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GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s migration agency is launching its first “global appeal,” seeking $7.9 billion to help people on the move and ensure smoother pathways to migration, at a time when the fallout from climate change, conflict and both economic distress and opportunities has caused millions to leave their homes. His agency is seeking $46 billion this year. IOM says it hopes funding for its appeal will come from individual and private-sector donors in addition to governments. Political Cartoons View All 253 Images“Irregular and forced migration have reached unprecedented levels and the challenges we face are increasingly complex,” Pope said. “The evidence is overwhelming that migration, when well-managed, is a major contributor to global prosperity and progress."

Persons: Martin Griffiths, Amy Pope, ” Pope, ”, IOM's Organizations: GENEVA, International Organization for Migration, Humanitarian Affairs, IOM Locations: Geneva, Africa —, Libya, Europe

☆ Four Astronauts, Including Turkey's First, Arrive at Space Station
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Steve Gorman(Reuters) - A four-man crew including Turkey's first astronaut arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday for a two-week stay in the latest such mission arranged entirely at commercial expense by Texas-based startup company Axiom Space. The rendezvous came about 37 hours after the Axiom quartet's Thursday evening liftoff in a rocketship from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Once the astronauts reach the space station, they fall under the responsibility of NASA's mission control operation in Houston. The multinational team was led by Michael López-Alegría, 65, a Spanish-born retired NASA astronaut and Axiom executive making his sixth flight to the space station. Axiom also is one of a handful of companies building a commercial space station of its own intended to eventually replace the ISS, which NASA expects to retire around 2030.

Persons: Steve Gorman, Turkey's, NASA's, Michael López, Axiom's, Walter Villadei, Marcus Wandt, Alper Gezeravcı, David Evans Organizations: Reuters, Space, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Elon, SpaceX, NASA, Italian Air Force, European Space Agency, Turkish Air Force, ISS Locations: Texas, Cape Canaveral , Florida, Houston, Spanish, Japan, Denmark, U.S, Canada, Los Angeles

☆ Conflict uproots record 6.9 million people in Congo -IOM
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Paul... Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreJOHANNESBURG, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Conflict and escalating violence have uprooted a record 6.9 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, mostly in the east of the country, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday. Years of rebel conflict and recurrent natural disasters have helped fuel one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. Most of those forced to flee their homes live in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika, according to the data collected by the United Nations. In North Kivu alone, up to one million people have been displaced due the ongoing conflict with a Tutsi-led rebel group M23, IOM said. The most recent escalation of the conflict has uprooted more people in less time like rarely seen before," said Fabien Sambussy, IOM's head of mission in Congo.

Persons: Paul, Fabien Sambussy, Anait, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: United Nations Organization Stabilization, Democratic, REUTERS, International Organization for Migration, United Nations, IOM, Thomson Locations: Democratic Republic of, Congo, Djugu's, Ituri's province, Democratic Republic of Congo, JOHANNESBURG, North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, Tanganyika, Congolese

☆ 'Defend Trump': Pro-DeSantis group's memo reveals possible debate strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The main super PAC backing Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign posted, and then removed, a memo outlining a four-pronged strategy the Florida governor might take in next week's Republican primary debate, The New York Times first reported Thursday. The document, which was also reported by NBC News, recommended that DeSantis defend former President Donald Trump from one of his opponent's attacks — assuming Trump decides to skip the Milwaukee debate. The two-page memo was one of a slew of records posted publicly this week by Axiom Strategies, a firm headed by Jeff Roe, a top advisor for the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down. After the Times asked about the debate-strategy memo, the group deleted it from Axiom's website, according to the newspaper. But other campaign research documents remain on Axiom's site.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Donald Trump, Trump, Joe Biden, Vivek Ramaswamy, Jeff Roe, Ramaswamy Organizations: PAC, Republican, New York Times, NBC News, DeSantis, Times Locations: Florida, Milwaukee

