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Blair Hickman, Nisha Chittal, and Agnes Mazur Promoted at Vox

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Vox editor-in-chief Swati Sharma and VP Allison Rockey today announced new roles for Blair Hickman, Nisha Chittal, and Agnes Mazur; they’ll become executive director of audience, managing editor, and associate director of audience respectively.
Hickman has held several roles and led several teams at the Vox for the last four and a half years. In her most recent role as managing editor of audience, she led the launch and development of the Vox Contributions program. Her new role as executive director of audience will touch all parts of the editorial and business departments at Vox, and ensure Vox’s audience is at the heart of all of the network’s editorial, strategic and business decisions. Before Vox, Hickman was the audience editor and part of the founding team at The Marshall Project, and prior to that worked on crowdsourcing and audience engagement at ProPublica. She was also an adjunct professor at NYU and Columbia journalism schools.
Chittal was previously director of audience & engagement at <a href="http://vox.com/">Vox</a>, overseeing off-platform content and growth strategies — that included overseeing social platforms, SEO, newsroom analytics, crowdsourcing and community, managing relationships with Apple News and other partner platforms, and new platform experimentation. She most recently led the launch of Vox’s presence on Tiktok, and revamped Vox’s newsroom SEO strategy. She began her career at Vox Media as engagement editor at Racked, and prior to that she lead audience and engagement strategies at MSNBC and NBC News.
Mazur has worked at Vox in a variety of audience engagement roles for the past six years, most recently as deputy engagement editor. During her time at Vox, she has helped the Video team develop a passionate audience of nearly 10 million <a href="https://youtube.com/vox">YouTube subscribers</a>, and expanded Vox’s video presence across platforms. She has led Vox newsletter strategy, developing and growing a roster of <a href="https://vox.com/newsletters">10 active newsletters</a>. She also oversaw the Engagement Team’s live event coverage from elections to impeachments to the Olympics. Prior to Vox she worked as a digital strategist at Blue State Digital and across numerous political campaigns.
Sharma and Rockey’s memo to the staff about these new roles follows:
We want to congratulate Blair Hickman on her promotion to Executive Director of Audience, Nisha Chittal on her new role as Managing Editor, and Agnes Mazur on her promotion to Associate Director of Audience.
Over the last four and a half years, Blair has been a key leader at Vox — from expanding our crowdsourcing program to leading our shift to SEO to creating data-informed editorial strategies that help us grow and build loyalty. She has deep editorial and strategic experience from her work here, and her previous roles at The Marshall Project and ProPublica. In this new role, she’ll continue to ensure that Vox’s audience is at the core of our editorial and business decisions.
For more than three years, Nisha has been a talent at Vox and has understood how to help our stories thrive. She joined us from Racked, where she was the engagement editor, and before that, MSNBC. In this new role, she will be central to empowering our editors to create the journalism that lives up to Vox’s mission. She led us from a world where you can only post an image on Instagram to one that included galleries, stories, and reels, shaped our evolving SEO strategy, and deftly guided and mentored the engagement team through an ever-evolving industry. Nisha has an uncanny ability to spot issues before they happen, and her skills to solve problems paired with her background in journalism will be a huge asset to editors in the newsroom.
Agnes has been at Vox almost since the beginning, and the number of ways she has contributed to Vox are far too numerous to list here. She has worked on almost every platform we’re on, built an evergreen video repromotion program that led to hundreds of millions of views, created off-platform coverage strategies for countless debate and election nights, and has been instrumental in building our newsletter program, to name just a few. She has an incredible strategic mind that will be essential to Vox’s future growth and audience development. (She also has the best <a href="https://twitter.com/allisonrockey/status/758869424900231168?lang=en">GIF</a> game in the business!)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/16/22627400/blair-hickman-nisha-chittal-and-agnes-mazur-promoted-at-vox">https://www.vox.com/2021/8/16/22627400/blair-hickman-nisha-chittal-and-agnes-mazur-promoted-at-vox</a>

vox Blair Hickman, Nisha Chittal, and Agnes Mazur Promoted at Vox

Vox editor-in-chief Swati Sharma and VP Allison Rockey today announced new roles for Blair Hickman, Nisha Chittal, and Agnes Mazur ; the...

