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CBS News
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Future Fest celebrates Denver children, all their future possibilities
Future Fest is a free, citywide event for students and their families to connect passions to careers and empower youth. "It's really our commitment as a City to our youth, our up-and-coming future workforce to get them excited about careers in their own backyard and be able to have hands-on interactions and activities that they can really dive into," said Alyse West, Community Engagement Strategist with the City & County of Denver. Future Fest kicks off with a parade around Civic Center Park at 11 a.m. There are Performing Arts Showcases, a Step Show Competition, a Business Pitch Competition, and Flag Football Clinics. Youth on Record will be performing on the main stage in the evening. "We want to empower and inspire our youth while giving them the opportunity to just explore new opportunities, the City, and learn more about our agencies and what we do," said J.J. Williams, OHR Talent Acquisition Supervisor for the City & County of Denver. In addition to the activities, 85 organizations and City agencies will have booths at Future Fest. Some of the organizations that will be on display at Future Fest include Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Cyber Qubits, and the Mobile Earth + Space Observatory. City agencies include Denver Parks and Recreation, Technology Services, and Denver Human Services. "I want to make sure that they feel seen and celebrated. There's lots of opportunities where they get to showcase their talents in different competitions and different performance opportunities," West added. Future Fest offers an opportunity for children to interact with the City's police officers, sheriff's deputies, firefighters, and 911 emergency communicators. LINK: Future Fest Future Fest is Saturday, April 26, 2025 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Civic Center Park.
Russia Today
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Interpol refuses request to arrest Bosnian Serb leader
Interpol has rejected Bosnia and Herzegovina's request to issue wanted alerts for the president and parliament speaker of Republika Srpska – a Serb-majority region within the country. Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik made the announcement on X on Wednesday. Bosnia's state court also confirmed to Reuters that a Red Notice for Dodik and parliament speaker Nenad Stevandic had not come into effect. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. Interpol's decision followed an appeal from neighboring Serbia, which argued that Sarajevo's request was politically motivated and violated Interpol's neutrality principles. 'I just received a call from [Serbian] President Aleksandar Vucic to inform me that… that Interpol rejected the request of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to issue a red notice for [Speaker Nenad] Stevandic and me,' Dodik wrote on X on Wednesday. READ MORE: Western 'interventionism' has turned Bosnia and Herzegovina into a 'failed state' – Bosnian Serb leader The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina had sought the Interpol notice after Dodik defied an arrest warrant at home and traveled to Serbia, Israel, and Russia in March. Dodik and Stevandic have been accused of 'attacking the constitutional order' by allegedly enacting laws that restrict the operations of Bosnia's state-level judiciary and law enforcement agencies. Created under the 1995 US-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina is comprised of the Bosniak-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska, with a tripartite presidency and an international overseer – the Office of the High Representative (OHR). Dodik has long rejected the OHR's authority, accusing it of overreach and undermining Republika Srpska's autonomy. He was sentenced in February to a year in prison and a six-year political ban for defying the OHR. The Serbian leadership vowed to prevent the detention of Republika Srpska's top officials and described Sarajevo's moves as a 'continuous attempt at revenge' against Dodik and the Serbian people. Russia denounced Dodik's conviction as an 'absolutely political' decision by the Bosnia and Herzegovina judiciary based on a 'pseudo-law' pushed through by the OHR. READ MORE: Moscow comments on conviction of Bosnian Serb leader Earlier this week, Dodik visited Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with RT, he said the Dayton Agreement is no longer upheld and that he is seeking Putin's assistance in bringing the situation to the UN Security Council.