☆ DeSantis advisors are urging him to 'show emotion' when talking about his family at the first GOP debate, leaked memo reveals
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A memo from a consulting firm unofficially tied to Ron DeSantis' campaign leaked on Thursday. The DeSantis campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. The suggestion that DeSantis show "emotion" comes after months of scrutiny on DeSantis' relatively awkward manner on the campaign trail. The memo was originally drafted by the political consulting firm Axiom Strategies, which works for the Never Back Down super PAC associated with DeSantis' campaign. Since the Times reported on the memo, it's been removed from Axiom's site, but is still available via the Times' website.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Roger Ailes, Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump, Chris Christie —, Casey, DeSantis, it's Organizations: Service, Florida Governor, New York Times, Fox, Republican, Washington Post, Times Locations: Wall, Silicon, Florida

Axiom Space recently completed its second human spaceflight mission traveling to and from the International Space Station via a SpaceX Dragon Capsule. CNBC's "Manifest Space" podcast sat down with the retired NASA astronaut to discuss her return to space, the commercialization of human spaceflight and her outlook on the private space economy. You're back at the space station, you're somebody who's commanded the space station, you've been there multiple times before. And a part of being a NASA astronaut, I had many experiences where we trade responsibilities in command. And although I was a farm kid and a farm girl, I didn't really know if that would ever be an option for me.

Persons: Peggy Whitson, She's, Whitson, Morgan Brennan, who's, you've, You've, who've, it's, followership, Neil Armstrong Organizations: NASA, Kennedy Space Center, International Space, SpaceX, Soyuz, Space Locations: Saudi Arabia, United States, Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S

☆ Companies like Microsoft can help manage migration: incoming UN migration chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies 9th American Amy Pope set to lead UN migration agencySays Western asylum systems are 'completely overwhelmed'Mediterranean deaths are symptom of broader trendGENEVA, June 1 (Reuters) - The incoming head of the U.N. migration agency said on Thursday that she has talked to companies like Microsoft (MSFT.O) to see how they can build partnerships to manage migration. "I want to go to the private sector being a major part of how we deliver around the world," Pope told Reuters in an interview. Pope, who formally takes office as Director-General in October, cited talks with Microsoft about projects in Africa as an example of increased private sector investment in migration work. At present only about $15 million of IOM's total budget of $2.5 billion comes from the private sector, she said. Another priority of her mandate is to create more "climate sustainable solutions" for migration, Pope said.

Persons: Amy Pope, Antonio Vitorino, Pope, It's, Joe Biden, Biden, Ted Hesson, Jane Merriman Organizations: Microsoft, Organization for Migration, Reuters, U.S, Biden, IOM, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, Geneva, Portuguese, Africa, U.S, Mexico, North Africa, Europe, Washington

☆ Private astronaut crew, including first Arab woman in orbit, heads for splashdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File... Read moreMay 30 (Reuters) - An all-private astronaut team of two Americans and two Saudis, including the first Arab woman ever sent into orbit, headed for splashdown off Florida's coast on Tuesday, capping an eight-day research mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The SpaceX Crew Dragon vessel carrying the foursome, undocked from the ISS late on Tuesday morning to begin its 12-hour return flight. The return flight concludes the second space station mission organized, equipped and trained entirely at private expense by Axiom Space, a 7-year-old Houston-based company headed by NASA's former ISS program manager. In August 2022, Sara Sabry became the first Arab woman and the first Egyptian to fly to space on a brief suborbital ride operated by the Blue Origin astro-tourist venture of Jeff Bezos. NASA furnished the launch site at its Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and assumed responsibility for the Axiom crew during their stay aboard the space station, orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.

