of recording, MCA sued me, Shelter sued me, my publishing company sued me and so did a few other smaller people. MCA’s a big dog for an individual to fight. I had nine lawyers contesting each case. While that’s happening, I’ve got constant offers from other record companies that would make me blush to tell you here. [Columbia apparently offered to shred his MCA contract and give him a multimillion-dollar sweetener.] “It reached the stage where it was almost funny. If I sing a song, do I own it? Me, the band and Jimmy Iovine were midway through and US Marshals were coming to the studio to steal the tapes, confiscate everything. We had to hide all the boxes, smuggle things in and out. I had to go on the stand and evade issues like, ‘What songs have you written? Recite the lyrics. Where are the tapes?’ [Petty’s guitar tech Bugs took them home every night, allowing Tom to plead ignorance in court as to their whereabouts without perjury.] All they could do was beat me up mentally until I did it their way. “Eventually I convinced the judge to let me go on a Californian tour so I could make some money. MCA’s lawyers were telling him I couldn’t do it as I’d incur debts and I couldn’t show any security. So I said to the judge, ‘But judge, there is no security in rock’n’roll,’ and he laughed and let me do it.” The resulting dates – the ‘Lawsuit Tour’ (also known to posterity as the ‘Why MCA? Tour’) – culminated in two sold-out shows in the Universal Amphitheatre, a large hall owned by, whom else, MCA. The executive director was one Danny Bramson, who intervened between artist and company and persuaded them to create the offshoot Backstreet Records (named after Bruce Springsteen’s song ) for Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. “They didn’t realise how serious I was. I sold everything I had to get what was rightfully ours. It saved the group morale-wise because I never believed that record would make it.” But hits the target and goes double platinum. And after all, Tom is under the wing of the canniest Svengalis on the West Coast. He’s managed by Elliot Roberts (Joni Mitchell and Neil Young’s mentor since 1969) and his English partner, Tony Dimitriades, a former business manager/lawyer of The Kinks with ties to Claire Hamill. Such big hitters; MCA couldn’t be happier. Petty is their boy now (even if he is signed to a subsidiary label). He’s a 27-year-old whose first album has sold over one-and-a-half-million copies, and which will leave The Cars and The Knack in its wake. Any advance warnings regarding Petty’s tempestuous personality seem far-fetched now, alone together in a room. He’s on the wagon for the duration, having had his tonsils removed three weeks earlier, a nasty goodbye to useless nodules when you’re 28. In the US he’d thrown an almighty strop when shown his media schedule. “I fucked up a gig because I was out doing interviews,” he’d said. “All that talking cost me my fucking voice. That’s never going to happen again,” he told Dimitriades. “I should be all right for singing as long as I don’t have to do any fucking interviews in the next few days.” In London, he feels more secure. “I came here a bit before doc’s orders,” Petty drawls pleasantly. “Hospitals are dreadful places. I had three months of a really painful throat. I couldn’t smoke cigarettes, have a joint, nothing. I haven’t been that clear-headed for years. Some of my closest friends say it improved my character a great deal.” He chuckles and reaches for a Benson. “I can’t live like a boy scout. As Mark Twain said when they told him to give up cigarettes or die, ‘Life ain’t worth living without ’em.’” Close, but no cigar. I ask Petty if he has taken stock from the aftermath of the new bands. He professes a liking for Devo “in doses” and The Clash’s in its entirety. His tastes are orthodox but his reasoning is honest. “I’m out of touch, really. One of the bad things about this so-called success is if you go to see somebody, you can get bothered to the point where you don’t enjoy it... it’s an ordeal. I didn’t expect it to be quite as manic; people running after your car and crawling through your windows. It isn’t so bad; it’s what I always wanted, I guess. They don’t want to hurt you. “But if I go to a club, there’s so many music company types, so many LA scene makers, they can spoil your private life. If I see a new band, I find it hard to be objectively involved: it’s impossible to go somewhere and make up your own mind.” Generally he admits there is something in the air. “America’s come a long way. I’m proud. If I’m gonna wave the ole US banner, I admire Cheap Trick and for being loonier than anyone else. The main thing is you can go to towns which were dead three years ago, places like St Louis, and there’re hundreds of new bands all writing their own songs and all finding some kind of audience.” Petty shares Bruce Springsteen’s love for the romantic image and working-class sass. He’s smart enough to stay close to the street but not dumb enough to get stuck on it. “Well, we were the first American band who weren’t punk who were doing that stuff, three-minute songs that weren’t mush. Now the first album doesn’t sound weird at all. I said a lot of things then that I regret – I was always shooting my mouth off. I was a big fan of a lot of that though, I’ve always supported the lunatic fringe because that’s where it’s all gonna come from. When we were here, people always approached us as punk and we’d say, ‘No, we’re a rock’n’roll band’. We didn’t fit that category. Then all we heard was punk this, punk that and we said, ‘Fuck punk!’ “We decided to let our hair grow till it’s down to here and they’re starting to call us punks in America. It was absurd, these stupid labels. That’s the time when they don’t even know what a punk is in America, and one day I just said to a guy, as a joke, ‘If you call me a punk again, I’m gonna cut ya.’ So now I get kids comin’ up and asking me why I’m so down on new wave and I have to tell ’em: ‘Fuck, I invented that new wave here for all you know.’ I’ve always wanted that cleared up ’cos of the animosity it caused. The truth is that I’m glad we were here in ’77. I used to laugh myself sick at the Sex Pistols’ antics. Every day you could buy a paper and there was something outrageous going on.” Watching the gig in Hammersmith, it’s clear this is Petty’s show. “The others all have cliques of fans who come but I’d stand out if I was the bassist, being blond and all. I think they’re happy just to get the money. Benmont [Tench, keyboards] gets a much better shot on this album. “We’ve always been cast in the twelve-string sound; those comparisons. I know we sound like them at times, and God knows I’ve tried not to, but I get a bit tired of hearing them now. I don’t think Roger McGuinn can do all the things people say he can. We’re entirely different musicians really. Of course, I’d be interested to see how he did But he phoned me last year to ask if I had any songs for him and I couldn’t come up with one that was suitable.” One of the smartest things Petty ever did was to appear on the ‘No Nukes’ benefit on the same night as Springsteen. It was good for his credibility and it increased his drawing power on the East Coast. “While we were in limbo with the lawsuits, I’d read in the s about radiation creeping in. I’m not a very political guy but I’m getting worried. At least let the Russians bomb us – it would be so embarrassing to blow ourselves up. “Mike [Campbell, guitarist] and I discussed playing one of those benefits because we thought we’d draw a completely different crowd to the people Jackson Browne and Graham Nash get, the Woodstock types. When Bruce phoned me to play with him – and he doesn’t usually have other groups on his bill – we decided to do it. We don’t preach or send out leaflets. I haven’t heard the album anyway – it doesn’t look very interesting. I saw the show and that was enough. “I’ve changed my mind about a lot of things. I used to say, ‘Fuck the whales,’ but now I think we ought to save them too. Why not?” It’s possible to view this softening process with some cynicism, as part of the homogenised image that tends to accompany stardom, but Petty had no guarantee that would catch fire. “If those people had kept on suing me, I was going to be on a soup line. I’ve never got onto that channel about ‘what is life?’. This time I had a few sleepless nights. I wanted to write anthems for underdogs, songs like and . The theme of the album wasn’t self-conscious but when I put it together afterwards I could see it was about standing up for your rights, the ones that everyone has which can’t be fucked with or taken away. Rather than get really graphic – ‘They took me down to the court today and grilled me for eight hours’ – I wanted to keep the common denominator of them as love songs with other connotations. “They aren’t necessarily boy-girl songs, but I don’t think the kids want to hear a record about the evils of the music business. That’d be boring as hell. Meanwhile, he’s adept at accepting the plaudits while keeping one step ahead of the pundits. He takes his job seriously. He calls his songs ‘disposable’ yet he risked bankruptcy for them. He says of songwriting: “I refuse to think of it as work” – but his game plan looks like very hard work indeed. As for his philosophy, his attitude to the demands of the current lifestyle springs from an expression of naivety based on solid self-assurance. “I’ve proved everything to myself. One of my favourite Dylan lines is, and that’s what I feel. I don’t have to prove it to anyone else.” Part Two. July 1981. Los Angeles. Tom Petty is back in his adopted home and trying to adjust to two weeks off the treadmill. His new album is No.1 on the newly minted airwave-driven Rock Tracks chart but won’t eclipse . Yet again, he’s fallen out with MCA who want to charge record buyers $9.98 rather than the usual $8.98. Steely Dan don’t mind the extra dollar but Petty thinks they’re ripping the fans off and airs his disgust publicly. MCA back down after Petty threatens to call the album – although the