Mexico’s economy minister said on Thursday he did not agree with statements made by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that it would be devastating for Mexico if the United States pulls out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “No, I don’t think so,” Ildefonso Guajardo said in a television interview when asked if he agreed with Ross. “Without a doubt, Mexico could face a short-term impact because the market is very sensitive to marketing, branding … Our ability to adjust, and the manner in which we do it, is what will allow us to resist any potential change.” In an interview with The Wall Street Journal CEO Council on Tuesday, Ross said that it “would be devastating to the Mexican economy” if the United States were to pull out of NAFTA. Mexico is preparing a package of macroeconomic measures to help withstand a short-term shock if the United States pulls out of the pact, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said earlier in the week. Guajardo said that if NAFTA talks, which are currently in their fifth round in Mexico City, do end up stretching into March, the United States must ask itself if it wants the trade talks to influence Mexico’s July 2018 election. The fifth round of NAFTA talks entered their second day on Thursday, proceeding under the shadow of tough U.S. demands and without the presence of trade ministers who agreed to sit out the discussions. A schedule seen by Reuters showed that negotiators will discuss one …
Passenger Pigeons, Now Extinct, Needed Big Flocks to Survive
Passenger pigeons were once so plentiful they could darken the daytime sky when they flew over North America, but oddly, their abundance may have played a role in their extinction, researchers said Thursday. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, the pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius), evolved quickly and in the process, lost certain traits that might have been useful for surviving in smaller groups, said the study in the journal Science. The findings have implications for other creatures threatened by swift changes in the world around them. “Our results suggest that even species with large and stable population sizes can be at risk of extinction after a sudden environmental change,” said the study led by Beth Shapiro, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Numbering three to five billion before they began to decline in the 1800s due to a surge in hunting, these social birds were once “the most abundant bird in North America, and possibly the world,” said the report. And although large populations of animals tend to be genetically quite diverse, researchers were stunned by their analysis of four extinct pigeon genomes, which were compared to two modern carrier pigeons. They found that passenger pigeon diversity was “surprisingly low,” said the study. Researchers also found areas of very high diversity in the genomes, which told researchers the birds had been around for 20,000 years or more — another surprise. The last passenger pigeon died in a U.S. zoo in 1914. Until now, the prevailing theory was the birds …
Keystone Pipeline Spills 5,000 Barrels of Oil in South Dakota
TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil onto agricultural land in northeastern South Dakota, the company and state regulators said Thursday, but state officials don’t believe the leak polluted any surface water bodies or drinking water systems. Crews shut down the pipeline Thursday morning and activated emergency response procedures after a drop in pressure was detected resulting from the leak south of a pump station in Marshall County, TransCanada said in a statement. The cause was being investigated. Discovery of the leak comes as Nebraska regulators are scheduled to announce their decision Monday on whether to approve the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, an expansion that would boost the amount of oil TransCanada is now shipping through the existing line, which is known simply as Keystone. The expansion has faced fierce opposition from environmental groups, American Indian tribes and some landowners. TransCanada responds Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist manager at the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the state has sent a staff member to the site of the leak in a rural area near the border with North Dakota about 250 miles (402 kilometers) west of Minneapolis. “Ultimately, the cleanup responsibility lies with TransCanada, and they’ll have to clean it up in compliance with our state regulations,” Walsh said. TransCanada said in its statement that it expected the pipeline to remain shut down as the company responds to the leak. It did not offer a time estimate, and a spokesman didn’t immediately …
$1 Million Price Tag in Spotlight as Gene Therapy Becomes Reality
