Latest news with #NOW
Business Wire
8 hours ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Baker Tilly and MediSpend Expand compliance NOW suite with Launch of stewardship NOW to Transform Life Sciences Compliance
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Building on its collaboration with MediSpend, leading advisory, tax and assurance firm Baker Tilly announces the expansion of its healthcare compliance platform, compliance NOW, with the launch of stewardshipNOW, a comprehensive compliance solution that streamlines external funding management for life sciences organizations. Powered by MediSpend, and building off of the success of engagementNOW, stewardship NOW automates the administration of grants, charitable contributions, sponsorships and investigator-initiated research funding. The solution helps life sciences companies align healthcare funding initiatives with corporate values while meeting evolving regulatory requirements. With configurable workflows, customizable portals and robust compliance oversight, stewardship NOW simplifies funding processes from submission through payment execution and reconciliation. 'stewardship NOW empowers life sciences companies to manage the complexities with external funding in a compliant, ethical and efficient way,' said Darren Jones, Baker Tilly principal, life sciences consulting. 'Our collaboration with MediSpend combines strategic insight with advanced technology, helping organizations reduce administrative burden, mitigate risk and execute their funding strategies with confidence and integrity.' Life sciences organizations rely on solutions like stewardship NOW to manage programs for continuing medical education, charitable contributions, corporate sponsorships and patient advocacy funding. Baker Tilly supports organizations in developing global philanthropy strategies, implementing robust compliance controls and driving impactful funding initiatives that respect recipient independence and align with corporate values. 'stewardship NOW marks an important next step in our continued collaboration with Baker Tilly, bringing together our built for purpose technology along with their advisory experience to help life sciences organizations more effectively create and run efficient, transparent and compliant funding programs.' said Seth Houston, Chief Commercial Officer at MediSpend. 'We're excited to continue our collaboration with Baker Tilly to support our shared clients as they make impactful contributions to the healthcare industry.' Baker Tilly and MediSpend together deliver technology-enabled solutions that help life sciences organizations navigate complex global regulations, reduce risk and improve operational efficiency. The firm's complianceNOW suite also includes: transparency NOW – A user-friendly platform that streamlines data capture, collection and reporting while helping organizations stay ahead of evolving regulations. engagement NOW – A comprehensive solution for managing engagements and interactions with healthcare professionals. kol NOW – An on-demand, self-service portal that streamlines the process of evaluating the expertise of key opinion leaders (KOLs) used in consulting engagements. fmv NOW – Direct, self-service access to fair market value (FMV) hourly rates across key opinion leader (KOL) tiers, serving as the delivery mechanism for fair market value rate analysis. For more information about Baker Tilly's compliance NOW solutions, visit: # # # About Baker Tilly ( Baker Tilly is a leading advisory, tax and assurance firm, providing clients with a genuine coast-to-coast and global advantage in major regions of the U.S. and in many of the world's leading financial centers – New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) provide professional services through an alternative practice structure in accordance with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and applicable laws, regulations and professional standards. Baker Tilly US, LLP is a licensed independent CPA firm that provides attest services to its clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities provide tax and business advisory services to their clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities are not licensed CPA firms. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, are independent members of Baker Tilly International, a worldwide network of independent accounting and business advisory firms in 143 territories, with 43,500 professionals and a combined worldwide revenue of $5.62 billion. Visit or join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. MediSpend's best-in-class solutions empower life sciences companies to grow their business compliantly through top-rated solutions and client services. MediSpend provides commercial compliance solutions for the largest pharmaceutical, medical device and dental companies as well as emerging biotech companies across the world. © Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP
IOL News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
More Afrikaners leave for the US