Russia Today
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Western ‘interventionism' has turned Bosnia and Herzegovina into a ‘failed state'
Western interference has turned Bosnia and Herzegovina into a 'failed state,' and the country now needs Russia's help to resolve the crisis, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has told RT. Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska – the Serb-majority autonomous region within Bosnia and Herzegovina – arrived in Russia on Monday for talks with President Vladimir Putin. Bosnia and Herzegovina was created under the 1995 US-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the civil war in the former Yugoslavia. It formed a state comprised of the Bosniak-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska, with a tripartite presidency and an international overseer – the Office of the High Representative (OHR), now held by Christian Schmidt, a former German lawmaker appointed in 2021. Dodik has long rejected the OHR's authority, accusing it of overreach and undermining Republika Srpska's autonomy. He was sentenced in February to a year in prison and a six-year political ban for defying the OHR. Sarajevo issued a national arrest warrant for him and is reportedly seeking Interpol warrants. In an interview with RT on Tuesday, Dodik said the Dayton agreement, which formed his country, is no longer upheld, and that he has asked the Russian president, who he met with earlier that day, to assist him in bringing the situation to the attention of the UN Security Council (UNSC). READ MORE: Interpol considering arrest warrants for Serb leaders – media '[Putin] knows of the existence of foreigners that are making up laws and decisions in our country, that there are courts which abide by these decisions… and that this is not in the spirit of Dayton,' Dodik said. He added that as a permanent UNSC member and Dayton signatory, Russia is in a position to effect change. 'We talked about the need to engage in the monitoring of the UNSC. Russia is the only one from which we can expect to have an objective approach... to end international interventionism which degraded Bosnia and Herzegovina and made it into a failed state,' he added. Commenting on the Interpol warrants, Dodik said, 'we'll see how it goes,' adding that he already has the backing of Serbia, Hungary, and now Russia. He went on to call the charges 'a political failure' by Sarajevo and the OHR. READ MORE: Moscow comments on conviction of Bosnian Serb leader 'I think they would like to see me dead, not just in prison. They can't get the Bosnia they want, in which there is no Republika Srpska, if Milorad Dodik remains president,' he said, adding that critics will try to demonize him for meeting with Putin. Dodik has opposed Bosnia's NATO membership and called for closer ties with Russia. He previously suggested that Bosnia would be better off in BRICS and has pledged continued cooperation with Moscow despite Western pressure. Russia, which does not recognize Schmidt's legitimacy due to the lack of UNSC approval, has denounced Dodik's conviction as 'political' and based on 'pseudo-law' imposed by the OHR. After meeting with Putin, Dodik said on X that he will return to Republika Srpska on Saturday to meet with regional leaders, adding that Russia has agreed to advocate for an end to the work of international bodies in Bosnia, including the OHR. .mediaplayer { min-height: 150px; } .jwplayer .jw-controls .jw-controlbar .jw-icon-cc { display: none; } .media__video_noscript { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; right: 0; bottom: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%; } .full_transcript_text { display: block; } прап
The Hill
27-03-2025
- Health
- The Hill
HHS to cut a fourth of its workforce
'We aren't just reducing bureaucratic sprawl,' HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. 'We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic.' On the social media platform X, Kennedy acknowledged 'this will be a painful period for HHS.' According to a press release from the department, a reorganization of HHS offices will eliminate roughly 10,000 positions. An additional 10,000 will be cut through measures like buyouts, early retirements and the Trump administrations 'Fork in the Road' severance offer. With a current workforce of roughly 82,000, a 20,000-person reduction would represent a 24 percent cut in HHS staffers. In an email to the American Federation of Government Employees union seen by The Hill, a representative from the Office of Human Resources (OHR) said the workforce reduction would primarily affect employees in 'administrative positions including human resources, information technology, procurement, and finance.' The OHR representative estimated the number of affected employees would be between 8,000 and 10,000. Notices to employees may go out as soon as Friday, according to the email. Democrats and health policy stakeholders were quick to warn of detrimental effects of the cuts on the U.S. health system. 'Do you know what Trump and RFK Jr. are doing about the measles outbreak? They are ripping away funding Congress already provided to respond to the outbreaks. They're stopping public health work in its tracks, even as this outbreak is threatening to spiral out of control,' Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said 'What are they doing about the opioid crisis or maternal death rates or bird flu for that matter? More cuts and don't forget mass firings.' Former Obama administration HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra warned that the mass layoffs had ' the makings of a manmade disaster.' 'Downgrading services for our elderly and our disabled, downgrading services for our mental health, downgrading our strategic preparedness and response capabilities – how can that be good for the health of any American?' Becerra wrote on social media.
Al Jazeera
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Is this the end of Milorad Dodik's political life?
