Latest news with #Rangel
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Portugal signals support for Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara
Find out what's new on ST website and app. FILE PHOTO: Polisario Front soldiers parade during celebrations for the 35th anniversary of the group's independence movement for control of Western Sahara from Morocco/File Photo LISBON - Portugal joined other Western countries in expressing a positive view of Morocco's autonomy proposal for the disputed Western Sahara region, after Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said on Tuesday the plan had a "serious and credible basis". The dispute, dating back to 1975, pits Morocco - which claims sovereignty over Western Sahara - against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state there. Rangel showed support for the autonomy proposal, first presented by Moroccan King Mohammed VI to the United Nations in 2007, following a meeting in Lisbon with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita. The plan would establish a local legislative, executive, and judicial authority for Western Sahara elected by its residents, while Rabat would retain control over defence, foreign affairs, and religion. "Following movements made by France, Spain, Britain and others, Portugal considers that this ... will be the most serious basis for a solution, but always under the auspices of the U.N.," Rangel later told reporters, falling short of recognising Morocco's sovereignty over the territory. Jose Tomaz Castello Branco, a professor of political science at Lisbon's Catholic University, said Portugal's position was "quite diplomatic, reasonable, and opens the door to a future formal recognition of Morocco's sovereignty". "However, the Portuguese government is reserving room to maneuver to decide in the future, not committing completely yet," he said, adding that Lisbon's position should always be "carefully considered because Morocco is also Portugal's neighbor". Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Two found dead after fire in Toa Payoh flat Singapore Singaporeans aged 21 to 59 can claim $600 SG60 vouchers from July 22 Singapore Singaporeans continue to hold world's most powerful passport in latest ranking Singapore Singapore, Vietnam agree to step up defence ties, dialogue between leaders Asia Malaysia govt's reform pledge tested as DAP chief bows over unresolved 2009 death of political aide Tech Singapore to increase pool of early adopters in AI to complement data scientists, engineers Singapore Prosecution says judge who acquitted duo of bribing ex-LTA official had copied defence arguments Singapore Ports and planes: The 2 Singapore firms helping to keep the world moving During a high-level meeting in 2023, Portugal's previous Socialist government had already formalised its view of Morocco's proposal as "realistic, serious and credible", but Rangel's comments cemented the current centre-right government's position. In 1976, following Spain's withdrawal from what was until then its colony, the Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a government-in-exile, based on the right to self-determination. France and Spain have also backed the autonomy proposal, with Madrid in 2022 formally describing it as "the most serious, realistic and credible" framework for resolving the dispute. REUTERS
New York Post
05-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Tax-dodging Congressman Charles Rangel left puny estate: records
Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel — infamously known for pocketing rental income from his Caribbean cottage without disclosing it — has apparently left behind a modest estate, court records show. Rangel, who died May 26 at age 94, had assets worth only $300,000, according to Manhattan Surrogate Court filings. That is far less than his net worth of more than $1.7 million upon his retirement from Congress in 2017, as reported by the watchdog group Open Secrets. Advertisement 3 Congressman Charles Rangel died in May at age 94. Getty Images The current assets of the once-powerful chair of the House's Ways and Means Committee were not detailed in court filings. His daughter, Alicia Rangel-Haughton, was named executor of the Democrat's estate. Advertisement The late representative's property is to be placed in the Charles Bernard Rangel Revocable Trust, the assets of which were not disclosed in a will signed March 31, just nine weeks before his death at Harlem Hospital. 3 Alicia Rangel-Haughton will serve as executor of her father's estate, court records show. REUTERS Rangels' financial misbehavior and other ethical questions dogged him throughout his decades-long career, long before The Post outed his business dealings in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. He was criticized right from the start of his career when, in the 1960s, he took a low-interest loan from a New York City program meant to help the poor and used it to renovate his family's Central Harlem home, turning the property into rental apartments — one of which he used for himself. Advertisement Decades later, Rangel was caught using four rent-stabilized apartments in Lenox Terrace for himself, including one he used as a campaign office. 3 Rangel, seen here in 2010 leaving his Harlem home, was thought to be worth more than $1 million when he retired from Congress in 2017. Ben Parker for NY Post He parked his vintage Mercedes for free in a House of Representatives garage; was questioned for his participation in junkets to the Caribbean sponsored by corporations and lobbyists in violation of House rules, and eventually copped to omitting as much as $780,000 in assets from financial disclosures he filed in the 2000s. He was also slammed for using Congressional stationery to solicit donations for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York, a move which broke House ethics rules. Advertisement A week after The Post's 2008 exposé revealed Rangel's ownership of the three-bedroom, three-bath casita No. 412 at a beachfront resort in Punta Cana — which he rented out for between $500 and $1,100 a night — he confessed he'd failed to disclose rental income from the property. Rangel failed to declare $75,000 in income from the sun-drenched property, he eventually admitted. He unloaded the villa in 2010 and made a handsome profit. In December 2010, Rangel's financial misdeeds earned him a censure from his Congressional colleagues. He retired from Congress in 2017.