US President Donald Trump. Image: AFP US president Donald Trump was aware there was no white genocide in South Africa but wanted to use the claim to get his way. This was the view of International relations expert Rich Mashimbye who asserted that even if Trump was advised otherwise, it would not make a difference. This comes as Mark Burns, a close ally of Trump, returned from a visit to South Africa with a message contradicting claims of genocide against white farmers in the country. Burns, who is the founder and CEO of the NOW television network, met with white Afrikaner farmers and business owners during his trip and concluded that there was no evidence to support the claims of genocide. It also comes as a second, small batch of white Afrikaners quietly arrived in the US on Friday as part of Trump's offer to resettle them amidst false claims of white genocide and persecution in South Africa. While spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation Chrispin Phiri said they are not aware of the second batch of Afrikaners landing in the US, trade union Solidarity said the group, smaller than the first to arrive in the US, included children. Last month the first group of more than 49 white South African Afrikaners landed in the US after a private plane was chartered for them. Trump in February had issued an executive order where Washington cited the Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 as one that enables the persecution of Afrikaners. Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said the second group departed on a commercial flight on Thursday that landed in Atlanta in the US on Friday. 'Several more groups will fly to the USA over the next few weeks. 'The US Embassy in Pretoria, in collaboration with the State Department in Washington DC, is currently processing 8000 applications, and we expect many more Afrikaner refugees to travel to the USA over the next few months. "They are settling in states across the USA, but particularly southern states such as Texas, North and South Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska,' Kleynhans said. President Cyril Ramaphosa had attempted to fend off false claims of white genocide in South Africa when Trump ambushed him with videos and articles to prove his narrative that white farmers were being targeted for their land. The unexpected stunt turned the usually staid diplomatic setting of the Oval Office into a stage for Trump's contention that white South Africans are being persecuted. Reports indicate that the US embassy in South Africa is aware that 'refugees continue to arrive in the US from South Africa on commercial flights as part of the Afrikaner resettlement programme's ongoing operations'. Solidarity said it has helped some people understand the application process better and referred them to the right people at the US embassy. They have also assisted the US government in determining the criteria for Afrikaner refugee status. Kleynhans said he was campaigning in at least ten countries to increase international pressure on the SA government in the run-up to the G20 summit. Kallie Kriel, AfriForum's CEO, said he did not know the Afrikaners who were leaving because they applied directly to the US embassy. According to Mashimbye, for a while, the SA-US diplomatic tensions centred around the Trump-led government's accusations that the Ramaphosa government was persecuting white South Africans and confiscating land from Afrikaner farmers while remaining silent. He said it did not matter what people said because Trump was aware there was no white genocide in South Africa but wanted to use the claim to get his way. 'As president of a country with one the largest embassies that is fully staffed in South Africa, Trump has access to all the information he requires about South Africa's transformation project and he likely knows that the issues of land reform and crime dynamics are not as has been portrayed so far. 'He knows that there is no genocide happening nor confiscation of white-owned farms in South Africa. It is likely that the diplomatic attacks directed at South Africa are aimed at discouraging the Ramaphosa government from robustly executing the transformation project,' he said. Political analyst Sandile Swana said Burns' public statements were encouraging and showed that not everyone in Trump's camp agreed with him. 'To me they represent signs from the Trump's camp… that they have to tell a different story, which they are now doing…and a different story they are now telling is that whatever crime that is happening, is not a genocide but just crime that needs to be attended to." Cape Times
IOL News
a day ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Trump allies' fact finding mission on white farmers and genocide may not change US President's mind
US President Donald Trump's narrative on white farmers received a backlash from his ally, Pastor Mark Burns (right). Image: X Mark Burns, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, has returned from a visit to South Africa with a message contradicting claims of genocide against white farmers in the country. However experts believe that Trump always knew that there was no white genocide in the country and even if Burns advises the US President otherwise, this will not make a difference. Burns, who is the founder and CEO of the NOW television network, met with white Afrikaner farmers and business owners during his trip and concluded that there is no evidence to support the claims of genocide. According to Burns, the farmers he met were shocked to discover that such claims were being made. "You were able to hear their perspectives. "From their point of view, being white Afrikaners, there is absolutely no genocide or white genocide in South Africa," Burns said. He added that the farmers were more concerned about crime and safety, rather than genocide. Burns cited statistics provided by a white farmer, which showed that out of 5,200 murders in the last reporting quarter, only 12 were related to farmers, and only three of those were white. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading "You clearly see that based on those statistics, and this was given to me by a farmer, a white farmer, and that to me speaks extreme volumes," he said. Despite the controversy, Burns is optimistic about the future of US-South Africa relations. He believes that a stronger South Africa is a stronger America, and vice versa. "If we are going to continue to make America great, partnering with South Africa is one of the components to do it," he said. Burns The question remains whether Burns' claims will change Trump's "belief" that there is a white genocide in South Africa. International relations expert Rich Mashimbye said for a while, the SA-US diplomatic tensions centred around the Trump-led government's accusations that the Ramaphosa government, was persecuting white South Africans and confiscating land from Afrikaner farmers while remaining silent. He said it did not matter what people said because Trump was aware there was no white genocide in South Africa but wanted to use the claim to get his way. 'As president of a country with one the largest embassies that is fully staffed in South Africa, Trump has access to all the information he requires about South Africa's transformation project and he likely knows that the issues of land reform and crime dynamics are not as has been portrayed so far. 'He knows that there is no genocide happening nor confiscation of white owned farms in South Africa. It is likely that the diplomatic attacks directed at South Africa are aimed at discouraging the Ramaphosa government from robustly executing the transformation project,' he said. Political analyst Sandile Swana said Burns' public statements were encouraging and showed that not everyone in Trump's camp agreed with him. 'To me they represent signs from the Trump's they have to tell a different story, which they are now doing…and a different story they are now telling is that whatever crime that is happening, is not a genocide but just crime that needs to be attended to." "There are about 600 American companies in South Africa such as Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, the Ford Motor Company and so on, so quite clearly the sources of information they have used (for the genocide claims) were not genuine. He said the country should welcome the efforts of Burns and hope that his camp will start to change their narrative to a much more sensible one.
IOL News
3 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Mark Burns, Trump's top pastor, challenges genocide claims against white farmers in South Africa
Described as US President Donald Trump's top pastor, Mark Burns, is visiting southern Africa and has already been convinced that there is no genocide against white Afrikaner farmers in South Africa. Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers Televangelist Mark Burns, described by Time magazine as US President Donald Trump's top pastor, is convinced that widespread claims that there is genocide of white farmers under way in South Africa are absolutely untrue. Burns is visiting southern Africa, and his trip has already helped him debunk allegations of genocide against white Afrikaner farmers. The founder and chief executive of the NOW television network has been invited by the global network of Muslim leaders, Concordia Forum, and its founder and president, Muddassar Ahmed, for an interfaith dialogue to continue bridging the gap between the two faiths and others around the world to promote peace, prosperity, and unity. Their mission is to promote peaceful situations around the world where there are conflicts. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Burns said he sees the strong ties between the United States and South Africa, which he indicated was a beautiful thing that he will get to take back home. 'Thank God, there is no conflict here in South Africa. Your government is clearly a powerful, stable nation. The big elephant in the room – the meeting that took place in the Oval Office between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump,' he said. Burns, who described Trump as his 'dear friend of 12/13 years', said the question being asked is: 'Is there white genocide happening in South Africa?' He added: 'As a peace mission that I have, is white genocide taking place, are white farmers being targeted or having their land taken away forcibly in this country? I have been just blown away by having great access to white Afrikaner farmers and those that represent farmers from around your entire country.' Burns said he has met small and commercial farmers and was able to meet with white business manufacturing owners and hear from their perspectives what is actually happening in South Africa. 'Not to my shock again, you were able to hear their perspectives. From their point of view, being white Afrikaners, there is absolutely no genocide or white genocide in South Africa. They believe Trump was fed erroneous information for whatever reason they don't know,' Burns explained. He said in his understanding, the farmers he met were all shocked to discover that such a thing as white genocide was happening in South Africa. 'From that point of view, they pivoted that there absolutely is a crime issue, there is a high murder rate, and many of them spoke about worrying about their safety, not because they are white but because they don't feel as protected as they should be,' Burns stated. He said he was informed in the meetings that over 5,200 murders had occurred in the last reporting quarter and that only 12 of them were related to farmers. 