Battle lines are being drawn as the first gene therapy for an inherited condition nears the U.S. market, offering hope for people with a rare form of blindness and creating a cost dilemma for health care providers. Spark Therapeutics, whose Luxturna treatment has been recommended for U.S. approval, told investors last week there was a case for valuing it at more than $1 million per patient, although it has yet to set an actual price. However, the U.S. Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said this week “at a placeholder price of $1,000,000, the high cost makes this unlikely to be a cost-effective intervention at commonly used cost-effectiveness thresholds.” The ICER analysis did concede Luxturna was likely to be more cost-effective for younger patients. The expected U.S. approval of Luxturna by Jan. 12 is seen as kick-starting the sector, following disappointing sales of the first two gene therapies in Europe. More treatments based on fixing faulty genes using viruses to carry DNA into cells are coming from companies like Bluebird Bio, BioMarin and Sangamo. Spark’s Chief Financial Officer Stephen Webster said Thursday that gene therapy was upending conventional thinking by offering a one-time cure, rather than years of repeat prescriptions, but health systems were struggling to keep pace. “Gene therapy creates an unusual conundrum because we are fitting a round peg in a square hole … it’s tough,” he told a Jefferies health care conference in London. Spark would like to say “if it works, pay us, and if …
Influenza Virus Can Be Deadlier Than War
2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the deadliest flu pandemic in recorded history. More people died in the 1918 flu pandemic than in World War I. Despite medical breakthroughs in controlling many diseases, influenza is one that remains elusive. VOA medical correspondent Carol Pearson reports. …
НБУ про введення купюри номіналом 1000 гривень: якщо буде рішення, про це повідомлять заздалегідь
У Національному банку України заявляють, що у разі рішення про введення в обіг банкноти вищого номіналу про це повідомлять заздалегідь. «Коли правління Національного банку схвалить рішення щодо введення в обіг банкноти вищого номіналу, я не буду називати якого номіналу, то про це буде повідомлено заздалегідь. Це буде проанонсовано, буде представлений дизайн», – сказав директор департаменту грошового обігу НБУ Віктор Зайвенко, відповідаючи на запитання щодо введення нової купюри номіналом 1000 гривень. За його словами, НБУ повідомить про це приблизно за півроку до введення в обіг нової купюри. Про намір Нацбанку ввести в обіг нову купюру номіналом 1000 гривень ЗМІ повідомляють регулярно, проте ця інформація не підтверджується. Національний банк України також розглядає можливість оптимізації обігу монет дрібних номіналів і пропонує припинити карбування монет номіналами 1, 2, 5 і 25 копійок. …
New Medical Therapy Urges Body to Fix Its Own Genetic Defect
It is difficult to overstate the potential that gene editing holds for the future of medicine. An attempt to explore its potential was undertaken in California this week when a man suffering from a rare genetic disease received an infusion of gene-altering tools that could lead to a cure. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
Мінґареллі: за останні три роки ЄС виділив Україні 12 мільярдів євро
За останні три роки Європейський союз виділив Україні понад 12 мільярдів євро, заявив голова представництва ЄС в Україні Юґ Мінґареллі. «Ми мобілізували за останні три роки більше ніж 12 мільярдів євро, з них 3,4 мільярда євро – макрофінансової допомоги, що є найбільшою макрофінансовою допомогою, яку ми коли-небудь виділяли», – сказав Мінґареллі. За словами голови представництва Євросоюзу в Україні, щорічно ЄС виділяє українській стороні 200 мільйонів євро у вигляді грантів – більше, ніж іншим сусідам України. «Україна, без сумніву, пріоритетний партнер для Європейського союзу. Один із наших найбільших сусідів, з яким у нас є чотири кордони, який зробив чіткий проєвропейський вибір. У зв’язку з цими причинами ЄС зацікавлений в успіху реформ в Україні», – заявив Мінґареллі. 8 листопада голова Донецької обласної військово-цивільної адміністрації Павло Жебрівський після зустрічі з керівником програми співробітництва Євросоюзу в Україні Берендом де Гроотом повідомив, що ЄС планує виділити в 2018 році 50 мільйонів євро для Донецької та Луганської областей. …
Нацбанк пропонує припинити карбування монет дрібних номіналів
Національний банк України пропонує припинити карбування монет номіналами 1, 2, 5 і 25 копійок. Як повідомляє прес-служба регулятора, НБУ розглядає можливість оптимізації обігу монет дрібних номіналів і підготував проект відповідної постанови. Нацбанк пропонує припинити карбування монет номіналами 1, 2, 5, оскільки вони припинили відігравати істотну роль у розрахунках населення за товари і послуги, а також монети номіналом 25 копійок, оскільки у разі відсутності монет номіналами 1, 2 та 5 копійок 25 копійок не будуть розмінюватися 10 копійками. У НБУ зауважують, що ці номінали монет і надалі залишатимуться в обігу, але у подальшому готівковий обіг не буде поповнюватися новими монетами. У 1996 році в Україні в обіг ввели національну валюту України гривню та її соту частку – копійку. Нині в обігу є розмінні монети номінальною вартістю 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 копійок, а також обігові монети номінальною вартістю 1 гривня. …