Winnipeg Free Press
23-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Spin Master names board member Christina Miller as next chief executive
TORONTO – Toy company Spin Master Corp. has named Christina Miller as the company's new chief executive, effective July 7. The company said Monday that Miller, a independent director on Spin Master's board since May 2020, will succeed Max Rangel in the top job. 'We've known Christina for more than 20 years and she is a storyteller and brand-builder by nature and will bring her deep experience of balancing art and science in operating franchises, brands and digital platforms at scale to further progress our legacy as creators and disrupters in the industry,' Spin Master co-founder Ronnen Harary said in a statement. Spin Master is the company behind brands such as Paw Patrol, Melissa & Doug, Bakugan and Rubik's Cube. It also has an in-house entertainment studio and a presence in digital games with Toca Boca and Piknik. Miller is a former president of WarnerMedia's kids, young adults and classic division where she was responsible for oversight of content development, production and franchise management for Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang and TCM. Rangel was appointed global president of Spin Master in January 2021 and became global president and chief executive a few months later. Spin Master chair and co-founder Anton Rabie said Rangel led the company through a challenging period in its history. 'Under his leadership we have meaningfully diversified the business, enhanced our supply chain capabilities and improved profitability and free cash flow, all of which have contributed to a stronger company, well-positioned for long-term growth,' Rabie said. The company said Rangel will work with Miller over the next three months to ensure a seamless leadership transition for the business. Spin Master said earlier this month that it has cut jobs as it works to weather the impact of global tariffs on its business, but did not say how many employees were affected. It said the cuts were one part of a multi-pronged plan to deal with the effect of tariffs, which also includes diversifying its supply chains and cutting costs. In reporting the company's first-quarter results earlier this year, chief financial officer Mark Segal said roughly 42.5 per cent of Spin Master's total revenue is represented by the U.S. market and therefore subject to U.S. tariffs on other countries. Of that revenue pool, he said around 55 per cent of toy production is sourced from China and 45 per cent from elsewhere — such as Vietnam, India, Mexico, Indonesia and the European Union. By the end of this year, Segal said the company plans to produce around 70 per cent of toys for the U.S. market from outside of China, and 75 to 80 per cent by the end of 2026. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:TOY)
USA Today
22-06-2025
- Science
- USA Today
'Killer bees' keep spreading (and killing) across the US
Scientists say the bees' temperament is to ward off predators. But unsuspecting humans will find them to be aggressive, spiteful and terrifying. Africanized honey bees, often called "killer bees," are now found in 13 states and are slowly spreading northward, attacking people, livestock and pets along the way. In the last three months alone, a man mowing his property died after a bee attack, three people were taken to the hospital after tree trimmers disturbed a colony, hikers ran a mile to get away from an agitated hive and a woman and three horses were swarmed by bees spooked by a lawn mower. The horses later died from "thousands" of stings, their owner said. Scientists say the bees' temperament is a defense mechanism to ward off predators – and note that because honey bees die after stinging, they are sacrificing themselves to protect their colony. But to unsuspecting humans, killer bees sure seem aggressive, spiteful and terrifying. They've been known to follow their victims for up to a mile – even following cars and trucks – and can sting through regular beekeeping gear. In the attack on the Texas horses, owner Baillie Hillman said, "they didn't give up." As parts of the west become warmer and drier, it's only going to get worse as the bees' preferred climate moves northward. There's no national database of deaths related to bee stings, but a 2023 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that on average 72 people died a year from hornet, wasp and bee stings. "In Texas, every year there's at least four big (Africanized bee) attacks that make the news," said Juliana Rangel, a professor of apiculture (beekeeping) at Texas A&M University, where they're widespread in the wild. "Killer bees" first made headlines in the 1990s when they began to appear in the United States, spawning alarming news stories and a surge of horror movies such as Deadly Invasion, The Swarm, The Savage Bees. Today, people in the South and the Southwest are learning to live with them, but the danger remains, especially when the highly defensive bees first appear in an area or when people accidentally run into a colony. Africanized honey bees don't survive in areas with cold winters and don't like high levels of rain, making for natural cutoffs in areas where temperatures fall, Rangel said. However in the coming decades, climate change means the bees could potentially move into southeastern Oregon, the western Great Plains and the southern Appalachian mountains, according to research published in 2014. "By 2050 or so, with increasing temperatures, we're going to see northward movement, mostly in the Western half of the country," said Rangel. How dangerous are Africanized honey bees? Africanized honey bees don't have more, or more potent, venom than Western honey bees. "The stings feel the same," said Rangel. What differentiates them is the numbers a colony sends out to attack. While each bee can only sting once before it dies, a colony of Africanized honey bees will send out proportionally more bees in a defensive response, leading to more stings. "If I'm working around one of my European honey bee colonies and I knock on it with a hammer, it might send out five to ten individuals to see what's going on. They would follow me perhaps as far as my house and I might get stung once," said Ellis. "If I did the same thing with an Africanized colony, I might get 50 to 100 individuals who would follow me much farther and I'd get more stings. It's really an issue of scale," he said. Africanized honey bees are also much more sensitive to potential threats. "You could be mowing a lawn a few houses away and just the vibrations will set them