PUTRAJAYA (ANN/THE STAR) – Malaysia’s Agriculture and Food Security Ministry has announced plans to establish a Farmers Registration Enactment, aimed at streamlining the distribution of aid to farmers and aiding the government in strategic agricultural and agrofood planning.
The decision to draft this enactment was reached during a meeting chaired by Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, with state executive councillors overseeing agriculture in agreement.
“With the enactment in place, there will be a database to record and register farmers in Malaysia,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
“It will also ensure that incentives the government provides will reach the target group and avoid leakage in extending assistance to farmers,” it added.
However, the ministry did not specify when the enactment would be ready.
The meeting was also presented with a proposal to set up dedicated areas for organic farming at state level.
“The proposal for the creation of such an area is in line with the National Agrofood Policy and the National Food Security Action Plan.
“Under the two plans, it is stated that organic farming is one of the activities to be given focus in tackling global challenges whereby environment-friendly approaches to agriculture are to be adopted,” the ministry added.
The meeting also included a briefing on plans to strengthen poultry farming through guidelines that had been prepared by the Town and Country Planning Department.
“The ministry has also brought forward a proposal to include China prawn net traps (bubu naga) among equipment that is not allowed to be used for fishing activities.
“This is due to complaints by licensed fishermen who claimed their fishing nets get damaged after getting entangled with these bubu naga,” the statement added.
The meeting was also presented with a paper on the Young Agropreneur Programme, an initiative to encourage and help young people get involved in the agrofood sector.
A man looks at an electronic board displaying stock prices of each company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in Tokyo on November 15, 2023. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
HONG KONG (AFP) – Asian markets fell Thursday as investors took a breather and cashed in on a recent rally, though analysts said the outlook was bright, even as data pointed to a soft landing for the world’s top economy.
Figures released Tuesday showing a slower-than-expected rise in the US October consumer price index lit a fire under global equities as it cemented traders’ views that the Federal Reserve will no longer need to hike interest rates and even fuelled talk of cuts next year.
Hopes for a further slowing in inflation were boosted the next day by figures showing producer prices had also come in below forecasts.
However, a slightly above-estimate print on retail sales growth tempered the mood, even as it marked a sharp drop from the previous month.
The readings allowed dealers to step back and take a pause from their recent buying, leaving Wall Street’s three main indexes only slightly higher, and pushing Asian stocks lower on Thursday.
A man looks at an electronic board displaying stock prices of each company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in Tokyo on November 15, 2023. PHOTO: AFP
Hong Kong, which had jumped almost four percent the day before, led losses, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Wellington and Jakarta were also in the red.
Still, observers said the pullback was not unusual and remained upbeat heading into the new year.
“The soft producer price index reading has the potential to magnify the message conveyed by the consumer price index report,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management, adding that some “overly optimistic” traders could take the readings as disinflation might be in the pipeline.
“The retail sales report and the PPI figures were highly accommodating to a Goldilocks interpretation, although after Tuesday’s fireworks, it may already be in the price,” he said referring to data that is neither too strong nor too weak.
And TradeStation’s David Russell said there is a growing belief that the Fed has managed to thread the needle in bringing inflation down while also keeping the economy humming and avoiding a sharp slowdown.
“Price growth is moderating, but with strong demand on the sidelines. The soft landing is taking shape,” he said.
US President Joe Biden said much-anticipated talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were the “most constructive and productive” of their relationship, as the two try to find some common ground after years of tensions.
“We’ve made some important progress, I believe,” he told reporters.
The meeting in California ahead of the APEC summit saw the two reach agreements on various issues including high-level military communications and artificial intelligence.
Long-running tensions between the two global superpowers have weighed heavily on markets, with investors concerned about the impact on trade and geopolitics.
“I think it goes a long way (towards) removing one of the worries that investors had,” Olivier d’Assier, of Axioma, told Bloomberg News.
