Aaron managed to break through there in that eighth inning. Is there a collective sigh of relief when you kind of see the offense get going a little bit? And that's a good. I mean, to have that kind of a rally and a number of guys go up and have really good and impactful at bats, hit the ball hard too within it. Yeah, it was great. Kind of hung around all day. They get to Garrett there in the first couple and really drive his pitch count up. But he holds the line there. And then the bullpen gives us a chance. And some really good at bats were able to finish off a really nice win, nice home stand. How was Garrett able to grind through it? Because it looked especially early on, he perhaps did not have his best stuff. I actually thought stuff-wise, he was pretty good. And right out of the gate was Simi. And I thought he made a lot of good pitches. Then he hangs him a slider. But I thought the shape of the slider was good. I thought his cutter was a factor today. And I thought the life was there on the heater. They got to some pitches on them that were pretty well executed. They got some good swings off on them. And then, of course, made them work really hard on a warm day. So really good job of, again, you've asked me, how is he different? Or I don't know, different, just more settled. I feel like better at handling situations, game situations, slowing things down. On not a perfect day, he's able to hold the line and keep us there and a good job by everyone in playing a role. How encouraged are you by seeing Stanton drive one in there? Yeah, it was big. I kind of felt the first take he had. I kind of leaned over to Mendee. I said, oh, I like that. And it was borderline pitch, strike one. Then the next take I thought was looked apart a little bit to me even more. And then he's able to really hit one well to the left there. So it's good to see. Hopefully, we can build on that. Obviously, we know when he gets going how much of a problem he is for the opposition. Dave. And you saw with the Mayhew, Aaron. I mean, he had that break early to work on some things. And then he was trying to get back in his hips, like you mentioned, so mechanically. Now do you think he's kind of through that back to kind of driving the ball again? You know what? I thought he had good at bats today, too. Obviously, the double in the inning where we got back into the game. And actually, I think the double play he hit into, I think of Aldi got him with a little bit of a slide step, kind of quick pitch and didn't. But then he comes back in line. I thought the ball hits the right field. He hits well. That looks like DJ. So hopefully. But yeah, I thought it looked more alive to me in the box, that's the way I would put it. Wells, bomb to the right. Aaron, can you talk about the significance of holding the American League's top offense to seven runs in three games? Yeah. Yeah, great job by everyone. Pretty much everyone played a role in that, too. Starts with Trevi and Higgy behind the plate. But starters, and then on into just about everyone in the bullpen, really played an important role for us. And even five runs in regulation, they got the two runs on the extra inning. So definitely good to see the staff, like you said. I mean, that's a pretty powerful, pretty impressive offense that's clicking. And we're able to hold them in check. And today, you could feel them a little bit. And we're able to today just limit the damage or make a pitch when they had some traffic against us with a chance to blow things open. Mark, what do you think of the way Volpe bounced back two rough-up bats then got the inning started there in the eighth of the double? Yeah, it was good. I feel like he's been trending a lot better here the last week or 10 days with the bat quality. Swung through a pitch that I think he had the right swing out in one of his at bats against a Valde, where he got maybe a 2-2, where I thought he got a pitch and looked like timing-wise he was all right on it. But then he's obviously the guy that set the table for us in the big where we were able to grab the lead. But that's who he is. Whatever's going on, he's the right mindset. I think he walks up there with confidence. And it was a big at bat for us. And you've got to be able to deal with whatever's going on previously. Next play, most important, right? Dear, what do you think of King there at the end? And does he look more comfortable as he continues to adjust to these mechanical tweaks you guys made? Yeah, I thought today, even as his outing went all along today, I thought it got a little bit better. I saw some life, used a little bit of everything, used his sinker and his foreseamer. But I thought he did a good job of backdoor in the two seamer a couple of times, makes it into Slider. Really big 3-2 change up to Simeon to start off the inning to execute that pitch, set him up for success in that inning. But I thought he finished off really well with Garcia there, giving him a lot of different looks. But doing that by gaining some count leverage. So good job by him of coming up big. After a few where he's scuffled a little bit.


这些孩子在这边会做一个认识那我们就要谈会了这个认识的地方要谈会了这些孩子在这边都会谈会了这些孩子在这边都会谈会了这个认识的地方这个微信我们要求但是我们的工业没有问题谢谢以后我们交流以后完事了我们交流看看需不需要测试一下声音就看看要不能拒绝声音能不能掉进声音需要测试一下声音需要测试一下声音吧我们好吗歡迎大家2020年大约在新的高尔比赛你现在处在这是保足没下管置 ela的混机结束和FlexTV的外国ald 다음에我自己介紹我的名字是Nan Si Chu我就是小做人And your host today, I'm the anchor of signature TV showTalk with world leaders of Phoenix TelevisionAnd today's television debate will be broadcast liveOn the world economic forum's official websiteGlobal social media platformsAnd Phoenix TV's WeChatVideo channel and Phoenix show app女士們先生們歡迎大家參加2023年新年Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual meeting of theYouChampions2023Our discussion is the exactExternal fight to restore natureThis is hosted jointly byWF and Phoenix TVMy name is Nancy ZhuThis TV discussion will be hostedOn the WF's website, global social mediaAnd all video platforms of Phoenix TVAs well as our WeChat platformIt will be broadcast simultaneouslyOn these platforms and I'd like to thankAll of our online and offline guestsfor being with us here todayWe're all here today becauseWe all care deeply about the environment that we live inClimate change, habitat destructionPollution are all helpingBut not helpingPushing the health of the earth to the edgeNow according to the flagship reportBy WWF InternationalWildlife populations have declinedBy nearly 70%70% in the last 50 yearsNow these are astonishing figuresMeaning that tens of thousands of birdsReptiles, mammals populationHave declined by two-thirdsSince 1970Deforestation, overfishing, pollutionAll majorly driven by human activityAre made the culprits of these declineNow showing your other figuresU and data has shown that human damageTo our land is acceleratingWith up to 40%Now classed as degradedAnd the WWF is saying thatWe are losing 27 football pitchesWorth of forest every minuteLast year, COP15 concludedWith the adoption of theKuomimontreal Global Biodiversity FrameworkSetting the flagship 30x30 targetNow this is aiming to restoreAt least 30% of our landInland waters, coastal and marine areasBy the year of 2030We are now three years onFrom the One Trillion Trees InitiativeAnd one year onFrom China's pledge to plantAnd conserve 70 billion treesAnd therefore it is the exact momentFor stakeholders to come together todayAnd see what has been achieved so farAnd more importantlyWhat can be done more ambitiouslyTo drive forward private actionWell, according to U.N. environment programmeWe need an investment of 8.1 trillion dollarsIn between now and 2050To contain some of these emergenciesSo this session aims to inspireGlobal business leadersTo seek collaborationAnd deliver socially and ecologicallySustainable solutions to our communitiesHow can the global community invest inAnd support the conservationOf flora and faunaThe restoration of degradedLand and seaWe're going to hear outFrom our five panellists todayAre coming from different parts of the worldWho've all got something interestingTo share with usSo I'm going to introduceOur five panellists我接下来要介绍一下今天I will introduce the five panellistsWho are here with us for our televised discussionFirstly, Chen PengHis Secretary-General of the China Green FoundationIn China集團總裁Chairman and CEO of the Mung Neel GroupMr. Jeffrey Law Nguyen-Fangof Mung Neel Group美國貝索斯地Vice President and Deputy CEOof the Bezos Earth Fund, USACharlotte PeraChief Executive Officerof the Bezos Earth FundWe also have with usTCL科技集團副總裁Vice President of the TCL Technology Group CorporationChairman of the TCL Charity FoundationYuki Weiof the TCL Technology Group CorporationLast but not leastWe have夏文大學家Professor Dai MinghanChair Professor of Marine Environmental ScienceAt Xiamen University in ChinaThe Environmental Science Departmentof Xiamen UniversityWelcomeWelcome, our five panellistsNow before we startI would like to remind our audiences present todayAnd also our online audiencesIf you're going to share about our session Via your social media platformsPlease use the hashtag AMNC23那要在場提醒一下我們的觀眾Let me just remind youIf you're online or offlineThat if you want to share contentRelating to our discussionPlease use the hashtagWhich is AMNC23Thank you very muchNow our first roundI will start us off with the first roundMy first question is for Secretary General Chen PengWe are aware that fulfilling international commitmentsis the first step towards sustainable developmentIn 2022, China successfully hosted the 15th COPof the Convention on Biological DiversityAnd the 14th conference of the partiesTo the Convention on WetlandsRAMSARAnd that resulted in the passingof the Wuhan DeclarationAlso during the Davos annual meetingThere was a commitment made to plant and restore70 billion treesNow I'd like to ask you the following questionCan you elaborate on the specificinstitutional initiativesmade by the Chinese governmentto address climate changeand sustainable developmentthrough forestry and grasslandThank you very muchAnd this has been an important priorityfor the Chinese governmentNow in May of 2022The State Council published a seriesof guiding opinionsThat was in 2021And in AugustThe NDRC set out a reform planfor the 14th five-year planfor grasslands and forestryAnd the State Council leading officehas subsequently drafteda work programNow in Marchthe State Forestry Administrationtogether with the ministries of financeand the NDRCset out a planfor greater use of the carboncapturing capacity of forestsand grasslandsNow that aims to more greatly harnessthe carbon capture capacityof these areasso that they can make greater contributionto China's environmental developmentThank you very muchSecretary General ChenNow you've mentioned just a fewof the institutional commitmentsmade through, for example,policies and laws by Chinain building up ecological civilizationAnd that also involvesinvolving the populationto a greater extentin the fulfilment of these goalsThat's an important safeguardThanks very much for thatfor kicking off the discussionNow I'd like to ask Mr. Jeffrey LuYour company, Mungniohas recently released an ESG reportCan you share a little bitabout the commitmentsthat your company has madeand as a corporate entitywhat have you actually been doingto help protect the environmentThank you very muchYou may be aware that we area producer of dairy productsand nutrition productsNow you'll be aware thatin the past 30 yearsthe average heightphysical height of Chinese peoplehas risen by 6 to 7 centimetersNow we've been a part of thatbut we're also partof a big industry trainstarting from agricultureprocessing to actual saleNow we have taken a seriesof important stepsincluding our issuingof an environmentaland social governance reportthat was the combinationof a strategywhich we labelas a green strategyfor