working title of is , a reference to keyboard player Benmont Tench’s mild accusation that he wasn’t given enough to do. These are strange times for Petty. Success and fame are uneasy bedfellows and the Heartbreakers have fallen into the usual drugs and booze mess that goes with living in too many hotel rooms with too much money and nothing to spend it on. Bassist Ron Blair hated touring and was replaced on certain sessions by the veteran Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn (Blair would leave thereafter), while Petty had personal and professional problems. His mother Kitty had passed away the day after his 30th birthday the previous October. Devastated as he was, Petty chose not to attend her funeral in his home town of Gainesville, Florida because he reasoned his presence would turn a sombre affair into a three-ring media circus. But he also had issues with his father Earl, who he would later admit had physically and mentally abused him as a child. When I spoke to him the day after the band had played three SRO concerts at th e 18,000-seater LA Forum, he mentioned this distressing episode but glossed over it. “Mum and dad had a car wreck [after which Kitty became epileptic]. She was dying of cancer anyway. My dad’s disabled so he does nothing except play High Life all day. That’s a gambling game, big in Florida. “I’d like my dad to see us play. He never has and we’ve never been back to Gainesville. But he has the fans come round and he chats to ’em and feeds ’em and stuff. He loves that.” And the Heartbreakers will return to their Gatorland stomping ground that October, at the O’Connell Centre with Stevie Nicks as special guest. The arrival of Nicks in Tom’s life proved fortunate. “She started hanging out at the sessions and asked me to write her a song. Me and Mike [Campbell] wrote for her but I decided to keep that so we gave her instead and she sang on my album and I’m producing her.” In fact, Nicks’s disc will outstrip , largely thanks to the heavy rotation of on the then brand new MTV playlist. Petty didn’t know that then. “I’m glad because finally the girl appears on the album and she’s happy because it’s a snaky thing and it ain’t a ballad. She told me, ‘Don’t give me another ballad. I write those all the time!’ So we’re doin’ a kind of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris thing. is in my all-time top five albums. Always wanted to meet Gram, but when I got to LA he’d been dead for four months. People always say, ‘Oh ,you’re like Roger McGuinn,’ but I prefer the Parsons’ Byrds. It’s hard to introduce country rock into what we do. People think it’s corny parents’ music but we’re southern country like Gram [who was from Georgia] and I still feel dislocated in LA.” In San Francisco a week earlier, Petty, Nicks and her choir of girlfriends, including new bosom buddy Sharon Celani, Tench and Campbell persuaded the hotel piano bar to let them play a few songs. They knocked out , , and the old Penguins doo-wop number . One of the businessmen at the bar gives them 10 bucks, which Petty pockets until Stevie grabs it off him after one of the businessman in the joint says, ‘That’s for the lady’. “I said, ‘Hey, where’s my share?’ So Stevie rips the bill in half, sticks her half down her cleavage and gives me mine.” Nicks will soon become a regular on Petty tours and is often heard admitting that she’d rather join the Heartbreakers than carry on with Fleetwood Mac. A glimpse into her superstar life proves salutary. There’s the feeling that Tom Petty is one step away from that rarefied world. His rival Bruce Springsteen is just of reach and Tom is forever playing catch-up. Springsteen is a year older and seemingly always one album ahead. goes platinum in 1981 but goes five times platinum. As I’d somewhat tactlessly pointed out in London, Springsteen can do no wrong with British critics. The sun shines from his fundament. Maybe there was an element of a fit of pique when Petty pulled the band’s live performance off the movie, and it must have galled him to support The Boss and Peter Tosh at Madison Square Garden. Six years later he’d sit down and write a song lampooning Springsteen called with fellow Traveling Wilbury Bob Dylan, who was equally irked at hearing Springsteen referred to as his replacement: ‘The new Bob Dylan.’ They’d laughed as they wrote: while George Harrison and Jeff Lynne looked on. Back in real time, Petty had enough on his plate. The stream of fans camped outside his house forced him to hire security and he wrote about his gate man. “Mike thinks it’s funny that I have a security guard ’cos we’re just as scummy as ever. Now I’ve got this guy directing traffic: ‘Just move on please.’ He [the nightwatchman] came to see us play last night and says, ‘Oh, so that’s what you do. Now I get why I have this job.’ But don’t make out I’m complaining. There aren’t so many kids any more. Maybe they got the message. Or maybe I’m fading out,” he laughs. Petty admits, “I was in a strange state of mind when I wrote this album. It’s been like an exorcism. Why ? Well, anything that’s worth working for is a hard promise to me. I put a lyric sheet in for the first time because it’s the first time the words were good enough to be printed. Funny thing is no one ever mentioned the lyrics until I did that, probably couldn’t understand a word I sang. Personally, I don’t have much time for lyric sheets. I don’t want to be reading when I’m listening.” The night before, there’d been a riot and a stage invasion at the Forum that infuriated Petty. He stomped off afterwards and refused to attend the obligatory après-gig party. “I was in a bad mood anyway ’cos I know how much the people at the front paid the scalpers and I wouldn’t want to be pushed out my seat. We played in New York recently and a lot of kids got seriously mashed and taken to hospital, but that was at a festival.” His biggest problem, he says, is, “I can’t unwind. I haven’t been to bed for three days. I don’t take sleeping pills any more – they put me in such a lousy mood – and other drugs don’t work. I’m so charged up by playing a big room, by the energy – sorry to be Californian – but it’s like you get zapped. I’m on an insane schedule.” On the plus side, his six-year-old daughter Adria gets to see him perform for the first time at the Forum, holding Stevie Nicks’s hand tight in the wings. “On the way home she says to me, ‘Why didn’t you call me out?’ I’m like, ‘To do what exactly?’ She wasn’t fazed one bit,” Petty sighs. “I haven’t spent enough time with her.” Nor will he, as the Heartbreakers gang rolls across America. “Thing is, if we ain’t playing, we all get bored so easy. I can’t switch off. I’m getting a little tired of recording in Los Angeles, tell you the truth. I want to record the next album in Memphis.” A solo album? “Nah, why the hell would I do that? I’d end up using the Heartbreakers anyway. It’s just time for us to go back to our roots. We’ve exhausted this place.” Tape recorder turned off, Petty pours a cup of tea and gets up to go. “Me and Mike have a song we’re working out called . It’s a B-side but I want to play it live when we hit the road.” You can take the man out of the south, but you can’t take the south out of the man. “The world had gone mad. The PMRC were trying to use all these great songs for their own agenda, which in the long run counted for nothing”: The story of Judas Priest’s Defenders Of The Faith, the album that Tipper Gore couldn’t silence “As a term, ‘prog’ only evolved in the 1990s. And I loathe it. As soon as someone sticks a label on to you, they stop listening”: How Robert Fripp brought King Crimson back for their final resurrection “Within my lifetime there could be some natural disaster or a third World War that could destroy everything. I sincerely believe that we live in the beginning of the end”: How Satyricon faced the darkness with The Age Of Nero Max Bell worked for the during the golden 70s era before running up and down London’s Fleet Street for and all the other hot-metal dailies. A long stint at the and mags like and kept him honest. Later, and called.
Assault at Santa Claus parade leads to charges
AP Trending SummaryBrief at 4:58 p.m. EST
AP Trending SummaryBrief at 4:58 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats reelected Chuck Schumer as party leader on Tuesday as the party moves into a deeply uncertain time, with no real consensus on a strategy as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. From left, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., gather after Senate Democratic leadership elections for the next session of Congress on Tuesday in Washington. Schumer faced no opposition in the party leadership elections, in which Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin was also reelected to the No. 2 spot and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar became the new No. 3. In a statement, Schumer, of New York, said he was honored to move the party forward “during this crucial period for our country.” “Our preference is to secure bipartisan solutions wherever possible and look for ways to collaborate with our Republican colleagues to help working families,” Schumer said. “However, our Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it, we will always stand up for our values.” While Schumer remains popular with his colleagues, it is a bleak moment for Senate Democrats, who were hopeful that they could hold the majority for the third election in a row. Instead they lost four seats and will be in the minority, 53-47, as Trump takes office and pressures the Senate to quickly confirm his Cabinet nominees. People are also reading... Unlike eight years ago, when opposition to Trump’s narrow election win fueled enthusiasm in their party, Democratic lawmakers and many of their voters are exhausted and looking for answers. So far, Democrats have stayed relatively quiet on Trump’s nominees and plans for office – a stark contrast from the loud opposition to Trump when he was elected eight years ago. Schumer has declined to comment on specifics of any