off," Rangel said. There are multiple reports of people cutting into colonies when trimming trees, clearing brush or doing landscaping. In some cases tree trimmers set off an attack merely by throwing a rope over a branch. In toxicology, researchers speak of the LD50, the lethal dose required to kill 50% of those exposed to it, said Rangel. For honeybee stings, it's calculated at about 9 stings per pound of weight. So half of people who weigh 150 pounds might die if they got 1,350 stings. That's unlikely with Western honey bees, but can happen with Africanized bees. In 2022, an Ohio man suffered 20,000 bee stings when cutting tree branches. He survived but only after being put in a medically-induced coma. What states have Africanized honeybees? At least 13 state have reported Africanized honeybees. In the south, southern Florida has the highest numbers. "From Tampa to Orlando to Daytona, south of that a large percentage of the feral bee population are of African decent. North of that we don't have much," said Ellis. Africanized bees have also been reported in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, though they don't seem to thrive in those wetter environments as much. The bees have found a natural home in the Southwest, in part because the landscape is much like the arid and semi-arid parts of Africa they're originally from. Feral colonies are common in southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and especially Texas. They've also been seen in southwest Arkansas, southern Utah and about two-thirds of Oklahoma, said Szalanski. Where did killer bees get their killer instincts? There are around 20,000 species of bees on the planet and only 12 of them are honey bees. Of those, 11 are found in Asia and only one in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It is called Apis mellifera, the Western honey bee, said Jamie Ellis, a professor of honey bee research at the University of Florida. There are multiple subspecies of Apis mellifera. It was one of these, the East African lowland honey bee (Apis mellifera scutellata), that was imported to Brazil in the 1950s. In the areas where East African lowland honey bees live, they have many predators so they've evolved to be more defensive, said Ellis. "They're not really aggressive, they're not just looking for a fight," he said. "They're just trying to communicate that, 'You are too close to us. We don't want you here – go away.'" That can feel pretty scary when they're coming after you, said Rangel. She's done research on bees in Belize, where people keep hives far from their homes and livestock and put on their protective beekeeping clothing in their trucks before getting out near a hive. "They can pursue you in your vehicle for a mile," she said "The only thing preventing them from killing you is the veil. It's like a cloud of bees that all want to sting you. It's scary." How did Africanized honey bees get to the United States? Africanized honeybees are a cross between Western honey bees, from Europe and the East African lowland honey bee. They first occurred in 1956, when a prominent Brazilian geneticist, Warwick Kerr, brought African bees to Brazil to hybridize them with Western honey bees from Europe, which didn't do well there. His plan was to breed bees that were better adapted to Brazil's climate while retaining the gentleness and high honey-producing traits of the Western honey bees. He didn't get the chance. A year later, 26 Africanized queen bees were accidentally released into a nearby forest, where they thrived, said Kirk Visscher, an emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Riverside. "The beekeeping industry in those areas is now far more vital than it was – they just have mean bees," he said. That hybrid between the two subspecies, called Africanized honey bees, began to make its way north, arriving in south Texas in 1990. "They spread a lot quicker than what people thought was possible. They never thought they could get from Brazil to Texas in a span of less than 40 years," said Allen Szalanski, a professor of entomology at the University of Arkansas. "But they did." The two bee subspecies are impossible to differentiate without either DNA analysis or careful observation of their wing vein patterns. It is their behavior that sets them apart. Most of the danger is from feral hives in the wild. Beekeepers carefully manage their hives to keep Africanized queens out. Because bees are so critical to agriculture, the movement of bees is regulated in many states. Most have a bee inspector to oversee the process. Currently a total of 38 states regulate the movement of honey bees within the United States and require a permit or health certificate to do so. Four states, Arizona, Kansas, North Dakota and Oregon, have no regulations on the movement of bees, according to research published in 2022. Another eight states have no regulations requiring permits or health certificates for the interstate movement of bees. Africanized honey bees aren't all bad Scientists who study bees emphasize that while Africanized honey bees are more defensive, they hold a lot of promise for overall honey bee health because they're more pest and disease resistant and are very genetically diverse. That's important because honey bees play a critical role in agriculture and the environment and have been subject to large die-offs in the past two decades. In 2017, one-third of the nation's hives perished. Breeding and even gene manipulation could result in better – and gentler – bees, said Ellis. "Although they have heightened defensive behaviors, science may be able to maximize their positive traits and minimize their negative traits," he said. What should you do if you encounter an Africanized honeybee hive? Because of their highly defensive nature, if you encounter aggressive bees, the best response is to leave – fast. "Get away as quickly as possible. Don't jump in water, don't swat with your arms. Just run away as as fast as you can," said Ellis. "You might want to pull your shirt up around your nose and mouth to protect against stings that could cause swelling of your airway." In general, the biggest threats are to tethered or penned livestock and pets that can't get away as well as humans using heavy equipment who accidentally get too close to a hive without being able to hear the angry buzzing of the bees. Once you've evacuated the area, call for professional help. "If you're in a rural area, it's very likely these bees have been Africanized," said Rangel. Nobody should try to deal with a colony on their own "just to save a few bucks," she said. "You don't want to mess with them."
