Observer

• In setting the growth rate, Chinese policymakers have taken into account the need to boost employment and income, and prevent and defuse risks.
• This growth rate is well aligned with the objectives of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the goal of basically realizing modernization.
• Observers estimated that the Chinese economy will contribute around 30 percent to 35 percent to global growth this year.
• Its GDP surpassed 126 trillion yuan last year, an increase of 5.2 percent, ranking China among the fastest-growing major economies in the world.

• PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (OTCEM: FRBK) (“Republic” or the “Company”), the parent company of Republic First Bank d/b/a Republic Bank, and George E. Norcross, III, Gregory B. Braca, Philip A. Norcross, Lexie Norcross, and other Norcross family members and affiliates (collectively, the “Norcross Braca Group”), today provided an updated timeline for the closing of the Norcross Braca Group’s previously announced $35 million capital investment in the Company.
• The parties have agreed to extend the outside date for closing the investment to February 29, 2024, subject to the closing conditions outlined in the securities purchase agreement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 2, 2023.
• Republic will now hold a special meeting of stockholders no later than February 16, 2024 to facilitate the approval of the transaction.
• Further solidifying the investment, the Norcross Braca Group today deposited $35 million into an escrow account, which is to be released to the Company upon closing.

• This would include compensation for loss of life and liberty, uncompensated labour, personal injury, mental pain and anguish and gender-based violence.
• But then centuries of value derived from the trade in human beings produced for Britain an equally unimaginable sum.
• According to the Treasury, the loan was only finally paid off in 2015.
• One example is the Drax family of the Charborough Estate in Dorset, which is now owned by Conservative MP, Richard Drax.

Drax family legacy

• For the past three years I have been researching – and have just completed – an unauthorised history of the Drax family.
• The family appears to be unique in having an unbroken history of owning sugar plantations in the Caribbean from their inception until the present day.
• Their ancestor James Drax (c.1609-1662) was one of the first settlers in Barbados in 1627 and is credited with inventing the British sugar industry in the 1630s.
• His descendant – the Conservative MP for South Dorset, Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, (who prefers to be known as Richard Drax) heads the family that owns the vast Charborough Estate and the Drax Hall Plantation in Barbados.
• Although he is a public figure, Richard Drax and his family are very private, not least about their wealth which is locked into a number of trusts.

Mounting pressure for reparations

• In the three years since I first wrote about Richard Drax MP, the call for reparations has gotten much louder.
• Globally, Drax has come to symbolise those whose families benefited from slavery but rebuff formal apologies and paying reparations.
• Pressure has grown on him and in October 2022 he flew to Barbados to meet with the country’s prime minister, Mia Mottley.
• In the meeting between Drax and Mia Mottley, he was offered two options, one a package of reparations including all or a substantial part of Drax Hall.

• Think Tank is launching a refreshed brand identity with a new focus on travel luggage leading off with the tagline: Venture, Observe, Connect™.
• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230406005146/en/
  Think Tank is a leading manufacturer of innovative, top-quality camera bags, backpacks, and rolling luggage designed for professional photographers and photo enthusiasts.
• With the launch of their new brand identity, Think Tank is expanding their focus to now include new lines of travel luggage.
• “We’re excited to launch our new brand identity with a focus on travel luggage,” said Doug Murdoch, Founder and CEO of Think Tank Photo.