nominees, instead allowing Republican reaction to dominate the conversation. On Monday, Schumer wrote a public letter to South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the incoming Republican majority leader, asking him to resist Trump’s pressure to allow him to appoint some of his nominees without a Senate vote and to insist on full FBI background checks for all nominees. But he has said little else about Trump’s upcoming presidency. While some have been more aggressive — Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a former chairwoman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, said that Trump’s nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department is “dangerous” and “nothing short of disaster” — several Democratic senators say they are saving their strength and figuring out a focus. “Everybody’s in kind of a wait-and-see mode right now,” said Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who is part of Schumer’s leadership team. “Under the previous Trump administration, there was chaos all the time, all the time. And I do think it is important to pick your battles.” It’s still unclear which battles they will pick. And Democrats have differing opinions on how to fight them. Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, who is also in Democratic leadership, says that “anyone who has a grand strategy is full of crap,” but thinks that Democrats, for now, “need to keep things simple.” “We need to talk about people, protect people, advocate for people,” Schatz said. “Do not talk about protecting institutions. Do not talk about advocating for institutions. It’s a not just a rhetorical shift, but an attitudinal shift. We have to remind ourselves, that we’re not fighting for programs and projects and line items and agencies or norms. We’re fighting for people.” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said that he’s spent a lot of time reflecting, and “I don’t think anyone can claim this was a policy election,” and Democrats need to look at cultural issues. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman says Democrats just need to “pace ourselves” and avoid the “massive freakout” of Trump's last term. Democrats should be preparing, says Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal. He says Schumer is picking his battles “very thoughtfully and strategically.” “We’re thinking about how we protect against using the FBI, or the prosecutorial authority of the Justice Department for retribution against critics,” said Blumenthal. “How we elevate these issues in a way that American people understand them.” Democrats know better now, after eight years, “the extraordinary challenges we’re going to face,” Blumenthal said. November's best images from around the world Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae) A discarded plastic bag floats in the waters of Botafogo beach in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) China's President Xi Jinping, left center, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, walk into the Alvorada palace after attending a welcoming ceremony in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova competes against Great Britain's Katie Boulter during a Billie Jean King Cup semi-final match at Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., closes a door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) A surfer rides on an artificial wave in the river 'Eisbach' at the 'Englischer Garten' (English Garden) downtown in Munich, Germany, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) A woman carries a gift basket as she arrives at a park to attend a friend's birthday party, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Kampala, Uganda. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Tania hugs her brother-in-law Baruc after rescuing some of their belongings from their flooded house after the floods in Paiporta, Valencia, Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris looks at a monitor backstage, just before taking the stage for her final campaign rally, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) President-elect Donald Trump listens during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) A resident returns to his burned village, Monday Nov. 25, 2024, one day after a fire broke out leaving about 2,000 families homeless at a slum area in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Isaac Young rests his cheek on the family horse Rusty's forehead during farm chores before homeschooling, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Sunbury, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Students from anti-discrimination movements attack an Awami League supporter in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu) A young girl holds a "Black Voters for Harris-Walz" sign outside of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris' election night watch party at Howard University, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams) A man looks from a damaged building a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Ramat Gan, central Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Visitors walk through the 'Cathedral' on the Christmas light trail as it returns for its12th year with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Venezuelan migrant Alvaro Calderini carries his niece across a river near Bajo Chiquito, Panama, after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia on their way north to the United States, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) An aerial view shows a packed parking lot at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, as early Black Friday shoppers arrive at the mall. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Israeli soldiers holding their weapons bathe with residents in a hot water pool coming from a drilling project which exposed a subterranean hydrothermal spring near Mount Bental in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, on the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York) Molten lava flows on the road to the Blue Lagoon, Grindavik, after the volcanic eruption that started Wednesday, on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco di Marco) Firefighters and sheriff's deputies push a vintage car away from a burning home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Supporters of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) celebrate the victory of candidate Yamandú Orsi in the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) People gather at the site where former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israeli airstrikes late September during a memorial ceremony in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Katia, 11, with her grandmother and mother sit in an armored minivan during en evacuation by the "White Angels" police unit in Kurakhove, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Anton Shtuka) People clean mud from a house affected by floods, in Algemesi, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Cattle stand on a heap of textile waste at the Old Fadama settlement of Accra, Ghana, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu) Family members accompany the coffin that contain the remains of Mexican actress Silvia Pinal, during a memorial service at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, in Mexico City, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Pinal, an actress from Mexico's Golden Age of cinema in the 1940s and 50s, died Thursday. She was 93. (AP Photo/Aurea Del Rosario) A family arrive to cross into Lebanon through the Jousieh border crossing, between Syria and Lebanon, Nov. 28, 2024, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki) Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Subscribe Search Search Sort by Relevance Title Date Subscribe ALBAWABA - Following right-wing criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks to be poised to fire Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. Netanyahu ousted Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier this year. Also Read Which countries to arrest Netanyahu and which offered asylum following ICC arrest warrant? Netanyahu denied security document leaks from his office in a Saturday broadcast address, calling the situation a “political smear campaign” against him and his allies. The Prime Minister claimed security officials withheld vital information for political reasons. Netanyahu defended his spokesperson, Eliezer Feldstein, for leaking a fake document alleging a Hamas escape scheme, calling it a coordinated attack on his political base. Halevi's recommendations to change Gaza military operations have sparked right-wing criticism and media coverage over the past year. Right-wing newspapers like Mida have accused Halevi of undermining government goals by supporting a Hamas hostage deal and opposing extended military battles. According Israeli reports, Halevi and Netanyahu have had issues since the war began. Offensive efforts were delayed due to military strategy disagreements, particularly Halevi's preference for limited ground operations instead of a full-scale invasion of Gaza. WE WANT ACTION @netanyahu ! YOU NEED TO DISMANTLE ISRAEL'S DEEP STATE AND NEED TO FIRE RONEN BAR AND HERZI HALEVI! THEY ARE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT NOT ABOVE THE GOVERNMENT! THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO WHAT THEY DO! THIS IS UNDEMOCRATIC AND ILLEGAL! https://t.co/J6VML7TbRV — Vicky Cohn (@VECohn) November 24, 2024 Hostage discussions have strained Halevi-Netanyahu relations. In April, Halevi advocated a hostage agreement in a speech, but Netanyahu refused, citing “red lines.” Halevi reportedly blamed the administration for unnecessary Jabalia casualties in military operations. The transitional administration of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid nominated Halevi Chief of Staff in September 2022. Halevi has been seen as an outsider by some in the administration since Netanyahu's return. Right-wing