more sustainabledevelopmentIt involves actionon our carbon emissionsin particularNow you'll be awareof the contributionto global CO2of dairy cows in particularNow actuallyin the upstream segmentof our industryit accounts for over 9090%of our carbon emissionsSo what we are tryingto adopt is a strategyfor the entirevanual value chainwhich involves the involvementof our partnersin finding waysto reduce carbon emissionsin a strategic mannerand with the national targetsof reaching a carbon peakin 2030and carbon neutrality in 2060but we have our own strategywhich is called zero to zeronow that is an industrywide discussionon how to actually getto those targetsfor example packagingwe are requiringa minimum of 880%ofrecyclable materialsso these are the thingsyou are tellingthe supplies to dothat's rightand palm oil in particularhas to be 100% sourcedfrom certifiedsustainable plantationsit cannot be the resultof any ecologicallydestructive practiceswhen we source itthat's our requirementthat's a commitmentthat we make publiclyand it's somethingthat we have tofill full togetherwith our partnersnow you've also mentionedthe 70 billion treeplanting commitmentnow there's a desertin a Mongoliacalled the Ulaanbaohe desertnow in the past few yearswe have completelyre-modeled that desertwith a plantingwith a totalof 98 million treesin that areaso it now lookscompletely differentand throughthe cyclical effectsof that plantingwe have transformed200 square kilometersof what was desertinto agricultural landand it's organicagriculture in factand so we're usingnew ecologiesand new practicesto changeecology that are upstreamvalue segments operate innow the food industryand the dairy industryare industries in whichwe are rating as thehighestas a companyand thatis the result ofa lot of strategicthinkingand wetalk with our partnersabout howspecifically wereduce emissionsso technical meansmeans relating toagricultural feedand so onand also measuresrelating to efficiencyif you use the same amountof land can you producemore from that landin the past 30 yearsin the upstream segmentwe've raised efficiencyby about 35%so we can use35% less land35% fewer resourcesto produce the sameamountof protein and nutritionfor our customersso we're looking forhealthy food productssocarbon reductionhas involvedtechnical and efficiencymeasuresand to some extentlogistics measuresas wellto reduce ourconsumption especiallyof resourcesin our industryand thatmeansgiving people nutritionand healthproducts they needwhile usingfewerresourcesnowso we make big commitmentsand then we break them downinto what we have to doevery three yearsevery five yearsevery ten yearsand so onand these specifictargetsare made part of ourmanagement practiceour incentive planningevenand ourmanager's ownassessmentsystem有目標有方法so this is our goalwe have to have incentivesand we have to haveassessmentso then we canreally implementour strategyof ESGso maybe it took a bit longso thank you very muchvery clearso we've seensome media coverageof Meng Niu ESG's reportand we've seen thatour company has madesignificant improvementsfor examplein terms of managementof downstream suppliersso suppliers of packagingyou have specific requirementsfor themat the same timeyou're also thinking abouthow to improve your efficiencyhow to use energymore sufficientlyor how torecycle energyso thatyou can cut your carbon emissionsyou also mentioned somethingthat was very interestingthat Meng Niuhas madeall the objectivesas part of the criteriaof assessmentof the managing teamthat's very interestingthank you againfor your sharingso in the next questionWell Ms. Charlotte Perrafor the third questionnow we knowthat the earth fundthis was established byJeff Bezos in 2020with a commitmentof 10 billion US dollarswith the aimof addressingclimate changeand preserving the natural worldwithin the current decadehow does your fundselectand prioritize projectswhile maintainingclimate justicethrough things like innovationand technologypleaseThank you, NancyI'm very happy to be hereand I was going to startwith a few words aboutthe Bezos earth fundsince we're so newbut you did that so beautifullythat I don't need toso thank youwe are committedat the Bezos earth fundto conservingand restoring natureour conservation workis built aroundthe 30x30 global targetthat you mentioned earlierthis is thegoal to protect 30%of land and seaby 2030and it is nowas you mentioned embeddedin the global biodiversity frameworkwhich was one of theimportant successesof the Kunming Montrealbiodiversity coplast yearI should note we are alsocommittedto transformingfood systemsand it's been very excitingto hear what Mr. Liudescribed aboutwhat his company is doinglook forward to stayingin touch on all of that workwhen we think aboutprioritizationin our conservation workwe start with that30x30 goalthen we look at areasthat are particularly richin biodiversityand carbon stocksand where there is asign that the governmentis committedtoconservation and effectivemanagementof conservedareasour portfolioand conservationhas been growing quicklyit's reachedin the lasttwo years about500 million dollarsthe geographic areasof focus for us so farare the tropical andesthe Congo basinthe eastern tropicalpacific which is amarine preserved areatransnational marine areaand now Canadaand we are just startingto work on conservationand the Brazilian Amazonwe work by supportingcoalitionsso for examplein the tropical andeswe made 12 grantsthat are now supportingsomething like 140local organizationsand we also work incoordinationwith othergovernmentsand other donorsso it's really aboutbringing a lot of actorstogetherespeciallylocal organizationsand I should notethat we really emphasizesupportingindigenouspeople and localcommunitiesin ourconservation workour restorationportfolio is also growingit's reached morethan 100 million dollarsso farwe havean initial focuson Africa and the USand we're just startingrestoration work in Brazilin restorationwe prioritizelandscapes that areof course importantfor climate and naturebut also for humanwell-beingand we believe thatlocal leadershipis key to successin restoration effortsso we put an emphasisonfundingsmall groupslocal groupssmall businessesthat can driverestoration locallywe also fundtraining and capacitybuildingand very importantlymonitoringof the projectsso I thinkI'll stop therebut how do you selectprojectsI mean you talked aboutthe various regionsand what typeof projects have beenselectedhow do you selectthem?what criteriayou havein terms ofselecting them?It's really thatit's lookingwhere there arethe best landscapesfor diversityfor carbon stocksand to workwith governmentsand local partnersto actually effectivelyconserve, protectand managethose areasor restoreunderstoodok well thank youvery muchCharlottefor yourinsightslet's now moveon towe haveWeizong herefrom TCL那我想问Weizong的问题呢my questionfor Yukiis that TCLisfocus onadvanced manufacturingand I also knowthat TCLis now part ofourweavenature communitysowhy did you decideto participatein this nature communitysomaybe I'm a bit differentfrom our co-paneliststodayI've been workingas a philanthropistfor 25 years26 yearsfor nature protectionnature conservationI am a newcomerI work in atech companyfor global strategiesso me personallythe reason why I participateI want to participatein this communityhas to do with my childrenso for the last 25 yearsbesides my jobI participated incharity workprotectingwomen's rightsgirls' rightsand alsofocusing on workin rural areasrural teachersrural childrenbeen working on theseprojects for 20more than 20 yearsemergingly from Beijingand then I moved to Shenzhenbefore I was focusingon people and educationand thenI moved to Shenzhenwith my childrento Shenzhenthere's a mangrovewetland in Shenzhenwhere it's reallyit is a wetland parkvery popular among childrenand my childrenthere are no exceptionso I brought themto wetlandsto absorbto take photosso I was influencedby my childrenand then I started topay more attentionto nature conservationand alsowe initiatedfund of Shenzhenmangrove protectionmangrove wetland protectionso this time participatingin the nature communityof the Rural Economic Forumit's the same reasonbecause even beforeI focused on poverty eliminationbut since two years agomy companywe started to pay more attentionto environmental issuesand we're makingseveral initiativesin this areaeven though we'rea tech companythere may be a few wordson my companywe are a tech companycalled TCLand we workin several sectorsour operationscover more than 168countries and regionsand to our sloganis that we want to usethe best technologyto bring alone harmonyso the termthe concept harmonyis actuallyour DNA is very important for ustwo years agowe published ourTCL greenthat's our global strategythis isthe mission of TCLthis is our new brandand we want to communicatewith our clientsthe value of TCLwe had a series of eventsseveral media coveragewe want toengage more peopleto the workof sustainable developmentso recentlyfor TCLgreen developmentis part of our strategy todayfor the last few yearswe were trying topromote the development ofour new energyour photovoltaic powerwe also want tocontributeto the new energy transitionand also for the newdual carbon goalsI believe thatwe can also make a contributionto achieving these goalsnext monthin julywe will havea global lunchis it just a teaserwe are going to make an important commitmentto the worldwe are going to publish our specific goalsin terms of carbon peaksemissions peaksemissions peakand carbon neutralitythe eventswill be held in Wuhanso in our factorieswe are trying to make factories greenerfor now our green managementfacilitiesthey have gained 11 certificationsdomestic and foreign certificationsand on thoseon the roof of these facilitieswe have solar panelswe are also trying toincreasethe green energy mixin our total energy usagealso for our supply chainsfrom R&D to manufacturingto cells and recyclingwe pay close attention to eacheach part of the supply chainwe hope that we canprovidewe can offer more green productsfor our consumers, for our clientsin the area of financewe also try tohave green bondsTCL bondsTCLand other productsother offeringsin order toring aloneactors from upstreamfrom upstream and downstreamfor us to cutglobal cutscarbon emissions altogetherthank you, Yukifor sharingwhat your company is doing with usyou have been doing a lot ofmaking a lot ofdoing a lot of actionsand the stories behind itwhere alsowe see thatyou are trying tofulfill social responsibility ofTCLI believe that improving leadershipis alsois also a wayto achieve the goaland also wewe also look forwardto the new launchin Wuhan next monthwe would like to knowwhat are your goalsand what are the actionsthatTCL will make in the futurethank you very much, Yukiso this is the end for ourthe last questionfor our first round of questionsit's forMr. Dai, for Professor Daiso we're talking about thingshappening in landso here we're going togoing to the oceanthe marine ecosystemsso nowocean restoration oceanconservationwhat science gapsand opportunities existto drive actionon restoration and conservationthank you, Nyansee for your questionI'm very glad to be invited here todayso first of allI'd like to talk a little bit aboutthe topic todaytoday we see that climate changepollution, loss of biodiversitythose are threemain challenges that humankindhas facedit's unprecedentedand those are continuous challengesthat we're facing todayI believe that for the next 3050 yearswe'll still coexist with these challengesthat's my first pointmy second point is thatwe ownnature a lotso which is to saythat we're not usingour nature, capitalin an efficient wayso I'd like to echowhat's the topic todaywe have to do restorationwe have to do restorationwith technologyin orderto use nature, capitalmore efficientlyand