Author: Kerry Wilkins

Sanjiva Weerawarana is a Sri Lankan success story. He founded enterprise software firm WSO2 in 2005, got it close to $100 million in ARR as its CEO, then sold it to private equity firm EQT for $600 million in May. He sometimes drives for Uber, too. Sri Lanka isn’t renowned for its startup ecosystem, but one company has been something of an outlier in the South Asian island nation these past two decades. WSO2, an open source enterprise software provider with customers such as Samsung, Axa, and AT&T, recently agreed to be acquired by private equity giant EQT, at a valuation TechCrunch reported at the time…

All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine spring conscription campaign, calling up 150,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the Kremlin’s website showed on Sunday (31 March). All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. In July Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30…

The US is at a disadvantage against China in terms of diplomacy due to the prolonged approval processes in Congress for ambassadors, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. Blinken made the remarks while answering questions on US competition with China at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing along with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “China now has a handful more diplomatic posts around the world than we do. We’ve got 173. They have roughly 180. Each one of theirs has a fully accredited ambassador. We currently have 14 nominees on the floor pending confirmation, many of…

Amid tension and conflict between Israel and Palestine, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on all influential actors in the region to make a serious push for peace in the Mideast. “We call on all influential actors in the region to assume responsibility for the establishment of peace, acting on the principle that ‘there are no losers in a just peace’,” Erdogan told a news conference with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in the capital Ankara. Erdogan said any step that could escalate tension, cause more bloodshed, or exacerbate the problems in the region must be avoided. “Adding fuel…

US marshals brutally hit two boys while arresting them last month in the southern US state of Mississippi, according to local media. The Intercept, an American online news publication, reported last week that the two boys aged 16 and 17 were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi on Sept. 16 “on charges related to August shooting in the nearby city of Canton.” “Footage of the arrest shows one officer leading a shirtless, handcuffed boy past another officer, who reaches out and hits the boy across the face, making a loud noise on impact and leaving him bleeding from his mouth or nose,”…

Richard Roundtree, a trailblazing Black actor who played the private eye John Shaft in the “Shaft” films of the 1970s and also took on dramatic roles dealing with race relations in America, died on Tuesday aged 81, the Hollywood Reporter said, citing his manager. Roundtree died at his home in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer, the Reporter said, citing his manager, Patrick McMinn. Roundtree’s representatives did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for confirmation. “Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film. The impact he had on the industry cannot be…

Political leaders in the Mississippi River area are looking to form a multistate compact to manage threats from climate change, water pollution and drought-affected regions elsewhere. “Twenty million people drink from the Mississippi River and its tributaries every day, including me and my family,” said Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative. With the world’s fourth-largest basin, the Mississippi River supports more than 400 species of wildlife, has led to more than 350,000 jobs and generates more than $21 billion in annual tourism, fishing and recreation spending, according to the nonprofit group American Rivers. “Whether…

NEW YORK — Alarmed by yet another jump in syphilis cases in newborns, U.S. health officials are calling for stepped-up prevention measures, including encouraging millions of women of childbearing age and their partners to get tested for the sexually transmitted disease. More than 3,700 babies were born with congenital syphilis in 2022 — 10 times more than a decade before and a 32% increase from 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. Syphilis caused 282 stillbirth and infant deaths, nearly 16 times more than the 2012 deaths. The 2022 count was the most in more than 30…

The commodity markets saw a positive course last week with the verbal guidance of the US Federal Reserve and the news that the Chinese government would support the economy. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium emphasized that the US central bank is ready to raise interest rates further if appropriate. Powell said core inflation is still high on an annual basis, and there is still a long way to go to return to price stability. Last week, Philadelphia Fed Chair Patrick Harker said that there is no need for additional rate hikes at the…

Stuart Seldowitz, a former Obama administration adviser, who was captured on video making threats and Islamophobic comments against a Muslim food vendor in New York City, was arrested on Wednesday and faces hate crimes charges, said police. According to a statement from the New York Police Department, provided to Anadolu on Thursday, Seldowitz, 64, has been charged with aggravated harassment, hate crime stalking, stalking causing fear, and stalking at a place of employment. “A 24 year-old male victim stated to police that an individual approached him at his work place multiple times and made anti-Islamic statements multiple times on different…