Charlotte Edwards needs 'thinking time' as she considers England head coach role

Charlotte Edwards has said she will need some "thinking time over the next few weeks" to weigh up whether she should apply for the vacancy of England women's head coach.

Edwards, who captained England from 2006 to 2016, has developed her reputation as a coach since her professional retirement in 2017 and is widely considered to be the front-runner for the role after Lisa Keightley confirmed this week that she would step down when her contract expires at the end of this summer.

Edwards coached Southern Brave to the final of the inaugural Hundred last year while her Southern Vipers side have won the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy twice and lifted the T20 trophy - named the Charlotte Edwards Cup in her honour - earlier this year. In May, she was appointed Sydney Sixers coach for the WBBL, and will be a leading candidate to coach a team in the Women's IPL next year.

"My phone has been a bit red-hot this week," Edwards told Sky Sports before her Brave side beat London Spirit in their season-opener at the Ageas Bowl, "but I haven't given it much thought.

"You know I'm ambitious, you know I love England, and at some point I do want to coach England. I'm not going to shy away from that.

"But at the moment, this [the Hundred] is my priority - and my work here at the Vipers, which I absolutely love. It's going to have to be a big job to take me away from what I'm doing at the moment.

"I want to develop myself as a coach, and one of the reasons I took on the Sydney Sixers role is to develop myself and take on a head coach role in a different country. And the IPL is very appealing, it is. But I'm England through and through and I love my country. I think I've got to have a lot of thinking time over the next few weeks."

Danni Wyatt, who top-scored in Brave's chase against Spirit, said that Edwards would be a good option if she decided to apply for the role. "We are very lucky to have her here at the Vipers and the Brave," she told the ECB Reporters Network. "She is a fantastic coach and she brings out the best in all the players.

"She knows what we all need individually, knows what we need to do in training and everyone's game inside and out. If she wants to do it, I'm sure she will be a good coach for England. We saw what a great leader she was when she was captain for England.

"She really cares about every player, she knows what works for the individual and she is so passionate - which is so contagious. She wants us to win and get the best out of everyone."

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/charlotte-edwards-needs-thinking-time-as-she-considers-england-head-coach-role/?feed_id=10300&_unique_id=62f777867a475

Microstrategy CEO Saylor moves to chairman role

MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor is leaving his role as CEO to become Executive Chairman of the company, according to a statement released by the company on Tuesday afternoon. The company's president, Phong Le, will take the reins from Saylor.

Saylor has been in the role of chief executive since launching the company in 1989. MicroStrategy went public in 1998.

MicroStrategy's stock is down over 48% this year. Bitcoin is down over 51% during that same time period.

"I believe that splitting the roles of Chairman and CEO will enable us to better pursue our two corporate strategies of acquiring and holding bitcoin and growing our enterprise analytics software business. As Executive Chairman I will be able to focus more on our bitcoin acquisition strategy and related bitcoin advocacy initiatives, while Phong will be empowered as CEO to manage overall corporate operations," said Mr. Saylor in the release.

The announcement comes as the company announces its second quarter earnings, in which its total revenues dropped by 2.6% compared to a year ago.

MicroStrategy may technically be in the business of enterprise software and cloud-based services, but Saylor has said the publicly traded company doubles as the first and only bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund in the U.S.

"We're kind of like your nonexistent spot ETF," Saylor told CNBC on the sidelines of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami in April.

So far, the Securities and Exchange Commission has only approved ETFs that track contracts speculating on the future price of bitcoin, instead of the cryptocurrency itself. The commission has refused to greenlight any of the formal applications for a pure-play bitcoin-based ETF — a financial instrument that would give investors the chance to invest in bitcoin without having to go through the motions of signing up for an exchange, opening a crypto wallet, or dealing with any of the other logistics involved with buying and holding bitcoin.

"If there was a spot ETF, you'd be paying a 1% fee, and it wouldn't be leveraged. With MicroStrategy, we have a software company that generates cash flow, so we convert our cash flows into bitcoin," said Saylor in April.

MicroStrategy has been adding bitcoin to its corporate balance sheet for the last two years. The company has now spent close to $4 billion acquiring bitcoin at an average price of $30,700.

MicroStrategy has used company debt to purchase bitcoin, and in March, Saylor decided to take another step toward normalizing bitcoin-backed finance when he borrowed $205 million using his bitcoin as collateral — to buy more of the cryptocurrency.

"We have $5 billion in collateral. We borrowed $200 million. So I'm not telling people to go out and take a highly leveraged loan. What I am doing, I think, is doing my best to lead the way and to normalize the bitcoin-backed financing industry," said Saylor in April.

"As people realize they can borrow against something, then they realize they never have to sell it, and then they start to stretch their time horizon from — 'It's a 36-month speculation,' to — 'It's a 36-year holding.'"