'And out of those 12, only three of them were white. You clearly see that based on those statistics, and this was given to me by a farmer, a white farmer, and that to me speaks extreme volumes,' he said. Releasing the 2024/25 fourth quarter crime statistics a week ago, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said there were 5,727 murders in the three months between January and March this year. He said six attacks on rural communities were recorded. 'In principle, we do not categorise people by race, but in the context of claims of genocide of white people, we need to unpack the killings in this category. The two farm owners who were murdered during the fourth quarter were African and not white. Further to that, the two farm employees and one farm manager were also African – it is the one farm dweller that was white,' added Mchunu. Turning to key matters of trade between the US and South Africa, Burns said: 'This is a nation that we need to continue to partner with, this is a nation that is one of our important partners on the continent of Africa and that we ought to continue to strengthen that relationship and to do whatever it takes to make sure that we have good trading deals with each other.' His message back in his country will be 'come to South Africa, invest in South Africa. We have so much that we are similar'. Burns said the purpose of that is to create jobs here in South Africa, to entice more American investors to invest in South Africa. He also acknowledged that the AGOA (Africa Growth and Opportunity Act) Forum, scheduled to be held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in July, would be difficult, especially after Trump imposed 31% tariffs on goods imported from South Africa in April. Burns warned South Africa against remaining a member of the BRICS bloc of countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, and China, as well as its newest members, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. 'BRICS is a challenge, though, that needs to be addressed, and if I were advising your President Ramaphosa to remove that 'S' from the title BRICS immediately,' he said. According to Burns, while BRICS was initially established to enable access to different markets, the country should declare to Vladimir Putin (the Russian president) that it will not be a party to the devaluation of the US dollar and introduce a separate currency. BRICS also includes Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan as partner countries.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
What is Mountainhead? Succession creator's new film explained
Mountainhead sees Succession creator Jesse Armstrong's return with another fast-paced tale of obscenely wealthy people squabbling whilst the world collapses. The writer of the hit series about a media empire headed up by Brian Cox's terrifying patriarch Logan Roy is back on familiar ground with his new film, set to debut on Sky Atlantic on Sunday, 1 June. Here's all you need to know about Mountainhead, including its impressive cast. The two-hour film makes its debut on Sky Artlantic on Sunday, 1 June. It will also be available to stream on NOW, and is repeated on Sky Atlantic on Thursday, 5 and Saturday, 7 June. Succession fans mourning the end of Armstrong's hit series will welcome his return project - a film set in a world similar to the one the Roy family occupied that follows another group of obnoxious rich people. Billionaires Randall, Jeff and Venis head up to the mountains for a snowy weekend with super-rich tech entrepreneur Souper at his luxurious ranch. But when they turn on the news, they see that back home things are heating up as fake news spread on a social media platform owned by Venis has sparked riots that are threatening the world's economic stability. The friends have enough money and power at their disposal to effect change immediately, but like any megalomaniac worth their billions, they soon come to the conclusion that they'd much rather leverage a global takeover instead. Armstrong's sharp comedy dialogue and themes of gross excess have more than just echoes of Succession and the film is sure to be a must-watch for his fans. The Peep Show creator told Variety of his new project: "It's a little bit scary after a Succession type of thing that's well-regarded. I knew it was going to be a big thing for me to do the next thing. Maybe it'd be a good idea to run at it fast rather than stewing on it for five years on my second album." Unsurprisingly, Armstrong has attracted another big-name cast for Mountainhead. Playing ranch owner Souper is Jason Schwartzman, who's joined by Steve Carell as Randall, Ramy Youssef as Jeff, and Cory Michael Smith as Venis. Speaking to The Atlantic, Carell said of getting to grips with the pacy, tech-heavy script: "There was a lot of deciphering, a lot of looking up of phrases for all of us—taking notes and watching podcasts." Meanwhile, Smith described Mountainhead as "a cousin to Succession" in a chat with Vogue and added of working with Armstrong: "He gave us space to really play around and try things out, but what we all learned very quickly was that nothing we were going to do was better than what Jesse had written. His command of language breeds envy. It's inspiring. I'd like to think of myself as a smart, clever guy, but it's very clear that he's Ivy League and I'm just…not. So, I was at his behest with every note." Mountainhead debuts on Sky Atlantic at 9pm on Sunday, 1 June.