critics call Halevi a “rebellious Chief of Staff,” saying his leadership style conflicts with the government's war strategy. Mida says, “It’s not too late to correct this mistake. A defiant Chief of Staff cannot win wars for Israel.” Osama Ali is an accomplished English content writer and news writer. With a strong command of language and a flair for storytelling. His expertise lies in delivering accurate and well-researched news pieces, ensuring that information is presented clearly and concisely. A dedicated professional who stays up-to-date with the latest trends in the English writing industry, consistently producing high... Subscribe Sign up to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content Subscribe Now Subscribe Sign up to get Al Bawaba's exclusive celeb scoops and entertainment news Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content Subscribe
NEW DELHI: Satcom Industry Association India ( SIA-India ) has inked an MoU with Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI) to advance collaboration in satellite communications and space industry. The partnership reflects a shared commitment to promoting growth and sustainability of space-based technologies and applications that benefit both nations. With India-Africa trade reaching $90.5 billion in 2022–23, and a goal to scale it to $200 billion by 2030, the partnership reflects the evolving synergy between the two regions. Ghana is poised to benefit from India’s transformative advancements in space technology, including satellite manufacturing, launch services, and innovative space applications. India has consistently engaged with Africa in space and technology initiatives, as evidenced by programs like the Pan Africa eNetwork Project, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, and the India-Africa Partnership Fund. Through this MoU, Ghana stands to leverage India’s expertise while advancing its own space agenda. This collaboration aims to unlock new opportunities, promote innovation, and strengthen the bond between India and Ghana. “We are excited to embark on this partnership with GSSTI which represents a significant step toward strengthening space sector ties between India and Ghana. Through this partnership, we aim to formalise cooperation that will drive impactful initiatives, including capacity-building programs tailored for Ghanaian space professionals, and the co-development of satellites, ground stations, and space application tools,”said Subba Rao Pavuluri, president of SIA-India. “This alliance marks a significant milestone in SIA-India’s ongoing efforts to strengthen international ties, especially with Africa, which is a strategically important market for the Indian space industry,” said Anil Prakash, director general of SIA-India. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .Week 47 – 2024BREAKING Ruben Amorim's Man Utd reign off to the dream start thanks to Marcus RashfordTravelers Cos. Inc. stock outperforms competitors despite losses on the day
President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly set to nominate Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire defense industry investor and major Trump megadonor—despite his lack of military or organizational leadership experience—for the second-highest position at the U.S. Department of Defense, Deputy Defense Secretary. The Washington Post first broke the news on Tuesday afternoon, which comes as Trump’s pick for U.S. Secretary of Defense, Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth, faces mounting criticism and negative press amid numerous scandals including alleged sexual assault, “aggressive drunkenness,” and financial mismanagement of veterans’ organizations. Trump has already offered the job to Feinberg, according to the Post, calling it “a decision that could elevate a longtime political supporter with investments in defense companies that maintain lucrative Pentagon contracts.” “Feinberg is the co-CEO of Cerberus Capital Management, which has invested in hypersonic missiles and which previously owned the private military contractor DynCorp,” the Post reports. “DynCorp was acquired by another defense firm, Amentum, in 2020. During the first Trump administration, Feinberg led the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which provides the U.S. leader advice on intelligence assessments and estimates and counterintelligence matters.” ALSO READ: Will Trump back the FBI’s battle against domestic extremists? He won’t say. “The deputy defense secretary typically manages day-to-day operations of the massive bureaucracy with a combined workforce of more than 3 million service members and civilian employees,” the Post explained. The current Deputy Defense Secretary is Kathleen Hicks. She holds a master’s in national security studies, and her PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Hicks started her career at the Pentagon as a civil servant in 1993. For three years she was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) before returning to the Pentagon