On Wednesday, the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina handed down a one-year jail sentence to Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and banned him from holding political office for six years. The court found Dodik guilty of undertaking actions in July 2023 for the purpose of obstructing the implementation of decisions of the high representative in Bosnia, the top international peace envoy in the Balkan country. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) oversees the implementation of the civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Accords, which were signed in 1995 and ended the war in Bosnia. This office has been headed for almost three decades by a succession of European officials. The OHR's current chief is Christian Schmidt, a former politician from Germany. Dodik has been at odds with Schmidt since the latter's arrival in Bosnia in 2021. For domestic and international observers, the court ruling is an interesting twist and heralds uncertainty ahead. Dodik's coming to power as the president of Republika Srpska in 2006 ushered in a period of constant and continuous crises for Bosnia. For the better part of the past two decades, he has worked to empower himself and the political entit y over which he currently presides while undermining and hollowing out the country's state-level institutions.. Compared with his record of obstructing Bosnia's progress, failing to abide by Bosnia's Constitutional Court rulings, denying the genocide and hurling repeated insults at Bosniaks, Dodik's confrontation with the OHR may have seemed a political offence of lesser magnitude. Yet the sentence, and particularly the ban on his political life for six years, may very well portend the beginning of the political fall of Dodik – or a renewed attempt by him to push Bosnia to the brink. In response to the sentencing, the Republika Srpska assembly adopted a document late on Wednesday rejecting the court's ruling and Schmidt's authority. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, engulfed in his own problems at home amid growing protests, flew the same day to Banja Luka to meet Dodik. Dodik's lawyer has indicated he would appeal the ruling. Meanwhile, the Republika Srpska assembly adopted draft legislation aimed at preventing the state-level judicial and police institutions from exercising sovereignty in this part of Bosnia. What lies ahead is more uncertainty. The political stability in Bosnia in the weeks and months ahead could hang in the balance as the country awaits the appeals process to unfold. As things currently stand, Dodik is powerful in Republika Srpska. He controls his party – the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) – and holds sway over instruments of power both in Republika Srpska and at the state level through his appointees in many institutions. His ability to generate a deeper crisis is real. On the other hand, he has also overstayed his political welcome. Dodik has been a fixture in Bosnian Serb politics for almost two decades. His dominance in politics and media means that a whole generation currently enrolled in undergraduate studies has known no other political leader. For many Bosnian citizens, he has become synonymous with crises, conflicts and outlandish rhetoric. While media reports indicate support for Dodik from Vucic, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, Dodik's political future depends on how Bosnia's state institutions respond as well as on the depth of his own support base. In other words, his future depends on what happens on the ground in Bosnia. For years, Dodik had been able to generate and escalate crises to extract concessions in exchange for backing down. And then he kept repeating the pattern. This led some politicians in Sarajevo and many foreign officials to be willing to give in to Dodik for years for the sake of stability. As a result, Dodik accumulated power and resources and exhibited ever-growing arrogance. A firm stand of Bosnia's state institutions to implement decisions and stand up to Dodik has long been overdue. This is new to Dodik and may be a key test of how far he is willing to go and how much support he actually commands. In the weeks and months ahead, three factors are likely to shape the unfolding situation and, by extension, Dodik's political future: Bosnia's State Court, Dodik's power base and Vucic's support – or the lack thereof. If the Appeals Chamber rejects Dodik's appeal and reaffirms the sentence – and particularly the political ban – the Bosnian Serb leader will be vulnerable, and that will mark another standoff with the Bosnian state-level institutions. The ability and willingness of state institutions to enforce such a court ruling will be crucial. However, if the court overturns the ruling – including due to potential external pressure lest the situation in Bosnia spiral out of control – Dodik would claim victory and feel emboldened. Second, a weakened Dodik will gauge his support within his party and among his levers of power. Growing fissures within his power base would be a sign that the court rulings are undermining his support. However, the legislation passed by Bosnia's entity of Republika Srpska on Friday barring the national police and judiciary from its territory signals the Bosnian Serb leader still has loyal supporters and a considerable hold over the Republika Srpska's major institutions. Dodik could use this legislation to up the ante and serve as a bargaining chip. He has done this before. Third, as things currently stand, Vucic's concern with his own domestic protests in Serbia means that he may be less willing and has fewer resources to divert to stoking tension in Bosnia. Furthermore, as with other long-running political leaders, signs of Dodik's political weakness may encourage political ambitions of his proteges or close associates to replace him. It would not be surprising if jockeying within his party picks up.