Blue Origin Sues US Government Over SpaceX Lunar Lander Contract

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Blue Originis the rocket company founded by Amazon.com Inc's founder Jeff Bezos (File)
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Washington:
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin sued the U.S government over NASA's decision to award a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract to Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Blue Origin said its lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Friday is "an attempt to remedy the flaws in the acquisition process found in NASA's Human Landing System."
It added it believes "the issues identified in this procurement and its outcomes must be addressed to restore fairness, create competition, and ensure a safe return to the Moon for America."
Last month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sided with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration over its decision to pick a single lunar lander provider, rejecting Blue Origin's protest.
Blue Origin's lawsuit remains under seal. NASA must file a response to the challenge by Oct. 12.
"NASA officials are currently reviewing details of the case," the agency said in a statement. "With our partners, we will go to the Moon and stay to enable science investigations, develop new technology, and create high paying jobs for the greater good and in preparation to send astronauts to Mars."
The agency added, "as soon as possible, the agency will provide an update on the way forward for returning to the Moon as quickly and as safely as possible under Artemis."
Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics have argued that NASA was required to make multiple awards. The GAO said it "denied the protest arguments that NASA acted improperly in making a single award to SpaceX."
Blue Origin, the rocket company founded by Amazon.com Inc's founder, billionaire Bezos, said earlier it remained convinced there were "fundamental issues" with NASA's decision and that GAO was not able to address them "due to their limited jurisdiction."
Blue Origin said it will continue to advocate for two immediate providers as it believes that to be the right solution.
SpaceX, which is headed by Tesla Inc's CEO, Musk, did not immediately comment on Monday.
NASA had sought proposals for a spacecraft that would carry astronauts to the lunar surface under its Artemis program to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.
In April, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to build such a spacecraft as early as 2024.
Blue Origin had contended NASA gave SpaceX an unfair advantage by letting it revise its pricing.
Bezos has offered to cover up to $2 billion in NASA costs if the U.S. space agency awarded Blue Origin a lunar landing contract.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/blue-origin-sues-us-government-over-spacex-lunar-lander-contract-2512025">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/blue-origin-sues-us-government-over-spacex-lunar-lander-contract-2512025</a>

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Blue Originis the rocket company founded by Amazon.com Inc's founder Jeff Bezos (File) Washington: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin sued...

S Jaishankar Discusses Afghan Situation With US Secretary Of State

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S Jaishankar spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over latest developments in Afghanistan (File)
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New Delhi:
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the latest developments in Afghanistan and underlined the urgency of restoring airports in Kabul.
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Mr Jaishankar said, "Discussed latest developments in Afghanistan with @SecBlinken. Underlined the urgency of restoring airport operations in Kabul. Deeply appreciate the American efforts underway in this regard."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Discussed latest developments in Afghanistan with <a href="https://twitter.com/SecBlinken?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecBlinken</a>. Underlined the urgency of restoring airport operations in Kabul. Deeply appreciate the American efforts underway in this regard.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1427381207281639425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
In another tweet over the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting over Afghanistan's situation, he said: "Significant UN Security Council discussions today on developments in Afghanistan. Expressed the concerns of the international community. Expect to discuss these during my engagements at the UN."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Significant UN Security Council discussions today on developments in Afghanistan. Expressed the concerns of the international community.
Expect to discuss these during my engagements at the UN.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1427377640466522117?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
The UNSC on Monday called for an immediate cessation of all hostilities in Afghanistan and the establishment of a new government that is united, inclusive and representative.
In a press statement, UNSC President TS Tirumurti said that the members of the Security Council called for an immediate end to the violence in Afghanistan, the restoration of security, civil and constitutional order.
Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over Afghanistan's security situation.
The Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday and took control of the presidential palace. Soon after the terror group claimed control over the Afghan capital, several countries evacuated their diplomatic personnel from the country, and hundreds of people flocked to the Kabul airport in an attempt to leave Afghanistan.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/s-jaishankar-discusses-afghan-situation-with-us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-2512015">https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/s-jaishankar-discusses-afghan-situation-with-us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-2512015</a>

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S Jaishankar spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over latest developments in Afghanistan (File) New Delhi: External Affairs M...

6 Injured As Self-Driving Tesla Crashes In School Car Park In UK: Report

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According to reports, one person was in critical condition. (Representational)
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Five children and an adult were taken to hospital with injuries after a self-driving Tesla Inc Model 3 crashed in a school car park in southern England on Monday evening, the Telegraph reported.
At least one person was reported to have been pinned under the electric car in a car park of a college in Sussex, the report said, adding that exact number was not clear.
The National Health Service's South East Coast Ambulance Service said one person was in critical condition and three others suffered potentially serious injuries.
It was not known if there was a driver behind the wheel of the vehicle at the time of the collision, the Telegraph added.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/6-injured-as-self-driving-tesla-crashes-in-school-car-park-in-southern-england-report-2512014">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/6-injured-as-self-driving-tesla-crashes-in-school-car-park-in-southern-england-report-2512014</a>

news world 6 Injured As Self-Driving Tesla Crashes In School Car Park In UK: Report

According to reports, one person was in critical condition. (Representational) Five children and an adult were taken to hospital with in...