under President Barack Obama in 2009. She has served as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for strategy, plans, and forces, and Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for policy. In 2020, President-elect Joe Biden chose Hicks to lead “the 23-person agency review team’s assessment of defense and national-security related issues,” Defense Daily reported. “These teams are composed of highly experienced and talented professionals with deep backgrounds in crucial policy areas across the federal government. The teams have been crafted to ensure they not only reflect the values and priorities of the incoming administration, but reflect the diversity of perspectives crucial for addressing America’s most urgent and complex challenges,” the Biden transition team said in a statement, according to Defense Daily. Feinberg has a bachelors’ from Princeton. In 2021, The New York Times reported that the four Saudis “who participated in the 2018 killing of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi received paramilitary training in the United States the previous year under a contract approved by the State Department, according to documents and people familiar with the arrangement.” “The training was provided by the Arkansas-based security company Tier 1 Group, which is owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management,” the Times reported. In July of 2017, a New York Times report noted Feinberg’s ties to the now far-right podcaster and political strategist Steve Bannon, and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. “Erik D. Prince, a founder of the private security firm Blackwater Worldwide , and Stephen A. Feinberg, a billionaire financier who owns the giant military contractor DynCorp International, have developed proposals to rely on contractors instead of American troops in Afghanistan at the behest of Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, and Jared Kushner, his senior adviser and son-in-law, according to people briefed on the conversations.” A 2012 Rolling Stone profile of then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney, included this statement from Feinberg. “’We try to hide religiously,’ explained Steven [sic] Feinberg, the CEO of a takeover firm called Cerberus Capital Management that recently drove one of its targets into bankruptcy after saddling it with $2.3 billion in debt. ‘If anyone at Cerberus has his picture in the paper and a picture of his apartment, we will do more than fire that person,’ Feinberg told shareholders in 2007. ‘We will kill him. The jail sentence will be worth it.’ ”John Parker Romo made a 29-yard field goal to lift the Minnesota Vikings to a 30-27 overtime win against the host Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. Romo buried the game-winning kick in his third career game for Minnesota (9-2), which won its fourth game in a row. The score capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive for the Vikings after the Bears went three-and-out on the first overtime possession. Sam Darnold completed 22 of 34 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Vikings. Wideout Jordan Addison finished with eight catches for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown. The overtime defeat spoiled an impressive performance from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who completed 32 of 47 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago (4-7). D.J. Moore had seven catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, and Keenan Allen finished with nine catches for 86 yards and a score. Chicago erased an 11-point deficit in the final 22 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime. Romo had put Minnesota on top 27-16 when he made a 26-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining in the fourth quarter. Williams trimmed the Bears' deficit to 27-24 with 22 seconds to go. He rolled right and found Allen wide open in the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown, and moments later he fired a strike to Moore for a two-point conversion. The Bears recovered an onside kick on the next play to regain possession at their 43-yard line with 21 seconds left. Cairo Santos' onside kick bounced off the foot of Vikings tight end Johnny Mundt, and Tarvarius Moore recovered it. D.J. Moore put the Bears in field-goal position with a 27-yard reception across the middle of the field, and Santos made a 48-yarder as time expired to even the score at 27-all. Minnesota led 24-10 after three quarters. Romo made a 40-yard field goal early in the third quarter, and Aaron Jones punched in a 2-yard run with 1:22 left in the period to put the Vikings on top by two touchdowns. Addison and Jalen Nailor each had receiving touchdowns in the first half for Minnesota. Roschon Johnson scored on a 1-yard run for the Bears' only touchdown of the first half. Chicago trailed 14-10 at the break. --Field Level MediaWhat Don't the Democrats Get? Almost Everything.
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