also to build a foundationfor our next generationNancy also mentionedissues of marine ecosystemsso maybe in the audiencemaybe people don't knowthe technical details of the oceanwe all know thatwe have titanexploded in the Atlanticand we lost five explorersin the marineso we see thatocean isthere are a lot of thingswe don't know about the ocean yetso we talked about mangroveit is part of the marine ecosystemactually we lost 50%of mangrovemangrove ecosystemfor the last few decadesso this is a global challengea global threat企業是引起了now thisinternas led to a lot ofocean issuesnow there's been a drop inph levels of not.1over the past 200 yearsbutwhat we can also seeis that overone billion yearswe've had evolutionin the present stateand about 50%of the oxygenwe have comes fromocean originsnow that's gone down2%in the last 200 yearsnow in evolutionary termsthat is a very rapid dropsowhen I talk about the oceansthe ocean to the earthis like water to the human beingyou simply cannot do without themnowwhen I talk about the oceans beingbig,darkand deepnow thisyou have scientists on boardtcl,mognoof coursebutthe most advanced manufacturingand ITtechnologyis very advancedbut we've only systematicallymapped about20%of the sea floorso there's a lot ofunknowns when we come to the oceansecondlyyou can't look at the ocean asindependent thingit's part of a much larger systemwhich is all connectedso the crisis in the oceansis a result of broader factorsthirdlynow you look at financial leveragewhen it comes toindustrial ortechnology sectorsit has big impactsoif welook atgetting the economy to bounce backthenit relies to a large extenton the oceannowfinally a lot of peoplesee the oceanI mean people are still acting like thisdust bin that can handlehuge amounts of pollutionand rubbishnowI think systemicmeasures arevery importantespecially for restoringforestsand we need to take similar measures to restorethe oceannowwhen we come tothe most pandemicrestorationor economic recoverythere are neweconomic opportunities there for theocean based economynowwe need a newtechnological revolutionintelligent technology needs togo underwaterand this is a newarea of applicationfor intelligent technologynowfinancial systems at the same timeare continuing to developmentand bluefinancingis an exciting new areaand thatalsomeans that there's a lot of attentionbeing devoted to the oceansbut I'm afraid it's still not enoughso there needs to be more focusedattentionon the better use of bluefinancing and the improvement of ecologicalgovernancethank you very muchProfessor Dai for sharing a particular sumof the unknowns that we face with the oceanand you've talked a lot aboutthe possibilitiesfor investmentbut most of them beingon land investment relating to the oceansbeing insufficientnow you're asked also whether we canuse scientificmeansbetter protect the marine environmentand that may involve remote sensingAIand various other newnovel technologiesI'm sure thatlots of people will haveideas based on thatto take things further and fasterwhen it comes to the oceanround of discussionswe've heard from each of our panelistsfrom their area of expertiseand we have seen that bothpublicand private sectorshave their own practicesto demonstrate that scalablerecovery can be achievedwhat I would like to do in thesecond round is for ourpanelists to share with uswhat actions you've takengive us some case studiesto help us understandhow we can achieve net zeroemissions benefiting ournature as well asChina's high qualitydevelopment in the futureok我們還是從我們陳秘書長So we'll start again from Mr ChenSecretary General ChenNow I'd like to ask you the followingquestionWhat experience can China share withthe international community regardingscientific land greening and effectiveecological restoration practicesand what are the main challengesChina faces in those effortsThank you very muchNowfor many yearsChinese government has been paying a lot of attentionto scientific land greeningand effectiveecologicalrestoration practicesit's cracked down onlarge scale destructivepracticesand the overarching slogan has been thatgreen mountainsand blue seasare worth their weight in goldand I think the effectsof that top level direction have beenvery very clearnowwe have beenrolling outanationalstrategythat involvesthe more effectiveuse of very limited landand water resourcesNowthat aims at scientificrestorationof forest coverSecondlythere's been planning relating toscientific greeningthe NDRCand the Ministry of Land and Resourceshave issuedprotectionand restorationplanand theState Forestry Bureau has set outan action plan for thefourteenth five year planning periodand there's beensimilar actionprogram set out by the NDRCnowthese have set outspecific planning targetsnot thirdlywe continue with ourinstitution buildingthe NDRC, the MOFand the Ministry offorestryhave set out plans forkey ecological areassuch as the yellow riverand the grasslands and so onto achievebetter localizedresults on a pilot basisfor ecological restorationincludingthe reversal of the certificationand the same timeprovincesand even cities and districtshave set outtheir ownsystemicgovernance measuresfourthlyweare working onmore specificdreaming measuresat the local levelin particularlocalized projectson stoppingdesertification andchanging the color of the landback to green againandon the basisof appraisals of these effortswe will be rolling outfurther actions in particularin an integrated mannerthese targets will be integratedinto the appraisaland performance assessment systemsfifthlywe continueto consolidatethe scientific basesfor these effortsin particularthe developmentof a series ofkeytechnologies such as fire preventionin forest areasand that aims to putour efforts tomake China's land greeneron a more sustainable footingandat the same timeit showsthat there is very effectiveimplementation at the local levelandguidance of localitiesdoin fulfillingthesetargetsnow of courseif you make the land greenerits productivity also risessince2012we haveincreased forest coverby1.2billionand we've restored desertof360 millionsquare kilometersnow these are official figuresnow forest coverhas significantlyincreasedin the past yearsand the stabilityof ecosystems continuesto improve as wellnow thisis a step to achievingthat vision of a more beautifuland greener Chinanow theissues that we faceare too incharacter, firstlyforest ecosystems are still notof high enough qualitynowareas of grasslandjust less than one third of the worldaverage personand theinstitutional mechanismsare not yet rational enough toraisethose andsome areas continue to becomeolder and degradenowwe are facingstill severe challengewith land degradationnowit's also becoming increasingly difficulttoincrease forest covernow this tends to take place mostly innorthwest andnorthsouthwest Chinanorthwest Chinahas poor soil qualityand relatively limited water resourcesand so if you reforestthere you need tocontinually monitor the areaswhere trees have been plantedfor them to actually surviveso we willbe workingin the future together withthe WEF's programto advancescientific initiativesto increase the forest coverand increase the forest qualityin Chinalast year at themeeting the central governmentby 2030we will plant orprotect 70 billion treesthere are now some majorcompanies involved withcommitments under that frameworkand I will be happy to see moreof the companies represented hereinvolved with thatso I'd like toencourage you very stronglyas companies to get involvedand also issue your ownin that respectnow I think thatif China managesto do that we will be able to shareChinese experience as a contributionto the world's struggleto reversethis loss of natureI think we can work togetherwith our partners around the worldto achievethat visionof a beautiful earth in whichcommunity can live向近的發揚You are here togreen developmentand build an importantecological securitybarrier in northern Chinaas a companylocated in Inner Mongoliahow is your company balancingecological restoration and production goalscan you provide a case studysoduring the first roundI was talking aboutour supply chainthe whole ecosystemso we have to start byby the seedby grassin the farmagricultureso we are highly dependenton agricultureour base is inInner MongoliaNorthern partandNorthwestern part of Chinathis is our basewe know that inNorthwestern partwe see several trendsfor examplegreen energyourdeploymentsour facilitiesover there we use a highamount of green energyI believe that is an advantagefor us becausethey will haverich wind and solar powerin that areaso when we are planningwe have to alsointegrate green energyin our usageso we have to reduceour reliance on traditional energythat is my first pointmy second point isour impact to the environmentwe are makingtaking actions intwo partsfirst part is thatactuallythearea that i mentionedthe desert that i mentionedis close to bayonoreactuallythe yellow riverflew by that areain the pastsounderneathit waswe have a rich resourceof waterso when we arecreating establishing farmsover there we have to uselocal resourcesI mentioned thatwe planted many trees therethis year maybe we can reach10 billion treesso first of all we have tofix the sandsecure the sandand then we have toimprove the quality of soiland then we can startpubkinscucumberand there's other feedsfor cowsso when you look at from aboveit was a desert beforebut nowadayswe have builtan oasis over therethey look likea circleseveral circlesit looks like a circle because that isour irrigation systemso in this short termwe didn'thave any gainsbut in long termcan contributepositively to the environmentI believe thatin so todaywe already have organic milkproducing a desertin our clientsreally like itthey are willing to pay morefor organic milkfrom the desertthey are willing to pay moreto protect the environment with usso this is a problema raising awarenesswhen people realize thatwhat they are paying fora bit more expensivebut they are protecting the environmentit can create a virtuous cycleso we are now committed towe want toour farmlands over therewant to make the turn a desert into an oasisso another caseis in ingchuanwe built a new facilityit's called3100 facilitywe havelarge amount of outputwe only have normallywe have to have alarge number of employeesof workers to work therewe havedigital technologieswe don't have to hirethat many workersto have the same outputand also our facilitythe size is not very bigbut it's very efficientwe usealso green energyso this isachieved bydigital technologiesalso in this facilitywe don't have divisionwe don't have any divisionit is an open platformopen digital platformsoour supplierseveryoneall the different actorscan communicate with each otherin this platformwhich has improvedefficiencymaybe another exampleso for a producttoto shopso maybe we needmaybe five or six transitbut now with digital platformwe canreduce the timewe cansave a lot of energysend the same product toour consumer,our clientssoknow that we aremake our production greenerand on the other handwe have toreduceenergy losswe have toreduce the resourceswe usewe have toto achieve this we have to usedifferent technologiesin Chinawe have 27 green facilitiesthere's the firstnet zerofacility is in Yunnanit wascompleted last yearsothese are some waysfor traditional companiesto participate insustainable developmentif you only look at our companylook at our among youwe area facility,we are a companybut there are also upstream and downstreamactors working with thissothroughso once westart to work differentlyto work differentlywe also have an impacton actors of upstream and downstreamso i believe thatwe are very excitedfor the future because we seethat there are many opportunitiesmany business opportunitiesand alsowe have opportunitiesto do transitionand also to improve our capacityso even