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sally Beauty Holdings Appoints Max Rangel to Board of Directors
DENTON, Texas, June 18, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SBH) today announced the appointment of Max Rangel, consumer products industry veteran and Global President and CEO of Spin Master Corporation, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. "We are very pleased to have Max join our Board of Directors and bring his C-suite experience and industry expertise gained from more than three decades at consumer goods companies including Procter & Gamble, The Hershey Company, and S.C. Johnson & Son," said Diana Ferguson, Chair of SBH's Board. "Max is a seasoned executive with experience driving operational excellence along with brand transformation, innovative marketing, and growth across leading global companies. We look forward to benefiting from his views and insights as the Sally Beauty Holdings team continues to focus on advancing our strategic initiatives and delivering profitable growth." "I am honored to join the Board at such an exciting moment in Sally Beauty Holdings' strategic journey," said Mr. Rangel. "The Company has made meaningful progress in reimagining the customer experience and scaling digital capabilities, and I am excited to contribute my skill sets and perspectives to help accelerate growth, innovation and drive shareholder value." Mr. Rangel will serve on the Nominating, Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee, as well as the Compensation and Talent Committee of the Board. With the appointment of Mr. Rangel, SBH's Board now comprises ten directors, nine of whom are independent. About Max Rangel Mr. Rangel is a results-driven global C-Suite executive with 30 years of experience in the consumer products sector, including The Procter & Gamble Company, The Hershey Company, and S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., currently serving as Global President and CEO of Spin Master Corporation, a leading public global children's toy and entertainment company. Since joining Spin Master in 2021, Mr. Rangel has overseen the strategic expansion of its portfolio, most notably through the acquisition of Melissa & Doug, strengthening its position in the children's entertainment industry. Prior to Spin Master, he held executive positions at S.C. Johnson & Son, from 2015 to 2020, where he led the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa regions as well as the strategic expansion of the lifestyle brands' portfolio across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Canada. Prior to that, Mr. Rangel served as Senior Vice President, Global Chocolate at The Hershey Company from 2012 to 2015. Earlier in his career, Mr. Rangel held various leadership positions of increasing responsibility during his 22 years with Procter & Gamble spanning general management, marketing, and supply chain across North America, Latin America, and Asia. Mr. Rangel holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, both from Tulane University. Mr. Rangel also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Spin Master and a member of the Advisory Board of Break the Ceiling Touch the Sky. About Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SBH), as the leader in professional hair color, sells and distributes professional beauty supplies globally through its Sally Beauty Supply and Beauty Systems Group businesses. Sally Beauty Supply stores offer up to 7,000 products for hair color, hair care, nails, and skin care through proprietary brands such as Ion®, Bondbar®, Strawberry Leopard®, Generic Value Products®, Inspired by Nature® and Silk Elements® as well as professional lines such as Wella®, Clairol®, OPI®, L'Oreal®, Wahl® and Babyliss Pro®. Beauty Systems Group stores, branded as Cosmo Prof® or Armstrong McCall® stores, along with its outside sales consultants, sell up to 8,000 professionally branded products including Paul Mitchell®, Wella®, Matrix®, Schwarzkopf®, Kenra®, Goldwell®, Joico®, Amika® and Moroccanoil®, intended for use in salons and for resale by salons to retail consumers. For more information about Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc., please visit View source version on Contacts Contact: Jeff HarkinsInvestor Relations940-297-3877jharkins@