Analysts: Resolving Farm Issue Could Help Zimbabwe’s Battered Economy
Zimbabwe’s economy has been hammered by political unrest, soaring inflation, a shortage of foreign cash, a trade deficit and many other problems. Residents say the economic turbulence has driven thousands of people out of the country and makes daily life challenging. But an economic analyst says Zimbabwe has an educated workforce and a battered-but-functional infrastructure that could boost agricultural production and manufacturing, and eventually bring recovery. VOA’s Jim Randle reports. …
The Ultimate in Luxury Air Travel
If you’re wealthy and you want to buy an airplane, no matter how big, you want to go to the biennial Dubai Air Show. There, you will find everything, from a small two-seater to a diamond-encrusted jet. Aircraft manufacturers say business is booming as more and more rich people try to avoid crowded commercial flights. VOA’s George Putic has more. …
HRW Report: Rohingya Women Gang Raped by Myanmar Soldiers
Soldiers in Myanmar have gang raped Rohingya women in continued violence against the Muslim minority in Rakhine state, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Human Rights Watch cited first-hand interviews with 52 Rohingya women and girls who fled to Bangladesh and reported being raped by security forces in Myanmar, also known as Burma. “Rape has been a prominent and devastating feature of the Burmese military’s campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya,” said Skye Wheeler, women’s rights emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “The Burmese military’s barbaric acts of violence have left countless women and girls brutally harmed and traumatized.” All but one of the interviewees was gang raped, HRW said. WATCH: HRW Report: Myanmar Security Forces Using Sexual Violence as Scare Tactic Hundreds of cases HRW also spoke with multiple humanitarian organizations in Bangladesh who have reported “hundreds” of rape cases. Numbers of rape victims are likely much higher, as social stigma keeps many women silent. “I have had to deal with disgust, others looking away from me,” Isharahat Islam, who was raped by soldiers in her village Hathi Para in October 2016, told HRW. The numbers also cannot account for those who were killed after they were raped. Fifteen-year-old Hala Sadak from a village in the Maungdaw Township told HRW that soldiers had dragged her from her home, stripped her naked, and pushed her against a tree where she estimates as many as 10 men raped her from behind. “They left …
Mexico Rejects Special Benefit in NAFTA for AT&T
Mexico shot down a proposal by the United States to include provisions in the North America Free Trade Agreement that would benefit AT&T, Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Wednesday. “AT&T, which is North American, asked its government to reflect its interests in the negotiation,” Guajardo said in an interview on local radio without specifying the details of the U.S. proposal. “You cannot have an agreement … that gives a tailor’s cut, a perfect handiwork, to a specific company.” AT&T and the U.S. Trade Representative office declined to comment. During the last round of talks in Virginia, the United States proposed incorporating Mexico’s landmark telecommunications reform into a NAFTA provision that would apply only to Mexico, four sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Mexico’s 2013-14 telecommunications reform aimed to break up the dominance of America Movil, the telecommunications firm owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, which emerged from a state monopoly in the 1990s. Negotiators are still working to make sure the reform is included in the agreement, Guajardo said. “What we said is that we cannot accept a specific annex,” he said. “We can reflect conceptually the commitments that are reflected in the law, which for us is very important to consolidate.” Mexico reform weakened Beckoned by the reform, AT&T entered the Mexican market in 2014, spending $4.4 billion to buy Mexico’s No. 3 and No. 4 carriers. But the market was plunged into uncertainty in August when the Mexico Supreme Court ruled America Movil should not be …
Border Jam Threatens Mongolia’s Coal Lifeline