“The relationship has been going downhill since last year. So we are clearly seeing a bottom. We weren’t expecting much out of this meeting. They both extended an olive branch.
“And they’re talking, which is best, which is more than what we had maybe a few months ago. So I think the market will take that as a check mark of this. Less geopolitical risk on the table.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo disembarks his airplane at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, on November 14, 2023, as he arrives to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' week. PHOTO: AP
JAKARTA (ANN/THE JAKARTA POST) – In a landmark visit to the United States, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has not only strengthened diplomatic ties but also paved the way for an intensified bilateral relationship.
The recent meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, marked a significant milestone, with pledges amounting to USD15 billion and early discussions laying the groundwork for a pivotal deal to boost Indonesia’s electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.
This encounter between President Jokowi and US President Joe Biden, their first since the Group of 20 Summit in Bali last year, signifies a strategic step forward in collaboration between the two nations.
The two leaders announced that their partnership would be elevated from a strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP). A CSP, such as Indonesia’s partnership with China that was established a decade ago, usually entails cooperation at the highest level of government on a vast range of issues.
The new level of cooperation comes with 22 programs, ranging from economic cooperation supporting Indonesia’s emerging enterprises, climate and energy sectors, to defence cooperation and people-to-people collaboration. At least three new agreements were being planned under the CSP, revolving around sustainable energy and minerals, cybersecurity and cultural exchange.
“This will mark a new era in the relationships between the United States and Indonesia across the board, affecting everything,” Biden said in his opening remarks. “I’m of the view that our partnership is stronger than it’s ever been.”
Among other things, the CSP would see the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) provide USD131 million in financing for several Indonesian private banks, a decarbonisation investment worth up to USD15 billion by ExxonMobil and the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) intent to funnel some USD7.5 million toward Indonesia’s waste management system.
The two countries, which celebrate 75 years of diplomatic ties next year, intend to “remain deep friends”, their leaders said in a joint statement, despite looming tensions in recent years sparked by political differences.
The leaders’ meeting comes amid unceasing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which the US has helped shield from international scrutiny, thus widening the political divide between the West and the rest of the world.
It also coincides with the imminent meeting between Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping, the leader of a country that has been key to Indonesia’s national interests but with which the US has kept a fierce strategic rivalry.
Despite the political unease, Jokowi set a clearly business-forward tone upon his arrival at the Oval Office, putting the economy at the forefront of the dialogue.
“The US is one of the most important partners for Indonesia,” Jokowi said ahead of the meeting. “We must give real meaning to [the partnership]. For [us], economic cooperation is a priority, including supply chain issues.”
In line with Jokowi’s critical minerals downstreaming ambition, the bilateral meeting saw the two leaders work to advance a potential partnership centred around the EV battery supply chain, noting the “[recognition of] Indonesia’s global leadership in the nickel, cobalt and other critical mineral value chains”.
A work plan is currently being drafted in preparation for negotiations on an eventual Critical Minerals Agreement (CMA), Foreign Ministry Retno LP Marsudi said in a statement issued separately by the ministry.
In recent years, the Jokowi administration has courted major EV players such as Elon Musk’s Tesla to open shop in Indonesia. The President has also resisted international pushback on his downstreaming plan, which is designed to capture the lion’s share of the EV battery supply chain by domestically processing Indonesia’s vast nickel resources and banning the export of raw minerals.
Some from the US private sector have expressed opposition to the plan, arguing that Indonesia’s weak labour protections, reliance on Chinese companies, negative biodiversity impacts and poor community engagement have marred the prospect of further cooperation between the two countries in the critical minerals sector.
“If [a critical mineral partnership] expansion is deemed necessary, it should be directed toward countries with strong labour, human rights and environmental standards,” an open letter signed by nine US Senators in late October said.
Addressing such concerns in their joint statement, Jokowi and Biden pledged their determination to “reduce supply chain dependencies”, apply internationally recognized labour standards and “work toward a low-greenhouse gas emission mineral supply chain”.