thoughwe see many challengeswe also see many opportunitiesfor us tohave a long term sustainabledevelopment strategythank you jeffreyit is very clearthank you for sharing with uscasedue to time limitsand it was to share with ustheir examplesabout 10 minutes leftso let's try and finishwe try and finish on timenow my question goes tosharlatthow does the earth fund aim to addressthe intertwinedchallenge of nature and climateby adopting a systematic approachand leveragingscalable solutionsit's a very good questionscal is absolutely keyand if you're a philanthropistworking in climate and natureyou are keenly aware that philanthropic resourcesare very small compared to what's neededcompared to the scale of the challengeone of the waysthat we start to get at leverageat the Bezos Earth Fundis simply by working with other philanthropicdonorsso for example we helped create包括我們自己的11個藝術藝術將有5億美元的資金進行30x30的保存目標另一個方式藝術藝術的方式只是建造能量建造能量和社會組織和國際社會但當然我們必須在藝術藝術和 private resources 社會如果我們想去哪裡我們必須在原來的技術上立即建立藝術藝術我們在這個都不必是防禦藝術的藝術藝術對體制藝術和公司的利用我們必須在這個藝術藝術建造能量和藝術藝術對藝術藝術和國際社會組織成為藝術藝術藝術藝術我們必須在藝術共产党和民主党的保障这些在基于表演上的资金我们支持这些许多国家的保障PFPs现在叫PFPsPFPs在许多国家现在叫PFPs另一个项目我们并没有直接进行但是一个重要的项目是购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购这些叫购买购买购买购买购这里有一个项目Equador购买购买购买购买购买购关于购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买购买值一的盈利六组来供待法国这是因折不改受供待在海外的地域和地域上需要強大增加地域和地域的經濟能夠增加地域的經濟和地域的增加這不是很容易的事我們也在幫助這些是我們想像的的幾個例子謝謝你們分享這些細節我們現在進行衛總和TCR所以,請問TCL你的策略可以分享一些你的個案因為時間限制我們會分享我們的體驗Nancy 你說President Xi 去了在蒙古里亞其實在蒙古里亞也去了藝術館在藝術館在蒙古里亞President Xi 說藝術館是唯一的方法我們要提供藝術館所以我們知道這是我們要去的方式是對的所以在北京TCL有新的能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力能力所以他們可以有足夠的能量他們不會有電力減少而且如果他們的能量有足夠的能量他們可以銷售電力他們可以成為學校的 income我們將產業到600 個學校所以 among the schools that are already in the projectmany of them are in mountainous areasso those areas have pandas and other protected animalsso we are not only helping children to understand environmental protectionbut also animal protectionso another case I would like to mention iswe are providing clean energy project for minoritieswe have a project that combines solar power and agricultureso our goal is to avoid land degradation and desertificationso I will not go into detailbut with this project the best thing with this project is thatthey also offer livelihoods to local communitiesso two last examples industrial wastewaterand that's a very difficult issue for us of coursebut we have a sub company makingDurkett Boards in Shenzhenwhich has been supporting a wetland in the Shenzhen regionby re-use of industrial wastewaterand that is now a very beautiful tourist site for local peopleand in the US I got a casewhich is the last thing I wanted to share with youwe have been working with the EPA in the USon a project to take back electronic productsand that was popular in particular during the pandemicpeople didn't have to get out of their vehiclesthey could have their way old electronic products taken backnow we were given the first award among the EPA's environmental awardsin a couple of years agoand we will also highlighted as a keypublic benefit project in the USthank you very muchyou key and despite the limited timeyou've given us lots of very specific examplesincluding what you've done with ecological projects in schoolsand also educating the next generationnow our final question is about Professor Dainow if you talk about scienceachieving scalable public private projectsin the ocean sectorwhat can science do in particularall rightin simple termsI have been working with the UNon a 10-year programcoastal SOSa 10-year program for using technologyto support the oceansnow what Coastal SOS does in conceptual timeis that it's brought together 10 research institutionsfrom mainland China, Hong Kongincluding HKUSTand some from Thailand and Malaysiaand we have looked at six areas in East Asiathe Bay of Thailand, the Bohai River Estuaryand the Yangtze River Estuaryand we've had six governmentand non-government foundationssupporting this projectto leverage scienceto achieve a better public-private partnershipleveraging scienceto produce more sustainable best practicesand use of the ocean by businessnow we've worked on specificsee governance projectsincluding financingnow these are just pilot projectsbecause the ocean is a very dynamiclarge interlinked systemjust individual projectsthat I'm talking about herenow I have a personal idea heregiven what you have to do isfirstly stop doing harmsecondly protect, thirdly restorein order to reach the goalsthat we've been talking about todayso an important point of departureis wetlands near the seathe degradation of those wetlandsand protect them and restore them to some degreeand that restoration has to benot just for scenic purposesit has to also be for genuine ecological purposesI mean a lot of restoration projectscan also be done by robotsbut this isn't the case here with coastal wetlandsnow if China is tois able to do thisthen we'll be able to restore30 to 40% of the ecosystemsthat have been lost since the 80sthen that is useful for carbon capturethat is useful for biodiversityand it's a very useful part of departurethat was just an idea that I came up withthank you very muchProfessor for your ideacontinue to escalatethe role of public sectorsand private sectorsincluding businessesinvestors, entrepreneursbecome increasingly crucialprivate sector engagementpromotes innovation, investmentand the development of scalable solutionswhich are all essentialfor the restoration of our natureby adopting sustainable practicesand reducing their environmentcompanies can certainly contributeto the global goal of mitigatingclimate changeand promotingbiodiversity conservationthank you our panellistMiss Perra盧總陳秘書長魏總代院士非常感謝大家的分享thank you very much everyonefor being with us here todaythank you for our online audiencesI'm Nancy Zhuthank you and goodbye


middle school turns into high school, and then high school comes around and you get the entire whole


What's up everybody, Jason here for jaspyscasebrake.com. This is a bounty break, guys. 2022 Panini Playbook Football. This is a eight box break pre-coutines number nine. Again, guys, this is a fresh case, nine and 10 are from the same case here. And I believe, oh, I believe this is our last case. I don't think we have any more after this, guys. So here we go. All right, guys, so again, eight box half-caser, one, two, three for the left side, four, five, six for the right side. Let's see which one we do here. It's a three. One, two, three. So the right side would be for the next picker team, which could be tonight, if not, maybe tomorrow. And then let me show you guys everybody that bought in. We just had nine teams that didn't sell straight up, so we've got to put them in a little R&B, which we did. All right, guys, let's rock and roll. Actually, guys, I'm going to rip all the boxes open, but we'll go one pack at a time, but just to kind of get the boxes out of the way. All right, here we go, guys. Nice patch there. Mammoth patch to 75 there for Gary Wilson. And the Jets, it's going to cover them straight up. And we have a nice three-color patch there in 99. Mammoth again. This time it's Traylon Burks and the Tennessee Titans. Part of the R&B. Five, 75, that's Mark. And then we have a shotgun signature of Doug Williams to 49 for the Washington Commanders, which commander's that's going to Adam Coverin. And then the first book we got is a John Mechie. Little base patch auto book, number to 299 for the Houston Texans. Texans is going to Nestor straight up. First one there in the books. All right, we got a Mammoth Jumbo, Crystal Lave to 199. Saints is going to Nestor straight up. Oh, that's right, hold on. Do we get the right number? Hold on. 24 to 99, or 24 to 49, that's 21, that doesn't count. 67 out of 75 doesn't count. 199 does, but that is, has to be out of 100. And no, we have to get 196 out of 299. That's 16. So these two right here. No, I totally forgot about it. I called it a bounty break, but I totally forgot to check. So there you go right there. And then let me make sure this one doesn't count either. 75 out of 199. 75 out of 99. So we're looking for 24 out of 99, 100 out of 199, and 196 out of 299. All right, we have a 41 out of 49. That is Deebo Samuel. So 49 does not count. Used to be 99, 199, or 299. 49 is his Andrew. And then we have hash marks, 44 out of 75. That is Travis Fredrick for the Cowboys. Cowboys is Nestor. That one doesn't count as well. And then we have a booklet here of Hassan Haskins. Nice patch. That's like a red for the Titans. Five out of 10. Titans is part of the R&B. Five, another one there for Mark. All right, we have an Olavi 38 out of 75. Saints is Nestor. We have a nine out of 25 patch of your book there for the Packers. Packers is Joseph. That's Romeo Dobs. A little Mitchell Trebisky. That's a one out of five for the Pittsburgh Steelers going to Ethan. And a Trey McBride locker room, six out of 10. Dang, look at that. Piece of the helmet. Looks like glove, pigskin patch, laundry tag. Very nice. And six out of 10, Falcons going to Nestor. Or sorry, no, this is a Cardinals going to Chris. Chris with a Cardinals. Salt. Three color pack. Another Chris Olavi. Damn, dude, this is like the third hot route already. Four out of 49, of course. Another one there for Nestor and the Saints. Brian Robinson, Jr. That is three out of 25. Washington going to Adam Coverman. Dougie Baldwin, 31 out of 49. Seahawks, R&B, 31. Spot one is Eric. Let me have Danny Gray for the 49ers, which is Andrew. Little patch out of there. The 299, that's 206. We need 196. It's about like 10 off. Halfway to go, guys, four more. We have a three color patch. Garrett Wilson, 16 out of 75. Jets is Adam Coverman. We have another patch there, 41 out of 49. Sunday's best. That is Kittle. That's another one there for Andrew. A little Lavion Bell, 4 out of 35. Lavion Bell for the Steelers, Ethan. And then we got a Henry Allard for the Rams. What a old school there, Rams going to Kevin Thomas. 71 out of 99. We need 24 out of 99. All right, three more to go. This one feels like a thick book. We have Nexus patch there, Crystal Lave. So much Crystal Lave in this case. 59 out of 99. We have a Jerry Judy. That's 8 out of 99. Broncos, Eric. And we have 56 out of 199. That's a hash marks auto of Dan Nguyen and Chris Johnson. CJ2K for the Titans. For the R&B, 104. Spot four is Adam Coverman. Two more to go, guys. Nice triple patches, they're 22 out of 25. That is Josh Allen, Stefan Diggs and James Cook. Bill's going to Nestor. Nice little two color patch there. Out of 25 for the Colts. Logan with that one, 9 out of 25. And then we got a KJ Hamler hash marks. 130 out of 199. We need 100. Nice one there for the Broncos and Eric. And then a little easy Zucanma booklet there. 24 out of 299. So we did match the 24, but it needed to be out of 99. So did not get the bounty there. But that's for the Dolphins and Joseph. All right, there's one more chance here coming up. Last one. Our second half is in the store, and most likely we'll probably put into an R&B if the rest of the teams don't sell. We have a Mammoth materials, three color patch there. 14 out of 99. That's Isaiah Spiller. Chargers, 19 R&B. Four is out of government. We have a four out of 99. That's for the Lions, Eric. Four out of 99. And then have a little Sam Howe. One out of 15. Washington Commander's out in government. And then we have a rookie jumbo, Aiden Hutchinson. That is 27 out of 99. Wow, really close. We needed 24, though. Eric with the Lions. That was the only non-auto booklet, too. All right, guys, and just like that, there you go. No need to randomize or anything, because I think everything was numbered, actually, or went to a specific team. So again, the second half is in the store, guys. If you guys want to run it back, go to jaspyscasebrakes.com, guys. Thanks.