In Mongolia’s Gobi desert, thousands of heavy-duty trucks laden with coal inch along a cluttered highway toward the Chinese border in a journey that can take more than a week. Truckers cook, eat and sleep in vehicles covered in coal dust, many subsisting on the same meat soup that fueled Genghis Khan’s Mongol Horde more than eight centuries ago. Alongside the trucks a bustling microeconomy has sprung up of traders peddling cigarettes, water and diesel as drivers wait to clear Chinese customs in a queue that can stretch for 130 kilometers (80 miles). A rebound in coal prices and a surge in exports to China this year has meant a bonanza for miners in Mongolia, and a vital lifeline for the country’s tiny economy, after a currency and debt crisis forced it to seek an economic rescue package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Border chokepoint But long delays at the Gashuun Sukhait-Gants Mod crossing, the main transit point between the two countries, are undercutting those gains as fleets of trucks carrying coal from Gobi desert mines to China pile up at the border. The long delays have been blamed on a surge in traffic driven by the thriving cross-border coal trade. However, Mongolia’s inability to stop rampant smuggling across the border has also played a role as China has imposed more stringent checks on incoming deliveries in recent months. Customs officials in China’s Inner Mongolia declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. The General Administration of Customs in Beijing …
Adidas Leads Way as 4 Companies Win ‘Stop Slavery’ Award
German sportswear giant Adidas led the pack as four companies won a global award on Wednesday for shining a light on their own supply chains to eradicate modern slavery from their operations. Adidas was revealed as the overall winner of the second Thomson Reuters Foundation Stop Slavery Award, which celebrates businesses that excel in efforts to identify, investigate and root out forced labor from their supply chains. Global fashion retailer C&A, U.S. technology company Intel and British mutually-owned retail and services group The Co-operative Group were the other winners of the annual award designed by Turner Prize winning sculptor Anish Kapoor. With modern slavery increasingly dominating headlines worldwide, businesses are under increasing pressure from both governments and consumers to disclose what actions they are taking to ensure their supply chains are free from slavery. About 25 million people globally were estimated to be trapped in forced labor in 2016, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO) and rights group Walk Free Foundation. “Whilst we have outsourced our production and manufacturing all over the world, we will not outsource our moral responsibility which is to do right by the 1.3 million workers who make our products,” said Aditi Wanchoo, senior manager of social and environmental affairs at Adidas, at the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s annual Trust Conference. The winners were chosen from a shortlist of 15 companies that employ millions of people worldwide in sectors ranging from electronics and hospitality to retail and mining and included British multinational bank Barclays, Nestle and …
Could Giant Rats Help Fight Tuberculosis in Major Cities?
Giant rats are probably not the first thing that come to mind to tackle tuberculosis but scientists hope their sniffing skills will speed up efforts to detect the deadly disease in major cities across the world. Tuberculosis, which is curable and preventable, is one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), killing 1.7 million people in 2016 and infecting 10.4 million others. African Giant Pouched Rats, trained by Belgian charity APOPO, are known for sniffing out landmines in countries from Angola to Cambodia and for detecting TB cases in East Africa. Over the next few years, APOPO plans to fight tuberculosis at the source by launching TB-detection rat facilities in major cities of 30 high-risk countries including Vietnam, India and Nigeria. “One of the best ways to fight TB at source is in major cities that draw a lot of people from the rural areas,” James Pursey, APOPO spokesman, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “It is a vicious circle. You can be reinfected. To fight TB, you have to hit it hard,” he said by phone from Zimbabwe. Many people get infected in big, densely populated cities and spread the disease to rural areas, according to Pursey. The rats learn to recognize the presence of TB in samples of mucus that is coughed up from the patient’s lower airways. In Tanzania, people in communities where TB is most common, including in prisons, often fail to show up for screening because of a lack of …
UN Warns Manage Climate Risks or Face Much More Hunger by 2050