Persons: Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni, Joe Skipper, Read, NASA's, Rayyanah Barnawi, Sara Sabry, Jeff Bezos, Barnawi, Sultan Alneyadi, Elon Musk, Steve Gorman, Howard Goller Organizations: International, Kennedy Space Center, REUTERS, Space, SpaceX, ISS, NASA, U.S, Royal Saudi Air Force, United Arab, Twitter, Tesla Inc, Thomson Locations: Saudi Arabia, Florida, U.S, Florida's, Gulf of Mexico, Panama City , Florida, Houston, Alaska, Saudi, Gulf, United Arab Emirates, California, Cape Canaveral , Florida, Los Angeles

☆ SpaceX delivers private Axiom crew to the space station, carrying Saudi astronauts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule "Freedom" is seen docked with the International Space Station on May 22, 2023. Axiom Space booked the roughly week-long trip, known as the Ax-2 mission, to the ISS with Elon Musk's company. The four-person private astronaut Ax-2 crew, which will spend eight days on the International Space Station, includes former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner, and Saudi Space Commission astronauts Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, the first Saudi woman to fly to space. NASA has previously disclosed that a SpaceX crew launch costs about $55 million per seat, so the price for these private missions is expected to be high. Although SpaceX is providing the rocket and capsule, Axiom is leading the mission's management from training to the return to Earth.

☆ Don't let NASA fool you: The next astronauts on the moon will not be wearing black spacesuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA and Axiom Space revealed a new spacesuit for the Artemis moon missions last week. The spacesuit is black, but astronauts have to wear white when they're on the lunar surface. Axiom Space chief engineer Jim Stein shows off the prototype spacesuit in Houston on March 15, 2023. Astronauts can't wear black on the moonThe Apollo moon suits were white for a reason. Axiom's spacesuit prototype looks cool, but we're waiting for the version that will go to the moon.

NASA unveiled the suit astronauts will wear during the 2025 Artemis III moon mission. The new Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit was developed by private company Axiom Space. NASA gave astronauts their first operational spacesuits in the early 1960s. The space agency just unveiled a new fit for the occasion, developed by private company Axiom Space. From the silvery suits of the Mercury program to Elon Musk's sleek Crew Dragon suits, here's how astronauts' spacesuits have evolved over six decades.

☆ Climate disasters put plight of displaced in COP27 focus
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

There are some 22 million people like Hassan displaced every year in climate-fueled disasters, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM). And with climate change fueling increasingly extreme weather worldwide, the number displaced is expected to grow to about 143 million by mid-century. Given the growing need, developing countries at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt this month are demanding that wealthy nations offer more in the way of help. "Each government impacted by climate change migrants can raise the subject" at the U.N. summit, said Caroline Dumas, the IOM's special envoy for migration and climate action. "I'm a refugee, former refugee," said Emtithal Mahmoud, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

☆ Sierra Space weighs public offering to help fund space station, president says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Janet Kavandi, president of Sierra Space, scientist and astronaut, attends the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) space exploration conference in Paris, France, September 19, 2022. No private company has built a space station. "It is one of many considerations," Sierra Space President Janet Kavandi said of a public offering, speaking to Reuters at the International Astronautical Congress in Paris. Sierra Space hopes to have the first elements of the station in orbit by about 2027. "I don't think you can overstate its importance," Michael López-Alegría, Axiom's chief astronaut, said of getting their space station to market first.

☆ Saudi Arabia buys pair of SpaceX astronaut seats from Axiom
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Under the deal, two Saudi astronauts will ride SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to the space station for a roughly weeklong stay early next year, the sources said. Officials with the Saudi Space Commission, Riyadh's space agency founded in 2018, were not immediately available to comment. The Saudi astronauts will join two previously announced Americans, retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and race car driver and investor John Shoffner, the sources said. For Axiom and other space companies, cutting deals with foreign governments is seen as vital to sustaining a business centered on putting people in space. Axiom's astronaut flight business is crucial experience for the company's broader goals of deploying its own private space station by mid-decade.

☆ Exclusive: Saudi Arabia buys pair of SpaceX astronaut seats from Axiom -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Under the deal, two Saudi astronauts will ride SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to the space station for a roughly weeklong stay early next year, the sources said. Officials with the Saudi Space Commission, Riyadh's space agency founded in 2018, were not immediately available to comment. The Saudi astronauts will join two previously announced Americans, retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and race car driver and investor John Shoffner, the sources said. Axiom launched its first private mission to the space station in April, sending a four-man crew to the space station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that included a Canadian investor and an Israeli businessman. Axiom's astronaut flight business is crucial experience for the company's broader goals of deploying its own private space station by mid-decade.

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