There is a graph that somebody has done that plots per capita wealth. So the wealth of the average person across time. It is basically flat for 10,000 years. And then 7076, it takes off. It goes like that. That's the Industrial Revolution. That's capital. The average person did not live a much better life in 1776 than he did in the caves in the Stony. Slightly better, but not by a huge amount. There were no vacations. There were no restaurants. There was rough, rough, rough life. All the way to, and then 7076. And I'm using that day just because it means something for two reasons. One, it's the founding of this country. And two, who wrote a famous book in 17, Adam Smith, Waltham Nation, 1776. So it's a meaningful day. Nothing, almost nothing like that.


Elders from Massa Vihare and Non-Gav Development Association, Mnindar, have presented expression of intent and nomination forms for Senate to Governor Samuel Othom. The Pocheson presented the forms to Governor Othom in continuation of calls for him to contest for the Benway North-West Senatorial seat in the 2023 general elections. Secretary of the Mnindar PDP Elders Forum, Charles Tobande, led other members of the forum cutting across Guma, Makodi, Geewarest and Geeware-West to make the presentation. The people of Mnindar, comprising the poor local government of Guma, Makodi, Gweeware-West have come together under the umbrella of the Mnindar PDP Elders Forum. And under the umbrella of the Mnindar PDP Elders Forum, we appreciate the good work you have done for Mnindar people. We also appreciate the good work you have done in Guma. We appreciate also the good work you have done in Guma. Your excellency, as your tenure is coming to an end, we the people of Mnindar Elders Forum, we feel that after your tenure as a governor, you should not come back and join us and stay at home. So, we have decided that we are going to push you forward to go forward. We need to contest for the senatorial in some people. I remember this. Welcome to Victory's show. The honor of today's Mnindar people. But I remember this. I pray that God will bless you and God will help you. You have led me, the Mnindar people, led me to Jehba. I have received unanimous endorsement. And I remember that the chief of Jehba did declare that I should take the seat and go with it. And no other person will compete with me if any other person comes. It's not going to be like that. Receiving the forms, the governor said he was humbled by the honor. He stated that the Mnindar Elders led him to solicit support of Gimba for the Senate aspiration. Governor Tom pledged to speak for them without fear of favor, stressing that he will represent their interest. Earlier, other political group tripped out in large numbers calling for Governor Samuel of Tom to accept the farm protest for him. Thank you.


Because mercury can be so dangerous, concern has been raised about amalgam fillings, the silvery cavity fillings in our teeth, because they do contain mercury and release a certain amount every day. Eating just a single can of tuna a week, though, is the equivalent to having how many mercury-containing fillings in our mouth, day in and day out. Less than 5, 5 to 10, 15, 20, 25, or more than 25. Now, keep in mind, you only have 32 teeth. One can a week is like living with 29 mercury-containing fillings. I don't know if you remember those old James Bond flicks, but basically, that means looking like this.


Good morning, everybody. My name's John Hamry. I'm the president here at CSIS, and I want to say welcome to all of you. I said to Minister Zabari that I couldn't imagine that we would ever be able to get anybody to come on a Friday in August. I told him I think it was only Bill Gates and the late Michael Jackson that could have gotten an audience out here in Washington, but I think it's a testament to Minister Zabari's just essential leadership role in Iraq. This is a man who has steadily been at the heart of Iraq's developments these last ten years. He has been leading the foreign policy for Iraq. He's a voice that's welcomed in Washington. People understand him. They trust him. They know him. He's a friend, a real friend of somebody that doesn't tell you what you want to hear. And this has been his consistent voice. And he's here now at a time to help us understand that this is a very challenging time in Iraq. And the conflict in Syria is having very negative implications for Iraq. We don't appreciate that. We don't understand that. And his visit with us is to help us understand what this ally, and I say that word quite intentionally, this ally, is living through and what we need to try to do to help. So I want to say thank you to the foreign minister for his leadership, not only in Iraq, but here in Washington. And so I would ask you with your applause, would you please welcome this remarkable statesman for Minister Zabari? Thank you. Dr. Hamer, thank you so much for your great introduction. And thank you, Joan, also for inviting us to the CSIS and with this distinguished crowd. I know many of you in person. I worked with some of you. We've dealt with you in the past. And I'm really honored to be among you today on this Friday. I'm honored also. This could be the last lecture here in this building. So I have the honor, let's say, to the CSIS before it moves to its new building. This is another honor thing. Thank you. I'm here to offer a view from Iraq and the region. And being honest and frank with you, really I'll devote most of my time to the question to Q&A, rather than giving you a ready-made piece of what you want to hear from me. I know many of you have many, many questions, serious questions about Iraq, its future, its interaction in the region, and whether Iraq has succeeded in the challenges or it has not. But let me start that much of what is happening today now in the Middle East, in the Ramesses Square today in Cairo, in the southern district of Beirut, or in Idlib, in Derizur, in Syria, or in Baghdad, in terms of terrorist attacks, really they are in many ways interrelated. And the challenges and the opportunities, the triumphs and the tragedies has been taking place in Iraq for the past decades. And Iraq was the first country in our region to make the transition from dictatorship to democracy. We know that the road is long and hard and has been very, very arduous, torturous for us to make that transformation, but still worth taking. As the Arab Spring has shown, countries that are going through transitions are at risk of foreign intervention and domestic violence. In Iraq we are confronting all these challenges and more, but we are also making progress towards stabilization, stabilizing our society, growing our economy, building our democracy and developing good relations with all our neighbors. Ten years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the better future that we seek is still a goal. Not a given. But some conclusions are as clear as anything can be in our region and in these times. For all the suffering we have endured, the people of Iraq and our neighbors are much better off now than Saddam is gone. Iraqis are forever grateful to the sacrifices that the Americans have made in time and treasures and in blood. Iraqis, of course, have endured even greater losses. And as the recent attacks of terrorism have reminded us, our ordeal is not over. The Iraqi people and our government intend to redeem these losses by building a future worthy of our sacrifices. After decades of dictatorship, three disastrous wars, international isolation, economic sanctions, the displacement of more than a million Iraqis, and the deaths of tens of thousands more, including the latest victims of terrorism. Iraq is embarking on building its economic future, democratic future, and building bridges within our society and with our neighbors. As Iraqis, we, as we rebuild our country, Iraq and the United States, will benefit by building a long-term partnership. Together, we can and must develop what President Obama has described and I quote, as a normal relationship between sovereign nations and equal partnership based on mutual interest and mutual respect. With our political progress, our economic progress and our diplomatic progress, Iraq is taking its place as a partner for the United States, for our neighbors and for the family of nations. On the political front, we are building a multi-ethnic, multi-party democracy with respect to the rule of law. Our democratic process is moving forward at a strong and steady pace. Our local elections took place in April of this year. In Iraqi Kurdistan, there would be regional elections in September this year and our legislative and general elections would take place next spring, 2014, which will determine our national leadership and that would be a very, very important day to watch. We have a government of national unity. Now all the communities participate in the working of the government and of the parliament. Yes, we have differences of opinion as all democracies do, but we are working together and slowly but surely our efforts are achieving results. We are promoting human rights. There has been violations which we admit, but there are constant efforts to improve on that and to be responsive to all calls and also the freedom of expression and the advancements of women. There has been demonstrations and sit-ins in Iraq, in many provinces, in western part of Iraq, in some Sunni provinces in Iraq for the last eight months. And they have catrots, they have sit-ins, they have obstructions, but the government have not resorted to the same methods that the Egyptian recently used or deployed to disperse the demonstrators. All the political parties have accepted election as a method of power sharing and peaceful change. Iraq, you want to decide their own future with voting, not violence. On the economic front, we are growing and diversifying. We have the world's fastest growing economy, expanding by 9.6% in 2011 and 10.5% in 2012, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. We will grow by 8.2% this year, beating China for the third straight year. On the energy front, our oil production has increased by 50% since 2005. Iraq expect to increase oil production to 4.5 million barrels by the end of 2014 and 9 million barrels a day by 2020. As the International Energy Agency has reported, Iraq is poised to double our output of oil by the decade of 2030s. We will emerge as the world's second largest energy exporter and we will ease a strained global oil market. In spite of this progress, we have challenges that we are working to address. 90% of our economy depends on oil. Our employment rate is 11%. Our poverty line rate is 23%. Although there has been significant progress over the last few years in meeting the development millennium goal set by the United Nations. In order to diversify our economy beyond energy, Iraq is investing oil revenues in education and crucial development projects, including restoration of electricity power and rebuilding our transportation system. Our economy will benefit from our progress on the diplomatic front as well. Last month, the United Nations Security Council removed Iraq literally from Chapter 7 sanction regime, which imposed economic and other sanctions on Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait 22 years ago this month. We are working with the International Monetary Fund as well as the World Bank and the Arab League and the OIC and many other regional and international organizations as a fully responsible member again of the international community. Now we are moving towards a market economy friendly to foreign investment. Americans can provide that what our nations need through investment and trade, not charity and aid. We need the expertise on energy, technologies, engineering, design constructions and financial services. Iraq offers Americans tremendous investments opportunities for Americans developing and servicing schools, bridges and highways, healthcare, water treatment, telecommunications and much more. And this is what our agreement for the strategic framework agreement covers between Iraq and the United States. But make no mistake, nothing that we built together will endure unless we win our war against terrorism and the war to stabilize the country and ensure security for all the people of Iraq. We see the violence in Iraq and the terrible toll that it has taken daily. And we have heard about the threat that compelled your own country to close your missions, 22 missions in the Middle East and North Africa recently. Al Qaeda is behind the terrorist attacks against American Iraq. At a time when the United States is seeking allies against terrorism. We want to work with you against our common enemy. We understand what is at stake in this struggle. It is our fight for survival and it is the core of our national and regional policy. We consider terrorism a threat toward peace, the regional peace and to the security of our people. We are working in close cooperation with the international community and our neighboring countries to fight all sorts and every manifestations of terrorism. Whatever its sources, whatever its intention and wherever we find it.  