Climate change threats, from worsening drought and flooding to sea level rise, could increase the risks of hunger and child malnutrition around the world by 20 percent by 2050, food security researchers warned Wednesday. But looking carefully at the very different risks facing each country, region and type of food producer — from highland rice farmers in Cambodia to cattle herders in South Sudan — could help reduce that threat of growing hunger, they said. In North Africa, for instance, both herders and farmers face fast-growing risks from more frequent, longer and more intense heatwaves and declining water availability, while population growth and greater urbanization could also hit food security, according to a report by the World Food Program (WFP) released Wednesday at the U.N. climate talks in Bonn. In South Asia, by comparison, dense populations of farmers face threats from worsening floods, cyclones and droughts, as well as long-term threats to the stability of monsoons and water flow in glacier-fed rivers. “Different groups are affected by different types of risks, at different intensities and at different times,” said Gernot Laganda, the director of climate and disaster risk reduction programs at WFP. Building greater resilience to the threats will require “layers” of responses, he said. Catastrophic threats of large-scale losses of crops or animals — the type that might come along every 5 to 10 years, for instance, and force those hit to migrate — might be dealt with in part with insurance plans, Laganda said. But more regular seasonal …
Airbus to Sell 430 Planes to Indigo for $49.5 Billion
Airbus announced on Wednesday that it will sell 430 airplanes to U.S. firm Indigo Partners for $49.5 billion in the European firm’s biggest deal ever. The announcement came at the Dubai Air Show and the deal includes 273 A320neos and 157 A321neos. The airlines that use the aircraft will include Frontier Airlines, JetSMART of Chile, Volaris of Mexico and Wizz Air of Hungary. A320neos list for $108.4 million apiece and A321neos at $127 million. Airlines and manufacturers often negotiate lower prices for big deals like these. Indigo Partners is a Phoenix-based private equity firm. It owns Denver-based Frontier Airlines and owns part of Mexico’s Volaris. It’s managed by William Franke, a pioneer of the cheap tickets and high fees airline business that has spread overseas and is growing in the United States. Airbus’ previous biggest-ever sale came in August 2015, when it sold 250 A320neos to Indian budget airline IndiGo, a deal estimated to be worth $26 billion at list prices. IndiGo and Indigo Partners are separate firms with separate management. Until Wednesday, the only major deal announced at the Dubai Air Show came on Sunday, when long-haul carrier Emirates purchased 40 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners in a $15.1 billion deal. Airbus, which is based in Toulouse, France, has pinned hopes of continuing production of its A380 double-decker jumbo jet on Emirates, the world’s largest operator of the aircraft. Reports circulated before the air show that a major A380 sale would be coming. Airbus employees even filled a news conference on …
Employers Hire Sexual Harassment Trainers
Recent accusations of sexual misconduct by Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is impacting the upper echelons of the business world. The “Weinstein Effect” has men in powerful positions facing similar accusations. It is also increasing awareness about where the line is between friendly banter to more uncomfortable, and sometimes criminal motives. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti takes us to a class that teaches how to intervene when witnessing sexual harassment. …
AP Exclusive: US Scientists Try 1st Gene Editing in the Body
Scientists for the first time have tried editing a gene inside the body in a bold attempt to permanently change a person’s DNA to try to cure a disease. The experiment was done Monday in California on 44-year-old Brian Madeux. Through an IV, he received billions of copies of a corrective gene and a genetic tool to cut his DNA in a precise spot. “It’s kind of humbling” to be the first to test this, said Madeux, who has a metabolic disease called Hunter syndrome. “I’m willing to take that risk. Hopefully it will help me and other people.” Signs of whether it’s working may come in a month; tests will show for sure in three months. If it’s successful, it could give a major boost to the fledgling field of gene therapy. Scientists have edited people’s genes before, altering cells in the lab that are then returned to patients. There also are gene therapies that don’t involve editing DNA. But these methods can only be used for a few types of diseases. Some give results that may not last. Some others supply a new gene like a spare part, but can’t control where it inserts in the DNA, possibly causing a new problem like cancer. This time, the gene tinkering is happening in a precise way inside the body. It’s like sending a mini surgeon along to place the new gene in exactly the right location. “We cut your DNA, open it …
Papa John’s Apologizes for Criticizing NFL Anthem Protests