In her remarks, Minister Retno said that once the CMA was finalised, “Indonesia could be a sustainable and long-term supplier of EV battery demand in the US”.
Beyond Indonesia’s economic gains, Jokowi’s White House visit also saw him bringing Biden a message endorsed by one-third of the world’s leaders urging for an immediate end to Israel’s siege of Gaza.
Over the weekend, dozens of leaders endorsed at an extraordinary joint summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League a strongly-worded joint communiqué demanding Israeli accountability and their rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homeland.
“Indonesia appeals to the US to do more to stop the atrocities in Gaza. Ceasefire is a must for the sake of humanity,” Jokowi told Biden.
While the issue was raised during Tuesday’s bilateral meeting, there had been no clear statement to come out from Biden’s administration, apart from the agreement that the leaders “should work together and with other regional partners for a durable peace through a two-state solution”.
The Biden administration, which is also up for election next year, has previously rejected calls for a ceasefire and supported Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo disembarks his airplane at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, on November 14, 2023, as he arrives to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ week. PHOTO: AP
A picture shows a view of the exterior of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. Heavy fighting was raging near Al-Shifa hospital, with Israel saying it had killed dozens of militants and destroyed tunnels that are key to Hamas's capacity to fight. Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters poured across the heavily militarised border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages. (Photo by Ismail Zanoun / AFP)
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip said Thursday that the Israeli army had deployed bulldozers at the Al-Shifa hospital, which Israel has said sits above a Hamas command centre.
“Israeli bulldozers destroyed parts of the southern entrance” to the hospital, the ministry said in a brief statement in Arabic.
The Israeli army told AFP that an operation was currently underway at the hospital complex.
“Tonight we conducted a targeted operation into Shifa hospital. We continue to move forward,” Major General Yaron Finkelman, head of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, said on the army’s Telegram channel.
The army carried out an operation at Al-Shifa on Wednesday, sparking serious international concern and criticism.
A journalist in contact with AFP, trapped inside the hospital, said soldiers shot in the air and ordered young men to surrender when they burst into the hospital overnight.
By early evening, Israeli troops had withdrawn from the facility, the journalist said, redeploying around the hospital.
Both Israel and its top ally the United States said the Palestinian militants have a command centre below the Al-Shifa complex, a charge denied by Hamas and directors at the hospital, which has become a focal point in the 40-day-old war.
The Israeli army said troops had found “military and combat equipment” inside the compound during Wednesday’s operation, a claim the Hamas-run health ministry denied.
VIENTIANE (ANN/VIENTIANE TIMES) – Chinese companies have become the foremost investors in Laos, currently engaged in over 900 development projects with a total investment exceeding USD13 billion.
These statistics were disclosed during a meeting in Vientiane, chaired by Lao Minister of Planning and Investment, Khamjane Vongphosy and the Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Laos, Wang Chang.
The gathering facilitated discussions on the challenges and recommendations from Chinese businesses in Laos, fostering a platform for both sides to exchange views and explore avenues for enhancing the business environment.
“The government is working to improve the investment climate so that business operations can be carried out more easily, transparently and quickly, in order to create maximum benefits for Laos and investors, especially Chinese investors,” said Khamjane
“This meeting is an important milestone in efforts to improve the investment environment so that trade, investment and services provided by Chinese business operators in Laos are successful and meet the set objectives in terms of quality as well as providing more jobs for Lao people,” he added.
Chinese companies are engaged in railways, finance, electricity, agriculture and forestry, mining, improvement of policy and legislation, and other spheres.
Proposals for improvements in these fields were made for the relevant bodies to consider and identify solutions to problems encountered, so that all operations are carried out in line with the regulations.
“I would like to further emphasise that the government of Laos has done a great deal to improve the investment environment to make business start-up and operations easier, for the benefit of investors and the governments and peoples of both countries,” the minister added.