If Americans are tempted to conclude that our concern with terrorism is only a justification for our failure and it is extreme, then think yourself how would you respond to the terrorist organization when operating on new soil as Al Qaeda or its affiliates is operating on ours. Together with the threats against American embassies, the violence on our soil is an example of why Al Qaeda is still a threat to all of us. Just yesterday they bombed five hospitals, not police stations, not government building, no five hospitals and deliberately. We've also seen the attacks on the Eid and the last day of Eids which cost many, many, the life of many people. If America takes its eye, if America takes its eyes of the Middle East, then there will be a resurgence of Al Qaeda and all its affiliates and more menacing than ever we have seen. Our concerns with the consequences of terrorists at a terrorist heaven next door shape our views about Syria. For American Syria is more than 5,000 miles away. For us, Syria is right on our doorstep. Our border with Syria is long and purse and therefore we are deeply concerned about the ability of terrorists to use and to cross these borders. And just that is why we are participating in the search of a political solution in Syria that will reduce the violence and diminish the rule of the extremists. It's not easy this political solution as we see the balance of forces moving this way and another. But that is one of the viable options for the people of Syria. Hopefully the Syrian people can decide and determine their future. Iraq was at the table during Geneva 1 talks and in fact the final communique that was produced by the meeting has strong Iraqi input in even the language that was adopted by all the participants. Now there are new talks about resuming Geneva 2 according to what we have heard here in Washington and in New York. This could only happen maybe in October or maybe later. There are no fixed dates yet about that possibility. We in Iraq do support the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom, democracy and self-determination. And Iraq has tried to adopt an independent neutral position not to side with one side against the other but to seek and to support a peaceful democratic solution in Syria. There is no sympathy whatsoever with the Ba'athist in Syria at all or the Ba'athist regime. In fact at one time when we called the international community to hold the Syrian government responsible for terrorist acts in Iraq we were the only voice and all our allies and friends abandoned us in that call. Unfortunately there are some who have called for Iraqis to volunteer on both sides in Syria and have used religious justifications on the basis of a sectarian confrontation. But let me be clear, the Iraqi volunteers who are fighting on either side in Syria do not represent the policy of the Iraqi government in any way. We are also opposed to the smuggling of arms from Iran to Syria. The government of Iraq is committed to implementing UN Security Council resolution promoting peace in Syria and keeping with our position against the militarizations of the conflict we are doing our utmost to prevent the shipments of arms across our borders or airspace by whoever. But we cannot do this without the capabilities and the sophisticated integrated defense system that we lack and this is what we have been asking from our friends to help us. This is one more reason why the United States and Iraq need to deepen our partnership and to combat terrorism. We need to continue to fully implement the strategic framework agreement that our countries signed before the withdrawal of the American forces in 2011. That means expedited delivery of promised military cells as well as assistance in counter-terrorism and enhancing the capacity of our security forces. Short of reintroducing American troops in Iraq, nobody is calling for the redeployment of American forces but under the strategic framework agreement there is a great deal of room, of space for security cooperation to enhance our common fight against terrorism. Iraq is also in the process of purchasing over 10 billion worth of military equipment mainly from the United States and other countries. We are paying for it with our own revenues and we want to buy this hardware from the American allies. Our recent purchases of 30 Boeing planes for our national carrier testifies to our potential as a market for American companies, American products and American services. The view from Iraq and the region also include opportunities as well as challenges as we have outlined. Over the past two years, relations between Iraq and Kuwait have improved enormously. In fact, there have been mutual visits between the two countries at the highest level. The problems of the past are being resolved through the Joint Ministerial Committee and the UN Security Council Resolution No. 2105 on June 27 of this year. This included Iraq's compliance with our obligations toward Kuwait, the only remaining issues which is not a controversial issue because there has been mutual agreement and payment is the compensation which Iraq is doing. But my country is literally, is practically out of Chapter 7 and the sanction regime. Now we are focusing on the future relationship between our countries so that together we can promote peace, stability and security in the region. Considering how much has changed between Iraq and Kuwait, there is a new hope for our neighbors throughout our region. We do not object to Iran having peaceful civil nuclear power program but we would be one of the first countries to object to Iran possessing nuclear weapons because of the past and because of the history. In fact, we favor the universalizations of the Nuclear Non-Pull-Offeration Treaty and strict adherence to all of its obligations, particularly in the tender box of the Middle East. Definitely Iran needs to convince the international community that their program is only for peaceful purposes and the world community needs to engage with Iran to address the issues that have isolated it. We are encouraged by the election in Iran and the victory of President Rouhani and the selection of his new teams. Iraq has been trying to be useful or to be helpful in reaching and understanding on these very important issues. In order to reach diplomatic solutions to the crisis of the nuclear program, Iraq has worked in cooperation and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the European Union to host the meeting of the 5 plus 1 group in Baghdad last May. Iraq will continue its efforts in the area of coordination and cooperation with the countries concerned. As the first nation in our neighborhood to abandon weapons of mass destruction, Iraq recently chaired an international conference in disarmament. Just imagine 20 years ago where we were. We seek a Middle East free of nuclear weapons. Towards that goal, we support efforts to convene a UN conference in Helsinki. Iraq seeks to forge friendship with our neighbors and a strategic partnership with the United States. Together, we can build a future of peace, prosperity and democracy worthy of the struggles and sacrifices of Iraqis and Americans in our time. And the hopes and dreams of generations yet to come. I thank you very much. Mr. Minister, thank you very much for that statement. I think it's a sign both of the complexity of your agenda and the skill with which you handle it. The minister has agreed to take questions, but our ask is that you wait for a microphone and that you identify yourself. And that we only ask one question until everybody has had a chance so that we can work our way around this rather full room. So we'll start right here if we may. Thank you, Mr. Alverman. Thank you for your excellency. My name is Sayed Erika. I'm a Palestinian journalist in town, but I also served in Iraq as a United Nations spokesman for five years. I got to know it. Your excellency, tell us what are the safeguards that you are implementing now to ensure that Iraq does not slide back to the bad old days of 2005 through 2007, especially in light of the merging of al-Qaida, Iraq and al-Qaida, Syria. And how would that figure into a new SOFA security agreement, so to speak, without introducing troops on the ground, boots on the ground? Thank you. First, I'm a believer and as a practitioner of Iraqi politics, not as a diplomat, I personally don't believe Iraq is sliding into sectarian or civil war for a number of reasons. First, with all these attacks you have seen, the people have not responded, have not been influenced at all by these deliberate attacks to ignite sectarian or civil war. You've all seen the reports last spring of troops massing up in the frontiers of Kurdistan or in the disputed areas between the federal government and the regional government, but nothing happened and the problem was resolved peacefully. You've seen many people abandon the government in Iraq, the Kurds, the Sunnis and others, but then through dialogue, through interaction, I think now everybody has rejoined the government to work together. So secondly, we've been there before in 2005, 6, 7, and we've seen how terrible that situation was when we were counting 100, 150 bodies in the streets of Baghdad and so on. Really, there is self-restrain by all the communities not to be dragged again into that. Although civil wars and other phenomena actually does not happen by decisions, by an incident or another incident, but we all followed how the search worked in Iraq and how successfully. And still actually there is a great deal of expertise and benefit we are drawing from these efforts. Secondly, politics has taken over in Iraq. I mean, most of the Iraqis, even who are opposed to the new Iraq or the new regime, are embracing democracy. They're all waiting for the next election to change their future. We have seen the recent local elections, how the people have spoken everywhere, and they are waiting for the next elections in 2014. As I said before, really we have demonstrations, sit-ins in many parts of the country for the past eight months, and the government never resorted to the kind of violence, except in one or two incidents in Hawija. I'm not here to justify these violations whatsoever, but really generally the government has tolerated this so far to go on without any intimidation. And the dialogue is continuing. The other element and restraint is the religious establishment. The Shi'as religious establishment in Najaf and Karbala have stood very strongly against any engagement in retaliations or responses. There are militias, there are forces, actually extreme forces on both sides, but really they have not reached the level of seeing the country dragged into a new civil or sectarian war. So security-wise it may not be stable, but it would be manageable until the next year. Now, there is no plans actually to have a new sofa. We have concluded the sofa, it's done, it's over. We have another agreement as the Strategic Framework Agreement. That's a long term that defines Iraq-United States relations for many years to come. And under this there are joint commissions on security, on diplomatic, political issues, on services, on energy, on cultural things. I have attended the fifth meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee on Political and Diplomatic with Secretary Kerry yesterday at the State Department. So this is an indication that this is going on. But under the SFA I think there is room for more security cooperation between Iraq and the United States. David Mack, Middle East Institute, an old hand at U.S.