Papa John’s apologized Tuesday night for comments made by CEO John Schnatter blaming sluggish pizza sales on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. The company is a major NFL sponsor and advertiser, and Schnatter said on an earnings call Nov. 1 that “NFL leadership has hurt Papa John’s shareholders” and that the protests “should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago.” The company tweeted a statement offering to “work with the players and league to find a positive way forward.” “The statements made on our earnings call were describing the factors that impact our business and we sincerely apologize to anyone that thought they were divisive,” it said. “That definitely was not our intention. “We believe in the right to protest inequality and support the players’ movement to create a new platform for change. We also believe, as Americans, we should honor our anthem. There is a way to do both.” The movement was started last year by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who kneeled to protest what he said was police mistreatment of blacks. More players began kneeling after President Donald Trump said at an Alabama rally last month that team owners should get rid of players who protest during the anthem. Papa John’s added that it is “open to ideas from all. Except neo-nazis.” It has previously tried to distance itself from white supremacists who praised Schnatter’s comments, saying it does not want those groups to buy its pizza. The …
Muslim Charity Clinic Helps Needy People of All Faiths in California
San Bernardino is one the poorest cities in California. A group of Muslim doctors has established Al-Shifa, a medical clinic to provide health-related services to poor residents of the city. The medical facility has been providing free of charge services to people in need for more than a decade. Mohammad Habibzada reports for VOA from San Bernardino. …
Mexico to Respond to Tough US Proposals at Fifth NAFTA Round
Mexico will respond to U.S. demands for changes in content rules for autos and an automatic expiration clause in the NAFTA trade deal when negotiations on reworking the accord begin again this week, a top government official said on Tuesday. A fifth round of talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement starts on Wednesday in Mexico City, notable for U.S. demands that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has labeled “poison pills.” Foremost among them are a 50 percent minimum U.S. limit in NAFTA automobile content, the scrapping of a key dispute mechanism and inclusion of a sunset clause that will terminate the pact after five years if it is not renegotiated. The measures soured the mood among U.S., Mexican and Canadian negotiators when put forward last month, and Mexico’s economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, said his country would respond to the auto content and sunset clause plans. “Those responses will be angled very logically toward what we’re hearing from the business world in Mexico and the United States,” Guajardo said at an event in Mexico City. The three sides would explore what scope there was for narrowing their positions on that basis, he added. Industry officials across the region have balked at the auto proposals, arguing they would add bureaucratic hurdles, be hard to enforce and could damage the competitiveness of the sector. In addition to seeking to establish U.S. minimum thresholds, the team led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has proposed raising the regional content requirement for …
Global Insurance Partnership Beefed Up to Protect Poor from Climate Risks
Germany on Tuesday pledged $125 million to boost the work of an international insurance partnership that aims to cover 400 million more poor and vulnerable people against disaster risks by 2020. That goal was first set in 2015 by the G7 group of wealthy nations, but the effort has now been expanded to bring in other partners, including the World Bank and an alliance of about 50 countries vulnerable to climate threats, including small island states like Fiji, which is presiding over the talks in Bonn. In July, Britain contributed 30 million pounds ($39.4 million) to establish a Center for Global Disaster Protection. Fiji’s prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, said that when powerful Cyclone Winston hit his nation last year, wiping out 30 percent of its economy, tens of thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, and many households were uninsured. “People protected by their wealth have no idea of the heartbreak of the poor and most vulnerable when they lose their homes and livelihoods in climate-related disasters,” he told an event to launch the partnership. Fiji needs new forms of finance to develop while also reducing the risks of weather extremes and rising seas to tourism, forests, fisheries and agriculture, as well as to infrastructure, much of which is exposed on the coast, he said. The InsuResilience Global Partnership will develop and roll out innovative finance and insurance solutions for individual countries tailored to the needs and challenges of their poor people in particular, it said. Those will include sovereign …