China is now Laos’ top export market as well as having the highest investment value in Laos.
Despite the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, the value of trade between Laos and China continues to increase, and last year swelled by 31 per cent.
In 2022, 30 Chinese companies owned or held concessions in operations worth USD 339 million.
These comprised 18 projects in the mining sector, one energy project, three consultancy projects, six projects in the industry and handicrafts sector, one public health project, and two projects in other sectors.
Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Khamjane Vongphosy (right) and Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Laos, Wang Chang. PHOTO: ANN/VIENTIANE TIMES
ANKARA (Bernama-Anadolu) — Anwar El Ghazi, a Dutch winger of Moroccan descent, has taken legal action against Mainz 05 for being dismissed by the German club over a pro-Palestine social media post, Anadolu Agency cited a German media report Wednesday.
Bild reported that El Ghazi, 28, is suing Mainz after the German Bundesliga club terminated his contract earlier in November following a post on his Instagram story in which he expressed his support for the Palestinian people amid the Israel war on Gaza.
Mainz first suspended and then warned El Ghazi over the “River to the sea” phrase on his Instagram.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a Palestinian slogan that refers to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Anwar El Ghazi. PHOTO: AFP
El Ghazi has been a free agent after he was released by Mainz on Nov 3 for “statements and posts on social media.”
He later responded to the termination of his contract on X, writing “Stand for what is right, even if it means standing alone.”
“The loss of my livelihood is nothing when compared to the hell being unleashed on innocent and vulnerable in Gaza,” said the former Dutch international.
Before Mainz, El Ghazi played for Dutch club Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, England’s Aston Villa and Everton, and France’s Lille.
NEW YORK (AFP) – Anyone who walks the streets of Manhattan can observe sidewalk vendors hawking counterfeit luxury products.
It’s big business, really big.
Just how big became clear Wednesday when prosecutors announced the “largest ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history” — a massive haul of about 219,000 fake handbags, shoes, clothing and other items.
“The seizures announced today consist of merchandise with over USD1 billion in estimated retail value, the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history,” federal prosecutor Damian Williams said.
Counterfeit goods commonly have a value far lower than their real counterparts.
Two men were charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods.
Photos released by the US Attorney’s Office for the southern district of New York showed warehouse rooms jammed with fake designer purses, handbags, shoes, and clothing.
One photo showed boxes of goods stacked on shipping pallets.
From January through the end of October, the two defendants, Adama Sow, 38, and Abdulai Jalloh, 48, allegedly ran a large-scale knockoff goods ring out of storage facilities in Manhattan, authorities said.
Both men were arrested on Wednesday, a statement said.
“The trafficking of counterfeit goods is anything but a victimless crime because it harms legitimate businesses, governments, and consumers,” New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban said.
Plastic waste is stored in a new plastic waste sorting facility in Motala, central Sweden, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. PHOTO: AP
Plastic waste is stored in a new plastic waste sorting facility in Motala, central Sweden, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. PHOTO: AP
MOTALA, SWEDEN (AP) — A new plastics sorting facility inaugurated in Sweden on Wednesday is being billed as the largest of its kind, and one designed to double the amount of plastic packaging materials being recycled in the Nordic country.
Thanks to cutting-edge technology, the Site Zero plant in the central city of Motala can sort up to 200,000 tons of plastic packaging a year, according to Sweden Plastic Recycling, a non-profit company co-owned by Swedish plastics, food and trade industry groups. The company says that’s more than any other sorting facility in the world.
A unique feature of Site Zero is that it can separate up to 12 different types of plastic.
An old plant at the same location could only sort 5 types of plastic, which meant that only 47 per cent of the material was sent on for recycling and the rest was incinerated, said Mattias Philipsson, CEO of Sweden Plastic Recycling.