-Iraqi diplomacy. I want to salute what you've done in terms of reintegrating Iraq into the international community. I think future historians are going to rate you right there with the great French Foreign Minister, Tali Ronde, in terms of what you've accomplished. But my hard question for you is, what is the outlook for improving Iraq's somewhat troubled relations with two of your larger neighbors, both Turkey and Saudi Arabia? Thank you, David. I appreciate one of the first American diplomats in my career before becoming the Foreign Minister of Iraq was to meet David Mack at the State Department. And I remember that meeting very well in 1991 immediately after the Gulf War and the uprising and the exodus. So it's good to see you, David. I'm a friend and I have a great deal of respect. Your question is very important. We in the Iraqi government have been discussing this really very closely. Let's be honest about each other. There are two countries that have had influence over Iraqi-Sunni communities, Saudi Arabia and Turkey for different reasons. We have good relations with Iran. We have good relations with Jordan, with Egypt, with the Arab countries. And for your information, now in Iraq, we have nearly 92 or 93 diplomatic missions, including 15 Arab embassies. So those days of boycott of Iraq, of not accepting this alien body are gone. Even the Saudis have non-resident diplomatic representation. With Turkey we've experienced many, many problems and primarily because of the lack of respect by the Turkish politicians or officials for dictating on an elected Iraqi government what to do and not to do. I think now they realize and recognize that there is another way to follow in fostering. Although Turkey is our largest trading partner, actually now we have between 12-14 billion of trade with Turkey. And they are after the closure of Syria for their own goods and transit and so on. Iraq is the only viable route for them to the GCC and to the Gulf. I'm planning to meet with the Turkish official soon, maybe in Ankara or Geneva for talks in order to improve that. With the Saudi also we have not broken relations. We have communications and contacts. There are a number of things we can do to improve relations or to introduce some confidence-building measures. One of them we have a treaty to exchange the prisoners. We have Iraqi prisoners in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have some prisoners in Iraqi jails. Almost we are at the final stages of concluding that. We are also considering some business relations with Saudi Arabia through reopening the RR border point between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. David, for your information, I was in Riyadh a few months ago and I discovered really that the Saudi trade with Iraq, not directly but through Jordan and Kuwait, is nearly four billion US dollars. Also we need to lower the sectarian rhetoric on both sides in many ways in order to seek viable, healthy, good relations. Our resolving of our problems with Kuwait have helped with the Saudis and with the other GCC members. But I take your point it is an important challenge for us in fact to work on that very seriously. Barbara Slavin from the Atlantic Council in almonetary.com. Minister Zabari, always a pleasure to see you wherever in Washington or in the region. I wanted to get a little more detail about your views on the new Iranian government and what Iraq is prepared to do to try to facilitate the nuclear talks. Were you in Tehran for the inauguration of President Rouhani? Can you tell us something about your discussions with them? And what your sense is of how the US is receiving the overtures from the new Iranian government? Thank you. Thank you Barbara. I believe that the elections of President Hassan Rouhani was a statement by Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran to the international community to the world that it means serious business. Otherwise there are many ways his success or his election could have been scuttled from the first round to force it into a second round. But the pressures were enormous on the establishment to go along with this outcome. And also he has drawn a great deal of support from the reformist movement. Rouhani is a credible leader who is a member of the regime. He is not weak. He has very strong relations with all the key leaders in Iran. Khamenei included Khatami, Rafsanjani and others. So he's a member of the revolution. His credentials could not be challenged. Also the statement we have heard calling for moderations, calling for ending of Iran's isolations and the suffering that Iranian people are going through by the imposition of sanctions and political isolations I think were made very clear and loud. I wasn't in Iran actually during the inauguration, but the vice president was there. Nature-run Barzani, the KRG prime minister was there also. So the feedback we have had that there would be a change. But this change could not come immediately as many people expect. The key elements everybody would be watching is the 5 plus 1 meeting in September and whether the Iranian will come to present any new approach. I personally doubted that it will happen that soon, but the pressures are mounting definitely on them to seek a solution. My message has been really not to underestimate this change in Iran, but we have to wait and see because the proof of the pudding is in eating as they say. But it is a positive change the way I see it. Mr. Minister, if I could just pick up on one part of Barbara's question. She also asked about whether Iraq sees any role helping to facilitate some change in the world's relations with Iran. Is that one of your ambitions? I believe Iraq could serve as a bridge between the United States, the Security Council, member, and Iran. And we have played that role in the past. And as indicated by speech, the hosting of the nuclear talks in Baghdad last year was an indication that we have an interest here to help to facilitate not to be a bridge that we will fall under the pressure, let's say, on both sides but to communicate fairly and honestly and we will continue to do that because we have a vested interest there. All the way in the back. I'll read back in the high university. Mr. Minister, in the Kurdish areas of Syria, you have now a fight between the Kurds and the al-Qaeda. And the president of the KRG has said that he might use force to send the Peshmerga in to protect the Kurds. So what I'm trying to understand is what is the position of the Iraqi government to an attempt by a segment of Iraq sending forces across the border into Syria. Would that be part of your policy? And also what do you think should happen in with the Syrian Kurds? Thank you. Thank you, Henry. Good to see you on island. Thank you. And this is a good question again. In fact, there has been fighting and tough fighting between al-Nusra and some other Qataib. You know, Ahra al-Sham and many of the extremist groups with the Kurdish or the PYD party there, which is in charge. And there has been some massacres reported by the killing of hundreds of civilians on ethnic base or on this. And this has raised alarms really in the Kurdish community throughout the region but also in the KRG to do something to defend or to protect the Kurds in Syria. But these decisions really needs to be coordinated. We've discussed it in Baghdad and the Iraqi government, Prime Minister Maliki government are fully aware of the tension in Syria and the danger of al-Nusra, al-Qaeda, nexus taking place across the border in Syria or to control out of space areas, let's say, in Syria to declare their Islamic states. But I believe what President Barzani said really he will ask the newly formed Kurdish national committees to investigate this before making any decision. So it's not sending Peshmerga across the Tigris or the Syrian borders to fight another war there. Still it's early, we are not there. There has been discussions, I think, between the Syrian opposition recently to resolve this conflict. But any decisions I think will be coordinated with the government of Iraq. It will not be unilateral by the KRG. Thank you. A clarification with CBS. What if you could address specifically the threat from al-Qaeda in Iraq in Iraq? I believe the numbers have gone from about 5 to 10 suicide bombings a month up to about 30 a month. That's a big escalation. What do you attribute that escalation and what is your government doing about it? Thank you. That is why we are here basically to seek more help and support because really the al-Qaeda network and its affiliates is a real serious challenge, let's say, to the stability of Iraq and of the region. And also we see this emergence between al-Qaeda in Iraq and Nusra Front in Syria and other affiliates groups. They are flourishing in this kind of circumstances. The United States has a vast experience in combating al-Qaeda in Iraq and its technology, its intelligence on al-Qaeda, on their networks, on fighting them. I think in their counter-terrorism technique, we need to benefit from these expertise to forge a better relations with the United States security forces to enhance our abilities and capabilities really in terms of weapons, equipment, technologies. Because it's not going to stop there, I think, al-Qaeda as such. We have our own failure as the Iraqi government. We have admitted them. We could do a better job, but really the challenge is beyond our capabilities. Minister, good to see you again.  You've identified it as probably the key issue inside of Iraq right now. It's what's brought you here to Washington, D.C. Yet you have preemptively taken off any option of U.S. military support, what you referred to as boots on the ground, which would necessitate a sofa. Is that an Iraqi decision not to ask for American troop support to provide that expertise, or is that an American political decision placed upon you or a combination of both? Really, we are not short of boots on the ground. We have nearly one million under arms and thanks to you and to the U.S. for helping to raise and train this. So it's not the number of boots on the ground or American soldiers in Iraq. No, this is not the request for my government or to reintroduce U.S. troops in Iraq, in fact, in numbers. But as you know, we have security cooperation with you within the Security Office attached to the embassy in Baghdad. Under the Strategic Framework Agreement, there is room to support, to enhance Iraqi democracy and support all the efforts. When we draft it, actually, or we agreed on that agreement, we are conscious that in the future we may need future assistance and help. So there are many ways, you as a military commander, you know that there are many ways the military could do to provide help short of that, of sending troops into Iraq. So it's not the request of my government actually, and I don't think there is any appetite or willingness here also to send troops abroad or to engage into another conflict now. Thank you very much. I'm Josh Rogan with Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Thank you for your time today. As you know, as we discussed increased security cooperation, one of the main requests of the Iraqi government is for new U.S. arms sales to Iraq. Lawmakers here in Washington are concerned about those sales for two reasons. They believe that Iraq is still allowing Iran to use Iraqi airspace to promote the flow of arms to the Assad regime. Also, they're concerned that the Iraqi government may use U.S. weapons towards political ends to marginalize the political opposition, as we've seen in the past. What assurances can you give us on both of these fronts? What specific steps are you taking to stop the arms flow from Iran over Iraqi airspace to Assad? And what assurances can you give us that as we approach new elections that U.S. weapons won't be used for domestic political purposes? Thank you. Definitely, my government will abide by all the rules, the regulations you hear in the United States or Congress will impose on all these arms sales, not only to Iraq, to many other countries in the world. So we will abide by that definitely for these weapons not to be used for domestic use or improperly would be used for the defense of the country. Now, on the flight of the overflight of Iranian using Iraqi airspace, let me give you the reality. I mean, sometimes we're talking theoretically about the situation as if Iraq has dozens of fighters or aircrafts. For your information, Iraq doesn't have a single fighter plane up to now. It has a couple of helicopters, some training, let's say planes, small plane, but it doesn't have a single aircraft to protect its airspace. Iraq up to now doesn't have an integrated self-defense to protect its skies. We have requested, we are waiting for the delivery. So that is the situation when we talk about Iraq's capability and deterrence capabilities to prevent other from using its airspace and so on. We have made the marches to the Iranian. We don't want, we don't support you or any other to use our airspace because it runs against our policy of taking an independent neutral position here, not to militarize the conflict in any way. And we have done a number of inspections. Disinspections could not be, I mean, endorsed by some circles here in the United States that this could choose only those who carry, let's say, legitimate equipment or material. But we have raised the possibility here really. I mean, we will continue to live up to our commitments here. But there are Security Council resolutions banning this from leaving Iran, I mean, under Chapter 7, whether it's weapons, import, exports. We don't have the capabilities of enforcing this. Yes, as politically we've made these marches. So who is going to reinforce that? Is it the Security Council or who? We've taken note, actually, of the administration's serious concerns about this flight. I can tell you now they have gone down. They may have not stopped. But believe me, we have no ways of making sure that what kind of weapons, equipment, it's not only Iran that is providing Syria by arms and immunizations. Russia's other sources, it's very clear the Tartus port on the Mediterranean is seen daily, let's say, by U.S. satellite and imagery how much weapon is gone into Syria. So here we don't want to see, to take or to view Iraq as a whipping boy, let's say, for failing to hold others to their commitment. But we will live up to our commitment. I think we will do