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/microstrategy-ceo-saylor-moves-to-chairman-role/?feed_id=5783&_unique_id=62e991271eec3

UN lauds Türkiye for its leadership role in Ukraine grain export deal

The European Union and NATO have also welcomed the grain shipment departure from Ukraine as a "first step" towards easing the global food crisis.

The dry cargo ship Razoni is due to arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday for an inspection under the historic Ankara-brokered agreement to facilitate grain and foodstuff exports. (Emrah Yorulmaz / AA)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has thanked Türkiye for its efforts and leadership as a nascent deal to resume grain exports from Ukraine saw its first ship depart from the port of Odessa.

The departure of the Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni marked an "important starting point" for the agreement, Guterres said on Monday. 

"It must be the first of many commercial ships bringing relief and stability to global food markets," he added.

"Today's departure is an enormous collective achievement by the Joint Coordination Center, set up last week in Istanbul under United Nations auspices, with representatives from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and Türkiye," the UN chief told reporters.

"Ensuring that grain, fertilisers, and other food-related items are available at reasonable prices to developing countries is a humanitarian imperative. People on the verge of famine need these agreements to work in order to survive," he said.

Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul to inspect all grain ships leaving Ukraine to ensure they aren't carrying any weapons pic.twitter.com/qacaoMhgwn

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 1, 2022

The Razoni is due to arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday for an inspection under the historic Ankara-brokered agreement to facilitate grain and foodstuff exports. The vessel is bound for the Lebanese port of Tripoli in the country's north.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny — for grain that has been stuck for months because of ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now in its sixth month.

READ MORE: Türkiye inaugurates Joint Coordination Centre for Ukraine grain exports

First shipment welcomed

The European Union and NATO welcomed the grain shipment's departure as a "first step" towards easing the food crisis.

The agreements signed by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey & @UN are a critical step in overcoming the global food insecurity caused by Russia‘s aggression against Ukraine.

EU remains committed to help #Ukraine bring as much of its grain into global markets as possible.

Full Statement: https://t.co/fAC3vuh7nY

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) July 22, 2022

EU spokesperson Peter Stano, however, cautions the bloc still expects the "implementation of the whole deal and resumption of Ukrainian exports to the customers around the world."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, Western allies "strongly support the full implementation of the deal to ease the global food crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine".

"I thank our Ally #Türkiye for its pivotal role," he continued in a tweet.

I welcome the 1st shipment of Ukrainian grain from Odesa under the @UN-brokered deal. I thank our Ally #Türkiye for its pivotal role. #NATO Allies strongly support the full implementation of the deal to ease the global food crisis caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) August 1, 2022

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter that the first grain ship has left, adding: "Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & @UN we were able to full implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul."

The first 🇺🇦 grain ship since #RussianAggression has left port. Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & @UN we were able to full implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul. It’s important for us to be one of the guarantors of 🌏 food security. pic.twitter.com/jOz3bdmdfB

— Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) August 1, 2022

Russia, for its part, said the first grain ship to leave Odessa was "very positive" news.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he hoped the agreement will be implemented by all sides.

"This is a good opportunity to test the implementation of the agreements that were agreed upon at the Istanbul talks," Peskov said.

READ MORE: First shipment of Ukraine grain leaves Odessa under Türkiye-brokered deal

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/un-lauds-turkiye-for-its-leadership-role-in-ukraine-grain-export-deal/?feed_id=5258&_unique_id=62e8176a2460c

UN lays out role for Ukraine grain shipments coordination center in Istanbul

WASHINGTON

The UN laid out on Friday the new tasks to be carried out by a joint coordination center to implement the just-signed deal to facilitate Ukraine grain and foodstuffs exports to global markets. 

The Istanbul-based center is being tasked with enabling "the safe transportation, by merchant ships, of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizer from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea: Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny," the UN said in a statement. The ports had previously been subjected to a blockade by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

The center will now monitor the movement of commercial vessels "to ensure compliance" with the agreement, focusing on commercial grain and related food commodities only. It will also ensure on-site control and cargo monitoring of ships coming from Ukrainian ports, and reports on shipments facilitated by the agreement.

The center will not undertake tasks related to the facilitation of food exports from countries other than Ukraine, nor will it facilitate exports of containers of non-food items not covered by the agreement.

Ukraine is colloquially referred to as a global "breadbasket," and is the fifth largest wheat exporter worldwide, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

UN officials warned in June of endangered world food security due to Russia's war on Ukraine, saying it poses the threat of famine, destabilization, and mass migration worldwide as Russia blockades the Black Sea ports that normally send grain to the world.

Internationally praised for its mediator role, Türkiye coordinated with Moscow and Kyiv to open a corridor from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa to resume global grain shipments long halted due to Russia's war on Ukraine, now in its fifth month.

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Source https://www.globalcourant.com/un-lays-out-role-for-ukraine-grain-shipments-coordination-center-in-istanbul/?feed_id=405&_unique_id=62db191900b58