The new plant will be able to send up to 95 per cent of the packaging for recycling, minimising the amount that is incinerated. Burning plastic has a climate impact by adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
The world produces more than 430 million tons of plastic annually, two-thirds of which are short-lived products that soon become waste, filling the ocean and, often, working their way into the human food chain, the UN Environment Program said in an April report.
Plastic waste produced globally is set to triple by 2060, with about half ending up in landfill and under one-fifth recycled.
Efforts to create a landmark treaty to end global plastic pollution are taking place in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where nations, petrochemical companies, environmentalists and others affected by the pollution are gathered for UN-backed negotiations.
Plastic waste runs on conveyor belts at a new plastic waste sorting facility in Motala, central Sweden, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. PHOTO: AP
At Site Zero, the roar of the machines is deafening as conveyor belts carry 40 tons per hour of mixed plastic waste through the entrails of the factory. Gradually, as the chocolate wrappers, plastic bags, yoghurt containers or white polystyrene progress across the 60,000 square-metre complex, it’s broken down, separated by size and sorted in a fully automated process reliant on infrared cameras.
“It’s a game changer,” said Åsa Stenmarck, of the Swedish Environment Protection Agency. “Not just the sorting itself, but that they actually believe there is finally a market” for all 12 types of plastic sorted by the plant.
Robert Blasiak, a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, said Sweden is “ahead of the curve” when it comes to plastics recycling, and that waste management in many other parts of the world has a long way to go.
“A closed loop for plastics has to be the end goal, really, not just for corporations and governments, but for this UN plastics treaty that’s being negotiated now,” he said. “And that means that every stage along the plastic lifecycle, basically the emissions moving through these life stages need to be reduced to zero.”
Once sorted, plastic can be recycled in the conventional, mechanical way or via a chemical recycling method, which typically uses heat or chemical solvents to break down plastics into liquid and gas to produce an oil-like mixture or basic chemicals.
Industry leaders say that mixture can be made back into plastic pellets to make new products. But environmental groups say that chemical, or advanced, recycling is a distraction from real solutions like producing and using less plastic.
Philipsson said that even though the more efficient sorting facility will help raise the amount of plastic being recycled in Sweden, it will also depend on households properly separating their waste.
“Most plastics are still incinerated because they haven’t been sorted by households,” he said.
FILE - Dolly Parton poses for a picture before the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy Ceremony at Gotham Hall in New York on Oct 13, 2022. PHOTO: AP
FILE – Dolly Parton poses for a picture before the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy Ceremony at Gotham Hall in New York on Oct 13, 2022. PHOTO: AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Last year, Dolly Parton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – against her wishes.
Now, almost exactly a year later, she’s releasing her first rock ‘n’ roll album, appropriately titled “Rockstar,” on Friday.
In 2022, Parton shared a statement announcing that she didn’t feel she had “earned” the right to be nominated, but the Hall inducted her anyway.
“I just didn’t think that I had done enough in the rock world to be considered, to be put in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when there were so many great rock artists that are not even in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Parton told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
“They were going to put me in anyway, so I just accepted it gracefully. But I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to have to earn my keep,'” she says. Parton once thought she’d record a “Linda Ronstadt-type rock album,” but had felt she was getting too old. This presented a fresh opportunity.
“I jumped on that like a duck on a Junebug,” she laughs.
She started covering some of her favourite rock ‘n’ roll classics. Some tracks feature the original artists: “Every Breath You Take” with Sting, “Baby, I Love Your Way” with Peter Frampton, “Heart of Glass” with Debbie Harry, “Heartbreaker” with Pat Benatar. Some are creative collaborations: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” with Pink and Brandi Carlile, “Night Moves” with Chris Stapleton, “Stairway to Heaven” with Lizzo on flute.
She wanted Mick Jagger and Lionel Richie, but the timing didn’t work. She did, however, manage to reunite the Beatles. Sort of. Long before the release of “Now and Then,” Parton asked Paul McCartney if he would sing on a cover of “Let It Be.”