Kabul Airport Reopened For Evacuation Operations: US General

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Kabul airport reopened early Tuesday morning Afghanistan time after being closed for hours (File)
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Washington:
Kabul's airport reopened early Tuesday Afghanistan time after being closed for hours by US forces following a breakdown in security on the tarmac that interrupted evacuation operations, a US general said.
The airport reopened at 1935 GMT Monday, said Major General Hank Taylor, a logistics specialist on the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He said a C-17 transport aircraft had landed with US Marines aboard, and a second one loaded with an army unit was to land soon, to help establish security for the airport.
Taylor said the United States was "in charge of air traffic control" at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) for military and commercial flights.
He added that there were already about 2,500 US troops in Kabul to help organize the evacuation of thousands of Americans and Afghans who worked for them as translators and in other jobs.
By the end of Monday, US time, he said there could be 3,000 to 3,500 on the ground.
"Our focus right now is to maintain security at HKIA, to continue to expedite flight operations while safeguarding Americans and Afghan civilians," he said.
The airport was shut down Monday after crowds of civilians surged onto the runways, the Pentagon said.
Videos taken from the airport showed hundreds of Afghans flooding onto the runways and trying to impede the takeoff of one of the US transports.
Meanwhile two armed Afghan men were killed by US forces as thousands sought to board flights.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/kabul-airport-reopened-for-evacuation-operations-us-major-general-hank-taylor-2512009">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/kabul-airport-reopened-for-evacuation-operations-us-major-general-hank-taylor-2512009</a>

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Kabul airport reopened early Tuesday morning Afghanistan time after being closed for hours (File) Washington: Kabul's airport reope...

Death Count In Massive Haiti Earthquake Rises To Over 1,400: Officials

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More than 6,900 people have injured in earthquake, according to country's civil protection agency. (File)
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Port-au-Prince, Haiti:
Rescuers in Haiti used heavy equipment and their bare hands Monday to hunt for survivors under buildings flattened two days ago by a massive earthquake that killed more than 1,400 people, while an approaching storm threatened more suffering.
Flash floods and mudslides were possible as the front bore down on the Caribbean nation's southwestern peninsula, which was hard-hit by a 7.2-magnitude quake that toppled thousands of buildings early Saturday.
Hospitals have been overwhelmed with the influx of injured patients, and workers were at a loss with how they might cope with Tropical Depression Grace.
Haiti's civil protection agency gave a preliminary toll Monday of 1,419 dead and 6,900 injured in the powerful quake that struck about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the west of the capital Port-au-Prince.
The earthquake also destroyed more than 37,000 homes, officials said.
"We're really not doing well psychologically. We have absolutely no idea how were are going to get through this," said 26-year-old midwife Aline Cadet, who was helping at the hospital in the hard-hit town of Port-Salut.
"There are women here who were pregnant but lost their baby because they fell or were injured," she added.
According to the US National Hurricane Center, Haiti and the Dominican Republic -- which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola -- could expect five to 10 inches of rain from Grace, "with isolated maximum totals of 15 inches" across southern areas through Tuesday.
"This heavy rainfall may lead to flash and urban flooding, and possible mudslides," the NHC warned.
President assassinated
Residents faced a dilemma of staying outside to protect themselves from aftershocks, or returning to damaged buildings to shelter from Grace's heavy rain, which was soaking Haiti by Monday afternoon.
The hospital in Port-Salut made its call: the patients being treated in a courtyard were brought into the building for protection from the storm, despite the risks.
"The doctors have asked us to go inside this evening. It's not safe. There are still tremors, that's why we're outside," said Wilfried Labaye, 41.
His wife Esperance Rose Nadine, 36, was laying on the ground next to him, both of her legs broken when their home collapsed during the quake.
Haiti, still recovering from a massive 2010 tremor that devastated the capital Port-au-Prince, was already in shock from its president's assassination last month when the disaster hit.
Some aid has come in from abroad, including specialized search crews from the United States as well as 15.4 tons of food, medicine and water from Mexico.
A 7.0-magnitude quake in January 2010 left much of Port-au-Prince and nearby cities in ruins, killing more than 200,000.
More than 1.5 million Haitians were made homeless in that disaster, which also destroyed 60 percent of Haiti's healthcare system, leaving authorities and the international humanitarian community with a colossal challenge.
The latest earthquake comes just over a month after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home by a team of gunmen, shaking a country already battling poverty, spiraling gang violence and Covid-19.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/death-count-in-massive-haiti-earthquake-rises-to-over-1-400-officials-2512008">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/death-count-in-massive-haiti-earthquake-rises-to-over-1-400-officials-2512008</a>

news world Death Count In Massive Haiti Earthquake Rises To Over 1,400: Officials

More than 6,900 people have injured in earthquake, according to country's civil protection agency. (File) Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Re...