more, let's say, to live up to our commitment to stop, to prevent any further flights, legitimate flights. Again, there is an international location here, let's say, for this agreement and arrangements between countries and so on. But we have taken note, let's say, of the administration position. Mr. Minister, I'd like to, Phoebe Marr, an independent scholar on Iraq for a long time. I'd like to add my word of welcome and please come visit us more often. I do have a question. I'd like to get back to oil. One of the things, as you know, that's inhibiting investment is the lack of a hydrocarbon law. How close is Iraq really to achieving a hydrocarbon law? And please give us some sense of all these pipeline proposals we hear about to take place. The independent one from Kurdistan to Turkey, the new one from Baghdad through Turkey, potential through Jordan. What are we to make of those and how realistic are any of them? Thank you, Phoebe. It's good to see you here and still same spirit. And the hydrocarbon law is one of the key political challenges for Iraq or for the new Iraq. On the basis of the Iraqi constitution that devolved power and wealth, let's say, among the region, among the people. And only recently, the Iraqi parliament passed a legislation to enhance the powers of the governorates, of the local authorities, let's say, in each governorate in Iraq. And it has been a political issues between the KRG and Baghdad, really, this hydrocarbon law. We had a version we agreed on 2007 that was accepted by both sides, but it didn't materialize. Still, it is the key reference point. Because of the deteriorations of relations between the KRG and Baghdad, there has been a separation of thinking, of planning, of using the oil resources and approaches with Turkey. And Iran also, for your information, it's not just Turkey. But really, I'm not pessimistic and hopeless that for finding a resolution of this because it benefits the country, it benefits everybody, it enhance Iraqi oil industry, the issue of ownership, the issue of reliability, let's say, for other oil investors to work in Iraq. It is a very, very important subject. And it is a top issues in all the political meetings between the KRG. But whether it could be enacted soon, I really don't want to give you any false impression. I believe this issue is one of the existential issues in the new Iraq. It has to be resolved with partnership, with participation, with genuine resolutions of the key political issues that are hindering Iraq. I personally believe there is a better atmosphere now. There is a better communication. Recently, after the exchange of visits by Prime Minister Maliki to Arbil and President Barzani to Baghdad, they have agreed to address this issue frankly and to form serious tactical commissions to look at the issues. There is also related to the hydrocarbon law, the revenue sharing in the country as a whole, they are related. These two issues, I think they are doable, but depends a great deal on the political understanding between the leaders. Yes, the KRG is trying to enhance its position through opening up to Turkey. Turkey's relations with Baghdad are not at the best stage, which is something we are trying that normalizing relations between Ankara and Baghdad could benefit all, including the KRG. And these pipelines, they are also controversial issues, to be honest with you. I mean, there is no agreement on them. And we agreed that soon, very soon, in Baghdad there would be a meeting of these commissions to address the issue of the pipelines and to see whether we can do finalize the hydrocarbon law before the end of this year or be left until next year elections, which most likely it would be. Back on the left, this will be the last question. Yeah, exactly. I think it pays independent consultant. And I wanted to give you an opportunity. A lot of people here feel like there's been a lack of political reconciliation in Iraq, and that it's been U.S. policy to support the Erbil agreement, which has not been implemented in Iraq. I think following up on Mr. Rogan's question, I'd like to give you the opportunity to explain why should the United States sell arms to Iraq when in fact many people believe the lack of political reconciliation is contributing to some of the violence today. Thanks. Thank you. Political reconciliation is the key issue, really, for Iraq, for the stability of Iraq. And I think all the key leaders believe that this is the way forward with the hydrocarbon law, with normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia, with Turkey. I mean, all the questions have been appointed questions about the core issue in Iraq. So the political reconciliation is moving, is not stagnant, really. I mean, look at the representatives of the Sunni community, let's say, or from Iraqi parliamentary blocs. Now they are represented in the parliament, they are represented in government. They may feel they are underrepresented or marginalized. This is a fair call. I mean, we could do more about that, definitely. But really, the lessons that came out of this local election was very, very important. Many people believe they could do with the majoritarian democracy or political majority government that one sect or one group can win all over and run by themselves. It proved they couldn't. They could win, but they could not govern. And I think everybody realized and recognized that there has to be an inclusive democracy, non-sectarian democracy in Iraq for this country to have any future. Mr. Minister, I've heard a lot of foreign ministers speak. I don't think any has a more complex agenda, and I don't think anyone handles it as well as you've demonstrated you handle it today. I'm also a little bit humbled by the fact that I think you have more friends in Washington than I do, and I live here. We haven't. So thank you very much for honoring us today. We look forward to welcoming you in our new building.


Ukraine's security service eliminates high-ranking collaborator in Belgorod. Ukraine's security service reportedly killed Ukrainian collaborator Oleksandr Slytsarenko, previously installed by Russia as a deputy head of occupation authorities in Kharkiv Oblast. New Voice media outlet reported on November the 23rd, citing undisclosed sources. Slytsarenko, a former employee of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, was allegedly assassinated in the Russian city of Belgorod. Law enforcement sources told Ukraine, the collaborator was said to have died in the hospital after his car was allegedly blown up on November the 16th. Slytsarenko was an active member of Kharkiv anti-Maydan. In 2014, pro-Russian demonstrations aimed against the Euro-Maydan revolution and the post-revolution government. He fought in Russian proxy forces in Luhansk Oblast between 2021 and 2022 and was made deputy head of occupation authorities in Kharkiv Oblast in 2022, New Voice said. The collaborator was reportedly involved in atrocities against the Ukrainian population on occupied territories and was suspected of treason by the Ukraine's security service. Ukrainian media reported in late October that the Ukraine's security service was behind the attack that seriously injured pro-Russian politician Oleg Tsaryov in Crimea. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on his Telegram channel on November the 23rd that he received a report from the Ukraine's security services chief Vasyl Malyuk on new results in countering enemy operations and collaborators.


Welcome to Open Geology. Open Geology is a project that we created to share geology with everybody. It is creative commons and has been created by a group of Salt Lake Community College professors. Some of these videos have been funded in part by Salt Lake Community College, but please note that the views and ideas expressed in this video aren't necessarily don't necessarily reflect the views of Salt Lake Community College. Today we're going to talk about sedimentary rocks, specifically sedimentary structures. So let's talk about them. Sedimentary structures are visible features in the rock that represent the processes that formed that rock. So anytime some kind of a process be it wind or water or even life is affecting sediment and that that effect then gets preserved in that sediment and turned into rock then you have a sedimentary structure. You can also have secondary sedimentary structures where the rock is altered a little bit after it's deposited or even after it's lithified and you can start to get things like lysogang bands and soft sediment deformation. But we won't talk about those for the sake of this introductory level material. Sedimentary structures are the embodiment of uniformitarianism. Uniformitarianism being the idea that the present is the key to the past. The processes that are going on now, we're likely the same processes that were going on in the past and we can carry forward our observation of today's processes to figure out what the rocks created in the past represent. Examples of sedimentary structures and in these examples we'll talk about today are crossbeds, ripple marks, mud cracks and fossils. Crossbeds are diagonal layering in sedimentary rock created by wind or water. Ripple marks are small waves on top of a bed that represent a beach or river environment. Mud cracks represent alternating wet and dry environment and fossils represent the remains of prehistoric life. Beds are probably the most important of the sedimentary structures and by beds we mean layers of sedimentary rock and these thicknesses can range from millimeters to you know many many many meters. Here is an example of an outcrop from Capitol Reef National Park here in Utah and you can see the different beds in the sedimentary rock and sedimentary beds, the strata is another term, they are distinguishing features of sedimentary rocks. If you see bedding it's a good indicator that you're looking at a cemetery rock. Please note though that there are other ways you can get layering in an outcrop like igneous dykes or things like that so you want to be careful but bedding is a good way to help you identify that what you're looking at is sedimentary rock. Notice that you have this dark brown bed in this photo and then some shale overlying that and then a nice thick bed of sandstone. The planes, the flat parts that separate these layers they're known as bedding planes. Cross beds are diagonal beds created from wind or river blown grains that are traveling over dunes or bumps in sand and as the sand travels over the top of a bump it falls down and kind of piles up into a layer and it does so again and again over time until you get these beautiful diagonal looking beds and this little GIF here is kind of supporting that and this particular bed, this guy standing on, you're either looking at it from an interesting cross-section view or it has changed direction a few different times. You get these really beautiful diagonal features. These can be on scales from many meters tall especially in the case of dune type deposits. If you can imagine a sand dune those can be very very tall or it can be fairly small especially if you're talking about a river type cross bedding where it's only less than a few centimeters in some cases. Here are some famous cross beds from Zion National Park here in Utah and you can see these alternating directions, these diagonal beds in the sandstone.  Fossils are another type of sedimentary structure and they are kind of an easy and quick way of determining the depositional environment. Here's a shell hash where you have this fossil of first limestone just chocked full of shells and it's a good indicator that this formed in some kind of shallow marine type environment. Here's a piece of petrified wood and one of the famous Green River fish. So we'll talk more about these later but just know that fossils are a type of sedimentary structure. They're preserved traces of what used to be living. Mud cracks and raindrop imprints both kind of represent a nice muddy flat environment. I'm sure we've all seen mud cracks before in the modern world. We have these areas of alternating wetting and drying and it creates these cool kind of polygonal lines and features from that drying and these are all over especially near river banks and tidal flats and things like that. Ripples. Here's a picture I took of some ripples on the south end of the Great Salt Lake and notice the lake has formed the sand on its beaches or it could be the wind into these nice symmetrical ripple marks all along the edge of the shore whereas you have the same kind of features forming that formed to create this sandstone here. So this sandstone could have represented the environment very similar to this. You can use clues of other rocks nearby to help piece together that environment. These ripple marks can be formed both by wind and by water and sometimes their symmetry can indicate the direction of flow. So that's it for sedimentary structures. I hope you learned something. I hope this was informative and please do follow me if you enjoy this and want to hear some more.