“He said, ‘Yeah, I’d be happy to play on it, too, if you want me to,” and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’ve died and gone to heaven,'” she says. Then Ringo Starr replaced the drums they’d recorded on the track.
Earlier this year, Starr told the AP he’s working on a country music EP – to which Parton reacts, “I’ll join them if they want me to!”
“I’d definitely do some country singing for some of the rockers going country,” she says.
“Rockstar” also features nine original songs. Some have been unearthed – the lovelorn “My Blue Tears,” for example, was written when Parton was with “The Porter Wagoner Show” in the late 1960s and early ’70s, and the cheeky “I Dreamed About Elvis” was written over two decades ago. It features the ’50s vocal quartet Jordanaires, recorded right before they broke up in 2013, and Ronnie McDowell, who plays the Elvis character in the song.
“I had him come in and do the Elvis voice on it, just to kind of sum up that whole story about Elvis,” she says. She’s referring to the now-infamous event in which Elvis Presley said he wanted to record her hit, “I Will Always Love You.” She turned him down – because Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, wanted half of the song’s publishing rights.
Those sweet songs contrast with the album’s lead single. “World on Fire” is theatrical arena rock to the highest degree – big drums and bigger power chords – sonically ascendent and thematically frustrated.
“I’m very sensitive,” she says. “I care about people, human suffering and all of that.”
“World On Fire,” she says, was written after she thought the album was completed. But after watching so many natural disasters last year, she says, “I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got to write this song and I’ve got to call another session, because I think the song needs to be heard. I need to say this. People need to hear it, people that are feeling that way but don’t know how to express it. And I just feel like sometimes it is my place to do that.”
With lyrics like “Greedy politicians, present and past / They wouldn’t know the truth if it bit ’em in the ass,” many assumed Parton was getting political — having spent the entirety of her career impartial.
“I’m not political. I hate politics,” she says. “This is not about politics. This is about saving the world as opposed to destroying it.”
For now, Parton says “Rockstar” is her first and last rock album. She’s currently adapting her life story into a Broadway musical and wants to explore other genres.
“I’d like to do an R&B album,” she says. “And blues. I’d love to do a blues album. So, who knows? There’s all kinds of things out there to do.”
Scientists are carrying blue chemical test tubes to prepare for the determination of chemical composition and biological mass in a scientific laboratory, Scientists and research in the lab Concept.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (AP) – Thousands of scientists who work for California began a rolling three-day strike Wednesday — the first walkout by a state civil service union.
Members of the California Association of Professional Scientists marched under cloudy skies in Sacramento to protest lack of progress in contract talks. The walkout will spread to Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities on Thursday and Friday.
The union represents about 5,200 members who work in more than 50 state departments and deal with issues ranging from air pollution and toxic waste control to earthquake hazards and agricultural pests, according to its website.
Members have been without a contract since 2020 despite bargaining and mediation. The membership rejected a tentative agreement earlier this year. Another state mediation session is planned for November 28.
It is the first time that state workers have struck since civil servants won collective bargaining rights in 1977, The Sacramento Bee reported.
“Nobody wants to be on strike, and nobody wants to be the first,” the union’s president, Jacqueline Tkac said in an interview.
“But it feels really inspiring to know that we have people that are so fired up about our situation that they’re willing to go out on strike for the first time and take that risk.”
Last week, the California Department of Human Resources filed a complaint of unfair labour practices against the union in an attempt to prevent the strike.
On Wednesday, the department said it was disappointed by the strike and that the state continues to bargain “in good faith.”
The state “will continue to work with CAPS to achieve a fair successor agreement as we have with other bargaining units,” department spokesperson Camille Travis said in an email.
The union’s main concern is higher wages. It says state scientists are paid 40 per cent to 60 per cent less than “comparable positions who have the same level of responsibility and do similar or identical work.”
